India's number-one ranking goes on the line

England will go to number one in the Reliance ICC Test Championship if it beats India by at least two Tests in the upcoming four-match series. Although currently in third position on the table, Andrew Strauss's team will leap above South Africa and India to take pole position if it finishes the series 3-1 or 2-0 to the good or better.This will add extra masala to a series that is already highly anticipated. The first Test, which starts at Lord's on 21 July, will be the 2,000th in the history of the game and the 100th between England and India. With a full house and a huge global television viewership expected, the enduring qualities of the pinnacle format of cricket will be highlighted, more than 134 years since the first Test was staged.According to the latest table, following the annual update*, England will lead the table by three ratings points if it wins the series by two clear matches. In that scenario, India would hold on to second position with South Africa slipping to third. If the home team was to sweep the series 4-0, India would drop to third place. A 1-0 or 2-1 series win for England will put its rating level with India's but India will still be top by a fraction of a point. A drawn series (0-0, 1-1 or 2-2) will ensure India stays six points clear at the top but with England edging ahead of South Africa into second position.An India series win will see it stretch its lead at the top of the table, leaving England lying in third place.The update, whereby older results are dropped or have their weightings reduced, has led to no changes in the rankings but India's lead over South Africa is trimmed from nine points to seven points. SA is not scheduled to play Test cricket until November when it hosts Australia.The most dramatic change coming from the update is Australia's loss of seven ratings points (from 107 to 100). Although Michael Clarke's men remain fifth, they are now eight points adrift of Sri Lanka in fourth place. The reason for this significant drop is the exclusion of a number of fine results Australia enjoyed in the season 2007-08, when it won all three of its series (against Sri Lanka, India and the West Indies). ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said: "As we all prepare to celebrate the staging of the 2,000th Test match, one cannot imagine it to be any better than between two of the top teams in a series that carries with it the battle for top spot on in the rankings. That is great context and we will enhance that with the ICC World Test Championship in future."Test cricket is the pinnacle form of the game and we will continue to protect and promote it above all. It is our link to the game's origins, it is what defines greatness and it is recognised by the players as being the benchmark by which they wish to be graded and remembered. History has proven that no other form of the game can create memorable and meaningful moments like Test cricket can."

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"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.

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India focus on handling short-pitch bowling

Anticipating that they will be tested with short-pitched stuff in the upcoming Test series against England, the Indian batsmen on Thursday devoted time in the practice session to finding ways to handle the James Anderson-led pace battery. The tour opens with a three-day game against Somerset from Friday.With the county resting most of its top players, the wicket as featherbed as it comes and forecast of rain-laden next three days, the specter of Anderson is making Indians almost bypass the game against Somerset.Anderson has 24 wickets from six Tests against India - 20 of them of top order batsmen. He picked up a five-wicket haul at Lord's on India's previous visit in 2007. He has claimed Sachin Tendulkar 5 times from 6 Tests.Thus it was little wonder that Gautam Gambhir spent as much time as he could in the nets adjacent to the centre pitch. Coach Duncan Fletcher watched him from the front, then slipped behind the nets and had a few chosen words of advice for the opener.Gambhir appeared to practice against deliveries which bounced and left him. Time and again, he hopped on to his backfoot and angled down the bat in the gully area a realization that the quartet of Anderson, Steve Finn, John Tremlett and Stuart Broad are the tallest set of pacemen operating for one team in international cricket.Sachin Tendulkar, the centre of all hype and anticipation on his 100th international hundred, looked surprisingly relaxed as he preferred the throwdowns from fielding coach Trevor Penny. Later on, he warmed up and faced up to India's top medium-pacers and then kept at it for a long time.The competition between the medium-pacers was palpable though Zaheer Khan, without any such worry, preferred to gingerly run up to the crease. He might sit out on Thursday to deny England captain Andrew Strauss the practice he so desperately needs.Somerset would do their own bit to deprive Indians of any worthwhile practice. Captain Marcus Trescothick is away, England's one-day opener-wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter is unlikely to be around and the only fast bowler of any promise, Steve Kirby, could be missing.The consolation, besides Strauss, could be young batsman of promise James Hildreth and Malaysia-born Arul Suppiah, who made headlines this season when he returned world-record figures in Twenty20 cricket - a haul of 6 wickets for 5 runs.Returning to the Indians, Sreesanth didn't hold himself back at all and looked around for nods of approval after he once claimed VVS Laxman. The slip cordon was also given practice with tennis balls which swerve and could pop out if the hands are not kept soft.

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Pakistan reject ICC recommendations

KARACHI: Pakistan’s cricket authorities on Wednesday rejected a series of recommendations proposed by a special task force appointed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to help put the sport back on track in this country.Terming a comprehensive report prepared by ICC’s Pakistan Task Force as a ‘scholarly exercise’, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) urged for a more ‘Pakistan specific’ blueprint from the force that includes a number of leading cricketing personalities.In a lengthy statement issued on Wednesday, PCB questioned the credibility of the report saying that the PTT members did not even care to visit the country before finalising it“The entire report has been prepared without PTT ever visiting Pakistan (except for a brief chat of a few hours that David Richardson had with a few ex-players during his visit to Karachi in January 2011 or perhaps some input to PTT from Ramiz),” said the statement referring to Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan Test opener who is a PTT member.“This raises serious questions on the observations given in the report,” said the statement.According to a PCB official, a detailed response to the 38-page PTT has been sent to the ICC.The PCB has raised serious objection on the PTT’s move to question political interference in the Board, claiming that unique circumstances in Pakistan justifies it.The PTT report had expressed reservations on the authority of the President of Pakistan in appointment of the Chairman PCB and members of Governing Board.PCB’s response states, “The circumstances in Pakistan are unique and cricket administration requires and deserves government support without which international cricket may not be able to return to Pakistan. Keeping in view the extraordinary security situation in the country, having the President as Patron of PCB adds tremendous value and comfort.PCB also believes that the PTT should do more about reviving the iconic Pakistan-India series instead of just talking about the importance of the event.Whereas the Indian government issued favorable statements regarding resumption of cricketing ties between the two countries, but it seems that BCCI is still awaiting formal signal from its government in this regard. We feel that perhaps PTT/ICC should have taken a lead role in ensuring that all bilateral tour commitments are honoured by India vis-‡-vis Pakistan. We do not have anything to suggest on record that PTT/ICC made any efforts to engage with BCCI or the Government of India in this regard,” said PCB.On PTT’s observation regarding role of Mike Brearley and Greg Chappel, PCB states, “while we appreciate that Mike Brearley and Greg Chappell were made Ambassadors to support Pakistan cricket, we are yet to observe any endeavors from their side. Although with their standing in international cricket, they could have gone a long way in supporting cricket in Pakistan. We still welcome them to come to Pakistan and expect that they will now play a proactive role in supporting return of international cricket in Pakistan.”The PCB has also rejected PTT’s criticism over selection matters. In its report, PTT suggested that the national selection committee should be independent.“Regrettably, PTT did not meet the Chairman of Selection Committee to get his views. The process of selection is such that the selectors finalise a team which is sent to Chairman PCB for his formal approval.In case there are any queries with regard to any player, the same is sent back to the Selection Committee for their comments and it is entirely up to the Selection Committee to finalise the squad. They in fact sign the final squad before submitting the same to Chairman PCB for his formal approval.“We therefore feel that the recommendations of PTT that Chairman PCB has the right of veto are not based on facts. The process of selection is a time tested one and has worked for Pakistan. It ensures that there are proper checks and balances in selection matters. The view that there is interference in the selection matters is therefore factually incorrect devoid of reality and henceforth rejected.”PCB has also disagreed with PTT’s proposal that the national selection committee should have more say in the appointment of team captain.“We respectfully disagree with this recommendation. In Pakistan the system of selecting a captain is different. No reason has been given by PTT in support of its recommendation that Selection Committee is the best judge of who the captain of Pakistan should be? If this recommendation is based on what other countries follow it may not work for Pakistan. Again the authority to nominate the captain has been delegated by the Governing Board to the Chairman.”The Board also shrugged off PTT’s suggestion that Pakistan should appoint a regular manager, stressing that such a move won’t work in Pakistan.“These recommendations are probably given by PTT as ‘best business practice’ rather than Pakistan specific. To our knowledge, there are other countries that nominate managers on tour-by-tour basis and the system works well for them. Same in the case with other support staff who is appointed by the Boards. In the absence of any plausible argument in favor of change, such recommendations cannot be accepted nor implemented.”Commenting on the PCB response, Board chief Ijaz Butt said: “I am grateful to the PTT for their work. While the intent cannot be questioned, few discrepancies can be identified in the report, which PCB consider duty-bound to rectify. I wish to reiterate the assurance of ICC to us that recommendations in the report are not directives to PCB and that it is entirely up to PCB to accept and implement these. Having consulted members of our Board of Governors, we decided to send a detailed response to ICC. I hope that it will be taken in a positive spirit.

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Batsmen need to work harder after new laws: Taufeeq Umar

LAHORE: Test cricketer Taufeeq Umar said Thursday that batsmen would need to work harder to take advantage of the new law which would allow the use of two new balls from each end during One-day internationals,Speaking during the fast track coaching programme taking place at the National Cricket Academy, Umar said he tried to improve his technique with the help of Mohsin Khan. He added that the participants of the programme were getting the opportunity to improve their fitness due to the hot weather. The ongoing fast track coaching programme is providing training to the country’s top batsmen and bowlers. The programme is being supervised by former cricketers Sarfaraz Nawaz, Mohsin Khan and Ijaz Ahmed.

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Malinga too hot for Scotland

LONDON: Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga ensured the islanders tour of Britain ended on a winning note as he took five wickets in a 183-run one-day international rout of Scotland here on Wednesday.Beaten in both Test and one-day series by England, the World Cup finalists proved too strong for a Scotland side who'd only the day before piled up 323 in a shock win over fellow non-Test team Ireland.Sri Lanka made 284 for seven, featuring fifties from openers Mahela Jayawardene (64) and Dimuth Karunaratne (60).They then saw Malinga, one of the most difficult bowlers in world cricket to face on account of his round-arm, 'slingshot', style take five for 30 as Scotland were shot out for 101 with Majid Haq's 34 double the next best score of any other home batsman. Malinga, 27, who has retired from Test cricket, earlier made a rapid unbeaten 32 off 15 balls with two sixes but it was his bowling that did the damage.

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Ton of tons no concern to Tendulkar

LONDON: Sachin Tendulkar is on the brink of yet another record-breaking achievement as he heads into next week's first Test against England at Lord's just one century away from 100 international hundreds.But the 'Little Master' insists he is not thinking of personal milestones and reckons any records he set "might be broken by someone else"The 38-year-old Tendulkar has already scored 51 Test hundreds and 48 in one-day internationals.It would appear everything is set up for him to achieve a 'fairytale' century at Lord's, the 'home of cricket' in next week's first Test of four.However, Tendulkar told the London Daily Telegraph: "I'm not thinking of records. I'm just thinking of enjoying this tour. "The secret to any performance is not in chasing records. I think about, 'What is the best way to enjoy the game, and how can I enhance that enjoyment factor?'," added Tendulkar, whose four previous Tests at Lord's have yielded a meagre top score of 37."If I enhance the enjoyment then, naturally, the standard of play becomes higher. To me, that is more important. If I'm playing well, things can happen." Someone who is hoping to delay Tendulkar from yet another landmark achievement is England Test captain Andrew Strauss."The longer it goes on, that he is on 99, the better," Strauss said. We know what a quality player Sachin is."You only have to look at his record to see that," added Strauss, who could find himself playing against Tendulkar later this week when he 'guests' for Somerset against India at Taunton -- the tourists' only warm-up fixture before the first Test.Tendulkar achieved a goal even more cherished than a century of centuries when he helped India win the World Cup by beating Sri Lanka in a final played in front of his adoring home crowd in Mumbai in April. "It was something I had always dreamt about," he said. "You start playing cricket, and one day you walk away as part of a world champion team. "I took up playing serious cricket because in 1983, we won the World Cup, and that was a big turning point in terms of considering cricket a full-time profession," Tendulkar explained."That moment was a decisive one. I felt, 'I want to play for India one day'. It was a huge boost. From then I started working hard."Tendulkar's international career started at the age of 16 and for the past 22 years he has been subjected to a level of scrutiny and adoration few sportsmen ever experience at all, and then but briefly in their careers.However, he insisted: "I'm used to it. It began around the age of 16. But I don't feel suffocated. I feel extremely comfortable back home in whatever I do. That's how my life has been, so I believe it's normal."Perhaps the only batsman in history who has carried the hopes of a nation in the same way as Tendulkar was Australia icon Sir Donald Bradman, whose Test average of 99.94 remains unsurpassed.Tendulkar met Bradman, who died 10 years ago, when he visited his home in Adelaide following India's Test match in the city in 1992.Bradman paid Tendulkar the compliment of saying he thought the Indian maestro's batting was reminiscent of his own."To have the statement from Sir Don that my batting resembled his, that my style was exactly like his, it meant a lot," Tendulkar said.Although his batting has proved to be a statistician's delight, Tendulkar wants his career to be about more than raw figures."For me, it's not about breaking records or creating new ones. It's about adding value to my team. "Records will be set by me, they might be broken by someone else. They're not going to stay permanently. "But the impression that I leave on people will last forever, I feel. "The impression that I leave behind -- to me that is important. "If I can motivate the next (generation of) young cricketers, that will be a big contribution.

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Afridi returns home leaving county cricket halfway

MUMBAI: The Indian cricket team has departed for England and on this tour the national side will include Sachin Tendulkar and other experienced players. During the England tour, the Indian team will play one Twenty20 International, five One-day Internationals and four Tests. The team will include Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, and S Sreesanth. These players did not participate in the series against the West Indies. The first Test between Indian and England will be played on July 21 at Lords and it will be the 2000th Test in the history of cricket.

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Afridi leaving English county half-way returns home

KARACHI: All rounder Shahid Afridi leaving English county championship half-way has returned home for looking after his ailing father, tv inter view.Shahid Afridi has appealed to the nation for praying his father’s early recovery.Afridi was representing Hampshire County in England, but he had to rush back home because of his father being in critical condition. Afridi’s father Shahibzada Fazlur Rahman ill for a long time was admitted into a local hospital, where he is under treatment in ICU.Talking to Tv Interview, Shahid Afridi has appealed to the nation praying for his father’s health.

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