NEWS ALERT

NEWS UPDATE : Asian Cricket Third Sri Lanka-Pakistan ODI abandoned due to rain COLOMBO: The third One-day International between Sri Lanka and Pakistan was abandoned due to rain here at the R Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday. The umpires made this decision after consulting ... Australia want to master all forms of game: Clarke SYDNEY: Australia's limited-overs tour of England and Ireland represents the start of a two-year campaign to make them the top nation in all three forms of the game, captain Michael Clarke said ... Bopara glad to be back for England SOUTHAMPTON, England: Ravi Bopara is eager to make up for lost times as he tries to revive his ... South Africa name unchanged squad for England series JOHANNESBURG: South Africa have kept faith with a winning formula by naming an unchanged squad for the three-Test series in England starting next month, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on ...


Friday, July 15, 2011

"We want to be the number one Test side," says Alastair Cook

England's ODI captain, Alastair Cook, on this week's ICC Cricket World radio show talks exclusively about the win against Sri Lanka and looks ahead to England's upcoming series against India, where he wants to see his side assume the number one position in the Reliance ICC Test Championship.Former India captain Sourav Ganguly predicts a tough Indian summer for England at home, while England women's captain Charlotte Edwards looks back on the recently concluded women's quadrangular series wins at home and New Zealand's Aimee Watkins talks about her retirement from the game."It has been a good couple of months and to win the series is very pleasing. We have certainly got a lot to prove. We know as an English side, we know that we have to win. We have made a step in the right direction," says Cook.The England Test vice-captain is now looking forward to the India challenge in the upcoming four-match Test series."It is going to be a great summer, we need to go back to Test mode. We want to world number one in the Reliance ICC Test Championship. There is nothing better than playing against the current world number one, to show that we can reach there. They have got some players who will go down as all-time greats. But I am very confident that if we play well, we will be a hard side to beat,'' says Cook.The show can be used in whole or part by radio stations that want free cricket content for editorial use, while the public can also download it straight from or from iTunes.Meanwhile Sourav Ganguly looks ahead to the upcoming series between England and India."It is going to be a good series. We won there the last time in 2007 and I remember playing an important role myself. The English team has improved since then. But the England team will remember that in 2002, we managed to square the series. It is going to be a tough Indian team coming this season,'' says Ganguly.England women's captain Charlotte Edwards, who is thrilled with her team's winning performance in the recently completed women's quadrangular ODI and T20 series at home, speaks in a special focus on women's cricket."It was a great series. We were delighted to win the tournament. I think everyone contributed to the win. Lydia Greenway was exceptional with the bat, Holly Colvin and Katherine Brunt led our attack with the ball very well,'' says Edwards.New Zealand's retiring women's captain Aimee Watkins was disappointed with her team finishing last in both the formats in the quadrangular series, but Watkins was sure that it was the right time for her to step away. "It was a decision that I came to nearly six months ago, it's better to finish now and move on. I can now pay attention to my family and move to the next stage of my life. Without a doubt I will miss my teammates and the people I have met on the way," says Watkins.Apart from these exclusive interviews, there is the usual round-up of cricketing news and an update of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings.This show is 15-minute audio show and has been put together by the ICC's global broadcast partner, ESPN STAR Sports.