England not afraid of India

England coach Andy Flower was honest while admitting his side's performance in the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup was reflective of their current rankings but said they are not afraid of India in their crucial Super Eights match on Sunday.

Flower said his wards will have to play with "controlled aggression" in their must-win game at Lord's here if they are to stay afloat in the tournament.

"I am not sure where we are ranked in Twenty20 International cricket, but in 50 overs we are sixth in the world and at the moment that is the level we are performing at in 20 overs as well. I think it is a reflection of where we are as a team," Flower said.

"India are a very good side and we respect them tremendously but we aren't fearful of them. We'll play an attacking brand of Twenty20 cricket when we face them. We're definitely not going to win this tournament by playing conservative cricket," he said.

Explaining further, the England coach said he was for controlled aggression instead of unbridled slam-bang.

"There's a blend of attack and good decision-making that you've got to find. It's not just crash, bang, wallop all the time, there is a lot of thought that goes into that crash, bang, wallop and there is a skill to playing the right shot at the right time."

Flower also accepted that lack of top-level experience in this format of the game could count against his side when they take on India's star-studded line-up.

"In terms of international experience - and when I say that I include world tournaments such as the IPL where you've the best players in the world playing - we're lacking some of the experience that other top sides have so we're learning about this game as the tournament progresses," Flower said.

"These tournaments are important to the team's development. Development is something that will happen in time but ultimately it is about performance. This is a World Cup and we want to win it in our home country and performance has to be our first priority." Read more

Broad warned by ICC over antics

The ICC has requested England fast bowler Stuart Broad not to repeat his controversial attempts to distract a batsman as displayed during the Super Eights match against South Africa. The incident, which occurred during the 17th over of the South African innings, prompted the opposition to approach the ICC for clarification and following a meeting yesterday between match referee Alan Hurst and umpires Steve Davis and Alan Hill they decided it was "not an appropriate action."

As Broad approached his delivery stride, he pointed towards his side as if to indicate a fielder was out of position, but carried on with his bowling action without disrupting his own rhythm. AB de Villiers worked the ball behind square for a single so Broad's antics didn't bear fruit. It might have been more of a talking point if the ball had brought him a wicket. Broad had done it before as well, during the one-day series at home against West Indies.

Graeme Smith, the South African captain, had said the matter needed clarification. His view appeared to be supported by Law 42.4 of the Laws of Cricket, which states: "It is unfair for any member of the fielding side deliberately to attempt to distract the striker while he is preparing to receive or receiving a delivery."

Paul Collingwood, the England captain, had defended Broad saying he was not going to ask him to stop doing it. England coach Andy Flower claimed former South African allrounder Shaun Pollock had begun the practice some years ago.

"He [Pollock] didn't point to the left as Stuart did but he looked to the left as he was running in," said Flower. "He was probably the first guy I saw do it, which is interesting. I don't think it's a huge issue, to be honest."
Source:www.cricinfo.com Read more

Kiwi Ryder out of World T20 with mystery illness

New Zealand have called up Otago batsman Aaron Redmond to replace the sick Jesse Ryder for the World Twenty20, the Black Caps said on Thursday.

Ryder, a top order batsman, was hospitalised in London earlier this week for a mysterious illness and did not travel with the team for the Super Eights match against Ireland here later on Thursday.

New Zealand manager Dave Currie said Ryder remained in hospital, but was likely to be released within the next 24 hours and head back to New Zealand for further recuperation.

"Unfortunately medical advice is that it would be very difficult for Jesse to regain full fitness in time for the remainder of the tournament," said Currie.

"Because of the time constraints at this stage of the tournament we have made the call to bring in a replacement player, and we are fortunate that Aaron has been able to join the side for Thursday's game.

"It?s a real disappointment for Jesse. He is one of the most explosive batsmen in the world and was well placed to make his mark on this tournament," said Currie.

The International Cricket Council has approved Redmond's inclusion in the squad, Currie added.

A media release from the Black Caps earlier this week said "the diagnosis of Jesse?s injury was unclear, but it seems he is suffering from a significant infection".

Redmond was playing grade cricket in England when he was summoned to join the national squad.

He has played seven Tests for New Zealand and was a leading performer in the latest domestic Twenty20 competition, finishing as the top run scorer including an innings of 100 not out from 58 balls.
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ODI route in England a blessing in disguise - Arthur

Mickey Arthur the South Africa coach, has said the heavy defeat to England in the one-day series last year had only made the team stronger and emerge as a world-beating unit. He said the 4-0 defeat - after winning the Test series - forced him and Graeme Smith to rethink their overall composition of their limited-overs side and the benefits are now being felt, with South Africa starting the ongoing ICC World Twenty20 as one of the favourites.

"I think that one-day series we had here (in England) after winning the Test series was a blessing in disguise for us," Arthur said. "It certainly forced myself and Graeme to sit back and do a lot of reflection, deciding on which way we wanted to go, what was going to be our brand going forward to the World Cup in 2011, who were the players we were going to look at and we did. We sat down and we thought long and hard about it.

"With the team we had in England, we didn't have the ability to take pace off the ball. We realised we needed to grow our spin bowling department, we realised we needed to have batters who could bowl spin coupled with out and out pace bowlers."

Though the current Twenty20 squad isn't markedly different from the one-day team which toured England last year, the big difference is the number of spinners who've helped South Africa's growth. The offspinner Johan Botha - an effective Twenty20 bowler - was elevated to the one-day captaincy to fill Smith's absence; JP Duminy has been chipping in regularly with his offbreaks and Roelof van der Merwe has been an asset with his left-arm spin and match-winning ability.

"I think we've got the balance right now. We've got seven definite bowling options, three of which are spin bowling options - I include JP Duminy in that because I think he's that good," Arthur said. "And we've got three guys who can bowl at over 140kph (Dale Steyn, Wayne Parnell and Jacques Kallis).

"We also bat down to ten - Wayne Parnell was batting at six for Kent a month back - and I still think as a group we are probably the best fielding side in the world."

Despite the team's recent success as a Test unit - with Test series wins in England and Australia - a victory in an ICC event has always eluded them. South Africa failed to make the semi-finals of the last World Twenty20 on their own turf and bowed out of the 2003 World Cup in the group stages, among other missed opportunities.

"We said a year ago there were three things we really wanted to do as a South African unit - to win a Test series in England, to win a Test series in Australia and to win an ICC trophy event," Arthur said. "We've flattered to deceive in ICC events. We've ticked two of the three boxes and we've got three opportunities until 2011 to put the other one right so here's hoping."
Source: www.cricinfo.com Read more

Pietersen power revives England's T20 hopes

The hosts, 48 hours after their shock four-wicket loss to the Netherlands, bounced back to record a win which, because their net run-rate was now superior to that of the Dutch, ensured their progress in the tournament.

Pakistan, finalists at the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa two years ago, now face a make or break Group B clash against the Netherlands at Lord's on Tuesday.

Kevin Pietersen came back from an Achilles injury to lead England to a total of 185 for five with 58 after missing Friday's Dutch debacle at Lord's.

Pakistan, chasing 186 for victory, saw Stuart Broad take two wickets in as many balls to reduce them to 41 for three at the end of the six-over powerplay.

Kamran Akmal holed out to Luke Wright at deep mid-wicket before opener Salman Butt exited for 28.

Pace bowler Broad led England's attack with three for 17 from three overs.

At the 10-over half-way stage Pakistan were well behind the required run-rate at 63 for three.

And by the time the hard-hitting Shahid Afridi reached the crease they were 87 for four in the 13th over.

Afridi could only manage five before he skied off-spinner Graeme Swann to substitute fielder and former Irish cricketing star Eoin Morgan in the deep.

Pakistan's innings petered out as they finished on 137 for seven with captain Younis Khan stranded on 46 not out.

Earlier, South Africa born shotmaker Pietersen faced 38 balls with three sixes and five fours before he was caught at short third man by Umar Gul off Saeed Ajmal.

Spin bowler Ajmal had dropped a caught and bowled chance when Pietersen was on 30.

Pakistan made an early breakthrough after Younis won the toss.

Teenager Mohammad Aamir, a left-arm quick like his boyhood hero Wasim Akram, marked his international debut by removing Ravi Bopara but it needed a superb catch at backward point by Shoaib Malik to leave England nine for one.

Opener Luke Wright, who struck England's first six of the tournament, a pull off the 17-year-old Aamir, kept the run-rate high in the overcast conditions by striking five fours in as many balls faced.

But a stand of 53 was ended when Umar Gul yorked Wright for 34.
Source: www.cricket.indiatimes.com Read more