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What will happen to cricket of the five-day variety with the emergence of T20? Is the marketing buck going to be channelised more towards this form of new cricket?
Squads as of now:
Jaipur Shane Warne (US$ 450,000), Graeme Smith (US$ 475,000), Younis Khan (US$ 225,000), Kamran Akmal (US$ 150,000), Yusuf (US$ 475,000)
Chennai MS Dhoni (US$ 1.5 million), Muttiah Muralitharan (US$ 600,00), Matthew Hayden (US$ 375,000), Jacob Oram (US$ 675,000), Stephen Fleming (US$ 350,000), Parthiv Patel (US$ 325,000), Joginder Sharma (US$ 225,000), Albie Morkel (US$ 675,000)
Mumbai Sachin Tendulkar (icon), Sanath Jayasuriya (US$ 975,000), Harbhajan Singh (US$ 850,000), Shaun Pollock (US$ 550,000)
Bangalore Rahul Dravid (icon), Anil Kumble (US$ 500,000), Jacques Kallis (US$ 900,000), Zaheer Khan (US$ 450,000), Mark Boucher (US$ 450,000), Cameron White (US$ 500,000)
Hyderabad Adam Gilchrist (US$ 700,000), Andrew Symonds (US$ 1.35 million), Herschelle Gibbs (US$ 575,000), Shahid Afridi (US$ 675,000), Scott Styris (US$ 175,000)
Mohali Yuvraj Singh (icon), Mahela Jayawardene (US$ 475,000), Kumar Sangakkara (US$ 700,000), Brett Lee (US$ 900,000), Sreesanth (US$ 625,000), Irfan Pathan (US$ 925,000)
Kolkata Sourav Ganguly (icon), Shoaib Akhtar (US$ 425,000), Ricky Ponting (US$ 400,000), Brendon McCullum (US$ 700,000), Chris Gayle (US$ 800,000), Ajit Agarkar (US$ 330,000)
Delhi Virender Sehwag (icon), Daniel Vettori (US$ 625,000), Shoaib Malik (US$ 500,000), Mohammad Asif (US$ 650,000), AB de Villiers (US$ 300,000), Dinesh Karthik (US$ 525,000), Farveez Maharoof (US$ 225,000), Tillakaratne Dilshan (US$ 250,000)
Before the CB Series, Yuvraj spoke of his disastrous run in the Tests in Australia - he totalled 23 runs in five innings - and argued that it was only a minor blip that was being blown out of proportion. "It's just two games, not like some ten-odd games."
Yet, ever since his debut in 2000, there has been a question mark over his consistency. Those who have played the game at his level point to his frequent inability to lean into a stroke completely - which various bowlers have exploited by placing an extra fielder at short cover or silly mid-off.
The demons of self-doubt may have surfaced after his latest injury as well. It took a while for Yuvraj to rebound from the knee injury he sustained in 2006, and he was lucky to get away with a minor twinge this time around. Whispers that his frail knee has been playing on his mind are yet to be confirmed, but these are hard to ignore when he is seen at mid-on or languishing in the outfield instead of at his favourite position, point.
It's not so much the lack of runs that is worrying. Yuvraj has displayed little vitality in the field, and a distinct lack of leadership of the sort that one expects from the vice-captain. Harbhajan Singh, a long-time friend, reckons Yuvraj is one of the "top ten" batsmen at the moment. Yuvraj knows he has the resources to justify the claim. With other players one might have asked, "Will he, won't he?" but this man, supposedly India's next great batsman, has no option. He simply must.
Jamaican Bucknor was dropped by the International Cricket Council (ICC) from a test series in Australia last month following pressure from India, who had criticised his performance in their 122-run defeat against the hosts in Sydney.
Bucknor will stand in with Pakistan's Alim Dar in the first and second tests between Bangladesh and South Africa, starting on February 22 and 29 respectively.
India had also accused Bucknor of playing a major role in the row over their spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was charged with racially abusing Australia's Andrew Symonds, a charge which was later dismissed by an independent judge.
The decision to drop Bucknor was one of the factors which allowed the Australia tour to continue after India's cricket board had threatened to take their team home.
Widely respected and instantly recognisable, Bucknor has umpired a record 120 test matches, as well as 167 one-day games.
Only David Shepherd of England and Rudi Koertzen of South Africa have umpired more one-day internationals.
The 61-year-old Bucknor has also stood in five successive World Cup finals.
Collingwood Steers England to a Six Wicket Victory
CAPTAIN Paul Collingwood hit a quickfire half-century to guide England to a rousing six-wicket victory over New Zealand and keep the outcome of the five-match series alive.
Humiliated in the opening two matches in the series, Collingwood typified England’s determination not to lose the series in successive matches and delivered a defiant performance at Eden Park.
Chasing a revised target of 229 in 47 overs after New Zealand posted a competitive 234 for nine, Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen helped the tourists recover from losing both openers with a 120-run stand.
But after Bell scored a determined 73 off 89 balls, his first one-day half-century in 12 innings, both he and Pietersen fell to New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori in successive overs to once again put the outcome in doubt.
Collingwood arrived at the crease, however, and raced to an unbeaten 70 off 50 balls, which included six fours and three sixes, to help England claim their first win of the series with three overs remaining.
Phil Mustard had run himself out in the third over of England’s reply – the seventh run out of the series for the tourists – and Alastair Cook pulled Jacob Oram straight to mid-on shortly after the restart after the rain.
England could have suffered a further run out with Bell (on 22 and 52) twice being given reprieves after throws missed the stumps with him well short of his ground.
He weathered those nervous moments, however, and looked set for his first one-day international century in 15 matches, only to be adjudged lbw to left-arm spinner Vettori despite television replays suggesting he got an inside edge onto his pad.
Pietersen followed in Vettori’s next over, but this time there was no cause for complaint over the decision, leaving England once again jittery until Collingwood settled their nerves during an unbroken partnership with Owais Shah.
The tourists had earlier allowed New Zealand to recover from 95 for six to post a competitive 234 for nine after important innings from all-rounder Jacob Oram and Vettori.
The pair shared a crucial 74-run stand off 72 balls and helped add a crucial 81 runs off the final 10 overs after their top order had been decimated by England’s new ball attack.
England had made two changes to their line-up in a desperate attempt to change their fortunes with Ravi Bopara and spinner Graeme Swann both being dropped and replaced by all-rounders Luke Wright and Dimitri Mascarenhas.
The changes were successful initially with Lancashire seamer Jimmy Anderson striking with the 10th legitimate ball of the innings to remove dangerous wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum and shared the first four wickets to fall with the impressive Stuart Broad.
With Paul Collingwood also claiming two wickets to remove Peter Fulton and Ross Taylor, England seemed in the dominant position and also had luck on their side with umpire Asad Rauf ruling an Oram drive for four as a dead ball because he was not in position at the bowler’s end.
Three balls later Taylor fell to an lbw appeal and New Zealand could have lost their composure at the injustice of the situation, but instead relied on the wise heads of Oram and Vettori to steer them towards a competitive score.
Their stand was all the more galling for England, who had missed Vettori before he had scored with Anderson missing a one-handed catch at mid-on off Collingwood.
Vettori went on to hit four fours and a six off in his 42 off 35 balls before being superbly caught by Owais Shah on the mid-wicket boundary attempting to hit Collingwood for successive fours with eight overs remaining.
Oram was in sight of only his second one-day international century and moved closer to it by hitting Broad for successive sixes in his final over.
But, attempting to clear the cover boundary off a full toss from Ryan Sidebottom, Oram mis-timed his shot and was superbly caught by a diving Ian Bell having hit four fours and four sixes in his brilliant 88 off 91 balls.
Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming announced today he will retire from international cricket after the third Test against England next month.
The third Test will be played in Napier from March 22-26, after which Fleming said he would concentrate on business opportunities and also play in India's Twenty20 Premier League.
"I always indicated that I was likely to retire from international cricket at some point in the near future, and the time is right for me and my family to do that now," Fleming told a press conference in Auckland today.
Fleming departs with a sackful of New Zealand Test records. No New Zealander has played as many Tests (108), scored as many runs (6875), taken as many catches (166), captained as many games (80), or led as many wins (28) as Fleming.
Appointed at 23, he was the country's youngest Test skipper and only Allan Border, who led Australia through 93 Tests, guided his team in more games. When Fleming retired from one-day international cricket last September he left with a similar bunch of records. At the same time as Fleming quit ODIs New Zealand handed the Test captaincy to Daniel Vettori, which disappointed Fleming, who wanted to see if separate captains could help New Zealand's consistency.
The one-day arena was also where Fleming experienced some of his biggest disappointments, and failing to get his team into a World Cup final was a regret. Following last year's semi-final knockout at the hands of Sri Lanka, Fleming quit the ODI captaincy, which precipitated a chain of events that gradually led to his removal from the Test leadership. Fittingly, though, he has been afforded the right to end his playing career on his own terms.
Australia's tour to Pakistan, scheduled for March-April, is looking increasingly doubtful following last week's meeting between the chairmen of both boards in Dubai.
Following the get together, Creagh O'Connor, Cricket Australia's (CA) chairman, sent a letter to the Pakistan board expressing reservations about the security situation inside Pakistan.
"We received a letter yesterday from CA following our meeting and though they reiterated their commitment to supporting Pakistan cricket, they said that security briefings they have received in Australia are advising them against touring," Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, told Cricinfo.
A CA security delegation is due to visit the country in the aftermath of the general elections due to be on February 18. But a report in the Urdu daily Jang said CA were unsure whether sending a delegation would serve any purpose now, indicating perhaps that a decision to not tour had already been made.
"They have asked us whether we still want a security delegation sent here and if so when," Ashraf said. "In response to this, we have told CA that we still firmly believe that the environment for cricket and cricketers is still safe here. We have also said that the security team should visit Pakistan from February 25, exactly one week after the elections."
Australian players have expressed concerns about touring Pakistan for what would be their first visit in a decade, following a year of increasing violence and instability through the country. Despite this South Africa and Zimbabwe have both completed tours in recent months without any glitches.
But privately, board officials now concede that the trip is becoming an unlikely prospect and the PCB has already insured the series against cancellation. "Certainly public utterances coming from Australia seem quite indicative of them not wanting to tour Pakistan so it wouldn't be a surprise if they pulled out," one official told Cricinfo.
Pakistan will, however, continue to press for the visit to go ahead. Shafqat Naghmi, the PCB's chief operating officer, is scheduled to meet James Sutherland, CA's chief executive, in Kuala Lumpur and further discuss security arrangements. "We stress that incidents could happen anywhere in the world," Ashraf said. "They happen in Sri Lanka, they happened in Glasgow last year when we were there for an ODI and bombs went off in England in 2005 when Australia were there. We have to make decisions not just on perceptions, but ground realities.