12/8/13 Latest News

Eng vs Aus, 4th Test, Chester-le-Street

Day 4: Post Lunch Session - Australia need 260 runs
AUS 270, 39/0 (10.5 Ovs) David warner 18 (22) Chris Rogers 14 (43)

8/8/13 Latest News

Panesar dropped from Durham Test:

London: Disgraced England bowler Monty Panesar has reportedly been dropped from the England squad for the fourth Ashes Test after urinating on a pair of nightclub bouncers.

According to the Daily Express, the left-arm spinner, who relieved himself on the bouncers after being thrown out of the popular Shooshh club at Brighton following a harassment complaint, now faces the prospect of sanctions from his county club Sussex.

The report further said that Panesar, who became the first Sikh to represent a nation other than India in Test cricket, had to pay a 90-pound fine to the police after the incident, for which he has reportedly apologised, with Sussex confirming that they had launched an investigation into the incident.

According to the report, the incident happened in the early hours of Monday morning as Panesar`s England colleagues were resting before the final day of the third Ashes test, adding that although Panesar had been selected in the 14-man squad that retained the Ashes but did not play in the Old Trafford match.

Panesar has played 48 Tests for England and taken 216 wickets.

Top of Form Bottom of Form

Top of Form Bottom of Form

It is the second drink-related incident involving Ashes players this summer.

In June, Australian batsman David Warner was reprimanded for striking England opener Joe Root in the face during a night out in Birmingham, the report added.

ICC denies players investigated over silicone on bats:

Sydney: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has denied it is investigating players in the Ashes series over alleged attempts by some batsmen to use silicone tape on the edge of their bats to confuse Hotspot technology.

Australia`s Channel Nine TV reported on Wednesday that the ICC was investigating the use of silicone, amid increasing controversy during the five-test series between England and Australia over the inconsistency of the Decision Review System (DRS).

"These media reports are totally incorrect," ICC chief executive Dave Richardson said in a statement on its website (www.icc-cricket.com).

"Geoff Allardice (ICC general manager cricket) is meeting with both teams and umpires to see how we can best use the DRS and the available technology going forward in the next two test matches. It has nothing to do with any players."

The Channel Nine report had suggested Richardson was to investigate attempts to cheat the effectiveness of Hotspot, which uses infrared cameras to determine whether the ball has struck the batsman, bat or pad, with any contact supposed to show up as a bright spot on the image.

Cricket Australia last week requested an explanation from the ICC over the dismissal of Usman Khawaja during the third test at Old Trafford.

The batsman was given out caught despite a review of the television pictures and Hotspot which showed no convincing evidence of a nick off the bat.

PIETERSEN FURY

Later in the same match, England batsman Kevin Pietersen was also given out, caught behind, but again the Hotspot failed to pick anything up.

The outspoken batsman was angered at being linked to the use of silicone and sent out a series of angry tweets.

Top of Form Bottom of Form

Top of Form Bottom of Form

"Horrible journalism yet again! My name brought up in hotspot crisis suggesting I use silicon(e) to prevent nicks showing! Such hurtful lies," Pietersen wrote.

"I am never afraid of getting out! If I nick it, I`ll walk.. To suggest I cheat by covering my bat with silicon(e) infuriates me," he added.

"How stupid would I be to try & hide a nick when it could save me on an LBW appeal, like in 1st innings where hotspot showed I nicked it."

Australian all-rounder Steve Smith also denied the allegations, telling a news conference that while batsmen used tape to help make their bat last longer, that did not extend to the use of silicone.

"It`s in the spirit of the game not to do that sort of thing, we haven`t discussed anything about trying to cheat the system at all," he said ahead of Friday`s fourth test at Chester-le-Street.

Hotspot`s Australian inventor, Warren Brennan, was reported in the British media to be preparing a statement on the technology for release on Wednesday.

A tweet posted on Tuesday from an unverified Twitter account under his name and entitled @HotSpotInventor read: "We will make a statement tomorrow about hotspot in regard to the remainder of the Ashes series."

Another, in reply to former England captain and media pundit Michael Vaughan posted on August 5 read: "Michael, its time you investigate why players are using fibreglass tape on the edges of their bats."

England coach Andy Flower also called for improvements in the DRS system after the third test was drawn, ensuring the hosts, who won the first two tests, would retain the Ashes.

5/8/13 Latest News

Eng vs Aus, 3rd Test, Manchester:

Day 5: Tea Break - England need 295 runs
ENG 368, 37/3 (20.3 Ovs) Ian Bell 4 (14) Joe Root 13 (57)

Jadeja climbs to top-ranking in ODI bowlers' table:

India's left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja has joined West Indies' off-spinner Sunil Narine on top of the bowlers' rankings, while Sri Lanka's left-handed batsman Kumar Sangakkara has equaled his career-high ranking in the latest Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings which were released on Sunday.

Jadeja has leapt four places to share the number-one spot with Narine after he claimed five wickets from five matches against Zimbabwe. This is the first time Jadeja has topped the bowlers' chart and is the first India bowler to head the table since former India captain Anil Kumble, who topped the table for 11 matches in November-December 1996.

Overall, Jadeja is the fourth India bowler after Kapil Dev (March 1989), Maninder Singh (December 1987-November 1988) and Kumble to claim the number-one bowlers spot in ODIs. The series against Zimbabwe was also a big one for India's leg-spinner Amit Mishra who has rocketed 47 places to 32nd spot after bagging a record 18 wickets.

In the Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings for Batsmen, Sangakkara has achieved a career-best rating of 829 points and has equaled his best-ever ranking of third after finishing as the highest run-getter in the ODI series against South Africa. Sangakkara, who last claimed third position in 2005, scored 372 runs from five matches at an average of 93.

Tillakaratne Dilshan is the other batsman to head in the right direction. The opener has gained two places and is now in sixth spot. Others to make upward movements include Suresh Raina in 17th (up by one), Shikhar Dhawan in 23rd (up by 16), JP Duminy in 27th (up by three) and Lahiru Thirimanne in 52nd (up by 10).

The batting table is still headed by South Africa's Hashim Amla with his captain AB de Villiers in second place.

Meanwhile, India's 5-0 series win over Zimbabwe has help it strengthen its position as the number-one ranked team on the Reliance ICC ODI Rankings Table. Though the series sweep earned India just one ratings point to help it finish at 123, it now has a lead of nine ratings points over number-two ranked Australia.

Meanwhile, South Africa and Sri Lanka have swapped places with the Asian side moving into fourth place after gaining three ratings points and the African side slipping to fifth after conceding five ratings points.

3/8/13 Latest news

Zim vs Ind, 5th ODI, Bulawayo

India won by 7 wkts
IND 167/3 (34.0 Ovs) Dinesh Karthik 10 (19) Jadeja 48 (77) ZIM 163 (39.5 Ovs) That's it from us on this game. Hop tabs to get some exciting action from the Ashes. Cheers! Kohli: 'The first two games were well fought out by Zimbabwe. The boys stepped up in the next three games and I am pretty happy that everything went well. We wanted to seal the series firstly and then think about the changes in the XI. Duncan discussed with me and the moves worked well for us. We believe in ourselves. All the 11 players believe that they can win every game. It has been an honour to be a part of this team and lead the side. It is not difficult as a captain as they are a talented bunch. They grab their opportunities. I just try to take responsibility as much as I can with this young team. It is a lot different to lead this side compared to the under-19 side and I am glad that we won the series.'  Amit Mishra is the Man of the Match:  'I feel good and I did a lot of hard work and everything paid off. The wicket helped me, they didn't pick my googly and that helped me a lot. I just went for wickets. We have a long time to rest and hopefully I will get better.' Taylor: 'It has been a tough series for us. We've been outplayed by a top team. Unfortunately not many positives for us from this series. Hopefully we will recover quickly from this. We face Pakistan next. There is a bit of a gap and we will try and use that to get better. We need to prepare mentally and that is something that we would like to work on. The bowlers can hold their heads high and I think the batsmen let them down.'