25/7/13 Latest News

SRILANKA BACK TO NO.1 SPOT IN T20’s:

Sri Lanka have retained their position as the No. 1 Twenty20 International team after the annual update of the ICC Twenty20 Internationals rankings were announced on Thursday (July 25). Sri Lanka are seven points clear of second-placed West Indies, the reigning World T20 champions, while India, who last played a T20I against Pakistan in December 2012, are placed third.
The update has brought no change in the rankings. The annual update comes two days prior to a two-match T20I series between West Indies and Pakistan, starting July 27 in St Vincent. Pakistan, currently ranked fourth, will climb up to the second spot if they win the series 2-0, thereby swapping places with West Indies, who are currently on 120 rating points. However, if West Indies win both the matches, they will jump to 132 points, reducing the gap with Sri Lanka to just two rating points.
At the ICC’s annual conference in London in June, it was decided to change the ranking period over a four-year span instead of three. The ICC board also decided that the annual updates to the Test, ODI and T20I rankings should now take place on May 1 each year, instead of August 1, to better align it with the current international calendar.
The updated table now reflects all T20I matches completed after August 1, 2010. All T20I matches played until the start of May 2014 will be added to this table. Fourteen out of the 16 countries with T20I status are part of the rankings, with Afghanistan and Canada yet to play the required eight rated matches. Afghanistan need to play one and Canada two more T20 Internationals prior to May 2014 in order to join the rankings.

“I’m really happy to be playing for India.”says Rayudu

As Ambati Rayudu faced up to the press after India’s six-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the first One-Day International on Wednesday (July 24), he brought with him an unusual contradiction.
He sported a tattoo on his neck and carried the sort of history that suggested a bold contrarian lay beneath, yet when he was asked for his reaction to finally making his India debut after a long wait, Rayudu delivered his answer in a voice that was barely louder than a whisper.
“It feels marvellous. I’m really excited. It’s been pretty emotional and I’m really happy to be playing for India.”
The small gathering, which had already been within cat-swinging distance, leaned in a little closer, straining to hear.
“I always had the belief that if I could get things right and get my mind right, then I would be able to make it into the team one day, and I’m really happy that I got my chance today.”
Having just spoken to Sikandar Raza, who had been confident bordering on cocksure, it seemed odd to those present in the room that this talented Indian batsman who had begun his international career in style was so softly-spoken in front of such a gentle inquiry.
It seemed stranger yet when you looked at Rayudu’s history – an India Under-19 captain who fell off the radar for several years, popping up only in reference to disciplinary issues with coaches and umpires before joining the Indian Cricket League in 2007. Surely, this guy would be a bit of a punk?
Apparently not. Having accepted the BCCI’s amnesty offer in 2009 to take up a contract with Mumbai Indians, a more unassuming character seems to have developed. Rayudu paid tribute to the impact the Mumbai set-up has had on him as he’s worked his way towards being the international cricketer that many expected from such a bright young talent.
Asked whether it was the Indian Premier League, or anyone specifically, that had helped him, he replied: “My family, my friends and especially the Mumbai Indians support staff. Sachin (Tendulkar) and Robin Singh especially. They’ve helped me a lot, and I’d definitely like to thank them for that.”
Having been content to play second fiddle to Virat Kohli in a 159-run partnership that put the result of the first ODI beyond doubt, he was more effusive about the benefits of batting alongside his captain.
“I think he’s playing the best cricket possible,” Rayudu said of Kohli. “I definitely feel that he’s the best in the world right now in the one-day format. He made it a lot easier for me, and I was just looking at the way he was constructing his innings – it’s a very good learning experience.”
Although Rayudu, 27, described the Zimbabwean bowlers as “pretty good”, in truth he could hardly have asked for a friendlier introduction to the international game. Time will tell whether he turns out to be the outwardly bold character his earlier years suggested, the quietly confident one that saw India to victory on Wednesday, or something combining the best qualities of both.

 

"First-class cricket has been hard work over past couple of years to score big runs. Pitches have not been ideal,"

David Warner drastically improved his chances of taking part in the Investec Ashes over the course of a single innings for Australia A in South Africa. Now Matthew Wade is earnestly hoping to do the same, under the noses of the national selectors in the tour match against Sussex.

Warner's effort, a blistering 193, has provided inspiration for the rest of Australia's bedraggled squad even if it was made 7,000 miles away. Until that innings the nation's batting had been a laughing stock for the best part of four days, but Warner has at least provided some indication for the rest of what is possible with a little confidence.

So far on tour, Wade has been less a member of the team than the answer to a trivia question: which man apart from Michael Clarke has made a Test century in 2013? Wade's quite brilliant hundred against Sri Lanka at the SCG  has since faded from view after he ceded his wicketkeeping position to the vice-captain Brad Haddin.

Nonetheless, the travails of the batsmen at Trent Bridge and Lord's have offered Wade a glimmer of opportunity and, like Warner, he is hoping to barge his way into calculations by rattling to a large score at Hove - not that he is thinking too far ahead of course.

"Any batsman who goes out and dominates and gets 150 or 200 will have a chance to play," Wade said. "But I haven't spoken to anyone about a spot coming up. I'm just excited to have a game of cricket because I've been on the sidelines for a few weeks. To go into a game thinking those sort of things is wrong thing to do. If you go into a game thinking if I get runs I will play the Test match it won't do you any good."

Wade's keeping has been the cause for most concern over his brief Test match career, but his batting is highly regarded. On several occasions when he was still a selector, the captain Michael Clarke suggested Wade would contend for a place as a batsman alone, and it is one after-effect of Adam Gilchrist's influential career that most wicketkeepers have almost had to consider themselves batsmen first.

"Gilchrist ruined it for everyone," Wade said with a laugh. "It's like being an allrounder. I feel comfortable where I'm at with keeping and batting. When I got dropped I went up to the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane for six-eight weeks and worked really hard with Ian Healy. I was going up for a couple of days at a time and did a lot of work with him and Hadds was there as well. It felt like I came a long way in that period. I was here in England for the ODIs and felt my keeping was going pretty well. Fingers crossed things keep going in that direction."

Watching from the boundary's edge, Wade has been greatly impressed by England's bowling, the best he has seen around the world so far. But he harked back to memories of the home Tests against South Africa in late 2012 for a reminder that Australia can bat should conditions and confidence dovetail effectively.

"It's been terrific and world class bowling," Wade said of England. "It's the best I've seen in the 18 months I've been around Test cricket. We knew their bowlers would be hard work. I'd love to have an opportunity to have a crack at them. We played South Africa in Australia and didn't find too many problems scoring 400-500 in an innings. Wickets were different and we have to adjust. We have to find a way. It's not impossible. We have all scored runs against very good players before."

As for the wider questions about why Australia's batting had deteriorated, Wade agreed with Usman Khawaja that the increase in the number of green Sheffield Shield pitches had been a significant factor. "First-class cricket has been hard work over past couple of years to score big runs. Pitches have not been ideal," Wade said. "They have been greener than previously and that is an issue for batmen hitting big hundreds. It is not a technical issue that players have not been scoring big runs.

"It has been great for bowlers. Batting wise it is harder but a good challenge. Everyone talks about batsmen getting big hundreds, 200s and 250s but that is a big ask in games that are only going two and a half or three days."