T20 matches will help England: Collingwood

“With the (good) form I’ve been in, I didn’t play very well in the Twenty20 World Cup.”
DUBAI: England captain Paul Collingwood believes his side’s week in the United Arab Emirates will help clarify their selection and tactics ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies.

England will face world champions Pakistan in two Twenty20 internationals at Dubai Sports City, on Friday and Saturday, after taking on the second-string England Lions in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

These are the final matches England will play in international cricket’s shortest format before the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean in April and May.

All-rounder Collingwood, speaking after the squad’s arrival in Dubai, was in no doubt of their importance.

“This is a big week for us in terms of a Twenty20 squad of players and for getting our minds back on to Twenty20 cricket,” he said here on Monday.

“It’s good to have these two games before the World Cup to see exactly where we are in terms of team and squad selection.

“We’ve also got an important game on Wednesday which is going to feel like an international because the (England) Lions will certainly want to beat us,” added Collingwood, who captains England in Twenty20 matches because Test skipper Andrew Strauss has opted out of the format.

Pakistan may have lost all their international matches during their recent tour of Australia but last year they beat Sri Lanka in the World Twenty20 final at Lord’s.

And with the likes of fast bowler Umar Gul and all-rounder Abdur Razzaq, Pakistan certainly have proven Twenty20 match-winners in their side.

“We are the champions so we know how to play Twenty20 cricket,” said Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik.

England have struggled to adjust to the specific demands of Twenty20 cricket but a share of the spoils in a two-match series during the tour of South Africa has given Collingwood cause for optimism.

“I’m excited because our batting line-up seems to be getting stronger and stronger with every one-day game we’re playing and the confidence we’re building all the time,” he said.

“We seem to be a lot more confident now in our batting approach of being able to hit the ball hard and that is obviously one of the main attributes of playing Twenty20 cricket and clearing the ropes.

“Just look at the way the likes of Eoin Morgan played in South Africa (he made 67 from 34 balls in the ICC Champions Trophy against the hosts then 85 not out from 45 balls in a Twenty20 international against the same opponents).

“No disrespect to him but he probably didn’t play that kind of innings during the last Twenty20 World Cup and even myself, with the (good) form I’ve been in, I didn’t play very well in the Twenty20 World Cup.”

However, Collingwood added: “We’ve now got some important and experienced players in the side who can take the game away from the opposition.

“You need as many match-winners in the side as possible and now we are really starting to get a lot of them.”

South Africa strike after Sehwag, Tendulkar tons

Sehwag forced Morne Morkel out of the attack after he smashed him for three fours in an over.

KOLKATA: Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar smashed impressive centuries before South Africa fought back with three quick wickets on the second day of the final Test on Monday.

Sehwag cracked 23 fours and two sixes in his 165 off 174 balls and shared a third-wicket stand of 249 with Tendulkar (106) as India reached 342-5 by close at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Venkatsai Laxman (nine) and Amit Mishra (one) were at the crease when stumps were drawn for the day, with India leading South Africa’s 296 by 46 runs with five wickets in hand.

India, who lost the first Test in Nagpur by an innings and six runs, need a win to square the series and retain their number one position in the official Test rankings.

The hosts were cruising at 331-2 when Sehwag, Tendulkar and Subramaniam Badrinath (one) were dismissed in the space of five runs towards the end of the day’s play.

Sehwag mis-timed a drive in part-time spinner Jean-Paul Duminy’s first over, Tendulkar was caught in the slips off Paul Harris and Badrinath was bowled by Dale Steyn.

Sehwag completed his second century of the series in style, cutting Wayne Parnell (0-61) to the point boundary for his 19th Test century and the fifth against South Africa.

Tendulkar joined in the run feast, hitting his 47th Test century and the fourth in successive matches after making 105 and 143 in Bangladesh and 100 in the Nagpur Test.

Tendulkar hit 12 fours in his 206-ball knock.

But it was the belligerent Sehwag who stole the show, smashing fast bowler Steyn (1-66) for three fours in a row, before dishing out similar treatment to Morne Morkel (1-80).

Parnell was not spared either as Sehwag drove the fast bowler to the covers for a four and followed it up by smashing a six to the third-man boundary.

The opener then pulled left-arm spinner Harris (1-97) for the second six of his entertaining knock.

South Africa had a chance to dismiss Sehwag on 47 but Duminy grassed a sitter off Morkel at first slip.

The batsman was let off for the second time on 129 when AB de Villiers, keeping wicket in place of an injured Mark Boucher, missed an easy stumping chance off Harris.

Harris conceded 12 wides as he bowled outside the leg-stump to contain the run flow.

South Africa tasted early success when Gautam Gambhir was run out as he went for a sharp second run on Sehwag’s call. He hit three fours in his 25, sharing an opening stand of 73 with Sehwag.

Murali Vijay (seven) edged Morkel behind the wicket, where de Villiers took a fine catch diving to his right.

Earlier, Zaheer Khan (4-90) ended the South African innings when he trapped Parnell leg-before wicket for 12 in the fourth over of the day after the visitors resumed at the overnight 266-9.

Afridi should be kicked out of national team: senators

“If he (Afridi) bites the ball like an apple there’s lots of problems behind it.”
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s parliament says Shahid Afridi should be banned from the national team for three to four international series after being found guilty of ball tampering.

Afridi was banned for two Twenty20 games for biting the ball during the final one-day international against Australia last month.

At a meeting of a parlimentary sports committee on Monday, Senator Tariq Azeem told Pakistan Cricket Board officials that Afridi had besmirched the country’s reputation and should be further punished.

“If he (Afridi) bites the ball like an apple there’s lots of problems behind it,” Senator Haroon Akhtar told PCB chairman Ijaz Butt during a meeting of Upper House committee on Sports.

“If you don’t take action this will happen again. The team lacks discipline and you got to rectify the problem.”

Afridi missed one Twenty20 international against Australia, and wil be out for the first encounter against England on Feb. 20 at Dubai.

However Butt told the committee that it cannot punish Afridi, in accordance with International Cricket Council standards.

“The ICC has told us clearly that you can’t punish a player twice for one offense,” Butt said.

“Their lawyer has also suggested us that if we handed more punishment to Afridi and he challenges it in court, it will run the PCB into trouble.”

However, Senator Tariq Azeem contended that selecting a player was the discretion of the PCB.

“The ICC can’t question you if you don’t pick him up in the national team,” Azeem said.

“You (Butt) should not compromise the integrity of the nation. No player is indispensable. We should tell the world that we are not cheaters and we know how to deal with indisciplined players.”

Meanwhile, Butt told the committee that the PCB is in for a windfall if it can organize two test series against India.

“If we play two series against India before 2012 we could earn $90 million,” Butt said.

However, Azeem strongly objected to any plans to play India, after Pakistan players were snubbed at the recent Indian Premier League auction.

“They humiliated us by not bidding for our players in the auction and we should not play against India,” Azeem said.

Team flies for Dubai to play T20 against England

LAHORE: Pakistan cricket team, comprising 10 players, departed for Dubai from Allama Iqbal International airport early on Sunday morning, Geo news reported. The team is scheduled to play two-T20-match series against England in Dubai, due to be played on February 19 and 20. The players included skipper Shoaib Malik, Sarfaraz Nawaz (wicket keeper), Imran Nazir, Imran Farhat, Fawwad Alam, Khalid Latif, Umar Akmal, Shahid Khan Afridi, Abdul Razzaq and Saeed Ajmal. Talking to media at airport, the manager Yawar Saeed said not only the players be blamed for the poor show on Australian tour but also the team management should be equally held guilty for the offense. However, he vowed to get rid of weaknesses, which brought failure for Pakistan amid Australian tour. He said team morale is sky-high, saying I am hopeful for Pakistan’s triumph on the tour.

Cricket formally included in Olympic Games

VANCOUVER: The International Olympic Council (IOC) has given the formal approval for including cricket in Olympic Games but it is not possible before the 2020 Olympics Cricket has been included in the list of Olympic games at the IOC meeting held in Vancouver, Canada. ''They are recognised federations by us, which now means that they can take part in IOC events,'' said IOC director of communications Mark Adams, adding it could be seen as a first step towards becoming Olympic sports. Cricket was part of the 1900 Olympics in Paris and has not appeared since, but it is set to feature at this year's Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, and was in the Commonwealth Games as recently as 1998. The IOC, meeting in Vancouver, also said it would recognise the federations of sport climbing and power boating.