Buzz Around the Cricket World

There are so many things happening in the cricket world, off the field of course, that it is hard to lay a finger on just one.

shahid against sl

No Incentive for Northants

Lalit Modi, the IPL Commissioner and Chairman, has ruled out the possibility of Northamptonshire featuring in the Champions League Twenty20 should they make it to the final two in England’s domestic Twenty20 competition. Why? Because unlike Justin Kemp who took up the ICL offer to quit, his fellow South Africans, Andrew Hall, Johan van der Wath and Nicky Boje, have apparently not taken the option and therefore, Northants will not be a part of the IPL spin off.

No Tresco, Only Mark

England's humbling defeat at Headingley in the fourth Test of the Ashes has meant that the desperate calls are getting crankier and not just the prank calls.

There are as many calls for Marcus Trescothick as there are for Mark Ramprakash. What a time travel is involved to get an England together for the fifth Test at the Oval. While Trescothick may no longer want to tour abroad, Ramprakash is in contention to play just the one Test. Where has England’s confidence in the team gone?

Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, is relishing the panic in the England camp but there will be a few problems come Oval for him as well as Stuart Clark, whose non selection created consternation amongst Australian fans, may not feature at the Oval if Andrew Hilditch is to be believed. He thinks Ben Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle and even Mitchell Johnson have done a better job and therefore, Clark despite his efforts at Headingley may be warming the bench. (England batsmen can breathe easy!)

Twitter Plug for Bell

First it was Phillip Hughes, or rather his manager, whose twittering got himself on the wrong side of the board. Now an imposter claiming to be Ian Bell is posting messages on Twitter. And it was only after the ECB got to the truth of the matter that were the comments attributed to Bell denied.

P.S. Imposter 'Bell' intends to watch Lagaan or is he indirectly recommending it to Bell? Wonder why!

Haydos on Cricket Boards

Matthew Hayden may have retired from playing cricket for Australia but he continues to call the shots, this time from the boardroom. Hayden finds himself now on the board of both, Cricket Australia and of Queensland, and is expected to take on the role like bracing for a new innings, never a problem for Haydos.

Anderson not worried about Pussy Tales

James Anderson intends to take no notice whatsoever of Justin Langer's comments stating that Langer only played Anderson two and a half years ago and his opinion does not matter because he does not know Anderson at all. Rather tall of Anderson, isn't it?

Wanderers Back at International Venue

The Gauteng Cricket Board (GCB)has survived a scare after it levelled charges against Cricket South Africa (CSA) over what it deemed mismanagement during the IPL 2 season in South Africa. CSA put Wanderers on the black list. But now the Wanderers is back as venue for the series against England which is great news.

Meanwhile Dale Steyn has been cleared of all charges after failing the drug test.

Pakistan Captain Ain;t Talking, Shahid is

Shahid Afridi led Pakistan in his first match as the Twenty20 captain and in the successful outing, not only did he score a half century, but Pakistan went home with a fifty-two run over Sri Lanka. But winning has been such a rarity that Younis Khan was in no mood to talk to the Pakistan media after arriving at the Karachi airport apparently in protest over the media’s coverage of the angle of team discord, match fixing, the works.