Top Associates prepare for success at ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

Dubai , 25 November 2008

‘Project Sub-Continent’ well and truly underway as High Performance Programme teams make big plans for the next two years; Scotland chief executive looks forward to 2009 and beyond

The countdown is on to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 (CWC 2011) in Bangladesh , India , Pakistan and Sri Lanka . With the qualifying tournament coming up next April, the top Associates are already preparing for what will happen should they win one of the four places on offer.

Teaching players how to cope with the physical and mental strains of cricket in south Asia, devising a competitive match schedule, setting up targeted and specific training camps at the ICC Global Cricket Academy and linking with players’ representative bodies to make sure of the best possible preparation are just some of the initiatives currently underway.

The chief executives and national coaches of each of the six high performance Associate Members (Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands and Scotland) met at Lord’s cricket ground in London last week for a four-day planning forum with all eyes now fixed on qualification for CWC 2011.

In what has been dubbed “Project Sub-Continent” the ICC is giving the top Associates every assistance as they look to close the gap on the Full Members ahead of cricket’s premier one-day competition.

“We all remember the exploits of Ireland during the last Cricket World Cup. That has shown what can be done and we want to ensure that the four Associates that qualify for the next one are just as competitive,” said ICC High Performance Manager Richard Done, who organised the forum.

“It doesn’t happen by accident. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication but thankfully those are attributes these teams have in abundance,” said Mr Done.

As part of the forum at Lord’s, the ICC held individual planning and funding sessions with representatives of each of the six cricket boards. There were also group sessions to discuss business growth management, entrepreneurial leadership, personal development and how to perform at the next level.

David Harker, the innovative chief executive of Durham County Cricket Club, gave an inspiring overview of the work that went in, both on and off the field, to turn Durham from so-called minnow to winner of the English County Championship 2008.

“The idea of ‘Project Sub-Continent’ is to develop a plan to ensure the Associate players that are at the CWC 2011 have gained the knowledge and experience to perform in those conditions,” said Mr Done.

“This would include an emphasis on batters getting practical match experience on those sorts of pitches, with an emphasis on playing spin but also how quicker bowling differs in sub-continental conditions.

“This will also link up with the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai with teams being sent on skill camps on the way to spending quality time in the sub-continent,” said Mr Done, who added the ICC was currently drafting a schedule of Associate cricket for 2009-10 to include ICC Intercontinental Cup fixtures as well as ODIs against other Associates and also Full Member opposition.

Chief Executive of Cricket Scotland Roddy Smith, who attended the forum, said: “It was an excellent opportunity to share experiences and issues with my counterparts from other ICC Associate Members as well as listening and learning from some world-renowned experts.

“Next year is so important for us with the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier followed by the ICC World Twenty20 and then an ODI with the world champions Australia . It is vital that Cricket Scotland has robust on-and-off-field plans in place.

“With the assistance of Manchester Business School and the ICC staff we believe we are well prepared for the challenges we face next year. As we enter a new funding phase from the ICC, the leading Associates must show that we are effective, well-managed governing bodies that have clear objectives and plans in place. The forum last week challenged and interrogated our plans to ensure we are on the right track,” said Mr Smith.

Two simple factors that sometimes separate the top teams from the leading Associates are fitness and fielding. One of the things that Ireland brought to the CWC 2007 was a high standard in both these areas. The forum discussed ways in which benchmarking fitness and a range of basic cricket skills could be introduced to provide targets so that improvement in player training levels and performances can be tracked.

Apart from Mr Harker, other presenters included Dave Aldred, who provided a view on the performance development of elite athletes having worked closely with several England rugby union players, particularly Jonny Wilkinson; former Leicestershire and England all-rounder Jeremy Snape, who has worked with many top players on the mental side of cricket at the highest level; and Gordon Lord, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s elite coach development manager, who continued with the national coaches’ own personal development.

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Indian team facing yet another challenge

Javagal Srinath

Indian team clinching the series in Bangalore is facing yet another challenge. India had been in this position before winning the series early in the tournament .Invariably the after a series win, complacency is generally the reason for good team to lose. But if one were to look little deeper, the winning teams experimentative mode in the guise of blooding youngsters would be the reason for such loses.

In the last interview, we saw similar sentiments of trying out youngsters being echoed by Captain Dhoni and his management. If this team were to make a clean sweep, mindless changes to bring youngsters into the side better be avoided.

The gains are plenty in a 7-0 clean sweep. It will not only improve the team's ratings but also makes it a ruthless unit, ever hungry for wins.

The point I am trying to make is that, when youngsters make it into the winning sides they are expected to fill in huge gaps. It is good to shoulder responsibility on to the youngsters. But the end result has a huge bearing on the progressive minds of the youngsters.

England would play their best eleven and will look for consolation wins to salvage some prestige. If India were to make too many changes it may run the risk of losing one or two games from here.

Players like Pragyan Ojha ,Virat Kohli and semi established ones like Rohit and Raina still need time to become complete players. If the English went on to win some games from here exploiting the Indian experimentative mood, I am afraid the sense of belonging at the international level can take a serious hit. A young Pragyan Ohja playing in the winning side is twice the bowler or the same Ojha could be half the bowler when he ends up playing in a losing side. The Indian team management needs to methodically infuse youngsters into the side.

There is no need for the Indian team to change or experiment the Indian batting order. Yuvraj, Raina's, and Rohit Sharma's are fresh not having played for quite a while. Dhoni, Sachin, Gambhir are fresh coming from a resounding test series win. We know batsmen seldom need rest. But a bowler like Zaheer may need rest for a game. But if his body and mind are rearing go he should be allowed to play the rest of the series.

I understand the 2 day gap between the games could be taxing for the bowlers but optional practice could be the mantra for that. Well oiled engines like Zaheer, Ishant or in-form batsmen need not spend hours inside the nets or could even go straight from match-to-match. I hope not to see too many changes in the Indian side but may be one.

On the other hand if England does not strike back they may feel the wrath of losing the ODI's in the ensuing test matches.

They have got everything right except the batting order. Had Flintoff come up high in the batting order, England could have altered the Bangalore results.

HAWKEYE COMMUNICATIONS

ICC celebrates fifth anniversary of HIV/AIDS partnership

Dubai , 25 November 2008

Players to wear red ribbons on World AIDS Day as a show of support for people living with HIV

The International Cricket Council (ICC) will celebrate five years of raising awareness and reducing the stigma of HIV by running a series of activities to mark World AIDS Day on 1 December.

Players taking part in major international matches will wear red ribbons, as a global show of support for people living with HIV, while the India and England teams will meet young people affected by HIV ahead of the seventh ODI in Delhi .

Since 2003, when it became the first international sports organisation to form a partnership with UNAIDS, the ICC has also worked with United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations including UNICEF and the Global Media AIDS Initiative (GMAI), to deliver a variety of activities aimed at raising awareness of HIV/AIDS.

Highlights of the partnership have included such profile-raising initiatives as running public service announcements featuring some of the world’s leading players including Graeme Smith, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahendra Singh Dhoni; player visits to schools and orphanages at ICC events; and an HIV-positive individual tossing the coin before the start of the Pakistan-India Test series in Rawalpindi in 2004.

Such was the level of support in 2007 at the ICC Cricket World Cup in the West Indies and ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa , 24 separate player visits to community projects took place, illustrating the enormous player support that the ICC’s partnership on HIV/AIDS receives.

“The UNAIDS-ICC partnership is a good example of promoting social responsibility through sport,” said Michel Sidibe, deputy executive director of UNAIDS.

“The game of cricket and its players have helped to raise awareness about HIV among young people and to break down barriers of stigma in many countries,” he said.

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said: “The ICC is proud of the contribution that cricket has made in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the past five years. We were the first international sports organisation to form a partnership with UNAIDS and by working with it and other excellent partners such as UNICEF and the GMAI we believe that we have led the way for sporting communities to make a difference on HIV/AIDS.”

“Women and children must be at the centre of the global response to AIDS,” said Ann M Veneman, executive director of UNICEF.

“UNICEF and the International Cricket Council are uniting cricket fans, teams, players and sponsors to focus on the impact of HIV and AIDS on vulnerable populations.”

Tina Hoff, vice-president and director of entertainment media partnerships at the Kaiser Family Foundation, which houses the GMAI Secretariat, said: “Through the Global Media AIDS Initiative’s partnership with ICC, broadcasters around the world have been able to leverage the popular appeal of cricket to inform audiences about AIDS and fight HIV-related stigma.

“Media companies in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia have aired special cricket-themed public service ads, covered player visits to HIV/AIDS clinics and service organisations, and included special HIV/AIDS announcements during cricket matches – all in an effort to help motivate their audiences to take action in response to this global pandemic,” she added.

The ICC’s HIV/AIDS partnership with UNAIDS, UNICEF and the Global Media AIDS Initiative will be a focal part of the ICC’s centenary celebrations in 2009. Further details on these activities and how HIV/AIDS-awareness activities will be delivered at the ICC World Twenty20 2009 and the ICC Champions Trophy 2009 will be announced in due course.

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Sports News

November 24, 2008

Cricket :
Hyderabad scored 282 at first innings against Tripura in the four-day Cooch Behar Trophy cricket tournament at Kolkata on Sunday last. Resuming from over night score of 140 for 3, Hyderabad scored a sizable total of 282 runs. A. Ashish Reddi scored 78, Axshat Reddi 69 and Binash Gabrial made 60 runs. Pacer Manisankar Murasing and Prabir Paul took four wickets each. Trailing by 163 runs Tripura scored 97 for 5 at second innings at stumps on day two. Samrat Singh scored 24.
Brief Score : Tripura 119 & 97/5, Hyderabad 282.

Assam routed Tripura girls by 26 runs in the Senior Women limited over cricket tournament in Kalyani, West Bengal on Sunday last. Put in to bat first, Assam scored 133 for 9 in stipulated 50 over. Mandip Kour made 24. Shyamali Debbarma and Tagori Das took two wickets each for Tripura. In reply to, Tripura bundled out only 107 runs in 46.3 over. Annapurna Das scored unbeaten 32 and Moutushi Debnath made 22. Mandip Kour bagged five for 15.
Brief Score : Assam 133/9 (50 over), Tripura 107/10 (46.3 over).

Assam beat Tripura by two wickets in C. K. Naidu Trophy Cricket tournament for under-22 boys here at Agartala on Sunday last. Set for the victory of 224 runs at he Polytechnic ground, visitor Assam touched the target by losing eight wickets. Rajib Kalita scored 52 and Abhijit S. Roy made 48. Pacer Rana Datta took three wickets for Tripura. Earlier, resuming from over night score of 192 for 6, Tripura scored 217 at second innings. Soumya Banik scored 58 and his partner opener Amit Das made 50.
Brief Score : Tripura 335 & 217, Assam 329 & 224/8.

Sports News

November 23, 2008

Cricket :
Host Tripura took vital first innings lead against Assam in the C. K. Naidu Trophy Cricket Tournament for under-22 boys here at Agartala on Saturday last. Resuming from over night score of 271 for 6, visitor Assam bundled out 329 runs at first innings. Gokul Sharma batted brilliantly and scored 112 runs. Fro Tripura, Rakesh Sharma took five and skipper Abhijit Dey bagged four wickets. Leading by six runs, Tripura scored 192 for 6 in the second innings at stumps of day three. Soumya Banik scored 58 and his partner opener Amit Das made 50. P. Sonowal took three wickets for Assam .
Brief Score : Tripura 335 & 192/6, Assam 329.

Assam beat Tripura by 127 runs in the Vijoy Merchant Trophy Cricket tournament for under-16 boys in Hailakandi , Assam on Saturday last. Set for the target of 191 runs in the last day of three-day match, Tripura bundled out only 63 runs at second innings. Kankan Das took five for 7 of winning team. Earlier, host Assam scored 142 runs of their second innings. Manashjoyti Gogoi scored 41. For Tripura, Surajit Khadim took three wickets.
Brief Score : Assam 195 & 142, Tripura 147 & 63.

Tripura bundled out only 119 runs at first innings against Hyderabad in the four-day Cooch Behar Trophy cricket tournament for under-19 boys in Kolkata on Saturday last. Decided to bat first at Eden Gardens , poor batting display by Tripura boys and bundled out quickly. Suman Majumder scored 39 and Samir Debbarma made 34. For Hyderabad , Minash Gabriel took four wickets. In reply to, Hyderabad scored 140 for 3 at stumps on day one. A. Ashish Reddy scored 78.
Brief Score : Tripura 119, Hyderabad 140/3.

Johnson celebrates nine-wicket haul by jumping 18 places in rankings

Dubai, 23 November 2008

Lee drops out of top five bowlers; Smith breaks into top 10 batsmen; progress, too, for Katich, Prince, Clarke and Taylor

Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has moved up 18 places in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers after a man-of-the-match performance in the first Test against New Zealand in Brisbane .

The 27-year-old left-armer registered match figures of 9-69 in 25.3 overs – the best figures of his career to date – as Australia beat its trans-Tasman rival by 149 runs at the ’Gabba.

That effort means Johnson moves up to 12th position as he enjoys his highest rating yet, level with New Zealand ’s Daniel Vettori. And there is potential for further improvement as the second Test begins in Adelaide on 28 November – a place in the top 10 beckons.

The news is not so good for Brett Lee as the New South Welshman has slipped out of the top five bowlers into sixth position. Top spot is still occupied by Sri Lanka ’s Muttiah Muralidaran with Dale Steyn of South Africa in second place and Lee’s Australia team-mate Stuart Clark in third.

Proteas skipper Graeme Smith has broken into the top 10 following his performance in the first Test against Bangladesh at Bloemfontein . The 27-year-old hit 157 for his country in the first innings, which went a long way towards ensuring an innings victory for South Africa .

Smith gains three places to ninth in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen with Australia ’s Matthew Hayden and South Africa ’s Jacques Kallis both dropping out of the top 10.

Smith’s team-mate Ashwell Prince also gained three places, to 17th position, after an unbeaten half-century in that match, while Hashim Amla has gone up two places to 25th position after hitting a century.

For Australia, Simon Katich’s outstanding innings of 131 not out in the second innings against New Zealand was a crucial factor in his side’s victory as many of his team-mates seemed to struggle with the bat. This knock has elevated Katich up seven places and he now looks poised, in 26th position, to launch an assault on the top 20 for the first time.

Vice-captain Michael Clarke held the Australia line-up together in the first innings and was out just two runs short of what would have been his ninth Test century. However, he does gain one place in the rankings for his trouble and now sits in 14th position, ahead of England ’s Alastair Cook but behind VVS Laxman of India.

It was not a particularly memorable match for New Zealand ’s batsmen with one notable exception. Number-four batsman Ross Taylor’s efforts of 40 and 75 earn him 12 places and he now sits in 31st position on the highest rating of his life so far.

Top of the ladder is Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the West Indies, followed in second place by Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka .

Reliance Mobile ICC Test Rankings (as of 23 November)

Batsmen

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating

1 ( - ) S.Chanderpaul WI 890 ! 49.08 890 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
2 ( - ) K Sangakkara SL 88 54.79 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
3 ( - ) Mohd Yousuf Pak 880 55.49 933 v WI at Karachi 2006
4 ( - ) Mike Hussey Aus 846 64.04 921 v WI at Kingston 2008
5 ( - ) M Jayawardena SL 837 52.41 847 v Ind at Colombo (SSC) 2008
6 ( - ) Kevin Pietersen Eng 829 50.51 905 v WI at Headingley 2007
7 (+1) Yunus Khan Pak 799 49.14 856 v Eng at Headingley 2006
8 (-1) Ricky Ponting Aus 793 57.06 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006
9 (+3) Graeme Smith SA 783 ! 50.15 783 v Ban at Bloemfontein 2008
10 (+1) Virender Sehwag Ind 765 51.96 854 v SA at Kolkata 2004
11 (-1) Jacques Kallis SA 760 55.23 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
12 (-3) Matthew Hayden Aus 744 52.04 935 v Eng at Brisbane 2002
13 ( - ) VVS Laxman Ind 732 45.25 753 v Aus at Sydney 2004
14 (+1) Michael Clarke Aus 715 45.89 761 v Ind at Melbourne 2007
15 (-1) Alastair Cook Eng 686 42.88 707 v SL at Galle 2007
16 ( - ) Sachin Tendulkar Ind 683 54.30 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
17 (+3) Ashwell Prince SA 675 43.15 756 v Pak at Centurion 2007
18 ( - ) Andrew Symonds Aus 664* 43.25 718 v WI at Antigua 2008
19 ( - ) Gautam Gambhir Ind 663* 44.39 670 v Aus at Delhi 2008
20 (-3) AB de Villiers SA 661 41.08 679 v Eng at The Oval 2008

Bowlers

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave Econ HS Rating

1 ( - ) M Muralidaran SL 895 21.96 920 v Ban at Kandy 2007
2 ( - ) Dale Steyn SA 853 22.08 897 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2008
3 ( - ) Stuart Clark Aus 827* 22.34 863 v WI at Bridgetown 2008
4 ( - ) Makhaya Ntini SA 782 27.94 863 v Ind at Durban 2006
5 ( - ) Ryan Sidebottom Eng 738* 25.68 769 v SA at Lord's 2008
6 (-1) Brett Lee Aus 726 30.44 811 v WI at Antigua 2008
7 ( - ) Harbhajan Singh Ind 688 30.77 765 v NZ at Wellington 2002
8= ( - ) Chaminda Vaas SL 684 29.31 800 v Ind at Chennai 2005
( - ) Shoaib Akhtar Pak 684 25.69 855 v NZ at Wellington 2003
10 (+1) Monty Panesar Eng 653 31.95 721 v WI at Chester-le-St 2007
11 (-1) Shane Bond NZ 648* 22.39 778 v WI at Auckland 2006
12= ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 641 33.29 681 v Aus at Auckland 2000
(+18) Mitchell Johnson Aus 641*! 30.50 641 v NZ at Brisbane 2008
14 (-1) Jerome Taylor WI 628*! 34.69 628 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
15 (-1) James Anderson Eng 620 ! 34.51 620 v SA at The Oval 2008
16 (-1) Mohammad Asif Pak 619* 23.13 710 v SA at Cape Town 2007
17 (-1) Andrew Flintoff Eng 615 32.21 810 v Pak at Multan 2005
18 (-1) Danish Kaneria Pak 614 33.90 723 v Eng at Multan 2005
19 (+1) Jacques Kallis SA 608 30.82 742 v Eng at Headingley 2003
20 (-2) Zaheer Khan Ind 599 34.59 689 v Pak at Delhi 2007

All-rounders

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Rating

1 ( - ) Jacques Kallis SA 462 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
2 ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 350 369 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
3 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 302 501 v Pak at Multan 2005
4 ( - ) Dwayne Bravo WI 295 /*! 295 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
5 ( - ) Chaminda Vaas SL 281 300 v WI at Guyana 2008

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

I afraid England's acclimatization in the series

Javagal Srinath

I am afraid, the England's acclimatization has come little too late in the series.
My personal experience as a player touring abroad, we bowlers found it tough to get use to required line and length. Invariably, we didn't play enough practice matches before the main games. By the time we came to terms with the local conditions, the host would be in the driver seat making the rest of the series a formality. Just like what the English position is at the moment. England winning 4 games on trot is quite a distant dream.

The Kanpur game verdict pronounced by the Duckworth Lewis formula must have made English team feel incomplete. Had the game had gone all the way down to the wire; the result could have been anybody's guess. Defending a meager score of 240, England was very much on par or even a touch in front in most part of the 2nd innings. With their bowlers coming to terms with the Indian wickets, at least the hopes should be high when they take on the field in Bangalore.

Dhoni and his men have a moved a step ahead at the strategy level. Dhoni emphasizing about Duckworth Lewis coming into play during the toss speaks volumes about the team's preparation. At this level, Cricket is not just the function of bat or the ball but playing by the law is equally important.

India not losing the wickets in the middle overs was a clear indication that the batsmen were playing keeping Duck-worth lewis in mind.

Two instances which won the match for India was scoring runs during the power-play 3 and keeping wickets intact just after that. Dhoni involvement in both partnership with Yusuf and Yuvraj had the game in control.

England bowling now looking good, its there batting order which needs a fine tweak.

Bopara coming higher up the order brought the necessary aggression .But the advantage gained by the opening partnership was nullified when Flintoff was made to play the spinners as soon as he arrived at the crease. Flintoff is at ease playing medium pacers at the beginning of his innings. Most of the English batsmen are heavy on the legs against spinners.

Innocuous spin bowling of Yuvraj and Pathan were given too much respect. Facing spinners, Pieterson and Owais Shah are fluid in the crease. Flintoff coming at number 3 and Kevin Pieterson and Owais Shash to follow, appears to be the most effective batting line up .

Stuart Board's exploits exposed Suresh Raina. With the selectors bringing Mastreo Sachin , who will walk in at Number three replacing Raina can only increase the challenge for the England bowlers. RP Singh may be a touch unlucky but Irafan will have to justify his selection. Rumours about Dhoni being unhappy about R P Singh' exclusion is rife in the news. If these rumours were to be true, then RP Singh should consider himself lucky to have a skipper who has tremendous faith in him.

Bangalore has not been a happy hunting ground for the hosts. That's one data point that England would want to reinforce in the team meeting to keep up their spirits.

England winning the match will bring back life into the series or else both the teams will have to go through the formalities.

HAWKEYE COMMUNICATIONS

Sports News

November 21, 2008

Cricket :

Sourav Dubey made a brilliant double ton of 219 runs to put Tripura in a big total of 335 runs in the first innings against Assam in the four-day C. K. Naidu Trophy cricket tournament for under-22 boys here today. Resuming from over night score of 268 for 8 at the Polytechnic ground, Sourav played brilliantly to put big total of hosts. Rana Datta scored 34. For Assam, Prakesh Bwagat took four and his partner Prasenta Sonowal bagged three wickets. In reply to, Assam scored 271 for 7 at stumps on day two. Gokul Sarma scored unbeaten 73, two opener’s P. Debnath 42 and Abhijit S. Roy made 61. Skipper Abhijit Dey took four wickets for Tripura
Brief Score : Tripura 335, Assam 271/6.

Tripura bundled out only 147 runs against Assam in the first innings of three-day Vijoy Merchant Cricket tournament for under-16 boys at Hailakandi, Assam today. In second day, Udayan Bose scored 35 and Nabajyoti Debnath made 24 for Tripura. Amlanjoyti Boruha and Kankan Das took three wickets each for hosts. Leading by 48 vital runs, Assam scored 52 for three at the end of play. In may be mention that Assam scored 195 runs in the first innings.
Brief Score : Assam 195 & 52/3, Tripura 147.

Mushfiqur Rahim receives reprimand for Code of Conduct breach

Dubai, 20 November 2008

Bangladesh ’s Mushfiqur Rahim has been officially reprimanded for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the first Test against South Africa at Bloemfontein .

Mushfiqur was found guilty of showing dissent at an umpire’s decision by Alan Hurst of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees at a hearing that took place after play concluded in Bloemfontein on Thursday.

The 20-year-old was found to have breached Level 1.3 of the code which relates to “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision”.

“Mushfiqur left the crease immediately but he was looking at and touching the edge of the bat as he left. That is inappropriate and clearly unacceptable after an lbw decision,” said Mr Hurst.

“The player has apologised for his actions and said he sincerely regretted this misdemeanor. This apology and his previous good record were taken into consideration,” he added.

All Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of a fine equivalent to 50 per cent of a player’s match fee.

The charge was brought by umpires Steve Davis of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and Ian Gould, Marais Erasmus and Brian Jerling of the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires.

Mr Hurst reached his decision after a hearing attended by the player, umpires, Bangladesh manager Mohammad ul Huque and coach Jamie Siddons. For Level 1 breaches of the ICC Code of Conduct the match referee’s decision is final and binding.

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Sports News

November 20, 2008

Cricket :

Sourav Dubey struck a brilliant ton of unbeaten 153 runs to put Tripura in a sizeable total against visitor Assam in the four-day C. K. Naidu Trophy Cricket match for under-22 boys here today. Put in to bat first at the Polytechnic ground, Tripura scored 268 for 8 at stumps on day one. Sourav scored 153 (294 balls, 360 minutes, 23X4. 1X6) and his partner Rana Datta made 34. P. Sonowal took three wickets for Assam.
Brief Score : Tripura 268/8.

Host Assam bundled out 195 runs agaist Tripura in the three-day Vijoy Merchant Trophy crickt match for under-16 boys at Hailakandi, Assam today. Elected to bat first, Manish Gogoi scored 39, Sunjow Barhma 36 and Wasiqur Rahaman made 35. For Tripura, Sourav Das and Sourav Roy took two wickets each.
Brief Score : Assam 195.

Cricketers celebrate the social side of the international game

Dubai , 20 November 2008

Cricket players across the world today united for ICC Diversity Day and celebrated the unique social qualities of the sport.

This is the second annual ICC Diversity Day which highlights cricket as a game with a diverse history and a genuine social significance that goes way beyond its laws and regulations.

Cricket is a global phenomenon that brings people together in a spirit of passionate competition and mutual respect. The ICC is keen to celebrate cricket’s rich diversity, something which facilitates the coming together of people from many countries, cultures and social backgrounds and can foster greater harmony and understanding within the community.

PA announcements and big-screen messages will be played at international matches across the globe today to promote ICC Diversity Day.

“Through cricket I have been able to meet people from all over the world and am now lucky enough to be able to say that I have friends across the globe,” said India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

“Although we have to be competitive on the field of play, I think one of the most important things about respecting the Spirit of Cricket is that it’s extremely important to make friends off the field as well,” he said.

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori believes that through participating in competitions such as the Indian Premier League (IPL), he has been lucky to make good friends from diverse backgrounds.

“Through playing in the IPL I was able to get to know people from all over the world and understand better their different cultures,” said Vettori.

“It is great to meet up with these friends when I am playing for my country and hopefully I will be able to maintain these friendships long after my playing career is over,” he said.

As well as bringing people together and promoting greater understanding, ICC Diversity Day also highlights the power of cricket to deliver important social messages.

To this end, the ICC has an ongoing partnership with UNAIDS, UNICEF and the Global Media AIDS Initiative on HIV/AIDS and cricket is used as a vehicle for education and awareness in an effort to stem the spread of the virus and to reduce the stigma attached to it.

As well as that, as part of the global ICC Diversity Day celebrations Cricket Australia has been running a wide variety of activities as part of a new ‘Cricket Cares’ initiative designed to encourage Australian cricketers of all levels to give something back to the community.

At national level, Cricket Australia’s ‘Cricket Cares’ programme is partnering with the Movember Foundation and with the McGrath Foundation to encourage greater awareness of and support for male and female health issues which affect so many in the community.

The Movember Foundation encourages men to grow a moustache during the month of November in order to raise awareness and funds for men’s health – specifically the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and Beyondblue, the national depression initiative.

Tasmania and Australia fast bowler Brett Geeves is one of the players participating in the Movember initiative. He said: “I grew up watching cricket when it seemed all the great players had moustaches so it’s been a lot of fun to be involved in Cricket Australia’s ‘Cricket Cares’ partnership with Movember.

“I’ve had a go at growing a mo’ myself and I’ve also looked through the archives and put together a list of the 30 greatest moustaches in Australian cricket for the Cricket Australia website at www.cricket.com.au/cricketcares. It’s all quite light-hearted but it helps to highlight the serious issue of men’s health,” said Geeves.

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said: “Across the ICC’s membership base, there are many social causes that use cricket to reach a diverse spectrum of people. From Papua New Guinea ’s work on HIV/AIDS, to the England and Wales Cricket Board’s social inclusion work with the Prince’s Trust, to Cricket Australia ’s tremendous health work with the Movember Foundation and the McGrath Foundation, cricket has shown it can have a positive impact on the world around us.

“Whether you are playing, spectating or administering the sport, cricket creates wonderful opportunities to meet people from many different and diverse parts of the world and to make friendships that last forever.”

Next week, the ICC will announce details about activities taking place for World AIDS Day which takes place on 1 December.

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Yuvi's midas touch

Javagal Srinath

Team India is looking invincible after the second one-dayer at Indore. Now the challenge is to look up to a 7-0 whitewash. This win had some special traits where even the English team had its moments. In the end it was the high quality Indian batting and good leadership that paved way for the Indore win.

The English team continues to reel under Yuvi's spell. Players hit purple patches in their career's. Even as Gambhir is subtle and consistent, Yuvraj snatches the game away from the opponents ruthlessly. The latter's contribution could be demoralizing to an extent where the opponents surrender meekly.

Analyzing both the hundreds in the given context, perhaps the responsible knock at Indore pips the century at Rajkot. His bowling is more a reflection of his good form with the bat. Yuvi's blitzkrieg has humbled Yusufs cameo knock, Gambhir's consistency and Dhoni's leadership in this game.

This wicket was stopping and turning had India trotting at 29 for 3. It was Gambhir who really laid the foundation. Yuvraj in his interview admits that his communication with Gambhir at the centre enabled him to assess the wicket and the situation better. An important dimension of the consecutive success stories is the depth of involvement from the seniors which was quite visible. Three co-incidental interviews I heard, have brought a new perception of the team. Yuvi talking good about Gambhir, Sehwag talking about targets and the communication he was sending to the batsmen at the center. Dhoni's strong statement that, "We are trying to turn individual work into team efforts…" This is perfect team work that overrides individual achievement.

For the first time Power play 3 opted by the batting side had a definite impact on the game. During the England power play Flintoff and Pieterson almost changed the course of the game by using it very effectively.

New power play 3 is only in its seventh game and teams are trying to come to terms with this new law. If the risk factor of this seemingly batsmen friendly law is not aptly calculated, it may exact a price from the player, for his unwarranted aggression.

Dhoni's cool temperament works. Certain captains actions during crisis triggers the panic button among the bowlers. Dhoni demonstated great body language to help keep bowlers confidence intact to cross over the power play. He mixed his bowlers well to keep the batsmen guessing.

Dhoni s confidence in Yusuf Pathan has paid off. Yusuf is a ferocious hitter down the batting order. Its not easy for players who have been in and out of the side to make such a comeback. It takes an innings like this to make a player believe that he belongs to the big league. Although Stuart's form in this match was encouraging England going with 4 seamers is not working for them. A regular spinner like Graham Swan should make it into the eleven. 2 most confident batsmen Pieterson and Flintoff should move higher up the order. The idea is to have the best batsmen face maximum overs.

HAWKEYE COMMUNICATIONS

Sports News

November 19, 2008

Cricket :
Tripura lost another defeat in four-day Ranji Trophy cricket match against Vidarbha by 73 runs here today. Set for the victory target of 278 runs at the Maharaja Bir Bickram Stadium, host team bundled out only 204 runs of second innings at last day. Opener Biswajit Dey fought alone and scored 75 runs (256 balls, 307 minutes, 8X4). Nishit Shetty made 24. Skipper spinner Pritam Gandge bagged four for 58 for visitors. With this win, Vidarbha earned five points.
Brief Score : Vidarbha 224 & 203, Tripura 150 & 204.

Australia can relegate New Zealand to eighth place in Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship

Dubai, 19 November 2008

Chance for Clark to go second in bowlers list; opportunity for Black Cap players to make their move up the rankings

New Zealand will drop to eighth place in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship if it loses both matches in the upcoming series against Australia .

Currently in seventh place behind Pakistan and ahead of the West Indies, Daniel Vettori’s team will at least have to draw one match if it is to remain above the men from the Caribbean .

If Australia wins the series 2-0 it will gain just one ratings point. This is because as the number-one ranked side in the world, it is expected to beat the seventh-placed side and so will not benefit much from doing so as the rankings are weighted accordingly.

Equally, as the lower-ranked side, if New Zealand was to win the series 2-0 it would gain no fewer than 10 ratings points and put clear water between itself and the West Indies and begin to heap pressure on Pakistan in sixth place and England one place further above it.

There is just one player in the New Zealand squad currently in the top 20 of the Reliance Mobile Test Player Rankings in either of the bowling or batting categories. As such, a lot will depend on the all-round performance of Vettori as the Black Caps captain has been in such fine form with bat and ball in recent times.

Vettori can break into the top 10 bowlers in the world with a good display in Brisbane and Adelaide and he is currently enjoying the highest rating of his career so far in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders, sitting in second place behind South Africa ’s Jacques Kallis.

Australia’s Stuart Clark was injured for much of the recent tour to India but has been named in the squad for this trans-Tasman series and if he hits his straps he could move ahead of South Africa’s Dale Steyn into second position in the bowling rankings, depending on how Steyn performs against Bangladesh in that two-match series which got underway in Bloemfontein today (Wednesday).

It is unlikely, however, that either Clark or Steyn can catch the number-one bowler, Muttiah Muralidaran such is the extent of the Sri Lanka spinner’s lead at the top.

Brett Lee (in fifth place) is the only other Australia bowler in the top 30 so this series will be an opportunity for Mitchell Johnson (in 31st place) in particular to change that state of affairs while Jason Krejza (in 49th place) will feel he can make further moves up the ladder following his memorable Test debut in India, provided of course the selectors opt for the spinner rather than another seamer.

Batting-wise Australia ’s on-paper dominance over the Kiwis is more obvious. There are five Australia batsmen in the top 20 compared to none from the opposition. As such, Michael Hussey (in fourth place), Ricky Ponting (seventh), Matthew Hayden (ninth), Michael Clarke (15th) and Andrew Symonds (18th) will all feel they can make improvements if and when the opportunity presents itself.

Upcoming matches:

20-24 Nov – Australia v New Zealand (Test), Brisbane
28 Nov-2 Dec – Australia v New Zealand (Test), Adelaide

Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship (as of 19 November, ahead of the series between Australia and New Zealand )

Rank Team Rating

1 Australia 129
2 India 116
3 South Africa 116
4 Sri Lanka 108
5 England 104
6 Pakistan 100
7 New Zealand 82
8 West Indies 81
9 Bangladesh 1

Reliance Mobile ICC Test Rankings (as of 19 November, ahead of the series between Australia and New Zealand )

Batsmen

Rank Player Team Points Ave HS Rating

1 S.Chanderpaul WI 890 ! 49.08 890 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
2 K Sangakkara SL 886 54.79 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
3 Mohd Yousuf Pak 880 55.49 933 v WI at Karachi 2006
4 Mike Hussey Aus 876 66.31 921 v WI at Kingston 2008
5 M Jayawardena SL 837 52.41 847 v Ind at Colombo (SSC) 2008
6 Kevin Pietersen Eng 829 50.51 905 v WI at Headingley 2007
7 Ricky Ponting Aus 826 57.58 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006
8 Yunus Khan Pak 799 49.14 856 v Eng at Headingley 2006
9 Matthew Hayden Aus 781 52.64 935 v Eng at Brisbane 2002
10 Jacques Kallis SA 774 55.46 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
11 Virender Sehwag Ind 765 51.96 854 v SA at Kolkata 2004
12 Graeme Smith SA 739 49.23 759 v Eng at Edgbaston 2008
13 VVS Laxman Ind 732 45.25 753 v Aus at Sydney 2004
14 Alastair Cook Eng 686 42.88 707 v SL at Galle 2007
15 Michael Clarke Aus 685 45.61 761 v Ind at Melbourne 2007
16 Sachin Tendulkar Ind 683 54.30 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
17 AB de Villiers SA 679 ! 41.61 679 v Eng at The Oval 2008
18 Andrew Symonds Aus 672* 44.65 718 v WI at Antigua 2008
19 Gautam Gambhir Ind 663* 44.39 670 v Aus at Delhi 2008
20= R Sarwan WI 659 40.40 697 v Eng at Old Trafford 2004
Ashwell Prince SA 659 42.23 756 v Pak at Centurion 2007

Bowlers

Rank Player Team Points Ave Econ HS Rating

1 M Muralidaran SL 895 21.96 920 v Ban at Kandy 2007
2 Dale Steyn SA 847 22.51 897 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2008
3 Stuart Clark Aus 821* 22.89 863 v WI at Bridgetown 2008
4 Makhaya Ntini SA 760 28.22 863 v Ind at Durban 2006
5= Brett Lee Aus 738 30.44 811 v WI at Antigua 2008
Ryan Sidebottom Eng 738* 25.68 769 v SA at Lord's 2008
7 Harbhajan Singh Ind 688 30.77 765 v NZ at Wellington 2002
8= Chaminda Vaas SL 684 29.31 800 v Ind at Chennai 2005
Shoaib Akhtar Pak 684 25.69 855 v NZ at Wellington 2003
10 Shane Bond NZ 654* 22.39 778 v WI at Auckland 2006
11 Monty Panesar Eng 653 31.95 721 v WI at Chester-le-St 2007
12 Daniel Vettori NZ 647 33.39 681 v Aus at Auckland 2000
13 Jerome Taylor WI 628*! 34.69 628 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
14 James Anderson Eng 620 ! 34.51 620 v SA at The Oval 2008
15 Mohammad Asif Pak 619* 23.13 710 v SA at Cape Town 2007
16 Andrew Flintoff Eng 615 32.21 810 v Pak at Multan 2005
17 Danish Kaneria Pak 614 33.90 723 v Eng at Multan 2005
18 Zaheer Khan Ind 599 34.59 689 v Pak at Delhi 2007
19 Anil Kumble Ind 596 29.66 859 v SL at Bangalore 1994
20 M Hoggard Eng 593 30.50 795 v SL at Edgbaston 2006

All-rounders

Rank Player Team Points HS Rating

1 Jacques Kallis SA 458 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
2 Daniel Vettori NZ 369! 369 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
3 Andrew Flintoff Eng 302 501 v Pak at Multan 2005
4 Dwayne Bravo WI 295 /*! 295 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
5 Chaminda Vaas SL 281 300 v WI at Guyana 2008

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

ICC task force in Zimbabwe to assess the current state of cricket

Dubai, 18 November 2008

The three-person team will make recommendations to the ICC Board on how Zimbabwe can return to playing Test cricket

The ICC task force appointed to assess the current situation of cricket in Zimbabwe has arrived in the country on a three-day fact-finding mission.

The team, led by president of the West Indies Cricket Board Dr Julian Hunte, will seek to establish the current state of cricket in Zimbabwe as it relates to the management and development of the game and also to conduct an assessment of the policies and programmes executed to date with the view to restoring the senior team to Test cricket.

It is carrying out a detailed inspection of the cricket administration, facilities, resources and capabilities in Zimbabwe , including all areas contained in the Full Member guidelines.

On behalf of the team, Dr Hunte will make recommendations to the ICC Board at its January 2009 meeting. These recommendations will include constructive strategies and initiatives to assist Zimbabwe to improve its cricket in all respects and to aid its return to Test cricket as soon as possible.

The team, which was directly appointed by the ICC Board, comprises the following ICC Directors: Dr Julian Hunte (team leader), Arjuna Ranatunga, Haroon Lorgat.

This visit to Zimbabwe from 17 to 19 November by Dr Hunte and Mr Lorgat is the first phase for the task force. It is enabling the team to meet with a wide range of cricket stakeholders in Zimbabwe and to view facilities first hand.

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Sports News

November 18, 2008

Cricket :
Tripura is fighting for straight win against Vidarbha in the four-day Ranji Trophy Plate-B cricket match here. Set for the victory of 278 runs at the Maharaja Bir Bickram Stadium, Tripura scored 46 for no loss at stumps on penultimate day. Two opener’s Biswajit Dey (26) and Sourav Dubey (8) are still batting. Earlier, resuming from over night score of 30 for one, visitor Vidarbha scored 203 runs of their second innings. Ranjit Paradkar scored 50 and his partner S. Shribastav made 49. Skipper Tushar Saha and Jayanta Debnath both took four wickets spearing 65 and 54 runs respectively.
Brief Score : Vidarbha 224 & 203, Tripura 150 & 46/0.

South Africa can regain second place in Reliance Mobile ICC Championship

Dubai, 18 November 2008

Proteas must win 2-0 to do so; Kallis, Smith and de Villiers can challenge at the top while it could be time for Shahadat to make his mark

South Africa will regain second position in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table if it beats Bangladesh 2-0 in the two-match series which gets underway in Bloemfontein on Wednesday.

India overtook Graeme Smith’s team after beating Australia 2-0 in a recent series but only by a fraction of ratings point and so if the Proteas can win both games against Bangladesh , they will gain one point and move back into second place.

However, even if South Africa wins the series 1-0, it will lose ground on Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team and it could even lose as many as seven points if it was to lose the series 2-0.

On the other hand, Bangladesh will gain 14 points if it manages to win the series 2-0 but even if it loses 1-0, it will still earn one point to go with the one it got after its recent two-match series against New Zealand.

Meanwhile, South Africa batsmen Jacques Kallis, Smith, AB de Villiers and Ashwell Prince can make further ground up the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen with good showings in the Tests. Kallis in 10th position is currently the highest-ranked Protea and the only batsman from either side in the top 10.

He is closely followed by his captain, Smith, in 12th place while de Villiers is enjoying the highest rating of his career to date in 17th spot and Prince is in 20th position. All are a long way behind number-one batsman and the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2008 Shivnarine Chanderpaul in first place.

South Africa ’s bowlers are relatively stronger with two – Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini – in the top five. It is unlikely that Steyn will overtake Sri Lanka ’s Muttiah Muralidaran into top spot but the young fast bowler can close that gap with a view to launching an assault on the number-one position in the subsequent Test series against Australia .

There are no other players from either side in the top 20 but Kallis is still the number one ranked player in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for all-rounders. He leads from New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori in second position and England ’s Andrew Flintoff in third.

For Bangladesh , fast bowler Shahadat Hossain has been in good form in the build-up to the first Test and he will no doubt feel that he can improve upon his current ranking of 42nd position.

Indeed, he is probably Bangladesh ’s form bowler at present and will take extra confidence from the fact that he has saved some of his best bowling in the past for the Proteas. Earlier this year he took 6-27 in the first innings of the first Test at Dhaka and ended up with match figures of 9-97 as South Africa won a hard-fought encounter.

Just ahead of Shahadat is the only other Bangladesh bowler of the current squad in the top 50, Mashrafe bin Mortaza in 41st place.

Upcoming matches:

19-23 Nov – South Africa v Bangladesh (Test), Bloemfontein
26-30 Nov – South Africa v Bangladesh (Test), Centurion

Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship (as of 18 November, ahead of the series between South Africa and Bangladesh )

Rank Team Rating

1 Australia 129
2 India 116
3 South Africa 116
4 Sri Lanka 108
5 England 104
6 Pakistan 100
7 New Zealand 82
8 West Indies 81
9 Bangladesh 1

Reliance Mobile ICC Test Rankings (as of 18 November 2008, before South Africa v Bangladesh )

Batsmen

Rank Player Team Points Ave HS Rating

1 S.Chanderpaul WI 890 ! 49.08 890 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
2 K Sangakkara SL 886 54.79 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
3 Mohd Yousuf Pak 880 55.49 933 v WI at Karachi 2006
4 Mike Hussey Aus 876 66.31 921 v WI at Kingston 2008
5 M Jayawardena SL 837 52.41 847 v Ind at Colombo (SSC) 2008
6 Kevin Pietersen Eng 829 50.51 905 v WI at Headingley 2007
7 Ricky Ponting Aus 826 57.58 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006
8 Yunus Khan Pak 799 49.14 856 v Eng at Headingley 2006
9 Matthew Hayden Aus 781 52.64 935 v Eng at Brisbane 2002
10 Jacques Kallis SA 774 55.46 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
11 Virender Sehwag Ind 765 51.96 854 v SA at Kolkata 2004
12 Graeme Smith SA 739 49.23 759 v Eng at Edgbaston 2008
13 VVS Laxman Ind 732 45.25 753 v Aus at Sydney 2004
14 Alastair Cook Eng 686 42.88 707 v SL at Galle 2007
15 Michael Clarke Aus 685 45.61 761 v Ind at Melbourne 2007
16 Sachin Tendulkar Ind 683 54.30 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
17 AB de Villiers SA 679 ! 41.61 679 v Eng at The Oval 2008
18 Andrew Symonds Aus 672* 44.65 718 v WI at Antigua 2008
19 Gautam Gambhir Ind 663* 44.39 670 v Aus at Delhi 2008
20= R Sarwan WI 659 40.40 697 v Eng at Old Trafford 2004
Ashwell Prince SA 659 42.23 756 v Pak at Centurion 2007

Bowlers

Rank Player Team Points Ave Econ HS Rating

1 M Muralidaran SL 895 21.96 920 v Ban at Kandy 2007
2 Dale Steyn SA 847 22.51 897 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2008
3 Stuart Clark Aus 821* 22.89 863 v WI at Bridgetown 2008
4 Makhaya Ntini SA 760 28.22 863 v Ind at Durban 2006
5= Brett Lee Aus 738 30.44 811 v WI at Antigua 2008
Ryan Sidebottom Eng 738* 25.68 769 v SA at Lord's 2008
7 Harbhajan Singh Ind 688 30.77 765 v NZ at Wellington 2002
8= Chaminda Vaas SL 684 29.31 800 v Ind at Chennai 2005
Shoaib Akhtar Pak 684 25.69 855 v NZ at Wellington 2003
10 Shane Bond NZ 654* 22.39 778 v WI at Auckland 2006
11 Monty Panesar Eng 653 31.95 721 v WI at Chester-le-St 2007
12 Daniel Vettori NZ 647 33.39 681 v Aus at Auckland 2000
13 Jerome Taylor WI 628*! 34.69 628 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
14 James Anderson Eng 620 ! 34.51 620 v SA at The Oval 2008
15 Mohammad Asif Pak 619* 23.13 710 v SA at Cape Town 2007
16 Andrew Flintoff Eng 615 32.21 810 v Pak at Multan 2005
17 Danish Kaneria Pak 614 33.90 723 v Eng at Multan 2005
18 Zaheer Khan Ind 599 34.59 689 v Pak at Delhi 2007
19 Anil Kumble Ind 596 29.66 859 v SL at Bangalore 1994
20 M Hoggard Eng 593 30.50 795 v SL at Edgbaston 2006

All-rounders

Rank Player Team Points HS Rating

1 Jacques Kallis SA 458 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
2 Daniel Vettori NZ 369! 369 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
3 Andrew Flintoff Eng 302 501 v Pak at Multan 2005
4 Dwayne Bravo WI 295 /*! 295 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
5 Chaminda Vaas SL 281 300 v WI at Guyana 2008

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

India moves to third in Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship

Dubai, 18 November 2008

England falls to sixth on tightly packed table; back-to-back centuries shoots Yuvraj into top 10 batsmen; progress for Gayle, Chanderpaul and Sarwan in batting list while Tanvir and Taylor make gains in bowlers’ log; Flintoff slips out of the top 10 bowlers

India has moved up two places from fifth to third position on the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table after beating England in the opening two matches of the seven-ODI series currently taking place in India .

In turn, England now sits in sixth position having slipped from third following the two comprehensive defeats. Having lost three ratings points, England now sits just behind New Zealand by a fraction of a point.

However, with five matches still remaining in the series and the ODI Championship ladder very closely packed, there is plenty of time for Kevin Pietersen and his men to make amends. On the other hand, if India can continue the way it is going, it can go second in the ladder by the end of the series.

Pakistan is the other big mover this week as Shoaib Malik’s team has moved up two places to fourth following its 3-0 series win against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi .

There are now just two ratings points separating India in third position from England in sixth with South Africa just another four points ahead so expect to see plenty of movement in the coming weeks. Australia is still out in front, some 12 ratings points clear of the Proteas.

Meanwhile, India ’s players are already reaping the rewards of their early successes in the series. Yuvraj Singh, who scored centuries in both matches, has shot up the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers. The 26-year-old has gained no fewer than 11 places and now sits in sixth position as he enjoys the highest rating of his career to date.

Despite losing its series with Pakistan , West Indies ’ batsmen have made big improvements in the latest rankings. Chris Gayle, who scored two typically entertaining hundreds in the three-match series in the United Arab Emirates, gained six places into fifth position while ICC Cricketer of the Year 2008 Shivnarine Chanderpaul is just ahead of him having jumped two places to fourth.

Ramnaresh Sarwan also had a good series with the bat and has jumped seven places to 13th in the list.

Australia captain and former number-one batsman Ricky Ponting is the one to lose out in the top five as he is overtaken by Yuvraj, Gayle and Chanderpaul. The Tasmanian has been concentrating on Test cricket of late but will have ample opportunity to regain lost ground when Australia takes on South Africa and New Zealand in ODIs early in 2009.

Meanwhile, there are a number of batsmen hovering on the cusp of the top 20 after recent matches. Yunus Khan of Pakistan has gained four places to 21st position and now has the highest rating of his career so far while India ’s Gautam Gambhir has also progressed four spots and now sits just behind Yunus in 22nd place.

Also for Pakistan , Misbah-ul-Haq moves up 10 places to 31st position while wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal gains nine places to 51st position after his heroics with the bat in Abu Dhabi .

Following its successful series against Bangladesh , South Africa ’s AB de Villiers (up three places to 14th position) and Jacques Kallis (up two to 17th) are also moving in the right direction. Herschelle Gibbs, however, has slipped three spots in the latest rankings and now occupies 15th position.

The batting rankings are still headed by India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni followed by Australia ’s Michael Hussey in second place and Graeme Smith of South Africa in third.

The big mover in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers is Sohail Tanvir, who has broken into the top 10 bowlers for the first time in his career after an impressive performance against the West Indies .

The 23-year-old has made rapid progress since making his ODI debut in October 2007 and his haul of seven wickets at an average of 15.14 and economy rate of 4.00 in Abu Dhabi has boosted him further to the tune of 12 places. He now sits in seventh spot, in between the Sri Lanka pair of Muttiah Muralidaran in sixth position and Chaminda Vaas in eighth.

West Indies speedster Jerome Taylor gains two places and heads into the top 10, underlying the fact that despite losing 3-0 with Pakistan, the series did not come without positives for the men from the Caribbean.

England ’s Andrew Flintoff loses five places to 13th position in the bowling rankings after taking just one wicket in the first two matches of the series at a cost of 116 runs and an economy rate of 6.10.

Chris Gayle’s bowling has also been an important aspect of the West Indies game plan of late and with his batting really firing, he has moved up three places and back into the top five of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders. That list is headed by New Zealand ’s Jacob Oram followed in second place by Flintoff.

Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table (as of 18 November, after Pakistan v West Indies series, South Africa v Bangladesh series and two ODIs of India v England series)

Rank Team Rating

1 Australia 131
2 South Africa 119
3 India 115
4 Pakistan 114
5 New Zealand 113
6 England 113
7 Sri Lanka 105
8 West Indies 91
9 Bangladesh 47
10 Ireland 19
11 Zimbabwe 15
12 Kenya 11

ICC One-Day Rankings (as of 18 November)

Batsmen

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating

1 ( - ) MS Dhoni Ind 784 46.91 806 v WI at Kingston 2006
2 ( - ) Mike Hussey Aus 776 57.13 863 v NZ at Perth 2007
3 ( - ) Graeme Smith SA 760 40.88 792 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
4 (+2) S.Chanderpaul WI 752 40.84 764 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2008
5 (+6) Chris Gayle WI 747 40.06 804 v Aus at Mumbai 2006
6 (+11) Yuvraj Singh Ind 745 ! 37.19 745 v Eng at Indore 2008
7 (-3) Ricky Ponting Aus 740 43.24 832 v NZ at Hobart 2007
8 (-1) Kevin Pietersen Eng 729 47.83 834 v Aus at Antigua 2007
9 (-4) Mohd Yousuf Pak 727 43.19 777 v SA at Raw alp indi 2003
10 (-1) Andrew Symonds Aus 719 40.34 778 v Ind at Nagpur 2007
11 (-3) Sachin Tendulkar Ind 717 44.33 887 v Zim at Sharjah 1998
12 (-2) Matthew Hayden Aus 711 43.80 854 v Ind at Centurion 2003
13 (+7) R Sarwan WI 691 44.17 798 v Ind at St Kitts 2006
14 (+3) AB de Villiers SA 689 36.40 733 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
15 (-3) Herschelle Gibbs SA 682 36.18 750 v SL at Durban 2003
16 (-3) K Sangakkara SL 680 35.66 760 v Ind at Rajkot 2007
17 (+2) Jacques Kallis SA 679 45.27 816 v WI at Johannesburg 2004
18 (-4) Michael Clarke Aus 677 42.46 756 v SL at Melbourne 2008
19 (-3) Sanath Jayasuriya SL 675 32.69 838 v Ban at Pietermaritzburg 2003
20 (-5) Shoaib Malik Pak 674 35.61 690 v WI at Abu Dhabi 2008

Bowlers

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave Econ HS Rating

1 ( - ) Nathan Bracken Aus 755 21.87 4.33 806 v SL at St George's 2007
2 ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 733 32.05 4.17 790 v Eng at Christchurch 2008
3 ( - ) Mitchell Johnson Aus 707 23.46 4.72 726 v Ban at Darwin 2008
4 ( - ) Kyle Mills NZ 697 ! 26.00 4.63 697 v Ban at Chittagong 2008
5 ( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 692 26.62 4.87 701 v SA at Trent Bridge 2008
6 ( - ) M Muralidaran SL 674 23.03 3.88 913 v NZ at Sharjah 2002
7 (+12) Sohail Tanvir Pak 673*! 26.00 4.81 673 v WI at Abu Dhabi 2008
8 (-1) Chaminda Vaas SL 672 27.54 4.18 861 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2004
9= ( - ) Jacob Oram NZ 664 30.14 4.39 768 v Aus at The Oval 2004
(+2) Jerome Taylor WI 664 26.46 4.68 688 v SA at Cape Town 2008
11 (-1) Brett Lee Aus 657 22.96 4.71 853 v SA at Melbourne 2006
12 (+2) Zaheer Khan Ind 652 28.71 4.84 700 v SA at Dhaka 2003
13 (-5) Andrew Flintoff Eng 650 24.56 4.39 755 v Ban at Dhaka 2003
14 (-2) Shahid Afridi Pak 644 35.04 4.63 685 v Ind at Dhaka 2008
15 (-2) Andre Nel SA 638 27.68 4.63 685 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
16 (-1) Stuart Clark Aus 632*! 27.82 4.90 632 v Ban at Darwin 2008
17 (-2) Iftikhar Anjum Pak 626 31.53 4.90 632 v Ban at Karachi 2008
18 (-3) Daren Powell WI 621 32.57 4.68 686 v Aus at St George's 2008
19 (-1) Brad Hogg Aus 611 26.84 4.52 687 v Ind at Nagpur 2007
20 ( - ) F Maharoof SL 609 24.39 4.65 671 v Eng at Dambulla 2007

All-rounders

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Rating

1 ( - ) Jacob Oram NZ 383! 383 v Ban at Chittagong 2008
2 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 364 544 v SL at The Rose Bowl 2004
3= (+3) Chris Gayle WI 342 511 v Zim at Harare 2003
( - ) Shoaib Malik Pak 342 402 v WI at Brisbane 2005
5 (-1) Jacques Kallis SA 327 505 v WI at Bridgetown 2001

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Sports News

November 17, 2008

Cricket :
Visitor Vidarbha took vital first innings lead against Tripura in the second day of four-day Ranji Trophy Plate-B cricket match here today. Resuming from over night score of 188 for 6 at the Maharaja Bir Bickram Stadium, Vidarbha finished their first innings in 224 runs. Ranjit Paradkar scored 76 (193 balls, 264 minutes, 12X4). Skipper Tushar Saha of host team took six wickets. In reply poor batting display by Tripura boys and bundled out at only 150 runs for their first innings. Two middle order batsmen Nishit Shetty and Abhijit Dey scored 37 (80 balls, 99 minutes, 6X4) and 35 (84 balls, 105 minutes, 5X4) respectively for hosts. Vidarbha spinner Madhusudhan Acharya bagged 4 for 23 and pacer Md. Hasim took 3 for 42. Leading by valuable 74 runs, visitor Vidarbha scored 30 for one in the second innings at the end of the day. Opener Amit Deshpande is still batting, who scored 17.
Brief Score : Vidarbha 224 & 30/1, Tripura 150.

Gymnastics :
Gymnast Dipa Karmakar took three Gold and two Silver medals in the National Women Sports in Kolkata on Saturday last. Dipa bagged Gold medals from Uneven Bar, Vaulting Horse and Floor Exercise category. She also took Bronze medal from Balancing Beam. Her partner Sharmistha Malakar took Bronze medal from Uneven Bar apparatus. Earlier, Tripura bagged two Silver medals from team championship and Individual All Round category also.

Swimming :
Tripura bagged eleven medals including three Gold’s, from National Swimming Championship for disables at Colonel of Friday last. Rakesh Debbarma (50 mt. Free Style & 50 mt. Brest Stroke) in Sub-junior section and Mantu Debbarma (100 mt. Brest Stroke) in senior section took three Gold medals. Sukanta Das bagged one Silver medal from 100 meters Back Stroke and four Bronze medals from 100 meters Free Style, 100 meters Brest Stroke, 100 meters Butter Fly and 200 meters Individual Medley in senior section. Tamal Rudra Pal bagged two Bronze medals from 100 meters Brest Stroke and 100 meters Free Style in junior section. Mantu Debbarma took one Bronze from 50 meters Butter Fly in senior section.

ICC announces a change to umpire appointments for upcoming Test series in Australia

Dubai , 17 November 2008

The International Cricket Council has made a change to the previously announced umpire appointments for the upcoming Test series in Australia .

Due to travel difficulties, Steve Bucknor of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires will not be officiating in the two-match series between Australia v New Zealand due to begin on 20 November. He will be replaced by Rudi Koertzen, also of the Emirates Elite Panel, for both Tests.

All other appointments remain as previously advised.

Appointments for the other upcoming series will be announced in due course.

Australia
Series match referee – Chris Broad
20-24 Nov – Australia v New Zealand (Test), Brisbane – Rudi Koertzen and Billy Doctrove
28 Nov-2 Dec – Australia v New Zealand (Test), Adelaide – Rudi Koertzen and Billy Doctrove

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Sports News

November 16, 2008

Cricket :

Visitor Vidarbha recovered their early damage and scored a good total against Tripura in the four-day Ranji Trophy cricket match here today. Put in to bat first at the Maharaja Bir Bickram Stadium, Vidarbha scored 188 for 6 in their first innings at stumps on the opening day. Earlier, visitors lost four quick wickets just on 78 runs and felt in trouble. Then Rajit Pardkar batted brilliantly and scored unbeaten 57 runs (174 balls, 233 minutes, 9X4) to recover his team. Opener Faiz Fazal (40) and middle order S. Shribastav (34) supported him. Skipper Tushar Saha of host team bagged five wickets sparing 50 runs and his spinner partner Jayanta Debnath took another.
Brief Score : Vidarbha 188/6.

Bengal defeated Tripura by innings and 116 runs in the Colonel C. K. Naidu Trophy four-day cricket match for under-22 boys here on Sunday last. At the Polytechnic ground, training by 289 runs in the first innings, Tripura bundled out in 173 runs of the second innings also. Nirupam sen Chowdhury scored 41 (83 balls, 4X4) and Abhinandan Roy made 40 (82 balls, 7X4). For Bengal , Azaz Ansari bagged 7 for 41. Earlier, Bengal scored 423 runs of their first innings. Sufian Khan scored 90, Debopam Biswas 89 and Arnab Nandi made 83. Spinner Rakesh Sharma took 5 for 114 for Tripura.
Brief Score : Tripura 134 & 173, Bengal 423.

Football :

Tripura girls bowed out from National Junior Football Tournament for under-19 years on Saturday last. In the last quarter final match at Gurgohn in Hariyana, host team routed Tripura girls by 10-0 goals. Winning team took lead 5-0 before lemon break. Earlier, in first quarter final match, Manipur beat Tripura by 3-0 goals and Goa defeated Tripura by 1-0 goal.

Venues and teams approved for Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Divisions 6 and 7

Dubai , 16 November 2008

The ICC Development Committee has approved in principle that the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 7 (WCL Div. 7) tournament will be held in May/June 2009 in Guernsey and that the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 6 (WCL Div. 6) tournament will be held in September in Singapore .

The decisions were made as the committee gathered in Spain for one of its biannual meetings, which concluded on Sunday, and the choice of venues are now subject to appropriate finalisation of arrangements.

In arriving at the determination of which teams would participate in each tournament, the Development Committee considered the relative strength of each region given the results of the WCL Div. 5 event in Jersey earlier this year as well as the most recent regional results and the desire to recognise all five regions of the Pepsi ICC Development Programme.

The Development Committee allocated the 10 positions across the two divisions by region assigning three teams from Asia (two for WCL Div. 6 and one for WCL Div. 7), three teams from Europe (one for WCL Div. 6 and two for WCL Div. 7), two teams from Africa (one for each division), one team from the Americas (for WCL Div. 7) and one team from East Asia-Pacific (also for WCL Div. 7).

In line with current ICC regional rankings, the make-up of the two tournaments will be as follows:

Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 7, May 2009 (Guernsey): Guernsey , Nigeria , Japan , Suriname , Bahrain and Gibraltar

Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 6, September 2009 ( Singapore ): Singapore , Botswana , Norway , Malaysia and top two teams qualifying from WCL Div. 7

Further information will be released on both tournaments in due course.

About the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League:

The Pepsi ICC World Cricket League was created to provide regular global one-day cricket opportunities to those countries outside the ICC’s Full Members.

The inaugural Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 1 event took place in Nairobi in January 2007, part of a multi-tiered event which will provide competitive cricket for the sport’s developing teams.

Bermuda , Canada , Ireland , the Netherlands and Scotland joined the host nation Kenya in this event in which all the matches had official ODI status. It proved to be a resounding success, with some outstanding cricket played, and it brought considerable media attention to the leading Associate Member countries.

As well as being timed to provide the vital preparation ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007, the two leading sides from the event which reached the final, Kenya and Scotland, gained qualification for the ICC World Twenty20 2007.

Kenya defeated Scotland in the final by eight wickets, avenging an earlier defeat in the group stage to the same opposition.

In the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division Three in Darwin , Australia , in mid-2007, Uganda secured the title when it defeated Argentina by 91 runs.

The top four teams from the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 2, who were Oman , UAE, Namibia and Denmark , will go forward to the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, which will be held in South Africa during April 2009.

Afghanistan and host Jersey were the top two teams at the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 5 in May 2008. They were promoted to the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 4 in October in Tanzania .

At that event, Afghanistan again performed outstandingly to defeat Hong Kong in the final, although both sides secured promotion to the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 3, which will take place in Buenos Aires from 24-31 January 2009.

The Pepsi ICC World Cricket League is about more than just the top six Associate teams. It is a multi-division structure designed to afford teams of various standards the opportunity to play regular one-day cricket against similarly ranked opponents regardless of where in the world they are located.

It also ensures that the qualifying pathway for the ICC Cricket World Cup is open to the majority of the 94 ICC Associate and Affiliate members.

This new structure of one-day cricket sits on top of the regional qualifying events to create a pyramid in which all teams have an opportunity to develop and an incentive to improve.

Promotion and relegation are possible between divisions as each team seeks to move up the world cricket ratings.

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

ICC announces requests for proposals data rights area

Dubai , 16 November 2008

Seeks tie-up to 2011 for production and distribution of official ICC data from ICC events

The International Cricket Council has announced it is seeking requests for proposals (RFPs) from qualified companies interested in becoming the exclusive worldwide licensee of official ICC data.

The successful company will work closely with ICC to produce, market and distribute data from various ICC cricket events, including the ICC Cricket World Cup, the ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC World Twenty20.

This is the first time the ICC has looked for an official partner in this area. ICC will license the successful applicant to produce, market and distribute ICC match data to various B2B and B2C users. These rights to use this intellectual property will be licensed for the period up to 2012 in order to ensure that both ICC and its partner have a real incentive to invest in effective product and brand development.

“Licensed sports data is an area of increasing importance and its use by sports press and broadcasters is widening to include 'fan focused' offerings such as fantasy leagues,” said Campbell Jamieson, ICC General Manager – Commercial.

“Match statistics are embedded into a large number of existing products but their accuracy and reliability is not always guaranteed,” he said.

“Cricket is a sport in which scoring and statistics is a key ingredient for measuring performance. Athletes, commentators and fans are constantly seeking deeper levels of analysis and so investment in data is of growing significance. The ability for a business to promote its use of official ICC data in its product or service will give it a genuine advantage over its competitors” he said.

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Full scorecard

Ranji Trophy Plate League - Group B
Tripura v Assam 2008/09 season
Played at Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium, Agartala, on 10,11,12 November 2008 (4-day match)
Toss Assam, who chose to field first
First-class debuts Deepak Sharma, RL Mali, S Purkayastha and SA Roy (Assam)

Tripura 1st innings
RH Saha b Mali 1
Sourav Dubey c Parida b Goswami 14
TK Chanda lbw b Mali 21
SD Chowdhury c Deepak Sharma b Konwar 30
NS Shetty c Roy b Konwar 11
R Banik b Katti 48
A Dey c Purkayastha b Konwar 17
R Dutta c & b Katti 54
TS Saha c Parida b Konwar 4
V Jain b Konwar 6
J Debnath not out 1
Extras (b 4, lb 2, nb 2) 8
Total (all out; 73.5 overs) 215 (2.91 runs per over)
Fall of wickets1-1 (RH Saha, 1.2 ov), 2-19 (Sourav Dubey, 4.4 ov), 3-53 (Chanda, 15.6 ov), 4-77 (Chowdhury, 27.2 ov), 5-83 (Shetty, 31.2 ov), 6-103 (Dey, 39.2 ov), 7-194 (Banik, 67.2 ov), 8-205 (TS Saha, 70.3 ov), 9-213 (Jain, 72.4 ov), 10-215 (Dutta, 73.5 ov)
Bowling
DS Goswami 15 2 46 1 3.06
RL Mali 13 6 28 2 2.15 (1nb)
S Purkayastha 9 1 27 0 3.00
A Konwar 16 2 59 5 3.68
A Katti 20.5 3 49 2 2.35 (1nb)

Assam 1st innings
NH Bordoloi lbw b Jain 0
SA Roy c Dutta b Jain 5
Deepak Sharma st Dutta b Debnath 46
JJ Martin c RH Saha b Chanda 20
RR Parida b Chanda 0
S Purkayastha c RH Saha b Debnath 77
A Katti c TS Saha b Dey 12
K Saikia c Dutta b Dey 3
DS Goswami c Banik b TS Saha 8
A Konwar not out 1
RL Mali run out (Sourav Dubey) 5
Extras (b 6, w 1, nb 11) 18
Total (all out; 72.1 overs) 195 (2.70 runs per over)
Fall of wickets1-1 (Bordoloi, 0.4 ov), 2-10 (Roy, 4.3 ov), 3-79 (Martin, 26.3 ov), 4-79 (Parida, 26.6 ov), 5-90 (Deepak Sharma, 36.2 ov), 6-148 (Katti, 56.3 ov), 7-164 (Saikia, 60.4 ov), 8-179 (Goswami, 67.6 ov), 9-189 (Purkayastha, 70.5 ov), 10-195 (Mali, 72.1 ov)
Bowling
V Jain 18 4 62 2 3.44 (3nb, 1w)
TK Chanda 8 0 24 2 3.00 (8nb)
TS Saha 23 9 34 1 1.47 (1nb)
J Debnath 12.1 0 42 2 3.45
A Dey 10 1 22 2 2.20
NS Shetty 1 0 5 0 5.00

Tripura 2nd innings
RH Saha c Parida b Katti 23
Sourav Dubey c Saikia b Mali 4
SD Chowdhury lbw b Konwar 22
NS Shetty c Purkayastha b Mali 55
R Banik b Purkayastha 12
J Debnath run out (Goswami) 10
A Dey c Saikia b Katti 6
TK Chanda not out 20
R Dutta st Saikia b Katti 0
TS Saha b Katti 0 1
V Jain b Purkayastha 21
Extras (b 2, lb 6, w 4, nb 7) 19
Total (all out; 54.3 overs; 237 mins) 192 (3.52 runs per over)
Fall of wickets1-4 (Sourav Dubey, 1.5 ov), 2-48 (Chowdhury, 15.6 ov), 3-58 (RH Saha, 18.5 ov), 4-76 (Banik, 26.2 ov), 5-96 (Debnath, 30.6 ov), 6-124 (Dey, 40.2 ov), 7-156 (Shetty, 48.4 ov), 8-168 (Dutta, 51.3 ov), 9-168 (TS Saha, 51.4 ov), 10-192 (Jain, 54.3 ov)
Bowling
DS Goswami 11 2 35 0 3.18 (2w)
RL Mali 11 1 46 2 4.18 (3nb, 1w)
A Katti 18 3 63 4 3.50 (1nb)
A Konwar 11 1 26 1 2.36
S Purkayastha 3.3 0 14 2 4.00

Assam 2nd innings (target: 213 runs)
NH Bordoloi lbw b Debnath 13
K Saikia run out (Shetty) 1
RR Parida c & b Debnath 79
JJ Martin b Debnath 45
SA Roy c Dutta b Debnath 5
Deepak Sharma not out 41
S Purkayastha not out 19
Extras (lb 1, w 2, nb 2, pen 5) 10
Total (5 wickets; 64.1 overs; 248 mins) 213 (3.31 runs per over)
Did not bat DS Goswami, A Katti, A Konwar, RL Mali
Fall of wickets1-10 (Saikia, 5.3 ov), 2-38 (Bordoloi, 15.5 ov), 3-129 (Martin, 41.6 ov), 4-137 (Roy, 43.5 ov), 5-178 (Parida, 55.3 ov)
Bowling
V Jain 7 1 19 0 2.71 (2w)
TK Chanda 2 0 13 0 6.50 (2nb)
TS Saha 23 5 60 0 2.60
J Debnath 22 3 69 4 3.13
A Dey 7 0 34 0 4.85
NS Shetty 1 0 4 0 4.00
SD Chowdhury 1 0 1 0 1.00
Sourav Dubey 1.1 0 7 0 6.00

Result Assam won by 5 wickets
Points Assam 5, Tripura 0

Full scorecard

Ranji Trophy Plate League - Group B
Services v Tripura 2008/09 season
Played at Palam A Ground, Model Sports Complex, Delhi, on 3,4,5,6 November 2008 (4-day match)
First-class debuts A Sinha (Services); Sourav Dubey (Tripura)
Toss Tripura, who chose to bat first

Tripura 1st innings
RH Saha c Tomar b Rakesh Kumar 58
Sourav Dubey c Tahir Khan b Karmakar 16
TK Chanda b Karmakar 19
NS Shetty c Reddy b Rakesh Kumar 34
R Banik lbw b Karmakar 5
SD Chowdhury c Yashpal Singh b Rakesh Kumar 0
A Dey c Tahir Khan b Karmakar 34
TS Saha c Mohanty b Rakesh Kumar 0
R Dutta c Israni b Rakesh Kumar 27
V Jain not out 6
J Debnath c Reddy b Karmakar 2
Extras (b 1, lb 7, w 3, nb 11) 22
Total (all out; 100.4 overs; 406 mins) 223 (2.21 runs per over)
Fall of wickets1-30 (Sourav Dubey, 15.6 ov), 2-80 (Chanda, 38.3 ov), 3-125 (RH Saha, 59.4 ov), 4-142 (Banik, 64.4 ov), 5-143 (Chowdhury, 65.5 ov), 6-152 (Shetty, 69.2 ov), 7-152 (TS Saha, 69.4 ov), 8-215 (Dutta, 95.4 ov), 9-215 (Dey, 98.3 ov), 10-223 (Debnath, 100.4 ov)
Bowling
Rakesh Kumar 28 8 79 5 2.82 (2nb, 2w)
Hari Prasad 15 6 30 0 2.00 (3nb, 1w)
SS Karmakar 23.4 7 44 5 1.85 (2nb)
AK Mohanty 14 4 28 0 2.00
A Sinha 11 5 21 0 1.90
Yashpal Singh 9 3 13 0 1.44

Services 1st innings
SS Tomar c & b Jain 0
Tahir Khan c RH Saha b Dey 52
D Israni c Dey b Chanda 2
Yashpal Singh c Chanda b TS Saha 9
Jasvir Singh c RH Saha b TS Saha 12
MP Reddy c & b Dey 6
A Sinha c Banik b Debnath 26
AK Mohanty b Jain 3
SS Karmakar c RH Saha b Dey 1
Hari Prasad not out 9
Rakesh Kumar b Debnath 2
Extras (b 8, lb 3, nb 5) 16
Total (all out; 75 overs; 302 mins) 138 (1.84 runs per over)
Fall of wickets1-0 (Tomar, 0.3 ov), 2-25 (Israni, 11.5 ov), 3-49 (Yashpal Singh, 24.1 ov), 4-73 (Jasvir Singh, 42.6 ov), 5-92 (Tahir Khan, 56.6 ov), 6-93 (Reddy, 58.4 ov), 7-102 (Mohanty, 63.5 ov), 8-109 (Karmakar, 66.6 ov), 9-134 (Sinha, 72.3 ov), 10-138 (Rakesh Kumar, 74.6 ov) Bowling
V Jain 17 6 33 2 1.94 (1nb)
TK Chanda 8 4 13 1 1.62 (4nb)
TS Saha 20 10 40 2 2.00
J Debnath 18 5 22 2 1.22
A Dey 11 3 16 3 1.45
SD Chowdhury 1 0 3 0 3.00

Tripura 2nd innings
RH Saha b Hari Prasad 7
Sourav Dubey lbw b Hari Prasad 24
TK Chanda lbw b Hari Prasad 4
NS Shetty lbw b Mohanty 14
R Banik lbw b Karmakar 26
SD Chowdhury b Karmakar 4
A Dey c Reddy b Sinha 29
R Dutta lbw b Karmakar 0
TS Saha lbw b Yashpal Singh 36
V Jain not out 58
J Debnath lbw b Yashpal Singh 16
Extras (b 7, lb 1, nb 4) 12
Total (all out; 68 overs) 230 (3.38 runs per over)
Fall of wickets1-13 (RH Saha, 5.3 ov), 2-21 (Chanda, 7.4 ov), 3-49 (Sourav Dubey, 17.5 ov), 4-65 (Shetty, 26.4 ov), 5-74 (Chowdhury, 31.6 ov), 6-93 (Banik, 35.5 ov), 7-93 (Dutta, 37.1 ov), 8-149 (TS Saha, 48.4 ov), 9-157 (Dey, 51.3 ov), 10-230 (Debnath, 67.6 ov)
Bowling
SS Karmakar 17 4 49 3 2.88
Hari Prasad 9 2 22 3 2.44
Rakesh Kumar 17 1 61 0 3.58 (3nb)
AK Mohanty 14 5 53 1 3.78
A Sinha 4 1 16 1 4.00
Yashpal Singh 7 0 21 2 3.00

Services 2nd innings (target: 316 runs)
SS Tomar c Dey b TS Saha 26
Tahir Khan c Banik b Debnath 21
MP Reddy st Dutta b Dey 7
Yashpal Singh c Banik b Debnath 14
AK Mohanty c Dey b TS Saha 52
Jasvir Singh c sub (B Dey) b Jain 67
D Israni c Jain b Debnath 11
A Sinha c Chowdhury b Debnath 8
SS Karmakar c Chowdhury b Jain 40
Hari Prasad b Jain 4
Rakesh Kumar not out 0
Extras (b 5, nb 6) 11
Total (all out; 100.1 overs) 261 (2.60 runs per over)
Fall of wickets1-35 (Tomar, 10.2 ov), 2-55 (Reddy, 18.2 ov), 3-55 (Tahir Khan, 19.4 ov), 4-107 (Yashpal Singh, 46.3 ov), 5-138 (Mohanty, 55.4 ov), 6-165 (Israni, 76.3 ov), 7-193 (Sinha, 81.5 ov), 8-249 (Karmakar, 93.4 ov), 9-254 (Jasvir Singh, 97.2 ov), 10-261 (Hari Prasad, 100.1 ov)
Bowling
V Jain 16.1 5 45 3 2.78 (1nb)
TK Chanda 7 2 21 0 3.00 (3nb)
J Debnath 28 6 55 4 1.96
TS Saha 31 8 80 2 2.58
A Dey 17 4 50 1 2.94
Sourav Dubey 1 0 5 0 5.00

Result Tripura won by 54 runs
Points Tripura 5, Services 0

Indian cricket has struck a purple patch

Javagal Srinath

Indian cricket has struck a purple patch; we are now ranked No.2 in the ICC Test rankings this team must now make a serious challenge for No.1. This is also the time to appreciate how Australia maintained their standards – and their No. 1 rank for such a long time. A strong test playing country can always produce a good ODI side but the vice versa may not be necassarily true. In the recent Australia's loss in the Test series Ricky Ponting and the management is being severely criticized. It is a reminder that to the team with standards, all that matters is No.1.

India's bid for the No.1 in both forms of the game will send a very good message down the line in Indian cricket. Everyone aspiring for a place in the team will know that they are not only playing for their country but also for the Number for the number one team in the world.

Now India has seven ODIs lined up against England and India , you have to think, are thebetter team here. England has had a mixed bag this year, beating South Africa at home, but losing series to New Zealand both home and away. I feel England are willing to compromise on the short game but focus and compete fiercely hard in Test cricket. This may well happen in India .

India will have much confidence going into the series – every other player in the batting line-up is an impact player, who can change the course of a match: there's Virender Sehwag to open, Yuvraj Singh in the middle order followed by MS Dhoni and the wild card Yousuf Pathan lower down. In between there is Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina who are very effective and could bring stability in the middle order. England depend mainly on captain Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff and are hamstrung by an unsettled opening pair. There's been a lot of changing and chopping of the openers, not ideal when you need a settled opening pair on India 's batting tracks to get you on your way.

This series will be a good time for India to look for bowlers for the bigger tournaments down the line – the world T20 next year and further down the line to the 2011 world cup. There is a good tussle on for the second's spinner's slot between Pragyan Ojha who will be playing the first three ODIs and Piyush Chawla, who finds himself on the fringes of reckoning again, like Irfan Pathan, RobinUthappa and Dinesh Karthick. It is not as easy as it seems to get into an Indian squad.

England 's bowling find itself wanting in experience as only Flintoff and Anderson haveplayed a reasonable number of ODIs. It will be interesting to see how Stuart Broad shapes up – and I have the feeling he may want to make himself known for different deeds in India apart from being the bowler off whom Yuvraj hit six sixes in the World T20 in South Africa !

HAWKEYE COMMUNICATIONS

ICC announces umpire and referee appointments for upcoming series in Zimbabwe and Australia

Dubai , 13 November 2008

The International Cricket Council has announced the referees and umpires who will officiate in the upcoming ODI series in Zimbabwe and the Test series in Australia .

On 20 November Zimbabwe will take on Sri Lanka in the first of five ODIs in Harare with Mike Procter of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees overseeing his final series before taking up a full-time position as Cricket South Africa ’s convener of selectors.

Aleem Dar from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires will stand in all five ODIs along with appointments made by Zimbabwe Cricket.

Meanwhile, Australia plays two home Tests against New Zealand beginning in Brisbane on 20 November. The series will be refereed by Chris Broad of the Emirates Elite Panel while both matches will be umpired by Steve Bucknor and Billy Doctrove, who are also from the Emirates Elite Panel.

Appointments for the other upcoming series will be announced in due course.

Zimbabwe
Series match referee – Mike Procter
20 Nov – Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka (ODI), Harare – Aleem Dar and local appointment
22 Nov – Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka (ODI), Harare – Aleem Dar and local appointment
24 Nov – Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka (ODI), Harare – Aleem Dar and local appointment
28 Nov – Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka (ODI), Harare – Aleem Dar and local appointment
30 Nov – Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka (ODI), Harare – Aleem Dar and local appointment

Australia
Series match referee – Chris Broad
20-24 Nov – Australia v New Zealand (Test), Brisbane – Steve Bucknor and Billy Doctrove
28 Nov-2 Dec – Australia v New Zealand (Test), Adelaide – Steve Bucknor and Billy Doctrove

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Sports News

November 13, 2008

Football :
Tripura girls bowed out from National Junior Football championship in Gurgohn, Hariyana today. In quarter final second league match, Goa beat Tripura by 1-0 goal. Earlier, Manipur routed Tripura by 3-0 goals.

Sports Council :
Tripura bagged silver medal in the National Women Sports championship in Kolkata today. In Gymnastics team championship Tripura girls lifted this medal. On other side, Tripura girls beat Orissa in Kho-Kho championship. In Volleyball, Tripura girls beat both Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Cricket :
Two veteran cricketers Timir Chanda and Subal Chowdhury were dropped from Tripura Ranji team for upcoming four-day match against Vidarbha on November 16 next. They were replaced by Kishor Muhuri and Bappa Das.

Visitor Bengal scored 253 for three against Tripura after day one in the four-day C. K. Naidu under-22 cricket match here today. Put in to bat first, Debopam Biswas scored 89 and Sufian Khan made 90 for Bengal. For Tripura, Rakesh Saha took two wickets.
Brief Score :Bengal 253/3.

Silva and Siriwardene from Sri Lanka fly up the rankings

Dubai, 13 November 2008

Sri Lanka’s Dedunu Silva and Shashikala Siriwardene have achieved career-best rankings in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batters following their team’s 3-2 victory over the West Indies in Colombo on Wednesday.

Silva had started the series in 17th position but ended on in 13th place after finishing as the leading run-getter with 162 runs.

Captain Siriwardene began the series in 24th place and finished in 15th position after a series aggregate of 126 runs. The 23-year-old right-hander’s entry into the top 20 means India ’s Anjum Chopra has dropped to 21st position.

Stefanie Taylor is the highest-ranked West Indies batter in 34th place after she scored 122 runs in the series.

The batting list is headed by Claire Taylor of England with Australia ’s Lisa Sthalekar second and India ’s Mithali Raj third.

There is no change in the top 20 of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers though Siriwardene has vaulted to 21st after a series haul of 8-115.

Siriwardene’s good performance with bat and ball has helped her break into the top 10 of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for all-rounders. She has jumped four places to eighth.

Australia’s Sthalekar leads the all-rounders’ listing from team-mate Shelley Nitschke with Nicola Brown of New Zealand in third place.

In what will be the last series before the ICC Women’s World Cup, Australia will host New Zealand in the Rose Bowl Series to be held from 1 to 12 February.

Reliance Mobile ICC Women’s ODI Rankings (as of 13 November)

Batters

Rank Player Team Points Ave HS Rating

1 Claire Taylor Eng 804 39.13 820 v NZ at Blackpool 2007
2 Lisa Sthalekar Aus 783 37.96 804 v Ind at Sydney 2008
3 Mithali Raj Ind 711 46.50 827 v Aus at Baroda Vadodar 2004
4 Sarah Taylor Eng 699* 40.11 706 v Ind at Taunton 2008
5 Alex Blackwell Aus 693! 35.42 693 v Ind at Canberra 2008
6 Charlotte Edwards Eng 658 37.05 694 v SA at Pretoria 2005
7 Nicola Browne NZ 653! 30.21 653 v Aus at Lincoln 2008
8 Karen Rolton Aus 652 49.25 867 v Ind at Vapi 2004
9 Shelley Nitschke Aus 611*! 28.20 611 v Ind at Canberra 2008
10 Sara McGlashen NZ 568 23.09 584 v Eng at Derby 2007
11 Haidee Tiffen NZ 557 29.50 764 v Ind at Lincoln 2006
12 Aimee Mason NZ 549 22.20 616 v Eng at Blackpool 2007
13 Dedunu Silva SL 530*! 22.00 530 v WI at Colombo (RPS) 2008
14 Lydia Greenway Eng 489 22.55 512 v Aus at Sydney 2008
15 H.A.S.D.Siriwardena SL 483*! 20.57 483 v WI at Colombo (RPS) 2008
16 Jenny Gunn Eng 472 22.37 543 v Aus at Melbourne 2008
17 Caroline Atkins Eng 468* 28.46 476 v Ind at Taunton 2008
18 Cri-Zelda Brits SA 466* 29.24 531 v NET at Stellenbosch 2008
19 Caitriona Beggs Ire 460 24.83 551 v NET at Dublin 2006
20 Jaya Sharma Ind 451 30.75 686 v Aus at Vapi 2004

Bowlers

Rank Player Team Points Ave HS Rating

1 Isa Guha Eng 720 18.43 741 v Ind at Taunton 2008
2 Shelley Nitschke Aus 675*! 21.76 675 v Ind at Canberra 2008
3 Jhulan Goswami Ind 668 22.23 797 v Eng at Chennai 2007
4 Emma Sampson Aus 663*! 23.19 663 v Ind at Canberra 2008
5 Lisa Sthalekar Aus 641 28.05 646 v Ind at Canberra 2008
6 Holly Colvin Eng 619* 19.90 632 v Ind at Arundel 2008
7 Jenny Gunn Eng 593 31.22 673 v Aus at Melbourne 2008
8 Rumeli Dhar Ind 565* 33.52 610 v SL at Dambulla 2008
9 Aimee Mason NZ 547 32.90 586 v Aus at Darwin 2007
10= Nicola Browne NZ 546 33.75 648 v Eng at Shenley 2007
Kirsten Pike Aus 546* 23.97 567 v NZ at Lincoln 2008
12 Katherine Brunt Eng 545* 26.33 560 v Ind at Taunton 2008
13 Nicky Shaw Eng 502* 32.93 517 v Ind at Taunton 2008
14 Alicia Smith SA 494* 22.10 538 v Ire at Crowthorne 2008
15 Sajida Shah Pak 491* 26.48 499 v NET at Stellenbosch 2008
16 Ellyse Perry Aus 487* 23.08 490 v Ind at Canberra 2008
17 Ashlyn Kilowan SA 483*! 20.16 483 v Eng at Shenley 2008
18 Amita Sharma Ind 472 31.18 650 v Pak at Karachi 2005
19 Sophie Devine NZ 468*! 37.42 468 v Aus at Lincoln 2008
20 Neetu David Ind 457 16.34 794 v WI at Pretoria 2005

All-rounders

Rank Player Team Points HS Rating

1 Lisa Sthalekar Aus 502 516 v Ind at Canberra 2008
2 Shelley Nitschke Aus 412*/*! 412 v Ind at Canberra 2008
3 Nicola Browne NZ 357 383 v Eng at Lincoln 2008
4 Aimee Mason NZ 300 338 v Eng at Blackpool 2007
5 Jenny Gunn Eng 280 364 v Aus at Melbourne 2008

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Sports News

November 12, 2008

Cricket :
Tripura lost their opportunity and felt in deep trouble in the four-day Ranji Trophy cricket tournament this season. After glorious win against Services in the very first match, Tripura lost their second encounter in home ground against Assam by five wickets on Wednesday last. Set for the victory target of 213 runs, visitor Assam touched it by losing five wickets at the Maharaja Bir Bickram Stadium on penultimate day. Orissa born skipper Rashmi Ranjan Parida scored brilliant 79 (157 balls, 193 minutes, 11X4) and Baroda born former National cricketer Jacob Martin made 45 (73 balls, 100 minutes, 6X4). Veteran spinner Jayanta Debnath bagged four wickets for Tripura. Earlier, resuming from over night score of 96 for 5, host Tripura bundled out only 192 runs in second innings. Nishit Shetty scored 55 (84 balls, 134 minutes, 7X4) and Vinit Jain made 21 (14 balls, 13 minutes, 3X4, 1X6). Left arm spinner Anand Katti took four for 65. With this win Assam bagged full five points from their first match, while Tripura also earned five points from two matches.
Brief Score : Tripura 215 & 192, Assam 195 & 213/5.

Football :
Lucky-Sribastava Memorial Prize Money Invitation Football tournament will be held on November 26 next. Altogether ten teams will participate in the seven days tourney. ONGC Tripura asset organized the tournament.

India and England both have chance to go second in Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship

Dubai, 12 November 2008

Dhoni’s team needs a clean sweep while the visitors will get there with a 5-2 series victory

Having already gone into second place in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship following its 2-0 series win over Australia , India ’s one-day team now has the opportunity to do the same in the shorter format of the game.

Fresh from regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his team have little time to celebrate as they embark on a seven-match ODI series against England , beginning in Rajkot on Friday. An incentive will surely come in the knowledge that they can make good progress up the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table and will go into second if they win all seven matches in the series.

Currently in fifth place on 113 ratings points, India will gain seven points for a clean sweep of the series, taking it to 120 points, which is one more than the team currently in second place, South Africa .

If India wins the series 4-3 it will move above New Zealand into fourth place and a series win of 5-2 or 6-1 will ensure it overtakes Kevin Pietersen’s team and into third position on the table.

Meanwhile, England also has the chance to go above the Proteas into second place in the ICC ODI Championship and will do so if it wins the series 5-2 or better. But if it was to lose by the same margin or worse it would fall below the Black Caps into sixth position.

Neither India nor England can catch leader Australia , which is currently 12 ratings points clear of its nearest rival. However, a clean sweep for Pietersen’s team would cut that lead to just six.

Dhoni will be out to defend his position at the top of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen. Australia ’s Mike Hussey is not far behind in second place so Dhoni will have to put in some strong performances to avoid slipping back down the order.

The next highest batsman on show during the series will be Pietersen in seventh position. The England captain is very close behind the West Indies ’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul in sixth place and could even be targeting a top five position before the tour is out.

Just behind Pietersen is India legend Sachin Tendulkar in eighth position but he has been rested for the first three ODIs so he may slip a place or two as a result.

The only other batsman from either side in the top 20 is Yuvraj Singh in 17th position. Having been watching his colleagues in India ’s Test team experience so much success of late, Yuvraj will be anxious to get in on the act and with that part of the rankings particularly tightly packed, there will be ample opportunity for the 26-year-old to move up a few places in the pecking order.

On the bowling front England has two – Stuart Broad and Andrew Flintoff – in the top 10 while India only has one – Zaheer Khan – in the top 20. Broad had a good series against South Africa during the English summer and is currently enjoying fifth place in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers.

The 22-year-old, who was shortlisted for the Emerging Player of the Year 2008 at the LG ICC Awards in September, will now have his eye on Kyle Mills of New Zealand in fourth and even Australia’s Mitchell Johnson in third spot provided, of course, he recovers in time from the knee injury which kept him out of the warm-up defeat against a Mumbai Cricket Association XI on Tuesday.

Flintoff is back in eighth place but only just behind the Sri Lanka pair of Chaminda Vaas in seventh and Muttiah Muralidaran in sixth position. He is also lying second in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders and could well go above Jacob Oram into top spot with a successful series in India .

Zaheer will also be seeking to move up the bowling list and will be expected to continue to shoulder much of the responsibility, especially considering the player of the series from the Test matches against Australia Ishant Sharma has been ruled out of the first ODI with an ankle injury.

Upcoming fixtures:

14 Nov – India v England (ODI), Rajkot
17 Nov – India v England (ODI), Indore
20 Nov – India v England (ODI), Kanpur
23 Nov – India v England (ODI), Bangalore
26 Nov – India v England (ODI), Cuttack
29 Nov – India v England (ODI), Guwahati
2 Dec – India v England (ODI), New Delhi

Details of how the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table could be affected by other upcoming ODI series will be announced in due course.

Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table (as of 12 November, before the start of India v England ODI series)

Rank Team Rating

1 Australia 131
2 South Africa 119
3 England 116
4 New Zealand 113
5 India 113
6 Pakistan 110
7 Sri Lanka 105
8 West Indies 95
9 Bangladesh 47
10 Ireland 19
11 Zimbabwe 15
12 Kenya 11

ICC One-Day Rankings (as of 12 November)
Batsmen

Rank Player Team Points Avge HS Rating

1 MS Dhoni Ind 793 47.41 806 v WI at Kingston 2006
2 Mike Hussey Aus 776 57.13 863 v NZ at Perth 2007
3 Graeme Smith SA 757 40.69 792 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
4 Ricky Ponting Aus 740 43.24 832 v NZ at Hobart 2007
5 Mohd Yousuf Pak 738 43.19 777 v SA at Rawalpindi 2003
6 S.Chanderpaul WI 733 40.49 754 v SA at Durban 1999
7 Kevin Pietersen Eng 730 47.83 834 v Aus at Antigua 2007
8 Sachin Tendulkar Ind 724 44.33 887 v Zim at Sharjah 1998
9 Andrew Symonds Aus 719 40.34 778 v Ind at Nagpur 2007
10 Matthew Hayden Aus 711 43.80 854 v Ind at Centurion 2003
11 Chris Gayle WI 700 39.38 804 v Aus at Mumbai 2006
12 Herschelle Gibbs SA 689 36.18 750 v SL at Durban 2003
13 K. Sangakkara SL 680 35.66 760 v Ind at Rajkot 2007
14 Michael Clarke Aus 677 42.46 756 v SL at Melbourne 2008
15 Shoaib Malik Pak 676 35.75 685 v Ind at Lahore 2006
16 Sanath Jayasuriya SL 675 32.69 838 v Ban at Pietermaritzburg 2003
17= Yuvraj Singh Ind 673 35.91 739 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2006
AB de Villiers SA 673 35.57 733 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
19 Jacques Kallis SA 672 45.24 816 v WI at Johannesburg 2004
20 R.Sarwan WI 667 43.87 798 v Ind at St Kitts 2006

Bowlers

Rank Player Team Points Avge Economy HS Rating Ranking

1 Nathan Bracken Aus 755 21.87 4.33 806 v SL at St George's 2007
2 Daniel Vettori NZ 733 32.05 4.17 790 v Eng at Christchurch 2008
3 Mitchell Johnson Aus 707 23.46 4.72 726 v Ban at Darwin 2008
4 Kyle Mills NZ 697! 26.00 4.63 697 v Ban at Chittagong 2008
5 Stuart Broad Eng 684* 26.21 4.77 701 v SA at Trent Bridge 2008
6 M.Muralidaran SL 674 23.03 3.88 913 v NZ at Sharjah 2002
7 Chaminda Vaas SL 672 27.54 4.18 861 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2004
8 Andrew Flintoff Eng 668 23.99 4.35 755 v Ban at Dhaka 2003
9 Jacob Oram NZ 664 30.14 4.39 768 v Aus at The Oval 2004
10 Brett Lee Aus 657 22.96 4.71 853 v SA at Melbourne 2006
11 Jerome Taylor WI 656 27.04 4.67 688 v SA at Cape Town 2008
12 Shahid Afridi Pak 654 34.90 4.63 685 v Ind at Dhaka 2008
13 Andre Nel SA 645 27.68 4.63 685 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
14 Zaheer Khan Ind 637 28.82 4.84 700 v SA at Dhaka 2003
15= Daren Powell WI 632 32.18 4.63 686 v Aus at St George's 2008
Iftikhar Anjum Pak 632! 32.49 4.87 632 v Ban at Karachi 2008
Stuart Clark Aus 632*! 27.82 4.90 632 v Ban at Darwin 2008
18 Brad Hogg Aus 611 26.84 4.52 687 v Ind at Nagpur 2007
19 Sohail Tanvir Pak 610* 28.11 4.92 619 v SL at Karachi 2008
20 F. Maharoof SL 609 24.39 4.65 671 v Eng at Dambulla 2007

All-rounders

Rank Player Team Points HS Rating

1 Jacob Oram NZ 383! 383 v Ban at Chittagong 2008
2 Andrew Flintoff Eng 375 544 v SL at The Rose Bowl 2004
3 Shoaib Malik Pak 349 402 v WI at Brisbane 2005
4= Jacques Kallis SA 331 505 v WI at Bridgetown 2001
Shahid Afridi Pak 331 360 v Ind at Dhaka 2008

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Sports News

November 11, 2008

Cricket :

Tripura took vital first innings lead of 20 runs against Assam in the four-day Ranji Trophy cricket match here on Tuesday. Resuming from over night score of 45 for 2 at the Maharaja Bir Bickram Stadium, Assam bundled out 195 runs of their first innings on second day. S. Purakayastha batted brilliantly and scored 77. Deepak Sharma 46 supported to him. For Tripura, Vinit Jain, Timir Chanda, Abhijit Dey and Jayanta Debnath all of them bagged two wickets each. Leading by 20 runs, Tripura scored 96 for 5 at the end of day. Rajib Saha scrod 23 and Subal Chowdhury made 22 for hosts.
Brief Score : Tripura 251 & 96/5, Assam 195.

Pakistan could move up to fourth in Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship

Dubai, 11 November 2008

But West Indies can draw level with Shoaib Malik’s men with 3-0 series win in Abu Dhabi

Pakistan could move up to fourth in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table if its beats the West Indies 3-0 in the upcoming series beginning on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi .

All the ODIs will be day/night matches and will take place at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi and if Shoaib Malik’s men can win all three they will gain four ratings points and move above fifth-placed India and fourth-placed New Zealand .

However, with India playing England in a seven-match ODI series starting on Friday in Rajkot , those relative positions could change dramatically in the next couple of weeks.

But if the West Indies – currently in eighth place – wins the series 3-0 it will draw level with Pakistan on 103 ratings points so there is plenty at stake as the teams go head to head in the United Arab Emirates .

If the result of the series is 2-1 in Pakistan ’s favour, there will be no change with Pakistan and the West Indies remaining on 110 and 95 ratings points, respectively.

However, such is the weighted structure of the rankings with lower-ranked sides given credit for beating higher-placed opponents, a 2-1 victory for Chris Gayle’s team would see it gain four ratings points up to 99 while Pakistan would lose three.

The ODI Championship is currently being led by Australia with South Africa in second place and England third. There are just 13 ratings points separating the Proteas from Sri Lanka in seventh illustrating how competitive the ICC ODI Championship is at present.

Meanwhile, individually, there is also plenty for the players to aim for in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Player Rankings. Shoaib could make it into the top 10 in the batting list with a high-class performance across the three games. The 26-year-old is currently in 15th position but with that section of the rankings tightly packed, a big leap is not out of the question.

The West Indies has three batsmen in the top 20 with ICC Cricketer of the Year 2008 Shivnarine Chanderpaul in sixth place, Gayle in 11th position and Ramnaresh Sarwan in 20th spot. With Abu Dhabi traditionally providing a good batting wicket, there should be ample opportunity for these players to continue their journey up the rankings.

Jerome Taylor is the highest-ranked bowler from either side in 11th position but just behind him is Shahid Afridi in 12th place and they are closely followed by Daren Powell and Iftikhar Anjum, who are level in 15th place, and Sohail Tanvir in 19th spot.

Pakistan also boasts two players – Shahid (fourth place) and Shoaib (third place) – in the top five in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders so both will be looking to put further pressure on New Zealand’s Jacob Oram at the top of that list.

Upcoming fixtures:

12 Nov – Pakistan v West Indies (ODI), Abu Dhabi
14 Nov – Pakistan v West Indies (ODI), Abu Dhabi
16 Nov – Pakistan v West Indies (ODI), Abu Dhabi

Details of how the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table could be affected by other upcoming ODI series will be announced in due course.


Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table (as of 11 November, before the start of Pakistan v West Indies ODI series)

Rank Team Rating

1 Australia 131
2 South Africa 118
3 England 116
4 New Zealand 113
5 India 113
6 Pakistan 110
7 Sri Lanka 105
8 West Indies 95
9 Bangladesh 47
10 Ireland 19
11 Zimbabwe 15
12 Kenya 11

ICC One-Day Rankings (as of 11 November)
Batsmen

Rank Player Team Points Avge HS Rating

1 MS Dhoni Ind 793 47.41 806 v WI at Kingston 2006
2 Mike Hussey Aus 776 57.13 863 v NZ at Perth 2007
3 Graeme Smith SA 757 40.69 792 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
4 Ricky Ponting Aus 740 43.24 832 v NZ at Hobart 2007
5 Mohd Yousuf Pak 738 43.19 777 v SA at Rawalpindi 2003
6 S.Chanderpaul WI 733 40.49 754 v SA at Durban 1999
7 Kevin Pietersen Eng 730 47.83 834 v Aus at Antigua 2007
8 Sachin Tendulkar Ind 724 44.33 887 v Zim at Sharjah 1998
9 Andrew Symonds Aus 719 40.34 778 v Ind at Nagpur 2007
10 Matthew Hayden Aus 711 43.80 854 v Ind at Centurion 2003
11 Chris Gayle WI 700 39.38 804 v Aus at Mumbai 2006
12 Herschelle Gibbs SA 689 36.18 750 v SL at Durban 2003
13 K. Sangakkara SL 680 35.66 760 v Ind at Rajkot 2007
14 Michael Clarke Aus 677 42.46 756 v SL at Melbourne 2008
15 Shoaib Malik Pak 676 35.75 685 v Ind at Lahore 2006
16 Sanath Jayasuriya SL 675 32.69 838 v Ban at Pietermaritzburg 2003
17= Yuvraj Singh Ind 673 35.91 739 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2006
AB de Villiers SA 673 35.57 733 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
19 Jacques Kallis SA 672 45.24 816 v WI at Johannesburg 2004
20 R.Sarwan WI 667 43.87 798 v Ind at St Kitts 2006

Bowlers

Rank Player Team Points Avge Economy HS Rating Ranking

1 Nathan Bracken Aus 755 21.87 4.33 806 v SL at St George's 2007
2 Daniel Vettori NZ 733 32.05 4.17 790 v Eng at Christchurch 2008
3 Mitchell Johnson Aus 707 23.46 4.72 726 v Ban at Darwin 2008
4 Kyle Mills NZ 697! 26.00 4.63 697 v Ban at Chittagong 2008
5 Stuart Broad Eng 684* 26.21 4.77 701 v SA at Trent Bridge 2008
6 M.Muralidaran SL 674 23.03 3.88 913 v NZ at Sharjah 2002
7 Chaminda Vaas SL 672 27.54 4.18 861 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2004
8 Andrew Flintoff Eng 668 23.99 4.35 755 v Ban at Dhaka 2003
9 Jacob Oram NZ 664 30.14 4.39 768 v Aus at The Oval 2004
10 Brett Lee Aus 657 22.96 4.71 853 v SA at Melbourne 2006
11 Jerome Taylor WI 656 27.04 4.67 688 v SA at Cape Town 2008
12 Shahid Afridi Pak 654 34.90 4.63 685 v Ind at Dhaka 2008
13 Andre Nel SA 645 27.68 4.63 685 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
14 Zaheer Khan Ind 637 28.82 4.84 700 v SA at Dhaka 2003
15= Daren Powell WI 632 32.18 4.63 686 v Aus at St George's 2008
Iftikhar Anjum Pak 632! 32.49 4.87 632 v Ban at Karachi 2008
Stuart Clark Aus 632*! 27.82 4.90 632 v Ban at Darwin 2008
18 Brad Hogg Aus 611 26.84 4.52 687 v Ind at Nagpur 2007
19 Sohail Tanvir Pak 610* 28.11 4.92 619 v SL at Karachi 2008
20 F. Maharoof SL 609 24.39 4.65 671 v Eng at Dambulla 2007

All-rounders

Rank Player Team Points HS Rating

1 Jacob Oram NZ 383! 383 v Ban at Chittagong 2008
2 Andrew Flintoff Eng 375 544 v SL at The Rose Bowl 2004
3 Shoaib Malik Pak 349 402 v WI at Brisbane 2005
4= Jacques Kallis SA 331 505 v WI at Bridgetown 2001
Shahid Afridi Pak 331 360 v Ind at Dhaka 2008

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Harbhajan enjoys highest ranking for five years

Dubai, 11 November 2008

Off-spinner gains two places to seventh in latest Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings; Sharma into top 30 for first time; Krejza enters list in 49th spot; upward moves for Tendulkar, Sehwag and Mishra as Ponting slips out of top five batsmen for first time since 2004

India ’s Harbhajan Singh has gained two places in the latest Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers and is now in seventh position, the highest ranking the off-spinner has enjoyed since 2003.

The 28-year-old took seven wickets in the fourth Test against Australia at Nagpur and, as a result, has moved past Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka and Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar but is still well behind the next highest placed Ryan Sidebottom of England and also Australia’s Brett Lee, who had a disappointing series by his standards taking eight wickets at an average of 61.62.

That compares to Harbhajan’s 15 wickets at 28.86. Harbhajan’s batting has also continued to impress in this series and his 18 not out and 52 at Nagpur means he gains six places to 87th in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen and two places to 11th in the all-rounders’ list.

Meanwhile, the news is not so good for Zaheer Khan who loses three places following the Nagpur Test and now sits in 18th position. The left-arm pacer took just one wicket for 125 runs in the fourth Test as his new-ball partner Ishant Sharma continued to shine at the other end.

Sharma is up six places to 30th position after taking another four wickets in the match and being named as the player of the series. It is the first time the 20-year-old has broken into the top 30 during his short career to date.

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra continues his rise in the bowling rankings, gaining six places to 43rd position, a remarkable showing considering he has played just three Tests.

Speaking of spinners, Jason Krejza of Australia has shot straight into the bowling rankings in 49th position after taking 12 wickets on debut at Nagpur . Only two bowlers – Bob Massie (16-137) for Australia against England at Lord’s in 1972 and Narendra Hirwani (16-136) for India in 1988 against the West Indies at what was then called Madras – have taken more wickets on debut than the 25-year-old New South Welshman.

Mind you, only one bowler in history – Tommy Scott of the West Indies (9-374 against England at his home ground of Sabina Park , Jamaica in 1930) – has conceded more runs in a match than the 358 Krejza gave up at Nagpur .

Krejza’s team-mate Mitchell Johnson has dropped three places to 31st position, meaning Australia now has only two bowlers in the top 30 – Lee and third-placed Stuart Clark – the first time for more than 20 years that has happened.

The bowling rankings continue to be headed by Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralidaran, followed by South Africa’s Dale Steyn in second place and Clark.

In the batting rankings Sachin Tendulkar continued his current patch of good form registering his 40th Test century at that match in Nagpur . The Little Master gained three places in the process and now sits in 16th position just behind Australia vice-captain Michael Clarke, who loses one place to 15th, and England ’s Alastair Cook, who is in the England squad to face India in two Tests next month.

Virender Sehwag has moved up two places to 11th spot after scoring 66 and 92 in the match and is now very close behind Jacques Kallis of South Africa (in 10th place) and Matthew Hayden of Australia (in ninth place).

The West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul is still top of the batting list followed very closely by Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka in second place.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting has slipped two places to seventh in the rankings and out of the top five for the first time since 2004. The Tasmanian scored a century in the first innings of the first Test of the four-match series but since then has averaged only 23.83 and with competition fierce at the top of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings, that has led to his speedy slide down the list.

There is no change in the top five of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders with Kallis still leading the world followed by New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori in second place and Andrew Flintoff of England in third spot.

Reliance Mobile ICC Test Rankings (as of 11 November 2008, after India v Australia Test at Nagpur )

Batsmen

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating

1 ( - ) S.Chanderpaul WI 890 ! 49.08 890 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
2 ( - ) K Sangakkara SL 886 54.79 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
3 ( - ) Mohd Yousuf Pak 880 55.49 933 v WI at Karachi 2006
4 ( - ) Mike Hussey Aus 876 66.31 921 v WI at Kingston 2008
5 (+1) M Jayawardena SL 837 52.41 847 v Ind at Colombo (SSC) 2008
6 (+1) Kevin Pietersen Eng 829 50.51 905 v WI at Headingley 2007
7 (-2) Ricky Ponting Aus 826 57.58 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006
8 ( - ) Younis Khan Pak 799 49.14 856 v Eng at Headingley 2006
9 ( - ) Matthew Hayden Aus 781 52.64 935 v Eng at Brisbane 2002
10 ( - ) Jacques Kallis SA 774 55.46 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
11 (+2) Virender Sehwag Ind 765 51.96 854 v SA at Kolkata 2004
12 ( - ) Graeme Smith SA 739 49.23 759 v Eng at Edgbaston 2008
13 (-2) VVS Laxman Ind 732 45.25 753 v Aus at Sydney 2004
14 (+1) Alastair Cook Eng 686 42.88 707 v SL at Galle 2007
15 (-1) Michael Clarke Aus 685 45.61 761 v Ind at Melbourne 2007
16 (+3) Sachin Tendulkar Ind 683 54.30 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
17 (-1) AB de Villiers SA 679 ! 41.61 679 v Eng at The Oval 2008
18 (-2) Andrew Symonds Aus 672* 44.65 718 v WI at Antigua 2008
19 (-1) Gautam Gambhir Ind 663* 44.39 670 v Aus at Delhi 2008
20= ( - ) R Sarwan WI 659 40.40 697 v Eng at Old Trafford 2004
( - ) Ashwell Prince SA 659 42.23 756 v Pak at Centurion 2007

Bowlers

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave Econ HS Rating


1 ( - ) M Muralidaran SL 895 21.96 920 v Ban at Kandy 2007
2 ( - ) Dale Steyn SA 847 22.51 897 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2008
3 ( - ) Stuart Clark Aus 821* 22.89 863 v WI at Bridgetown 2008
4 ( - ) Makhaya Ntini SA 760 28.22 863 v Ind at Durban 2006
5= ( - ) Brett Lee Aus 738 30.44 811 v WI at Antigua 2008
(+1) Ryan Sidebottom Eng 738* 25.68 769 v SA at Lord's 2008
7 (+2) Harbhajan Singh Ind 688 30.77 765 v NZ at Wellington 2002
8= (-1) Chaminda Vaas SL 684 29.31 800 v Ind at Chennai 2005
(-1) Shoaib Akhtar Pak 684 25.69 855 v NZ at Wellington 2003
10 ( - ) Shane Bond NZ 654* 22.39 778 v WI at Auckland 2006
11 ( - ) Monty Panesar Eng 653 31.95 721 v WI at Chester-le-St 2007
12 ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 647 33.39 681 v Aus at Auckland 2000
13 ( - ) Jerome Taylor WI 628*! 34.69 628 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
14 ( - ) James Anderson Eng 620 ! 34.51 620 v SA at The Oval 2008
15 ( - ) Mohammad Asif Pak 619* 23.13 710 v SA at Cape Town 2007
16 (+1) Andrew Flintoff Eng 615 32.21 810 v Pak at Multan 2005
17 (+1) Danish Kaneria Pak 614 33.90 723 v Eng at Multan 2005
18 (-3) Zaheer Khan Ind 599 34.59 689 v Pak at Delhi 2007
19 ( - ) Anil Kumble Ind 596 29.66 859 v SL at Bangalore 1994
20 ( - ) M Hoggard Eng 593 30.50 795 v SL at Edgbaston 2006

All-rounders

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Rating

1 ( - ) Jacques Kallis SA 458 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
2 ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 369! 369 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
3 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 302 501 v Pak at Multan 2005
4 ( - ) Dwayne Bravo WI 295 /*! 295 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
5 ( - ) Chaminda Vaas SL 281 300 v WI at Guyana 2008

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Players unite to launch ICC Diversity Day

Dubai , 11 November 2008

Cook, Ambrose, Salman, Misbah, Sarwan and Powell embrace cricket’s unique mix

Photos and footage are available for free editorial use

Leading international cricketers from England , West Indies and Pakistan have helped launch ICC Diversity Day 2008.

ICC Diversity Day, which was held for the first time last year during the ICC World Twenty20 2007, will take place on 20 November 2008 to coincide with a busy programme of fixtures in the international cricket calendar. The day, which is set to become an annual feature in the cricket calendar, will see a variety of activities around the world that celebrate the diversity of the sport.

To launch the day, England ’s Alastair Cook and Tim Ambrose visited the Gandhi Museum in Mumbai, while players from the Pakistan and the West Indies team went on a desert safari in the United Arab Emirates ahead of the three-match ODI series which begins on 12 November in Abu Dhabi . The visits were designed to illustrate the diversity in culture experienced by the international cricket community while on tour.

“Cricket is a truly diverse and global sport, played by people regardless of their age, gender, cultural background or ability,” said ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat.

“We want to use ICC Diversity Day to celebrate cricket as a sport played all over the world by people from very diverse backgrounds and that the game can build bridges between continents, countries and communities.

“As a South African, I have seen how cricket has contributed to unifying people from different backgrounds and I hope through initiatives like ICC Diversity Day we can have a positive impact across the world,” said Mr Lorgat.

England opening batsman Cook believes that cricket provides opportunities for players and spectators to experience new cultures that they never would have had a chance to sample were it not for a love of the sport.

“In my first few years of international cricket I have already been lucky enough to travel to places that most people of my age would never even dream of visiting,” said Cook (23).

“Although we have lots of playing commitments when we are on tour, I always try and take the opportunity to go and visit a local site of interest. It was a great experience to go to the Gandhi Museum and learn about India ’s history and I am sure that plenty of England fans will try and visit the museum when they are here for the Test Match in December,” he said.
“It is amazing that wherever we go in the world the England supporters follow us to support the team, enjoy watching cricket with fans from all over the world, and visit countries such as India , Sri Lanka and West Indies .
“It’s a great thing to see all the fans from different countries mixing so well together – as players it is always nice to go into the opposition dressing room at the end of the game and share a drink with people from all parts of the world and it is great that there is so much camaraderie in the stands as well.”

Ahead of the ODI series against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi , Pakistan ’s Salman Butt and Misbah ul Haq, along with Ramnaresh Sarwan and Daren Powell, experienced the delights of Middle East heritage as they got a glimpse of life in an Arabian desert .

“When you go and play cricket in different countries, it is important to experience the diversity of culture in different cities across the globe. It was great fun to travel into the desert and ride on a camel,” said Salman.

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Attitude might make all the difference in the years ahead

Anil Kumble

It's difficult to not feel exhilarated after a comprehensive victory over an Aussie team that hasn't lost a series in the last three years. And it's difficult not to feel proud of an Indian team that pretty much achieved all that we had set out to accomplish over long discussions during the Irani Trophy and the pre-series camp in Bangalore. We had told ourselves, 'This is where we want to be after Nagpur' and that is exactly where we are.

That was our short-term goal, to beat the Australians, the longer one lies ahead – to try and be the No.1 Test team in the world by April. And even while we faltered against Lanka, I think we can.

At the moment though, we're all savouring the sweet thrill of a win that we wanted badly. After the events of the last series in Australia, where, if circumstances had been different, we should have won the series if not leveled it, this feels so very good. That hurt, this finished the healing process.

Still, given the conditions and our form going into this game, I never thought we'd lose this game, a fair reflection of the way we've played this series.

Dhoni has led extremely well and stood out when it mattered with the bat. I must mention here that those who criticized the tactics he used on Day Three should know that he did what was required to change the momentum. And it did. To execute an 8-1 field is not easy. We've done it a couple of times, in England, and to a certain extent in Sydney, when we used a 7-2 and 8-1 to Hayden for a while against Ishant.

India's tactics ensured Australia had gone nowhere by lunch. Then, that run-out of Hussey, made a huge difference, along with the other two top order run-outs in the game, also reflecting the Australians' nerves and vulnerability.

For us, it was a major bonus. that and the fact that Australia didn't turn the screws the only time we were under pressure, during the post tea session on Day Four. To not bowl your best bowlers in that situation is strange.

Captaincy isn't about running to the bowler every two balls to tell him what to do, or about strategies devised on the field. It's about getting on with the game, trusting the men who've come through for you in the past, encouraging players to make mistakes and learn and keeping their faith whether you're on top or under pressure.

Our bowlers were standout. Bhajji and Amit had some brilliant spells, Zaheer has been aggressive right through, and Ishant has shown so much character. It's brilliant for a youngster like Ishant to be man of the series and will definitely give India confidence for the future.

Even as some of us bid goodbye, it was an emotional time for Sourav here as for me in Delhi, the future itself looks good. What is most important from this series is that for many of these youngsters, there is no baggage of the past. A couple have played Australia for the first time and beaten them. Others have held their own in the Australia Test series and won the one-dayers there, so there is no Aussie bogeyman in their heads. And that's vital, that they do not think this team is invincible. That attitude might make all the difference in the years ahead.

Hawkeye/Chivach Sport

Australia fined for slow over-rate in Nagpur

Dubai, 10 November 2008

The Australia team has been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate during its 172-run defeat against India in the fourth Test played between 6 and 10 November.

Chris Broad of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees imposed the fines after Ricky Ponting’s side was ruled to be two overs short of its target when time allowances were taken into consideration.

In accordance with the ICC Code of Conduct regulations governing over-rate penalties, players are fined five per cent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined double that amount.

As such, Ponting was fined 20 per cent of his match fee while his players have each received 10 per cent fines.

The offence is contrary to Section J of the ICC Code of Conduct which relates to slow over-rates. For such offences, the decision of the ICC match referee is final and binding.

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Goswami falls off top spot in Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Women’s Rankings for bowlers

Dubai, 10 November 2008

India captain Jhulan Goswami has slipped off the top of the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Women’s Rankings for bowlers after a disappointing series against Australia which concluded in Canberra on Sunday.

Goswami took just one wicket in the series which Australia won by 5-0 and has consequently dropped two places to third position behind England’s Isa Guha and Shelley Nitschke of Australia.

Nitschke is one of the five Australia bowlers who are on the charge as Emma Sampson, Lisa Sthalekar, Kirsten Pike and Ellyse Perry have also made good upward movements.

Sampson, who was the leading wicket-taker in the series with eight, has jumped two places to sixth, Sthalekar has climbed four places to fifth after a series haul of 7-124, Pike rose to 11th position after improving one place and Perry has vaulted 10 places to 16th spot after claiming six wickets in the series.

While all the Australia bowlers have made significant upward movement, the only India bowler to climb the ladder was Rumeli Dhar who has lifted four places to eighth position.

Besides Goswami, other India bowlers to lose ground were Amita Shah who has dropped five places to 18th and Neetu David who has slipped six places to 20th.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Women’s Player Rankings for ODI batters, Sthalekar has swapped places with India’s second-placed Mithali Raj to close the gap on top ranked Claire Taylor of England. Sthalekar scored 208 runs in the series while Mithali’s contribution was 138 runs.

Alex Blackwell was rewarded for her series aggregate of 255 runs when she jumped three places to fifth position.

Australia captain Karen Rolton’s eighth career century, which is most by any female cricketer, was not enough to keep her in seventh place. The 33-year-old South Australian scored 123 runs in the series and dropped one place to eighth position.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Women’s Rankings for ODI all-rounders, Sthalekar has stayed ahead of team-mate Nitschke.

Reliance Mobile ICC Women’s ODI Rankings (as of 10 November)

Batters

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating

1 ( - ) Claire Taylor Eng 804 39.13 820 v NZ at Blackpool 2007
2 (+1) Lisa Sthalekar Aus 783 37.96 804 v Ind at Sydney 2008
3 (-1) Mithali Raj Ind 711 46.50 827 v Aus at Baroda Vadodar 2004
4 ( - ) Sarah Taylor Eng 699* 40.11 706 v Ind at Taunton 2008
5 (+3) Alex Blackwell Aus 693! 35.42 693 v Ind at Canberra 2008
6 (-1) Charlotte Edwards Eng 658 37.05 694 v SA at Pretoria 2005
7 (-1) Nicola Browne NZ 653! 30.21 653 v Aus at Lincoln 2008
8 (-1) Karen Rolton Aus 652 49.25 867 v Ind at Vapi 2004
9 ( - ) Shelley Nitschke Aus 611*! 28.20 611 v Ind at Canberra 2008
10 ( - ) Sara McGlashen NZ 568 23.09 584 v Eng at Derby 2007
11 ( - ) Haidee Tiffen NZ 557 29.50 764 v Ind at Lincoln 2006
12 ( - ) Aimee Mason NZ 549 22.20 616 v Eng at Blackpool 2007
13 (+3) Dedunu Silva SL 524*! 22.00 524 v WI at Dambulla 2008
14 ( - ) Lydia Greenway Eng 489 22.55 512 v Aus at Sydney 2008
15 ( - ) Jenny Gunn Eng 472 22.37 543 v Aus at Melbourne 2008
16 ( - ) Caroline Atkins Eng 468* 28.46 476 v Ind at Taunton 2008
17 (+1) Cri-Zelda Brits SA 466* 29.24 531 v NET at Stellenbosch 2008
18 (+1) Caitriona Beggs Ire 460 24.83 551 v NET at Dublin 2006
19 (-6) Jaya Sharma Ind 451 30.75 686 v Aus at Vapi 2004
20 (RE) Anjum Chopra Ind 448 33.89 749 v Aus at Adelaide 2006

Bowlers

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating

1 (+1) Isa Guha Eng 720 18.43 741 v Ind at Taunton 2008
2 (+1) Shelley Nitschke Aus 675*! 21.76 675 v Ind at Canberra 2008
3 (-2) Jhulan Goswami Ind 668 22.23 797 v Eng at Chennai 2007
4 (+2) Emma Sampson Aus 663*! 23.19 663 v Ind at Canberra 2008
5 (+4) Lisa Sthalekar Aus 641 28.05 646 v Ind at Canberra 2008
6 (-2) Holly Colvin Eng 619* 19.90 632 v Ind at Arundel 2008
7 (-2) Jenny Gunn Eng 593 31.22 673 v Aus at Melbourne 2008
8 (+4) Rumeli Dhar Ind 565* 33.52 610 v SL at Dambulla 2008
9 (-2) Aimee Mason NZ 547 32.90 586 v Aus at Darwin 2007
10= (-2) Nicola Browne NZ 546 33.75 648 v Eng at Shenley 2007
(+1) Kirsten Pike Aus 546* 23.97 567 v NZ at Lincoln 2008
12 (-3) Katherine Brunt Eng 545* 26.33 560 v Ind at Taunton 2008
13 (+2) Nicky Shaw Eng 502* 32.93 517 v Ind at Taunton 2008
14 (+2) Alicia Smith SA 494* 22.10 538 v Ire at Crowthorne 2008
15 (+2) Sajida Shah Pak 491* 26.48 499 v NET at Stellenbosch 2008
16 (+10) Ellyse Perry Aus 487* 23.08 490 v Ind at Canberra 2008
17 (+1) Ashlyn Kilowan SA 483*! 20.16 483 v Eng at Shenley 2008
18 (-5) Amita Sharma Ind 472 31.18 650 v Pak at Karachi 2005
19 (+1) Sophie Devine NZ 468*! 37.42 468 v Aus at Lincoln 2008
20 (-6) Neetu David Ind 457 16.34 794 v WI at Pretoria 2005

All-rounders

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Rating

1 ( - ) Lisa Sthalekar Aus 502 516 v Ind at Canberra 2008
2 ( - ) Shelley Nitschke Aus 412*/*! 412 v Ind at Canberra 2008
3 ( - ) Nicola Browne NZ 357 383 v Eng at Lincoln 2008
4 ( - ) Aimee Mason NZ 300 338 v Eng at Blackpool 2007
5 ( - ) Jenny Gunn Eng 280 364 v Aus at Melbourne 2008

About Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Women’s Rankings and women’s cricket

The rankings were launched in Mumbai on 16 October 2008 and have been introduced as part of the ICC’s continued promotion of women’s cricket. They will initially apply to ODI cricket only and will help identify where the leading players stand in women’s international cricket to add further competition and context to their achievements.

Next year will be huge for women’s cricket with the ICC Women’s World Cup to be played in Sydney, Australia, from 7 to 22 March. This will be the first time the biggest event in women’s cricket will be played under the banner of the ICC following the merger with the International Women’s Cricket Council in 2005.

Then in June, the ICC World Twenty20 in England will include a men’s and women’s competition running simultaneously. The semi-finals and final of the women’s event will be played at the same venue on the same day as the men’s tournament.

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

India moves to second in Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship

Dubai, 10 November 2008

The gap between Australia and the rest is cut to 13 ratings points after 2-0 series defeat

India has moved into second place in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table after its 2-0 series win over Australia which regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the home side.

The team wrapped up a 172-run victory on day five of the fourth Test at Nagpur and in the process gained seven ratings points to draw level with South Africa on 116. But Graeme Smith’s team now slips just below India to third position by a fraction of a ratings point.

All is not lost for the Proteas. If they win both Tests in the two-match series coming up against Bangladesh , they will be back into second position.

However, with India looking forward to two more Tests against England beginning on 10 December, not to mention the six Tests coming up in total between Australia and South Africa over the coming months, there will be plenty of opportunities for sides to make their moves in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship.

This is the first time since a rain-affected tour to Sri Lanka in 1999 that Australia has lost a series without winning a single match and as a result of the 2-0 defeat, Ricky Ponting’s men have lost nine ratings points to fall below 130 for the first time since April 2006. It is also the first time since 2001 that Australia has played an entire series without winning a match.

There are now just 13 points separating Australia from India and South Africa , with plenty of opportunities for that gap to be cut further.

With a big 12 months of Test cricket ahead of the Aussies, however, including two series against South Africa , one against the Black Caps and the Ashes in England , they will have chances of their own to prevent that from happening.

Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship (as of 10 November, after the series between India and Australia )

Rank Team Rating

1 Australia 129
2 India 116
3 South Africa 116
4 Sri Lanka 108
5 England 104
6 Pakistan 100
7 New Zealand 82
8 West Indies 81
9 Bangladesh 1

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Sports News

November 10, 2008

Cricket :
Kipper batsmen Rajib Datta scored brilliant half century to put Tripura in a sizable total against Assam in the four-day Ranji Trophy cricket match here on Monday. After shaky start by top order batsmen at the Maharaja Bir Bickram Stadium, Tripura bundled out 215 runs of their first innings. Put in to bat first, Rajib scored 54 (110 balls, 135 minutes, 8X4, 1X6). Besides Rajib, Rajesh Banik made 48 (118 balls, 147 minutes, 7X4) and Subal Chowdhury scored 30 runs. Spinner Arlen Konwar took 5 for 59. In reply to, Assam scored 45 for 2 at the end of day. Vinit Jain took two wickets for hosts.
Brief Score : Tripura 215, Assam 45/2.

Football :
Tripura girls lost their first quarterfinal match against Manipur in the National Junior Football tournament for under-19 girls in Gurgohn, Hariyana on Tuesday last. Manipur beat Tripura by 3-0 goals. Winning team scored all three goals before lemon break.

Sports News

November 09, 2008

Cricket :
Tripura will play against Assam in the four-day Ranji Trophy cricket match here on Monday. The match will be held at Maharaja Bir Bickram Stadium, Agartala.

Jharkhanda beat Tripura by innings and 51 runs in the C. K. Naidu Trophy four-day cricket match here on Sunday last. Trailing by 161 runs in the first innings at the Polytechnic ground, Tripura bundled out only 110 runs in the second innings. Soumya Banik scored 48 for hosts. Avinash took 6 for 36. Earlier on day two, visitor Jharkhanda scored 385 of their second innings. Rameez Nemat scored brilliant 184. S. P. Gautam 53 and V. Majumder 45 supported him.Spinnre Rakesh Sharma took 4 for 90.
Brief Score : Tripura 224 & 110, Jharkhanda 385.

ICC announces umpire and referee appointments for upcoming ODI and Test series

Dubai, 9 November 2008

The ICC today announced details of umpire and match referee appointments for upcoming ODI and Test series in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India.

The Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi will be the venue for the three-match ODI series between Pakistan and the West Indies between 12 and 16 November and the series will be overseen by Mike Procter of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees. It will be Procter’s last assignment as an ICC match referee before he takes over the full-time role of South Africa’s convener of selectors.

The three ODIs will be shared between Steve Davis, Daryl Harper and Mark Benson, all from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires.

Immediately after the conclusion of the ongoing series against Australia, India will face England in a seven-ODI and two-Test series.

Roshan Mahanama of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees will oversee the ODI series and the first three matches will be officiated by Russell Tiffin of the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires along with local Board of Control for Cricket in India appointments. Harper will stand in the last four ODIs along with local appointments.

Mahanama will then hand over to Jeff Crowe, also of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, for the Ahmedabad and Mumbai Tests which will be umpired by Asad Rauf and Harper, both from the Elite Panel.

Appointments for future matches and series will be announced in due course.

United Arab Emirates
Series match referee – Mike Procter
12 Nov – Pakistan v West Indies (ODI), Abu Dhabi – Steve Davis and Mark Benson
14 Nov – Pakistan v West Indies (ODI), Abu Dhabi – Steve Davis and Daryl Harper
16 Nov – Pakistan v West Indies (ODI), Abu Dhabi – Daryl Harper and Mark Benson

India
ODI series match referee – Roshan Mahanama
Test Series match referee – Jeff Crowe
14 Nov – India v England (ODI), Rajkot – Russell Tiffin and local appointment
17 Nov – India v England (ODI), Indore – Russell Tiffin and local appointment
20 Nov – India v England (ODI), Kanpur – Russell Tiffin and local appointment
23Nov – India v England (ODI), Bangalore – Daryl Harper and local appointment
26 Nov – India v England (ODI), Cuttack – Daryl Harper and local appointment
29 Nov – India v England (ODI), Guwahati – Daryl Harper and local appointment
2 Dec – India v England (ODI), New Delhi – Daryl Harper and local appointment
11-15 Dec – India v England (Test), Ahmedabad – Daryl Harper and Asad Rauf
19-23Dec – India v England (Test), Mumbai – Daryl Harper and Asad Rauf

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Really different for me after announcing my retirement

Anil Kumble

It's been really different for me after announcing my retirement. It was a strange feeling to come back home knowing I don't have to get out and leave to bowl again somewhere soon enough. It was a bit hectic at first, with the media waiting outside the house but from then on, I've been relaxed enough. The amount of messages and good wishes over the last three-four days has been overwhelming. The kind of support and admiration that people have --- I would like to thank everyone who's wished me well, their greetings are much appreciated.

I'd also like to thank the BCCI for the nice function they organised and for honouring the four of us. It's been a fantastic journey for Laxman, till this, his 100th Test. It's been mostly under pressure, not just personally but he's often had to either save the game or win it for us and he's come through. He's really special and a total team man.

I've spent the most time in the dressing room with Sachin and his career has been less than amazing. It was really good to see him get his 40th Test hundred and also interesting to see how someone who's done it 40 times getting a bit jittery when he got to the 90s. It just shows that whoever you are, nerves are nerves! I don't think he was looking at the scoreboard. But once he was dropped he looked up to see he was pretty close to 100! I'm glad he crossed another decade and I'm sure the expectations are now already of him getting 50 Test match 100s. With Sachin, they never end.

As for Sourav, it would have been a lovely end if he had got his 100. It would have made for a bittersweet ending, in the sense of it being his last Test. And then, there's the fact of him getting a 100 on debut and if he had finished with a 100 too, it would have been that perfect ending. But then, his 85 helped the team get to a great position and finally, that's what matters.

A point about someone else who's been a vital part of the journey with the rest of us: There would be a lot of external pressure on Rahul now, but I'd like people to remember that for anyone, a patch without big runs happens. He's been batting well enough in this series, but somehow those big runs haven't come. And this dismissal to Krejza was really unlucky. Imagine the first ball you ever face from someone turns and jumps off the good length, it's the perfect off-break, one most batsmen can do nothing about. Rahul needs to just go out there and enjoy himself as I don't think he has anything to prove.

Meanwhile, the other thing I enjoyed was Bhajji getting Ponting for his 300th wicket. He's had some rough times in his career, right from the start when people questioned his action. He is a real fighter and I'm very happy he's got here. From now on, he will be the mainstay of the Indian bowling attack and his success will be crucial to the team's goals.

It will also be interesting to see how Krejza shapes up in future. Eight wickets in an innings against India for an off-spinner is very unexpected, though he gave away a lot of runs, so let's see what the future holds for Australia in the spinning department.

Future reminds me, I felt somewhat odd walking into the Board President's box, in the midst of Board officials, instead of being in the dressing room. As I walked in, Sachin and Laxman were batting and that's when it really hit me, that I'm not going to play anymore. It was a tough moment. It passed and things got easier when I dropped into the dressing room, but that moment was very difficult.

I'm pretty confident we'll win the series and that would be a lovely gift for all of us. That's what we all set out to do long before it really began.

HAWKEYE COMMUNICATIONS

Billy Bowden stands in 50th Test match

Dubai , 6 November 2008

Billy Bowden of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires has today joined the elite of the elite by standing in his 50th Test as India takes on Australia in the final match of the four-Test series in Nagpur .

Bowden becomes just the 10th umpire in the history of the game to stand in 50 Tests or more and he is the sixth member of the current Emirates Elite Panel to reach that milestone.

To mark the occasion, the match referee Chris Broad will make a presentation to the New Zealander on behalf of the ICC.

“I would like to congratulate Billy on his achievement,” said ICC Umpires’ and Referees’ Manager Vince van der Bijl.

“Billy has been one of the most consistent and well-respected officials of recent years and this achievement is an indication of the level of commitment he has shown to his umpiring and to the game of cricket in general.

“When he first emerged on the international scene, Billy adopted a very fresh and at times flamboyant style. I am glad that he has always managed to maintain his own unique character but he also honed his approach to umpiring in a mature way that is more in keeping with his status as a senior member of the elite panel.

“Excellence on the field for officials does not come automatically. It requires constant development of skills and our elite umpires work hard to stay at the top of their game.

“I know that Billy takes great pride in what he does and so I am delighted that he has reached this important milestone,” said van der Bijl.

Having made his Test debut in a match between New Zealand and Australia in Auckland back in 2000, Bowden has since established himself as one of the world’s leading umpires. He has stood in two matches fewer than fellow elite panelist Aleem Dar and is now just three short of Simon Taufel’s tally of 53 Tests.

Apart from Tests, Bowden has also stood in 127 ODIs and five Twenty20 Internationals as well as being selected to officiate at the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2003 and 2007.

Umpire (span) Tests

Steve Bucknor (1989-2008) 124
Rudi Koertzen (1992-2008) 94
David Shepherd (1985-2005) 92
Darrell Hair (1992-2008) 78
Daryl Harper (1998-2008) 75
Srinivas Venkataraghavan (1993-2004) 73
Dickie Bird (1973-1996) 66
Simon Taufel (2000-2008) 53
Aleem Dar (2003-2008) 52
Billy Bowden (2000-2008) 50

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Indian ODI team

Nagpur, November 06, 2008

Virender Sehwag will be the vice-captain of the Indian team for the Nagpur Test against Australia, as well as the ODI and Test series against England.

The members of the All - India National Selection Committee met in to pick the squad for the first three ODIs against England.


Indian Team

M.S.Dhoni - (Captain)
Virender Sehwag
Gautam Gambhir
Suresh Raina
Yuvraj Singh
Rohit Sharma
Yusuf Pathan
Harbhajan Singh
Zaheer Khan
Munaf Patel
Ishant Sharma
Pragyan Ojha
R.P.Singh
VIrat Kohli
M.Vijay

Considering the hectic schedule ahead and the amount of cricket he has already played this season, Sachin Tendulkar requested that he be rested for the first three ODIs.
The selectors accepted his request.


MEDIA RELEASE

South Africa must shut out Bangladesh to remain in second position in Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship

Dubai, 6 November 2008

South Africa faces a tough challenge to retain its second place in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table as it hosts Bangladesh in a three-match ODI series starting in Potchefstroom from Friday.

The Proteas currently sit in second place on 118 ratings points and to maintain that position, they will have to win the series 3-0 (barring any matches being rained-off). As South Africa enters the series leading Bangladesh by 71 rating points, it is expected to win convincingly and so failure to win all the ODIs would cost it heavily.

Defeat in one match would cost it two ratings points and would drop it to 116 and third place behind England when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

If Bangladesh wins the series 2-1, South Africa will slip to 112 ratings points and fifth in the championship table behind Australia, England, New Zealand and India, and just ahead of sixth-placed Pakistan which goes head to head with the West Indies in a three-match ODI series in Abu Dhabi from next Wednesday.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, South Africa boasts three players in the top 20 – captain Graeme Smith (third), AB de Villers (17th) and Jacques Kallis (19th) – while Tamim Iqbal (40th) and Shakibul Hasan (43rd) are the two Bangladesh batsmen in the top 50.

Smith is fighting to overcome elbow injury which sidelined from the two-match ODI series against Kenya and the Twenty20 International (T20I) against Bangladesh on Wednesday. If he returns in this series, he will be eyeing at least second place which is currently held by Mike Hussey of Australia.

No bowler from either side figures in the top 20 of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers but Bangladesh’s left-arm spinners Shakibul Hasan (23rd), Abdur Razzak (27th) and fast bowler Syed Rasel (33rd) are in the top 40.

Johan Botha is the highest-ranked South Africa bowler in the named squad in 48th position and he will be aiming for an upward movement along with Kallis (53rd), Albie Morkel (67th), Morne Morkel (69th) and Dale Steyn (93rd).
The bowlers’ list is still headed by Australia’s Nathan Bracken with New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori in second spot and Mitchell Johnson, another Australian, in third.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for all-rounders, Kallis climbed to fourth place earlier this week following a good series against Kenya and he can leapfrog at least Pakistan’s third-placed Shoaib Malik with another good series.

Series schedule:

7 November – First ODI, Potchefstroom
9 November – Second ODI, Benoni
12 November – Third ODI, East London

Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table (as of 6 November, before the start of South Africa and Bangladesh ODI series)

Rank Team Rating

1 Australia 131
2 South Africa 118
3 England 116
4 New Zealand 113
5 India 113
6 Pakistan 110
7 Sri Lanka 105
8 West Indies 95
9 Bangladesh 47
10 Ireland 19
11 Zimbabwe 15
12 Kenya 11

ICC One-Day Rankings (as of 6 November)
Batsmen

Rank Player Team Points Avge HS Rating

1 MS Dhoni Ind 793 47.41 806 v WI at Kingston 2006
2 Mike Hussey Aus 776 57.13 863 v NZ at Perth 2007
3 Graeme Smith SA 757 40.69 792 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
4 Ricky Ponting Aus 740 43.24 832 v NZ at Hobart 2007
5 Mohd Yousuf Pak 738 43.19 777 v SA at Rawalpindi 2003
6 S.Chanderpaul WI 733 40.49 754 v SA at Durban 1999
7 Kevin Pietersen Eng 730 47.83 834 v Aus at Antigua 2007
8 Sachin Tendulkar Ind 724 44.33 887 v Zim at Sharjah 1998
9 Andrew Symonds Aus 719 40.34 778 v Ind at Nagpur 2007
10 Matthew Hayden Aus 711 43.80 854 v Ind at Centurion 2003
11 Chris Gayle WI 700 39.38 804 v Aus at Mumbai 2006
12 Herschelle Gibbs SA 689 36.18 750 v SL at Durban 2003
13 K. Sangakkara SL 680 35.66 760 v Ind at Rajkot 2007
14 Michael Clarke Aus 677 42.46 756 v SL at Melbourne 2008
15 Shoaib Malik Pak 676 35.75 685 v Ind at Lahore 2006
16 Sanath Jayasuriya SL 675 32.69 838 v Ban at Pietermaritzburg 2003
17= Yuvraj Singh Ind 673 35.91 739 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2006
AB de Villiers SA 673 35.57 733 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
19 Jacques Kallis SA 672 45.24 816 v WI at Johannesburg 2004
20 R.Sarwan WI 667 43.87 798 v Ind at St Kitts 2006

Bowlers

Rank Player Team Points Avge Economy HS Rating Ranking

1 Nathan Bracken Aus 755 21.87 4.33 806 v SL at St George's 2007
2 Daniel Vettori NZ 733 32.05 4.17 790 v Eng at Christchurch 2008
3 Mitchell Johnson Aus 707 23.46 4.72 726 v Ban at Darwin 2008
4 Kyle Mills NZ 697! 26.00 4.63 697 v Ban at Chittagong 2008
5 Stuart Broad Eng 684* 26.21 4.77 701 v SA at Trent Bridge 2008
6 M.Muralidaran SL 674 23.03 3.88 913 v NZ at Sharjah 2002
7 Chaminda Vaas SL 672 27.54 4.18 861 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2004
8 Andrew Flintoff Eng 668 23.99 4.35 755 v Ban at Dhaka 2003
9 Jacob Oram NZ 664 30.14 4.39 768 v Aus at The Oval 2004
10 Brett Lee Aus 657 22.96 4.71 853 v SA at Melbourne 2006
11 Jerome Taylor WI 656 27.04 4.67 688 v SA at Cape Town 2008
12 Shahid Afridi Pak 654 34.90 4.63 685 v Ind at Dhaka 2008
13 Andre Nel SA 645 27.68 4.63 685 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
14 Zaheer Khan Ind 637 28.82 4.84 700 v SA at Dhaka 2003
15= Daren Powell WI 632 32.18 4.63 686 v Aus at St George's 2008
Iftikhar Anjum Pak 632! 32.49 4.87 632 v Ban at Karachi 2008
Stuart Clark Aus 632*! 27.82 4.90 632 v Ban at Darwin 2008
18 Brad Hogg Aus 611 26.84 4.52 687 v Ind at Nagpur 2007
19 Sohail Tanvir Pak 610* 28.11 4.92 619 v SL at Karachi 2008
20 F. Maharoof SL 609 24.39 4.65 671 v Eng at Dambulla 2007

All-rounders

Rank Player Team Points HS Rating

1 Jacob Oram NZ 383! 383 v Ban at Chittagong 2008
2 Andrew Flintoff Eng 375 544 v SL at The Rose Bowl 2004
3 Shoaib Malik Pak 349 402 v WI at Brisbane 2005
4= Jacques Kallis SA 331 505 v WI at Bridgetown 2001
Shahid Afridi Pak 331 360 v Ind at Dhaka 2008

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Sports News

November 06, 2008

Cricket :
TOP STORY
Tripura created new history in the Ranji Trophy four-day matches on Thursday last. This is the first time Tripura team registered win in away match against Services by 54 runs in New Delhi. At Palam Air Force ground, resuming from over night score of 55 for 3, host Services bundled out only 261 runs of their second innings on last day. Yasbir Singh scored 62 and A. K. Mohanti made 52. Spinner Jayanta Debnath took four and pacer Vinit Jain bagged three wickets.
Brief Score : Tripura – 223 & 230, Services – 138 & 261.

Soumya Banik scored brilliant 45 to put Tripura in a good position against Jharkhanda in the four-day C. K. Naidu Trophy cricket tournament for under-22 boys here at Agartala on Thursday last. Put in to bat first at the Polytechnic ground, Tripura scored 218 for 7 in first innings at stumps. Besides Soumya, Manisankar Murasing scored 37, Dilip Singh 34 and Nirupam Sen Chowdhury made 30. For Jharkhanda, Samar and Ramdulal took two wickets each.
Brief Score : Tripura – 218/7.

Football :
Tripura girls entered in to quarter-final in the National Junior Football for under-19 girls in Gurgohn, Hariyana on Thursday last. In the second pool match, Tripura defeated Delhi by 2-0 goals. After barren first half, Mani Karmakar scored first and Mita Sarkar confirmed victory for state team. It may be mention that Tripura beat Bihar by 2-0 goals of their first match. Quarter-final will be starts from November 11 next.

Sports News

November 05, 2008

Cricket :
Tripura now in the driver seat against Services after third day of Ranji Trophy four-day cricket match in New Delhi on Wednesday. Set for victory target of 316 runs, Services scored 55 for 3 in their second innings at stumps. S. Tomar scored 26 and Tahir Khan made 21. Earlier, resuming from over night score of 0 for no loss, Tripura scored 230 in their second innings. Vinit Jain batted brilliantly and scored unbeaten 58 (5X4, 4X6). He was supported by skipper Tushar Saha 36, Abhijit Dey 29, Rajesh Banik 26 and Sourav Dubey 24. Both S. S. Karmakar and Hariprashad took three wickets each.
Brief Score : Tripura – 223 & 230, Servics – 138 & 55/3.

Football :
Tripura bowed out from National School Football Tournament for under-17 age group in Goa on Wednesday. In quarter-final match host Goa beat Tripura by 3-0 goals in boys section, while in girls section Manipur routed Tripura by same margin.

State Meet :
State Level tournament for preparation of upcoming North Eastern Sports Festival wile b held in different place of the state. Tournament will be held on November 7-8 next. MLA Sahid Chowdhury will inaugurate the championship on November 7 at Netajee Subhash Regional Coaching Center, Agartala.

Sports News

November 04, 2008

Cricket :
Tripura took vital first innings lead of 85 runs against Services in the second day of four-day Ranji Trophy cricket match in New Delhi on Tuesday. Resuming from over night score of 203 for 7, Tripura finished their first innings on 223 runs. Abhijit Dey scored 34 and Rajib Datta made 27. In reply to, Service bundled out only 138 runs for their home soil of Palam Air Fource ground. Tahir scored 52 for hosts. Spinner Abhijit Dey took 3 for 16 and he was supported by Vinit Jain 2 for 33, skipper Tushar Saha 2 for 40 and Jayanta Dey bagged 2 for 22. Leading by 85 runs, Tripura faced only one over with out any score at the end of day two.

Football :
Tripura girls beat Bihar by 2-0 goals in the National Junior Girls Football Tournament for under-19 years in Gurgown on Tuesday. Rupati Debbarma and Mita Sarkar scored two goals for Tripura.

Tripura entered in to quarter-final in both boys and girls section in the National School Football Tournament for under-17 years in Goa on Tuesday.

BCCI object Appeals Commissioner's Report

Mumbai, 04, 2008

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has received today the order of the Justice Sachs, the Ld. Appeals Commissioner, on the appeal of Gautam Gambhir against the decision of Mr. Chris Broad, ICC, Match Referee imposing a One Test Ban against him. The Ld. Appeals Commissioner has rejected the appeal and upheld the penalty of One Test Ban imposed by the ICC Match Referee.

The said order has been passed without affording the player an opportunity of personal hearing, legal representation and without acceding to his request for certain documents / recordings to be given to him and also denying him an extension of time.

On receipt of the order, the Board has refused to accept the decision of the Ld. Appeals Commissioner and has sent its objection to the same to ICC. The Copy of the objection to ICC is enclosed.

Justice Sachs upholds one-match ban on Gambhir

Dubai : Independent ICC Code of Conduct Commissioner Justice Albie Sachs has dismissed Gautam Gambhir’s appeal against the one-Test ban after it was found that the India opener was guilty of conduct contrary to the Spirit of Cricket during the third Test against Australia at New Delhi .

Accordingly, Gambhir will miss the final Test of the current series against Australia , starting in Nagpur from Thursday 6 November.

Justice Sachs reached his verdict after studying video footage, documentary records and written submissions.

Gambhir had been banned for one Test by Chris Broad of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees last Friday after he pleaded guilty to a charge under Rule C1 of the Code (Level 2) which states that players shall at all times conduct play within the spirit of the game.

Justice Sachs, in his verdict, said: “I am prepared to accept that he (Gambhir) had been the victim of prolonged and persistent verbal abuse by members of the Australian team, culminating in a moment of anger that led to his unfortunate lapse.

“(But) cricket is not a contact sport. Small collisions can lead to big ones. Players must constantly be on guard to avoid physical contact with opposition players. The risk of accidental collision must be cut down. Deliberate collision can never be condoned, however grave the provocation.

“Accordingly, while not without sympathy for Gautam Gambhir, I cannot find that the penalty imposed on him is so disproportionately severe that I should intervene. He concedes that what he did was unacceptable. It was not the first time. Millions of people saw it. Though his excellence does not require him to be better behaved than mediocre players, it does not give him immunity from the rules of the Code of Conduct. The cricketing world is entitled to expect from him and all cricketers the highest standards. The rules against actual or threatened violence against opponents must be strictly enforced. The appeal must fail. The penalty stands.”

Following the judgment ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said: “The ICC Code of Conduct is a robust and independent process designed to achieve a fair and proper outcome.

“Although we have received an objection letter from the BCCI, there is nothing more that we can do as the Appeal Commissioner’s decision is a final and binding decision.

“The matter is now closed and the ICC will make no further comment on the case.”

After Justice Sachs reached his decision, he provided it in writing to ICC Head of Legal David Becker, who forwarded it to Gambhir, Broad and ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat.

Under the provisions of the ICC Code of Conduct, Justice Sachs had the power to increase, decrease, amend or otherwise substitute his own decision from that made at the previous hearing, and his decision is final and binding.

Also, in line with a recent decision by the ICC Board to amend the Code of Conduct, Gambhir will bear the cost of the appeal as it was not successful.

The incident that led to the charge being laid took place during the 51st over of India ’s first innings on day one of the Test match when there was a coming-together of Gambhir and Shane Watson of Australia .

Watson was found guilty and fined 10 per cent of his match fee on Thursday for verbally engaging with Gambhir in a manner that was not in keeping with the Spirit of Cricket.

The charges were laid by on-field umpires Billy Bowden and Aleem Dar, both of the Emirates Elite Panel, and third official Suresh Shastri of the Emirates International Panel.

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Vijay in the team
Mr. Vijay of Tamil Nadu has been included in the Indian Squad and asked to report to Nagpur by the Senior Selection Committee.


Media Release

Kallis heads back towards the top of rankings

Dubai, 3 November 2008

South Africa ’s Jacques Kallis has made progress in the right direction in the latest Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Player Rankings after a good series against Kenya .

The Proteas’ all-rounder scored 71 and 92 not out in his side’s 2-0 series win over the African neighbours and these performances have helped him return to the top 20 of Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen after 10 months.

Kallis, who was number-one in February 2005, has jumped three places to 19th position and with the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh starting later this week, the 33-year-old has a good chance of further climbing up the ladder.

Kallis has also improved his bowling ranking by vaulting eight places to 53rd. His combined effort with the bat and the ball means he is back in the top five of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Ranking for ODI all-rounders. He has improved his ranking by two places and now shares fourth position with Pakistan ’s Shahid Afridi.

Jean-Paul Duminy is the other batsman who has made an upward movement. The 24-year-old scored 90 and 10 not out to rise seven places to 47th.

However, Herschelle Gibbs and AB de Villers have failed to maintain their rankings. Gibbs is now 12th after dropping one place while de Villers shares 17th position with Yuvraj Singh of India after sliding four places.

Alex Obanda is the main beneficiary in the batting listing for Kenya . He has jumped 15 places to 80th spot.

There is no major change in the Reliance Mobile Player Rankings for ODI bowlers except Kenya ’s Peter Ongondo who has dropped out of top 20 after slipping three places to 22nd.

South Africa ’s stand-in captain Johan Botha has broken into the top 50 for the first time in his career by jumping eight places to 49th. Botha’s team-mate Albie Morkel has also improved his ranking by seven places and he now sits in 67th position.

The list is still headed by Australia’s Nathan Bracken with New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori in second spot and Mitchell Johnson, another Australian, in third.

South Africa remains in second place behind Australia on 118 points in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship while Kenya is at the bottom of the table on 11 ratings points after conceding three ratings points for the 2-0 series defeat.

Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table (as of 3 November, after South Africa and Kenya ODI series)

Rank Team Rating

1 Australia 131
2 South Africa 118
3 England 116
4 New Zealand 113
5 India 113
6 Pakistan 110
7 Sri Lanka 105
8 West Indies 95
9 Bangladesh 47
10 Ireland 19
11 Zimbabwe 15
12 Kenya 11

ICC One-Day Rankings (as of 3 November)

Batsmen

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge HS Rating

1 ( - ) MS Dhoni Ind 793 47.41 806 v WI at Kingston 2006
2 ( - ) Mike Hussey Aus 776 57.13 863 v NZ at Perth 2007
3 ( - ) Graeme Smith SA 757 40.69 792 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
4 ( - ) Ricky Ponting Aus 740 43.24 832 v NZ at Hobart 2007
5 ( - ) Mohd Yousuf Pak 738 43.19 777 v SA at Rawalpindi 2003
6 ( - ) S.Chanderpaul WI 733 40.49 754 v SA at Durban 1999
7 ( - ) Kevin Pietersen Eng 730 47.83 834 v Aus at Antigua 2007
8 ( - ) Sachin Tendulkar Ind 724 44.33 887 v Zim at Sharjah 1998
9 ( - ) Andrew Symonds Aus 719 40.34 778 v Ind at Nagpur 2007
10 ( - ) Matthew Hayden Aus 711 43.80 854 v Ind at Centurion 2003
11 ( - ) Chris Gayle WI 700 39.38 804 v Aus at Mumbai 2006
12 (-1) Herschelle Gibbs SA 689 36.18 750 v SL at Durban 2003
13 (+1) K. Sangakkara SL 680 35.66 760 v Ind at Rajkot 2007
14 (+1) Michael Clarke Aus 677 42.46 756 v SL at Melbourne 2008
15 (+1) Shoaib Malik Pak 676 35.75 685 v Ind at Lahore 2006
16 (+1) Sanath Jayasuriya SL 675 32.69 838 v Ban at Pietermaritzburg 2003
17= (+1) Yuvraj Singh Ind 673 35.91 739 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2006
(-4) AB de Villiers SA 673 35.57 733 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
19 (+3) Jacques Kallis SA 672 45.24 816 v WI at Johannesburg 2004
20 (-1) R.Sarwan WI 667 43.87 798 v Ind at St Kitts 2006

Bowlers

Rank (Change) Player Team Points Avge Economy HS Rating Ranking

1 ( - ) Nathan Bracken Aus 755 21.87 4.33 806 v SL at St George's 2007
2 ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 733 32.05 4.17 790 v Eng at Christchurch 2008
3 ( - ) Mitchell Johnson Aus 707 23.46 4.72 726 v Ban at Darwin 2008
4 ( - ) Kyle Mills NZ 697! 26.00 4.63 697 v Ban at Chittagong 2008
5 ( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 684* 26.21 4.77 701 v SA at Trent Bridge 2008
6 ( - ) M.Muralidaran SL 674 23.03 3.88 913 v NZ at Sharjah 2002
7 ( - ) Chaminda Vaas SL 672 27.54 4.18 861 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2004
8 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 668 23.99 4.35 755 v Ban at Dhaka 2003
9 ( - ) Jacob Oram NZ 664 30.14 4.39 768 v Aus at The Oval 2004
10 ( - ) Brett Lee Aus 657 22.96 4.71 853 v SA at Melbourne 2006
11 ( - ) Jerome Taylor WI 656 27.04 4.67 688 v SA at Cape Town 2008
12 ( - ) Shahid Afridi Pak 654 34.90 4.63 685 v Ind at Dhaka 2008
13 ( - ) Andre Nel SA 645 27.68 4.63 685 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
14 ( - ) Zaheer Khan Ind 637 28.82 4.84 700 v SA at Dhaka 2003
15= ( - ) Daren Powell WI 632 32.18 4.63 686 v Aus at St George's 2008
( - ) Iftikhar Anjum Pak 632! 32.49 4.87 632 v Ban at Karachi 2008
( - ) Stuart Clark Aus 632*! 27.82 4.90 632 v Ban at Darwin 2008
18 ( - ) Brad Hogg Aus 611 26.84 4.52 687 v Ind at Nagpur 2007
19 ( - ) Sohail Tanvir Pak 610* 28.11 4.92 619 v SL at Karachi 2008
20 ( - ) F. Maharoof SL 609 24.39 4.65 671 v Eng at Dambulla 2007

All-rounders

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Rating

1 ( - ) Jacob Oram NZ 383! 383 v Ban at Chittagong 2008
2 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 375 544 v SL at The Rose Bowl 2004
3 ( - ) Shoaib Malik Pak 349 402 v WI at Brisbane 2005
4= (+2) Jacques Kallis SA 331 505 v WI at Bridgetown 2001
( - ) Shahid Afridi Pak 331 360 v Ind at Dhaka 2008

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Gambhir achieves personal milestone while Dravid takes a nosedive in Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings

Dubai, 3 November 2008

Kumble signs off in 19th spot; Laxman climbs five places; Hayden back in top 10

Gautam Gambhir has achieved his career-best ranking but Rahul Dravid has dropped out of top 20 for the first time in 11 years in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.

Gambhir, who scored 206 and 36 in the drawn third Test at New Delhi , has rocketed 11 places to 18th position. Gambhir had started the series in 37th position but has climbed 18 places after three Tests in which he has scored 463 runs.

Man of the match VVS Laxman, who scored 200 not out and 59 not out, has jumped five places to 11th with a place in the top 10 now firmly within his sights.

However, Dravid’s slide in the batting ladder continues and following two knocks of 11, the former India captain has dropped eight places to 26th. It is the first time he has dropped out of top 20 since January 1997 when he slipped to 25th after the Johannesburg Test against South Africa .

Dravid has lost 10 places since the start of the series in which he has scored 117 runs.

Opener Virender Sehwag has also lost ground after a disappointing Test and has dropped three places to 13th.

Sachin Tendulkar has retained his 19th position but Saurav Ganguly has slipped one place to 24th spot.

For Australia , opener Matthew Hayden has returned to the top 10 after knocks of 83 and 16 not out. The Queenslander has climbed two places to ninth position.

However, Mike Hussey, who took over the number-one tag from the West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul after the first Test in Bangalore, has slipped one more place to fourth while Michael Clarke has also dropped one position to 14th.

It has been a forgettable Test for the bowlers as the rankings of all the strike bowlers have taken a beating. The only bowler to benefit was Virender Sehwag whose 5-104 in Australia ’s 577 has lifted him nine places to 48th.

Australia ’s new ball pair of Stuart Clark and Brett Lee slipped one place each to third and fifth respectively while India ’s pace duo of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma dropped two and five places respectively. Khan now shares 15th spot with Pakistan ’s Mohammad Asif while Sharma is in 36th position.

India captain Anil Kumble is the only bowler to have retained his place in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Ranking for Test bowlers as he ends his illustrious 132-Test career in 19th position. It is, however, his lowest ranking since January 1993 when he had dropped out of the top 20 after the Newlands, Cape Town Test against South Africa .

Despite being the third leading wicket-taker (619) in the 131-year history of Test cricket behind Sri Lanka ’s Muthiah Muralidaran (756) and Australia ’s Shane Warne (708), Kumble never quite scaled the 900-point mark and never reached the top spot despite being a regular fixture in the top 10.

His highest ranking was second which he achieved in November 1995 after the Chennai Test against New Zealand .

The 37-year-old stalwart also gained four places in the batting and one place in the all-rounders’ table to finish his career in 86th and 12th positions respectively.

Reliance Mobile ICC Test Rankings (as of 3 November)

Batsmen

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating

1 ( - ) S.Chanderpaul WI 890! 49.08 890 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
2 ( - ) K. Sangakkara SL 886 54.79 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
3 (+1) Mohd Yousuf Pak 880 55.49 933 v WI at Karachi 2006
4 (-1) Mike Hussey Aus 877 66.92 921 v WI at Kingston 2008
5 ( - ) Ricky Ponting Aus 859 58.05 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006
6 ( - ) M. Jayawardena SL 837 52.41 847 v Ind at Colombo (SSC) 2008
7 ( - ) Kevin Pietersen Eng 829 50.51 905 v WI at Headingley 2007
8 ( - ) Yunus Khan Pak 799 49.14 856 v Eng at Headingley 2006
9 (+2) Matthew Hayden Aus 780 52.72 935 v Eng at Brisbane 2002
10 (-1) Jacques Kallis SA 774 55.46 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
11 (+5) VVS Laxman Ind 742 45.41 753 v Aus at Sydney 2004
12 ( - ) Graeme Smith SA 739 49.23 759 v Eng at Edgbaston 2008
13 (-3) Virender Sehwag Ind 735 51.44 854 v SA at Kolkata 2004
14 (-1) Michael Clarke Aus 714 46.78 761 v Ind at Melbourne 2007
15 (-1) Alastair Cook Eng 686 42.88 707 v SL at Galle 2007
16= (-2) Andrew Symonds Aus 679* 44.65 718 v WI at Antigua 2008
( - ) AB de Villiers SA 679! 41.61 679 v Eng at The Oval 2008
18 (+11) Gautam Gambhir Ind 670*! 44.39 670 v Aus at Delhi 2008
19 ( - ) Sachin Tendulkar Ind 665 54.25 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
20= ( - ) Ramnaresh Sarwan WI 659 40.40 697 v Eng at Old Trafford 2004
( - ) Ashwell Prince SA 659 42.23 756 v Pak at Centurion 2007

Bowlers

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave Econ HS Rating

1 ( - ) M. Muralidaran SL 895 21.96 920 v Ban at Kandy 2007
2 (+1) Dale Steyn SA 847 22.51 897 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2008
3 (-1) Stuart Clark Aus 829* 22.89 863 v WI at Bridgetown 2008
4 (+1) Makhaya Ntini SA 760 28.22 863 v Ind at Durban 2006
5 (-1) Brett Lee Aus 755 30.25 811 v WI at Antigua 2008
6 ( - ) Ryan Sidebottom Eng 738* 25.68 769 v SA at Lord's 2008
7= ( - ) Chaminda Vaas SL 684 29.31 800 v Ind at Chennai 2005
( - ) Shoaib Akhtar Pak 684 25.69 855 v NZ at Wellington 2003
9 ( - ) Harbhajan Singh Ind 658 30.96 765 v NZ at Wellington 2002
10 ( - ) Shane Bond NZ 654* 22.39 778 v WI at Auckland 2006
11 ( - ) Monty Panesar Eng 653 31.95 721 v WI at Chester-le-St 2007
12 ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 647 33.39 681 v Aus at Auckland 2000
13 (+1) Jerome Taylor WI 628*! 34.69 628 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
14 (+1) James Anderson Eng 620! 34.51 620 v SA at The Oval 2008
15= (+1) Mohammad Asif Pak 619* 23.13 710 v SA at Cape Town 2007
(-2) Zaheer Khan Ind 619 34.11 689 v Pak at Delhi 2007
17 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 615 32.21 810 v Pak at Multan 2005
18 ( - ) Danish Kaneria Pak 614 33.90 723 v Eng at Multan 2005
19 ( - ) Anil Kumble Ind 602 29.66 859 v SL at Bangalore 1994
20 ( - ) Matthew Hoggard Eng 593 30.50 795 v SL at Edgbaston 2006

All-rounders

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Rating

1 ( - ) Jacques Kallis SA 458 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
2 ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 369! 369 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
3 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 302 501 v Pak at Multan 2005
4 ( - ) Dwayne Bravo WI 295/*! 295 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
5 ( - ) Chaminda Vaas SL 281 300 v WI at Guyana 2008

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Sports News

November 03, 2008

Cricket :
Opener Rajib Saha scored brilliant 58 to put Tripura in a sizeable total of 206 for 7 against Services after day one of four-day Ranji Trophy cricket tournament in plate-B pool in New Delhi on Monday. Elected to bat first at Palam Air Force ground, two openers Rajib and Sourav Dubey (16) started very well. Then, Timir Chanda (19) and Mumbai professional Nishit Shetty (34) supported in the middle. But Rajesh Banik (5), Subal Chowdhury (0) and skipper Tushar Saha (0) back quickly in to pavilion and Tripura fall in deep trouble. In eighth wickets Abhijit Dey (unbeaten 32) and kipper batsmen Rajib Datta (unbeaten 22) batted very well and Tripura touched the two hundred mark. For Services, Rakesh Took four for 68 and S. S. Karmakar bagged 3 for 43.

Tripura lost their last match against Orissa by one run in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy one-day cricket match for under-19 boys in Kolkata on October 29 last. In this rain hit match, put in to bat first Orissa scored 144 runs in stipulated 25 runs. Gobinda Podder scored 39, Ajay Routh 35 and Sanjib Barik made 30. For Tripura, Swapan Das, Abhijit Chakraborty and Sulav Majumder took two wickets each. Set for the target of 145 runs, Tripura scored 143 for 7 in 25 over. Swapan Das made 25 and Samir Debbarma scored 28. Brief Score : Orissa – 144/7 (25 over), Tripura – 143/7 (25 over).

Football :
Shyamali Debbarma was selected to lead Tripura under-19 girl's football for National Junior Football tournament at Gurgown, Hariyana from November 3-19 next. Tripura will play against Bihar and New Delhi for their two group matches. Selected team were – Shyamali Debbarma (Captain), Soma Ghosh, Shibani Banik, Swarnalata Debbarma, Rupasree Jamatia, Chandramala Debbarma, Bhagyalaxmi Debbarma, Aruna Debbarma, Namita Debarma, Mita Sarkar, Dipali Begam, Mani Karmakar, Sumanti Jamatia, Lalmoy Malsom, Kabita Debbarma, Sobhadebi Jamatia, Rupati Debbarma, Sumitra Debbarma, Kriskili Darlong. Coach : Subod Debbarma.

Womens Sports :
Tripura will participate in the National Women Sports in Kolkata from November 12-15 next. The tournament will be held on four events – Kho-Kho, Kabaddi, Gymnastics and Volleyball.

Table Tennis :
Tripura will participate in the National Sub-junior Table Tennis Championship from November 24-30 next in Vijaywara, Andhra Pradesh.

Volleyball :
Tripura will participate in the National Sub-junior Volleyball Championship from November 27 next in Jammu & Kashmir.

BCCI felicitate four greatest cricketers

Nagpur, November 03

The Board of Control for Cricket in India will felicitate four of the country's greatest cricketers during the Nagpur Test of the ongoing series against Australia.

The following luminaries will be honoured:

VVS LAXMAN - for playing 100 Tests
SACHIN TENDULKAR - for completing 12,000 runs in Tests
ANIL KUMBLE and SOURAV GANGULY - for their services and contribution to Indian cricket

The felicitation will be held at 7:00 pm on Thursday, 6th November 2008, at the Banquet Hall, VCA Recreation Club, new VCA Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur.

MEDIA RELEASE

Sports News

November 03

Football :

Tripura boys bagged seven points from three matches and hope for entry in last eight in the National School Football Championship for under-17 age groups in Goa on Sunday last. Tripura beat Madhya Pradesh by 2-1 goals. Both the goals were scored by Durnamani Jamatia. Earlier in another match, Kerala hold Tripura by 1-1 goal. Ajay Debbarma scored for Tripura. In girls section, Bihar holds Tripura by 0-0. Fudulu Debbarma missed an easy opportunity from a penalty. Earlier, Tripura registered first win in both boys and girls section of the Championship on Saturday last. In Boys section Tripura beat Jammu & Kashmir by 4-1 goals. Ananta Kishor Jamatia, Ajay Debbrama, Kartajoy Reang and Durnamani Jamatia scored for Tripura team. In girls section, Tripura defeated Tamilnadu by 4-0 goals.

Cricket :

Tripura lost their second match against Orissa in the C. K. Naidu Trophy under-22 four-day cricket match at Agartala on Thursday last. Set for the victory target of only 19 runs at the Polytechnic ground, visiting Orissa touched the winning target without losing any wicket of their second innings. Earlier, trailing by 136 runs in the first innings, Tripura finished their second innings on 154 runs. Manisankar Murasing scored 31, Sanjib Saha 25 and Dilip Sing made 24. For Orissa, Alok Pradhan took 4 for 48.
Brief Score : Tripura first innings – 108, Orissa first innings – 24, Tripura second innings – 154, Orissa second innings – 23/0.

Athletics :

Tripura will not to participate in the National Junior Athletics Championship at Mahishor, Karnataka from November 12-16 next. It was decided by Tripura Athletics Association on Sunday last. In a selection trial nobody can touch the qualifying mark. Altogether 70 athletics were participating in this trial camp.

Three in a row for victorious Ireland

Port Elizabeth , 2 November 2008

Porterfield’s team prevail over Namibia in an ICC Intercontinental Cup final that swung back and forth more than once

A century from Niall O’Brien sealed a third successive victory for Ireland on day four of the ICC Intercontinental Cup final at St George’s Park , Port Elizabeth .

The manner in which it chased 201 for victory was an impressive indication of the level of professionalism that exists within the ranks of the Ireland team at present. Up against the likes of Gerrie Snyman, Kola Burger and Louis Klazinga, Ireland’s top order demonstrated why it can it is the stand-out Associate team in multi-day cricket.

When O’Brien and man of the match Alex Cusack resumed on Sunday morning, they needed only 67 runs to take the title. And despite the Namibians bowling better than they did the evening before, the pair never really looked in trouble and went on to secure a nine-wicket victory.

But if you think the result makes the match look like it was one-sided, don’t be fooled. Namibia certainly had its chances of taking what would have been its first ever ICC Intercontinental Cup title and only some tenacious rear-guard performances by Ireland pulled this experienced team through to victory.

Cusack’s first-innings knock was a case in point. At one stage Ireland was really struggling on 37-5 in reply to Namibia ’s total of 250. Snyman had put the wind up the Irish as he tore through the top five batsmen, including three in one sensational over of vicious pace and swing.

It was perhaps the spell of the tournament and it left Ireland ’s top batsmen unable to provide an answer. In the middle of it was Andre Botha. The 33-year-old North County all-rounder was earning his 100th for Ireland but, just like his debut in 2001, Botha was out first ball as Snyman ran amok.

But then somehow, in the face of the relentless onslaught, Cusack dug in and added 141 runs with Trent Johnston to put the defending champion back on the front foot.

Then the game swung again as first Johnston fell and then Ireland ’s tail failed to keep Cusack company in the middle with the Clontarf all-rounder left stranded on 95 not out when the innings closed.

But when Namibia came out to build on its first-innings lead of 55 runs it ran full into the face of a highly motivated and pumped-up Irish bowling attack. The pendulum swung back in favour of Ireland as the Africans were rolled over for 145.

But this still left 201 runs for victory – not an easy fourth-innings target by any means, especially against perhaps the most dangerous bowling attack in the competition. The fact that Ireland had never scored 200 against Namibia in any ICC Intercontinental Cup innings also did not escape the minds of either captain but O’Brien and Porterfield put on 68 in quick time for the first wicket and then Cusack and O’Brien saw the job through to the end.

It was a final truly worthy of what has been a highly competitive and exciting tournament with eight teams, 29 matches and many memorable performances over the past 18 months or so. The fact that the arena for the decider was a world-class Test venue helped give the match a genuine sense of occasion and the teams played their part in living up to that, making it a final to remember.

“I am absolutely delighted,” said Porterfield afterwards. “To come here to Africa and win all three games to take the title for a third time is a great achievement and we are over the moon.

“It seems a long time ago that we played our first game in the competition against Bermuda . It has been a long haul with lots of ups and downs but we have come through in the end.

“We were certainly under pressure in this match. Namibia managed to get to 250 after we had them under the kosh early and then being 37-5 we did well to get within 50 or so of their total. We were pretty pleased on that front and then we knew we’d have to come out hard with ball in the second innings and we did that. All credit to the bowlers to keep the target to 200 and then we went out and did the job we should have done in the fist innings with the bat.

“The way Cusack played in the first innings was very important. He kept his head and kept his composure when we were 37-5 and to build a big partnership with Trent was what was required at that time and they really dug in deep and then reaped the rewards.

“We weren’t surprised that Namibia were so good. We saw it a month ago in Windhoek and we were fortunate to come through that with an eight-run victory so all credit to them. I made my debut against them two years ago and the steps forward they have made in those two years is remarkable and they now have a side worthy of playing in this competition.”

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Justice Sachs appointed as Commissioner for Gambhir’s appeal hearing

Dubai , 1 November 2008

Justice Albie Sachs has been appointed to hear the appeal of Gautam Gambhir against the finding that the India opener was guilty of conduct contrary to the Spirit of Cricket during the third Test against Australia at New Delhi .

Justice Sachs is a senior judge on the Constitutional Court of South Africa and is Cricket South Africa ’s appointment on the ICC Code of Conduct Commission.

The ICC received official notification of the appeal from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday and the ICC Head of Legal David Becker appointed Justice Sachs later the same evening in accordance with ICC Code of Conduct processes.

Justice Sachs will issue further directions as regards the hearing in due course. The process indicates that the appeal should be heard within seven days of the commissioner being appointed.

Gambhir was banned for one Test by Emirates Elite Panel ICC Match Referee Chris Broad on Friday after he pleaded guilty to a charge under Rule C1 of the Code (Level 2) which states that players shall at all times conduct play within the spirit of the game.

The incident that led to the charge being laid took place during the 51st over of India ’s first innings on day one of the Test match when there was a coming-together of Gambhir and Shane Watson of Australia .

The charges were laid by on-field umpires Billy Bowden and Aleem Dar, both of the Emirates Elite Panel, and third official Suresh Shastri of the Emirates International Panel.

Under the provisions of the ICC Code of Conduct, Justice Sachs has the power to increase, decrease, amend or otherwise substitute his own decision from that made at the previous hearing, and his decision is final and binding.

Once Justice Sachs has reached his decision, he must provide it in writing to Mr Becker, who will then forward it to Gambhir, Broad and ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat ahead of any public announcement.

The ICC Executive Board recently approved an amendment to the Code of Conduct to the effect that a player who is unsuccessful with his appeal shall have to bear the costs of that appeal.

In the mean time, according to the Code of Conduct regulations, Gambhir may continue to play pending verdict of the appeal being given.

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Ireland on the brink of defending title

Port Elizabeth , 1 November 2008

Just 67 runs needed to beat Namibia with nine wickets in hand heading into day four

Ireland is on the brink of making history in Port Elizabeth and now needs just 67 runs to become the first team to register three ICC Intercontinental Cup victories in a row, against a Namibia team that seems finally to have run out of steam.

It has been a match that has swung to and fro during the first three days but now it seems the pendulum is firmly on the Ireland side at this late stage in the game.

Having been set a reasonably competitive target of 201 to win, Ireland ’s openers set about their task with a steely determination. Niall O’Brien and William Porterfield put on 68 for the first wicket and it really seemed to break the spirit of the Namibians.

Even though Ireland has not managed to get past 200 against Namibia in the 2007-08 edition of this tournament, the Africans did not bowl with the same verve or consistency as they did in the first innings or, for that matter, in Windhoek when the two met in the group stage a month ago.

At the close, Ireland had moved on to 134-1 with Porterfield having lobbed a simple catch for Bjorn Kotze at mid-on for 34 before Alex Cusack came in and erased any thoughts Namibia might have had of a comeback.

Cusack batted superbly in the first innings making an unbeaten 95 and he took off where he left off second time around, watching and waiting for the bad ball before pouncing and sending it to the boundary rope. At the close he had moved on to 19 not out.

Meanwhile, having got a duck in the first dig, O’Brien looked like a man out to make amends. He remains unbeaten on 77 and could be heading to the first century of this year’s final and his third in the tournament so far.

Earlier, Ireland ’s bowlers did a job on Namibia and restricted it to 145 all out with Peter Connell adding three wickets to the five he bagged in the first innings. Boyd Rankin took 4-39 and Andre Botha – playing in his 100th match for Ireland – took 2-28 as Namibia struggled to cope with the nagging consistency and occasional ferocity of Ireland ’s pace attack.

Only JB Burger (34) and Gerrie Snyman (31) put up any resistance and the fact the Namibians had eyed 300 rather than 200 as the target it wanted to leave Porterfield’s men, it is no wonder they looked a little flat when they took the field to defend 200.

But even though Porterfield may have one hand on the cup, he has warned against complacency from his players as they seek the 67 runs required.

“I wouldn’t say we are home and dry yet,” said the 24-year-old from Donemana in Ireland ’s north-west.

“We are not counting our chickens but we did a lot of work in the third session to put ourselves in a very good position. We are off to a good start. Hopefully we can go out tomorrow and do the job.

“It’s a pretty good deck and we are confident of chasing 200. Obviously, we didn’t do it the first time when we got off to a terrible start at 37-5. They have a good opening attack so it wasn’t going to be easy but we went out and played positively and it’s going alright.

“If we go out in the morning and play well for the first half hour or 40 minutes we’ll be in a strong position and hopefully come tomorrow lunchtime we’ll have the cup in our hands,” he said.

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

Sports News

November 01, 2008

Cricket :

Junior world cupper and member of East Zone Dalip team Tushar Saha to lead Tripura Ranji team this year. Tushar was selected in place of Rajesh Banik, who led the team last year. Tripura Cricket Association announced 15 members Tripura team for their first match against Services from November 03 next. Two new faces were included in the team. They are skipper of under-22 state team Abhijit Dey and paces Rana Datta. Three professionals – Nishit Shetty, Vinit Jain and Sourav Dubey – were also in the team.
Selected squad – Tushar Saha (Captain), Jayanta Debnath (Vice-captain), Timir Chanda, Rajib Datta (Wicket kipper), Subal Chowdhury, Rajib Saha, Rajesh Banik, Nishit Shetty, Vinit Jain, Sourav Dubey, Gopesh Bhowmik, Abhijit Dey, Rana Datta, Biswajit Dey, Jiban Paul (Wicket kipper). Coach : Samir Dighe, Manager : Malay Chakraborty.

Tripura girls lost their last match by 117 runs against Manipur in the East Zone one-day cricket tournament for under-19 girls at Jemshedpur on Monday last. At college ground, elected to bat first, Manipur scored 203 for 9 in their stipulated 50 over. Ganga scored 69. For Tripura Prianka, Tagori and Annapurna took two wickets each. In reply to, Tripura bundled out only 92 runs in 32.2 over. Moutushi scored 20.
Brief Score : Manipur – 203/9 (50 over), Tripura – 92/10 ( 32.2 over).

Tripura bundled out only 108 runs against Orissa in the C. K. Naidu four-day cricket tournament for under-22 boys at Agartala on Thursday last. Elected to bat first at Polytechnic ground, due to poor batting display host Tripura bundled out only 108 run. Manisankar Murasing scored 29, Nirupam Sen Chowdhury 16, Dilip sing 15 and Soumya Banik made 14. For Orissa, Alak Mongaraj bowled brilliantly and took 6 for 36. D. Sing bagged 3 for 3. In reply to, Orissa scored 75 for 5 at the end of day one. Two openers N. Behera scored 30 and T. Sahu made 28. Spinner Rakesh Sharma took four wickets for Tripura.
Brief Score : Tripura first innings – 108, Orissa first innings – 75/5.

Orissa took vital first innings lead against host Tripura in the C. K. Naidu four-day cricket tournament for under-22 boys at Agartala on Friday last. Resuming from over night score of 75 for 5, Orissa scored 244 runs in their first innings. Skipper Atish Jena scored brilliant ton of 103 runs. Kipper batsmen Anshuman Gope made 44. Spinner Rakesh Sharma took seven for 68. In two matches Rakesh bagged 19 wickets so far. Trailing by 136 runs, Tripura scored 54 for 3 at the end of day two. Opener Amit Das scored 16.
Brief Score : Tripura first innings – 108, Orissa first innings – 244, Tripura second innings – 54/3.

Snyman strikes but Cusack saves Ireland ’s blushes

Port Elizabeth , 31 October 2008

ICC Intercontinental Cup final is finely balanced after day two with Namibia losing two wickets before the close

A brace of lbws just before the close by Peter Connell has put the ICC Intercontinental Cup final on a knife-edge at stumps on day two at St George’s Park as Namibia will resume in the morning at 14-2 some 68 runs ahead of Ireland .

It didn’t take Ireland long to wrap up the one first-innings wicket remaining after the first day with Kola Burger being bowled by Connell after he and Louis Burger had added nine runs to the overnight total giving it a final first innings tally of 250.

With Ireland ’s impressive batting line-up, the defending champion would have been expecting to secure a first-innings lead quite comfortably but that did not take the prowess of Gerrie Snyman into account.

In fact, as remarkable as it sounds, at one stage it looked like Ireland might even struggle to avoid the follow-on as it collapsed to 27-4 and then 37-5 with Snyman ripping through the top order.

Niall O’Brien, Andre Botha and Kevin O’Brien, who have scored 1,498 runs between them in the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08 so far and were all named in the team of the tournament, were all out without scoring as Snyman got the new ball to swing viciously in the Port Elizabeth morning sunshine.

O’Brien was out lbw in the third over of the day, which brought Alex Cusack to the crease. But then William Porterfield, Botha and Kevin O’Brien fell in Snyman’s amazing sixth over, sending the Namibia players into a frenzy of excitement.

And when Snyman sealed his five-wicket haul by having Andrew White caught by Craig Williams at slip, a rout looked like a genuine possibility. But then Cusack and Trent Johnston put together the only partnership of any note to keep Ireland in the game.

They batted from the 15th over until the 61st, a partnership that remained intact throughout the entire afternoon session and contributed 141 runs out of Ireland final total of 195.

But when Johnston was bowled by Deon Kotze for an unusually restrained 58 the rot set in again and the last four wickets tumbled for just 17 runs as no one could stay with Cusack long enough to shepherd him to a what would have been a well-deserved century.

In the end his unbeaten 95 came off 231 balls and included 15 fours. It was not vintage Cusack by any means with only occasional glimpses of his normal fluency. The odd flowing cover-drive aside, this was a watchful innings by a player who knew the fortunes of his team were planted on his shoulders.

Mind you, had third slip clung on to a reasonably straightforward chance when Cusack was on just 12, the picture could well have been very different.

With the Irish 54 runs adrift at the half-way mark, it looked that if they were not out they were certainly down. But the way Ireland got stuck into Namibia in the last 40 minutes of play has set the pendulum swinging back towards the centre ground once again.

“If we can get two more wickets early on tomorrow we’ll be back on top I think. We’ve got to just keep bowling tidily and see what happens,” said Cusack afterwards.

“I was happy with how I batted. I usually like to take my time in the four-day stuff. The ball was swinging around for most of the day, especially early on so I was just trying to be as patient as possible and wait for them to come to me,” he said.

As the wickets tumbled around him, Cusack dug in.

“I was just trying to put more pressure on myself to make sure I got my head down and just see out. Trent batted very well and we just tried to keep each other going and keep talking to each other to try and make them stay out there all day.

“I’d never write us off because we have come back before, particularly against Namibia . We had a great win there and I don’t see why we can’t do it again. With a lot of the guys missing out in the first innings they’ll be looking to put that right in the second innings so hopefully we’ll be able to pull it off.”

ICC MEDIA RELEASE

ICC confirms receiving official notification from BCCI

Dubai , 31 October 2008

The ICC today confirmed that it has received official notification from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of its appeal against the finding that opener Gautam Gambhir was guilty of conduct contrary to the Spirit of Cricket.

The ICC Legal Counsel will now appoint a Code of Conduct Commissioner to hear the appeal within 48 hours. Once the Commissioner has been named, details of when and where the appeal hearing is to take place will be released.

The Commissioner will determine and hear the appeal inside seven days of his appointment.

The ICC Executive Board recently approved an amendment to the Code of Conduct, in terms of which a player who is unsuccessful with his appeal shall have to bear the costs of that appeal.

In the mean time, according to the Code of Conduct regulations, Gambhir may continue to play pending verdict of the appeal being given.

Gambhir had pleaded guilty and was handed with a one Test ban by Emirates Elite Panel ICC Match Referee Chris Broad on Friday morning under Rule C1 of the Code (Level 2) which states that players shall at all times conduct play within the spirit of the game.

The incident that led to the charge being laid took place during the 51st over of India ’s first innings on day one of the Test match when there was a coming-together of Gambhir and Shane Watson of Australia .

ICC MEDIA RELEASE