Pak, S Africa to play match for flood victims

A charity match to raise funds for the flood victims of the Pakistan has been added to next month’s schedule for the country’s UAE-based cricket series against South Africa. The Pakistan and South African national sides will face each other nine times between Tuesday, October 26, and Wednesday, November 24 in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The schedule begins with two T20 games that will be played in the capital’s Zayed Sports City, and the proceeds from it will go towards flood relief efforts.

Organisers have not yet specified which match will become the fundraiser. The Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, Ijaz Butt, said: “I would like to thank the Emirates Cricket Board for once again making their world-class stadiums and facilities available to us for the upcoming series.”“The UAE has become a home away from home for the Pakistan team and I would especially like to extend my appreciation to Cricket South Africa for playing a match for the benefit of the millions of flood victims in Pakistan.”

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ICC Cricket World Cup Opening Match - World Cup 2011

ICC Cricket World Cup Opening Match - World Cup 2011
Feb 19, 2011 will be the day when the opening match of the ICC cricket world cup 2011 will be played between the two co-hosts India and Bangladesh at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Bangladesh. Sri Lanka is the third hosting country, initially the other country Pakistan was also one of the co-hosts for the world cup but later ICC ruled out any possibility of world cup matches in Pakistan due to security concern, remember Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked by terrorists in Pakistan while they were on there way to the Stadium and many players had a narrow escape.

Coming back to the first match of the cricket world cup 2011 between India and Bangladesh. Both the teams are in Group B. England, West Indies, Ireland, Netherlands and South Africa are the other teams in the Group B.

India may seem to be the favorites for the world cup opener match however If you go by stats then the only world cup match played between India and Bangladesh was won by Bangladesh, also match in being played in Bangladesh thus the Bangla team can be a surprise package in the opening of the 2011 cricket world cup.

Pakistan match-fixing claims: Lord's remains genteel as crisis rumbles on

According to the anthropologist Kate Fox, our typical reaction to offensive behaviour extends no further than "frowns and glares accompanied by heavy sighs, pointed coughs, tutting and muttering".

Fox could have found more evidence to support her thesis at Lord's on Monday. The English members of a 20,000-strong crowd remained scrupulously polite – on the surface, at least – while privately bemoaning the fact that cricket had been taken over by renegades and shysters. "You just can't believe what you see on the field any more," said Jonathan, 27, from Essex. So why did he come to the game then? "Well, I bought the ticket in May, and Lord's is always a nice day out. Plus, the sun's shining.

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Pakistan-England Cricket Scandal Continues After Players Fight

England batsman Jonathan Trott and Pakistan cricketer Wahab Riaz needed to be pulled apart by England's Graham Gooch after the pair grabbed each other's throats and threw cricket equipment at one another during the warm-up for the two sides' fourth, one-day international.

Apparently Trott was heard saying to Riaz – one of the five players on the Pakistan team to be under investigation – “How much money are you going to make from the bookies?

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said: "When Riaz was returning after warming up, Trott called him a 'match-fixer' and that he was harming Test cricket and hit his face with the pad.

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Andrew Strauss: We were absolutely determined to win against Pakistan

The relief Andrew Strauss felt was obvious. You could see it in his smile and hear it in his voice. The least-loved series has finally come to an end, England winning the final match by 121 runs. When the last wicket fell England celebrated as though they had won a major trophy, not a tinpot cup for yet another one-day series at the end of a long summer.

This match mattered, to the players and to the supporters who filled the Rose Bowl, their roars still echoing around the rafters long after the final ball had been bowled. When Strauss left his post-match press conference he was treated to an ovation from the fans waiting outside. After everything that has happened these last few weeks there was more than the series at stake last night. England were motivated by stronger fuel than the simple desire to win their sixth straight rubber. Asked by one mischievous journalist if he had had "nightmare visions" of Pakistan lifting the trophy, Strauss paused, chuckled and admitted that actually yes, he had. Typically it was the kind of question he would have been too diplomatic to answer.

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Ijaz Butt, PCB asked to pay compensation to ECB

Dawn learnt on Friday that the ECB has not only demanded an unreserved apology but has also dictated the exact words that apology should comprise. Moreover, the apology will be from both the PCB chairman and the PCB, sources further said. The ECB also demanded from the PCB to pay the legal costs of the case and in addition pay a substantial sum in damages to each member of the England cricket team, personally.

Sources said the PCB chairman was certainly not expecting such harsh reaction from the ECB after he had tried clarifying the basis of his statement. Ijaz was reported as saying in the press that there was loud and high talk in the bookies’ circle that English players made lot of money for losing the third One-day International against Pakistan on Sept 17.

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Pakistan corruption scandal timeline

Police confiscate the trio's mobile phones after allegations in The News of the World that they had arranged for deliberate no-balls to be bowled in the fourth test against England at Lord's. Their agent, 35-year-old Mazhar Majeed, is arrested and released on bail.

Aug. 30 - Pakistan slump to the heaviest defeat in their test history, losing the series 3-1. Manager Yawar Saeed says the one-day series, involving two Twenty20 matches and five one-day internationals, will go ahead. Aug. 31 - Customs officials arrest Majeed and two others in a separate investigation. The three are released on bail.

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Cricket: Vettori on guard against complacency

Skipper Daniel Vettori has warned against complacency as the Black Caps headed to Bangladesh today for a five-match one-day cricket series that has next year's World Cup as backdrop. New Zealand scored an easy 3-0 sweep when the two sides met in New Zealand in February, but Vettori said the Tigers would be a "completely different" proposition on the own soil.

He pointed to the limited-overs series that Bangladesh hosted on their return home against England. While Bangladesh again went down 3-0, "they pushed them hard the whole series", he said. "If we go over there expecting to walk over them like we did here, we'll be in for a bit of fright.

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England v Pakistan: England hoping to regain centre stage at Oval

With Andrew Flintoff's retirement joining the ongoing corruption enquiries and the county championship finale at the top of the agenda, England's ninth match of the summer against an under-strength Pakistan side is in danger of feeling like a sideshow.

But Surrey say they have sold virtually every one of their 23,000 tickets, so the atmosphere in Kennington should be lively enough – if a little chilly given the 1pm start."It is a bit frustrating what's happened to the back end of this summer," Graeme Swann said on Thursday, in a tactful allusion to the spot-fixing scandal. "But if we can get a nice boozy crowd in here, doing the Mexican wave as normal, then hopefully we can focus on the cricket again.

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Pakistan cricket team face fresh spot-fixing investigation

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has launched an investigation into yesterday's one-day international between England and Pakistan following allegations that a scoring pattern in Pakistan's innings was prearranged.

The ICC said the investigation was based on information received from the Sun newspaper. The ICC chief executive, Haroon Lorgat, said: "A source informed the Sun newspaper that a certain scoring pattern would emerge during certain stages of the match and, broadly speaking, that information appeared to be correct.

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Afridi rubbishes spot-fixing allegations in third ODI

Pakistan's ODI captain Shahid Afridi  has rubbished allegations of spot fixing following his side's 23-run victory in the third one-dayer against England at the Oval. The match had come under the scanner following claims by British tabloid 'The Sun' that bookies knew details of Pakistan's innings even before Friday's third one-dayer began. The ICC in a statement said that investigation is warranted as information about a certain scoring pattern appeared to be "correct".

The allegations, however, have left Afridi shocked. "I thought we played hard cricket and tried our level best to win the match. I just see these new allegations as an attempt to put pressure on the team," Afridi was quoted as saying on Geo TV.

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Mumbai v South Australia Champions League T20 Match

Top batsman, top bowlers and a solid hitter, Mumbai Indians team has got a brilliant combination needed for being number one cricket club team. They missed the first match by a small margin and today they must win the match today. Being a solid they still haven't any title to there name. They had a bad IPL 1 and lost IPL 2 final due to some bad captaincy and team strategies. Here are the points why Mumbai Indian lost the IPL 2 final:

• Injured Sachin - An injured horse can win a race only in stories not in real life, Sachin himself should have taken the call not to play the final (perhaps selfishness come to play here) Jaaysurya or any other experienced ply in the team should have lead the team in the final
• Pollard coming late: He should rather be given the chance to open the innings in bing matched.
  

that was the thing of pst now for todays match what Mumbai Indian need is they play the best combination i.e. players like Bravo and Saurabh Tiwary cannot be kept in the dugg out are and the major are of concerns is despite having 5 leading bowlers why part time bowlers bowled 4 overs as in the first match.

Test cricket is still exciting: Sehwag

Test cricket may be losing popularity with Twenty20 catching the imagination of the younger generation, but swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag says the longer version of the game has never been more exciting than it is today.

"There used to be so many draws in Test matches that would keep the crowds away but things have changed. We are getting more and more results in Test cricket and even a target of 350 can be chased in a day in a Test match.Cricket has not changed. A few innovations have come to make it more attractive. The approach has changed in some ways. Once a total of 200 was considered a winning one in One-day cricket. Not any more," Sehwag said on the changing trends in cricket.

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Diplomatic blames PCB over match-fix laws

Leading English language daily Dawn reported on Thursday that High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan wrote a letter of complaint to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who is also patron of the PCB. Hasan said in a two-page letter that the PCB officials “kept the diplomats unaware about the laws of ICC relating to alleged match-fixing.

“The PCB management has not guided the High Commission at any point,” Hasan wrote. The ICC suspended Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir over match fixing allegations while fourth player Wahab Riaz was questioned by Scotland Yard on Tuesday. The London police also interrogated Butt, Asif and Amir earlier this month, but did not press any criminal charges against them.

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England vs Pakistan 1st T20 Match Live Score - Eng vs Pak 1st T20 Match Taem

host England and Pakistan 1st T20 Matches Start Will be Played on Sunday, 5th Septymber, 2010, at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. in the game and timing will be 14:30 GMT 15:30 local 20:00 IST.

Pakistan face a mountainous task in attempting keep their focus and fill the vacuum left by the departure of their two best bowlers and Salman Butt, who was the team's leading runscorer at the World Twenty20 in the West Indies earlier this year.

England World Twenty20 triumph was crafted on a remorseless professionalism running through the side. It created a team where each player was entirely certain of their individual role and their position in the wider machine. In the first game after that success, however, there are a number of changes with Michael Lumb out with a broken foot and and Kevin Pietersen dropped.

Pakistan 1st T20 Team, Playing Eleven at Cardiff:

Shahzaib Hasan, Kamran Akmal (wk), Fawad Aslam, Mohammad Yousuf, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi (capt), Abdul Razzak, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar.

England 1st T20 Team, Playing Eleven at Cardiff:

Craig Kieswetter, Steve Davies (wk), Ravi Bopara, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Luke Wright, Tim Bresnan, Michael Yardy, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.

England vs Pakistan 1st T20 Match Result - England won by 5 Wicket

England nerves with a game-breaking stand of 67 in 7.1 overs, as Pakistan succumbed to a five-wicket defeat in the first Twenty20 at Cardiff. on Sundsy, 5th Septymber, 2010, Man of The Match Michael Yardy who made 1 Wickets and 35 runs not out.

England Chasing a meagre total of 127 after Graeme Swann had bossed the contest with a sharp-turning and incisive spell of 2 for 14 in four overs, England were at one stage in some strife at 62 for 5 at the halfway mark of their innings.

Pakistan However Shoaib Akhtar undermined a feisty bowling spell with a dreadful fielding performance, as Pakistan's bid for on-field redemption after a week of grim allegations floundered at the first attempt.

Match Summary:

Pakistan mode 126/4 in 20 overs (Umar 35*, Swann 2-14)

England mode 129/5 in 17.1 overs overs (Morgan 38*, Yardy 35*)

Toss - England, who chose to field.

Man of the Match - Michael Yardy (England)

Series - England led the 2-match series 1-0

Result - England won by 5 Wicket with 17 balls remaining.

2010 England vs Pakistan 1st T20 Match, Photos, Picture, Images

England Baet Pakistan win by 5 Wicket.
Man of The Match Michael Yardy who made 1 Wickets and 35 runs not out.

Watch and enjoy the photo highlights of the match

Spot-fixing not confined to Pakistan cricket: Imran

Pakistan's former captain, Imran Khan fears that the menace of spot-fixing in cricket could be a much more malignant problem then it is being perceived to be after the allegations and suspension of three Pakistani players in England.

Imran said in a television interview that he believed that spot-fixing/betting might be going on uninterrupted in many countries and was not just a problem confined to Pakistan cricket.

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England Defeats Pakistan by Five Wickets in Opening Twenty20 Cricket Match

England beat Pakistan by five wickets today in the opening Twenty20 cricket international in Cardiff, securing victory with almost three overs remaining.

Eoin Morgan hit the winning runs, striking a boundary to finish unbeaten on 38. Michael Yardy was 35 not out, while wicketkeeper Steve Davies hit 33 runs.

England reached 129-5 from 17.1 overs after restricting the tourists to 126-4. The teams play again in Cardiff in two days, with a five-match one-day series starting Sept. 10. England won the Test series 3-1.

Earlier, Umar Akmal top-scored with an unbeaten 35 for Pakistan. Graeme Swann was the pick of England’s bowlers, taking 2-14. Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi each claimed two wickets in the England reply.

Pakistan was without three players at the center of an alleged betting scandal, who were suspended and charged with breaches of the sport’s anti-corruption laws last week.

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Collingwood delighted with easy win

World champions England did their best to put cricket's week of crisis behind them as they returned to the Twenty20 format with a five-wicket victory over Pakistan.

Captain Paul Collingwood was delighted with a "100%" performance which owed much to an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 67 between Eoin Morgan and Michael Yardy, to aid the recovery from a mid-innings wobble in reply to 126 for four at the SWALEC Stadium.

"I'm absolutely delighted," said Collingwood. "Our strategies seem to be working in the Twenty20 form of the game. It has been a tough week. But the guys focused 100% on their cricket, and we enjoyed our win.

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Shahid Afridi issues apology on behalf of Pakistan's scandal-hit trio

Pakistan's one-day captain, Shahid Afridi, has issued a remarkable public apology on behalf of the three players at the centre of cricket's betting scandal. "I think it is very bad news," he said. "On behalf of these players – I know they are not in this series – but on behalf of these boys I want to say sorry to all cricket lovers and all the cricketing nations."

Afridi was at pains to distance himself from those implicated in the betting scandal – the Test captain, Salman Butt, and the fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif – as he arrived at nets ahead of Pakistan's Twenty20 game against England in Cardiff tomorrow.

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Cricket-England romp to victory over dismal Pakistan

Pakistan could not cope with either a barrage of short-pitched bowling from the England pacemen or the slow bowling of Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy.

Umar Akmal hit Swann for two straight sixes into the sightscreen but was bowled for 17 when the England off-spinner kept his nerve and floated up another tempting delivery. Yardy was again economical, conceding 10 runs from his four overs.

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PCB announces new policy regarding managers

“Yes, it was a fault at the PCB end that it has not adopted any clear policy in allowing the players to hire their agents/managers. But now the deficiency has been removed by binding the players in this regard,” PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said in a press conference.

The players’ agent Mazhar Majeed, the central character in a nasty spot-fixing saga in England involving Pakistan players, has been allegedly found involved in the scam as a bookie.

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Good Luck Mumbai Indians for Champions League Twenty 20

Todays Match Mumbai Indians Vs Lions at Johannesburg South Africa
Its nice to see the favorite teams and stars in T20 action once again. Once again I am supporting Mumbai Indians team the runners up in the IPL 2010. I hope playing away from home with seamer friendly conditions will not be an issue for the team.

Catch the lice score from 9pm IST today. More action will follow sooon

Champions League Twenty 20 - Champions league 2010

Well it was a great match every tournament would like to have as beginning match. Close encounter that in the end Lions managed to win. They defeated Mumbai Indians by 9 runs. I think Kevin Pollards wicket was the turning point of the match had he playeh one over more result of the match would have been different.

I still favor him being pushed little ahead in the batting order, a pinch solid hitter like him should be given chance to play more ball, I even don't mind him opening handful of matches as an experiment. Perhaps Mumbai Indian had moved him to bat earlier in the IPL final against they would not be the runners up they could have been the champions.

Tomorrow is a double masti day, you can watch Wayamba from Sri Lanka playing the hosts Warriors, and in the second match you have IPL champions Chennai Super Kings compete the Central Districts from New Zealand.

ICC World Cup 2011 Warm up matches

India will play Australia & New Zealand in the warm up matches for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. Below is the schedule for the world cup warm up matches:

February 12: New Zealand v Ireland in Nagpur, Zimbabwe v South Africa in Chennai, West Indies v Kenya in Colombo, Sri Lanka v Netherlands in Pallekele, Bangladesh v Canada in Chittagong

February 13: India v Australia in Bangalore

February 15: Australia v South Africa in Bangalore, Ireland v Zimbabwe in Nagpur, Kenya v Netherlands in Pallekele, Bangladesh v Pakistan in Dhaka

February 16: India v New Zealand in Chennai, Sri Lanka v West Indies in Colombo, England v Canada in Dhaka

February 18: England v Pakistan in Dhaka

Given the current news of betting and spot betting, I am sure the bookies will be targeting world cup lets see if Indian police or other crime investigation departments will be able to keep a check on this. If a control on betting is not there the game will soon loose its charm to other games.

2010 England T20 Squad for Two Match Series against Pakistan - Eng T20 Team

Find the list of England players for 2010 T20 Series. Paul Collingwood is the captain of England and key players are Eoin Morgan, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Steve Davies and Craig Kieswetter.

Find the England T20 players list for Two T20 Series against Pakistan.

England T20 Squad/Team:

Paul Collingwood (cap)
James Anderson
Ravi Bopara
Tim Bresnan
Stuart Broad
Steve Davies (wk)
Craig Kieswetter
Eoin Morgan
Ryan Sidebottom
Graeme Swann
Luke Wright
Michael Yardy

2010 Pakistan T20 Squad for Two Matches Series against England - Pak T20 Team

Find the list of Pakistan players for 2010 T20 Series. Shahid Afridi is the captain of Pakistan and key players are Mohammad Yousuf, Salman Butt, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif.

Find the Pakistan T20 players list for Two T20 Series against England.

Pakistan T20 Squad/Team:

Shahid Afridi (cap)
Abdul Razzaq
Azhar Ali
Fawad Alam
Kamran Akmal (wk)
Mohammad Amir
Mohammad Asif
Mohammad Hafeez
Mohammad Yousuf
Saeed Ajmal
Salman Butt
Shahzaib Hasan
Shoaib Akhtar
Umar Akmal
Umar Gul
Wahab Riaz

Match Fixing Scandal: Tainted Pak Trio Will Meet Scotland Yard Today

Match Fixing Scandal: Tainted Pak Trio Will Meet Scotland Yard Today: Pakistan's tainted trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir will on Wednesday face another round of questioning from the Scotland Yard for their alleged involvement in the 'spot-fixing' scandal that has rocked international cricket even as England's Players' body demanded their ouster from the Twenty20 and ODI series here.

The trio, which has been implicated in the scandal after a sting operation by a British tabloid, is set to be quizzed by the Scotland Yard for the second time but they are not in danger of being arrested, a Pakistan Cricket Board official said.

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