Abu Dhabi, November 24, 2011 (AFP) – Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq is hoping to win the Twenty20 match against Sri Lanka on Friday to lift their rankings and give them a clean sweep of the series after their Test and one-day victories. Pakistan, the 2009 World Twenty20 champions, have lost

Chamara Silva, a middle-order batsman, has joined Sri Lanka’s squad in the UAE as back up for Mahela Jayawardene, who has an injured knee. Jayawardene has returned to Sri Lanka and will miss the fifth ODI and the Twenty20 international against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.  “After Sunday

Dubai(AFP): Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq hopes his team can learn from its mistakes and show improvement in the third one-day international against Sri Lanka on Friday. Pakistan won the first of five matches by eight wickets last week but allowed Sri Lanka to level the series with a 25-run victory in the second, on Monday. ...

Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan has called on Sri Lanka fans to sing and dance the team to victory at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday when his side faces Pakistan in the third One-Day International (ODI) of their five-match series. Sri Lanka’s fans were loud and proud in Monday’s second game, cheering Dilshan ...

Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the owners of Lord’s and longstanding supporters of the Test Championship concept, said yesterday ICC”s decision to postpone the contest until 2017 was a “setback for Test cricket”. “It is disappointing to learn that the ICC has postponed the inaugural World Test Championship from 2013 until 2017,” MCC head of cricket ...

DUBAI: Sri Lanka’s win over Pakistan in their second one day international (ODI) has given them a badly-needed confidence boost for the rest of the five-match series, according to Tillakaratne Dilshan, the captain. T.M. Dilshan (third from right)celebrates with his teammates after Lasith Malinga (second from left) he dismissed Pakistan's cricketers Younis Khan (R) during ...

DUBAI  (Reuters) : Cricket’s world test championship will not begin until 2017, International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat announced on Monday. “I am afraid that is no longer going to happen in 2013,” he told reporters at the Pakistan v Sri Lanka one-day international in Dubai. “At the last (ICC) board meeting we decided ...

Dubai: Shahid Afridi capped an excellent return to international cricket with three wickets as Pakistan thumped Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the first day-night match here on Friday. Afridi took 3-27 in his first match since returning from a six-month exile, helping Pakistan dismiss Sri Lanka for a paltry 131 in 40.3 overs before ...

NEW DELHI (Reuters): After denying Sachin Tendulkar a 100th international century on Wednesday, West Indies captain Darren Sammy promised to salute the Indian batting great when he reaches the milestone — providing it comes against another side. Tendulkar was 24 runs away from what could have been his 52nd test century, to go with his ...

Dubai (AFP): Recalled Pakistan allrounder Shahid Afridi on Tuesday showed confidence to hit his turbulent past six months for a big six, saying he wants to perform for the country and his fans. The 31-year-old all-rounder was recalled to the Pakistan squad for the five-match one-day series against Sri Lanka, starting in Dubai with the ...

SHARJAH (Reuters) : Pakistan highlighted their talent on the pitch to draw the third and final test against Sri Lanka and win the series 1-0 on Monday just days after three former team mates were jailed for spot-fixing. Pakistan draw match to win Sri Lanka series 1-0 Pakistan finish on 87-4 with victory target of ...

Butt and Asif convicted of “spot fixing”, Amir admitted charges No-balls bowled at pre-agreed times in return for cash Former Pakistan captain Butt and Asif face jail term LONDON (Reuters): Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif were found guilty on Tuesday of taking bribes to fix part of a test match against England in ...

KOLKATA (Reuters): England’s Kevin Pietersen has been reprimanded for showing dissent at the umpire after being given out lbw during his side’s six-wicket win over India in Saturday’s Twenty20 international in Kolkata. Pietersen hit a match-winning 53 off just 39 balls at Eden

Reuters: Ravindra Jadeja and his spin colleagues bowled India to a 95-run victory over England in the fifth and final one-day international to complete a series sweep on Tuesday. A 129-run opening stand between Craig Kieswetter (63) and skipper Alastair Cook (60) gave England the perfect platform to chase down a 272-run victory target but ...

Dubai, (AFP): Reigning world champions England top the inaugural Twenty20 rankings announced for the popular format of the game on Monday. England, who won the third edition of the World Twenty20 under Paul Collingwood in the West Indies last year, have a rating of 127 points and lead second placed

Morgan best batsman and Watson best all rounder in Reliance ICC T20 Player Rankings Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis, England’s Eoin Morgan, and Shane Watson of Australia were announced yesterday as the number-one ranked bowler, batsman, and all-rounder, respectively in the Reliance ICC T20I Player Rankings which were released in Dubai. Ajantha Mendis, who won the ...

Former West Indies captain Chris Gayle was on Thursday told to retract his bitter criticism of the region’s governing body if he wanted to resurrect his international career. The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) told the big-hitting batsman they are prepared to negotiate a way out of the impasse which has left the 32-year-old exiled ...

New Delhi (AFP): Leading spinner Harbhajan Singh continued to be ignored as India on Tuesday retained their winning squad for the three remaining one-dayers at home against England. The fit-again off-spinner was one of seven World Cup stars to miss out for the first two games as the injury-ravaged world champions attempted to rebuild after ...

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan has said that his team is capable of beating Pakistan in the upcoming tour of the UAE. Dilshan said that he was confident his team would be able to end their win drought in UAE. “Pakistan has a mixture of experienced and young talent in their line-up. I think ...

Sano Cricket Club has won the second annual Srilankan Airlines Japan Cup which was held from 8 to 10 October. The three day Twenty20 national championship was played at Fuji Cricket Ground with five teams vying for the title. Sano Cricket Club qualified to play in the championship by winning

Colombo (AFP): Sri Lanka hope to end their Test drought when they face Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates later this month, the team’s captain Tillakaratne Dilshan said on Thursday. Sri Lanka have not won a Test in their last 11 outings, since beating India in Galle in July 2010 when world bowling record holder ...

Hyderabad (AFP): Injury-ravaged India hope to make a fresh start in the new season by defeating England in the one-day series at home, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Thursday. India’s World Cup triumph in April was overshadowed by a disastrous tour of England a few months later when they were blanked 4-0 in the ...

Dhaka, (AFP): New captain Mushfiqur Rahim smashed a six off the penultimate ball to lead Bangladesh to a thrilling three-wicket victory over the West Indies in the one-off Twenty20 international on Tuesday. Bangladesh needed six runs in the last over to achieve a modest 133-run target

ESPNcricinfo: Mahela Jayawardene, the former Sri Lanka captain, has said the senior players in the team have the responsibility of ending Sri Lanka’s recent struggles in Tests while at the same time nurturing the next generation of cricketers. Sri Lanka’s last Test victory came at Galle against India in July 2010 and this year they ...

Oct 10 (Reuters) – Australia fast bowler Brett Lee will undergo surgery for appendicitis on Monday and has been ruled out of his country’s one-day and Twenty20 fixtures in South Africa, Cricket Australia said. Lee, who has taken 310 test and 357 one-day international wickets in a 12

Dhaka,   AFP:  The glaring absence of Chris Gayle stood out as the West Indies prepared to open their Bangladesh tour with a Twenty20 international in Dhaka on Tuesday. The explosive left-hander was omitted for the tour, which also includes three one-dayers and two Tests, following

Reuters: Three Pakistan cricketers, driven by greed, betrayed their team mates and the sport of cricket itself by taking bribes to fix incidents during a test match against England last year, a London court heard on Wednesday. The plot was orchestrated by Pakistan captain Salman Butt and his agent Mazhar Majeed and involved the team's ...

Hashim Amla will captain South Africa in this month’s limited-overs series against Australia, Cricket South Africa (CSA) said on Monday. Opening batsman Amla, who will lead South Africa in two Twenty20 internationals and three one-dayers against the touring Australians, will deputise for AB

Karachi (AFP): Pakistan appointed on Monday chief selector Mohsin Khan as interim coach for this month’s Test and limited-over series against Sri Lanka, a day after he unveiled the Test squad. The 56-year-old will replace Waqar Younis, who left the post on medical grounds after Pakistan’s tour of Zimbabwe last month. The Pakistan Cricket Board ...

NEW DELHI,  (AFP) :The Indian Premier League has not honoured the contracts of some foreign stars and not paid them despite repeated reminders, the world players’ union said on Friday. Simon Katich of Australia and Ramnaresh Sarwan of the West Indies were among “a number of players that are owed contract payments”, the Federation of ...