LIVE 5th TEST BETWEEN ENGLAND Vs WEST INDIES 2009

LIVE 5th TEST BETWEEN ENGLAND Vs WEST INDIES 2009

LIVE 2nd TEST BETWEEN AUSTRALIA AND SOUTH AFRICA

LIVE STREAM OF 2nd TEST BETWEEN AUSTRALIA AND SOUTH AFRICA

LIVE 2nd ODI INDIA Vs NEWZEALAND 2009

LIVE STREAM OF LIVE 2nd ODI INDIA Vs NEWZEALAND 2009 AT WELLINGTON

Pietersen defends selection continuity

Kevin Pietersen backed England’s team selection in spite of another heavy defeat in the second ODI against India at Indore, and preferred to concentrate on the fact that their 54-run defeat was a marked improvement on the 158-run drubbing they endured in the series opener at Rajkot on Friday.

Despite attracting some criticism for a lop-sided line-up, which includes Ravi Bopara as a non-bowling option at No. 8, and the part-time spin of Samit Patel at No. 7, Pietersen was adamant that continuity was the secret to success.

“I didn’t want to change the side, I wanted to give the guys the confidence to know that they could turn things around,” he said. “You could say conditions favoured them and if we’d bowled second then it might have been different, but the team we went in with, we thought could win this fixture and be more competitive, and we were today.”

England enjoyed a flying start to the match when Stuart Broad reduced India to 29 for 3, and they were still in the reckoning while Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff were taking 59 runs from the final five-over Powerplay. But once again, the difference between the sides was Yuvraj Singh, who followed up his second century of the series with figures for 4 for 28.

“We’ve made marked improvements from the first game, when we were totally outplayed and were out of it from 30 overs onwards,” said Pietersen. “We certainly got a good start here today, but we probably weren’t aggressive and didn’t carry that through and we probably thought it would just happen for us, which is a mistake of ours.”

When asked what England could do to stop India’s matchwinner, Pietersen joked: “I’m going to take Yuvraj out at the hotel tonight and make sure he doesn’t come to Kanpur. The bowlers tried their hearts out and the batters definitely gave us a good run but we needed someone to get a big score like Yuvraj did.”

While England ponder the problems posed by Yuvraj, they will not have been heartened by the comments of his team-mate, Yusuf Pathan, whose 50 from 29 balls helped hoist India to a formidable total of 292 for 9. “We find it difficult bowling to [Yuvi] in the nets so we’re just the same as England,” he said. “But we’re not going to give them any tips on it.”

"DON BROADMAN"-THE DON OF CRICKET

Fast Facts

1. AKA: The Don
2. Full name: Donald George Bradman
3. Born: August 27, 1908
4. Birth place: Cootamundra, New South Wales
5. Spouse: Jessie Menzies
6. Resided: Adelaide, Australia
7. Died: February 25, 2001
8. Height: 5’7″ (173cm)
9. Position: Batsman
10. Test Debut: November 30, 1928
11. Batting average: 99.94
12. Knighted: 1949

Date of Birth:

27 August 1908, Cootamundra, New South Wales, Australia

Date of Death:

25 February 2001, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia (pneumonia)

Birth Name:Donald George Bradman

Nickname :The Don

Generally regarded as the greatest cricketer ever to play the game, Don Bradman averaged 99.94 runs per innings during his illustrious career. He continued to play test cricket until the age of 40, when in 1948 he led an Australian team touring England, UK. The team did not lose a match on that tour and are now legendary, they are known as The Invincibles.

Spouse:

Jessie Menzies

(1933 – 15 September 1997) (her death) 2 children

Trivia:Australian Cricket player.

In his last cricket innings, he needed only 4 runs to attain a test cricket batting average off 100. He got out for a duck (0 runs) and finished with an average of 99.94.

Has one son and one daughter.

Wisden Cricketer of the Year, 1931

He was awarded the A.C. (Commander of the Order of Australia) on June 11,1979 for his services to sports and cricket.

Knighted for services to cricket, 1949

Named Australian “Sportsman of the Century” in 1999.

A minute’s silence was observed at every state and international game following his death.

His score of 334 against England in 1930 is now the equal second highest ever Test score by an Australian batsman. The highest was scored by Matthew Hayden in October, 2003. Bradman shares the second highest with Mark Taylor.

Awarded life membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club, which was extended to an honorary vice-presidency in 1988 ‘in recognition of his unique contribution to the game of cricket’.

Famously learnt how to bat as a child by hitting a golf ball with a cricket bat against a brick watertank stand.

Has stands named after him at most major Australian cricket grounds, as well as the Bradman Oval at his birthplace of Bowral, New South Wales.

The post office box of the Australian Broadcasting Commission is 9994 – a homage to Bradman’s Test batting average of 99.94.

The only established batsman in the history of cricket never to have gotten out in the 90s.

One of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Century.

Quotes

“”Armed with a small stump, which I used as a bat, and throwing a golf ball at the brick part of an old tank a few yards away, I would try to hit the ball on the rebound. I was never satisfied unless I could hit it, say, three times out of four.“—Bradman, discussing how he practiced the game as a boy.

ICC TEST BATTING RANKING

Rank	Player	Country	Rating
1	S Chanderpaul	WI	890
2	KC Sangakkara	SL	886
3	MEK Hussey	AUS	882
4	RT Ponting	AUS	880
4	Mohammad Yousuf	PAK	880
6	DPMD Jayawardena	SL	837
7	ML Hayden	AUS	834
8	KP Pietersen	ENG	829
9	Younis Khan	PAK	799
10	V Sehwag	IND	786
11	JH Kallis	SA	774
12	GC Smith	SA	739
13	MJ Clarke	AUS	723
14	A Symonds	AUS	700
15	VVS Laxman	IND	699
16	Rahul Dravid	IND	686
16	AN Cook	ENG	686
18	AB de Villiers	SA	679
19	RR Sarwan	WI	659
20	AG Prince	SA	659

ICC ODI BATTING RANKINGS

Rank	Player	Country	Rating
1	MS Dhoni	IND	793
2	MEK Hussey	AUS	776
3	GC Smith	SA	764
4	RT Ponting	AUS	740
5	Mohammad Yousaf	PAK	738
6	S Chanderpaul	WI	733
7	KP Pietersen	ENG	730
8	SR Tendulkar	IND	724
9	A Symonds	AUS	719
10	ML Hayden	AUS	711
11	HH Gibbs	SA	700
12	CH Gayle	WI	700
13	AB de Villiers	SA	687
14		SL	680
15	MJ Clarke	AUS	677
16	Shoaib Malik	PAK	676
17	Sanath Jayasuriya	SL	675
18	Yuvraj Singh	IND	673
19	RR Sarwan	WI	667
20	Salman Butt	PAK	666

ICC ODI CHAMPIONSHIP

Rank	Team	Matches	Rating
1	Australia	28	131
2	South Africa	25	118
3	England	27	116
4	New Zealand	21	116
5	India	36	113
6	Pakistan	25	110
7	Sri Lanka	27	105
8	West Indies	21	95
9	Bangladesh	27	45
10	Ireland	8	22
11	Zimbabwe	15	16
12	Kenya	3	0

ICC TEST RANKINGS

Rank	Team	Matches	Ratings
1	Australia	26	138
2	South Africa	34	116
3	India	35	109
4	Sri Lanka	28	108
5	England	38	104
6	Pakistan	19	100
7	New Zealand	21	83
8	West Indies	22	81
9	Bangladesh	14	0

MOST RUNS IN TESTS

Name	Matches	Innings	Runs	Ave	100	50
Brain Lara	131	232	11953	52.88	34	48
Sachin Tendulkar	150	244	11877	54.23	39	49
AR Border	156	265	11174	50.56	27	63
SR Waugh	168	260	10927	51.06	32	50
Rahul Dravid	125	216	10246	53.92	25	52
SM Gavaskar	125	214	10122	51.12	34	45
RT Ponting	119	199	10099	58.37	35	40
JH Kallis	123	209	9761	55.46	30	48
GA Gooch	118	215	8900	42.58	20	46
Javed Miandad	124	189	8832	52.57	23	43
			Updated till: 16 th Sept