Brian Lara has announced that he is to come out of retirement to join the Indian Cricket League, the league that has “broken away” from International cricket, and is not recognised by the ICC. Lara, who announced his retirement from all forms of the game after the dismal World Cup, will certainly be one of the ICL’s biggest scalps, but questions must be raised over his motivation. Is it that he misses the game – or is he in it for the money?
Either way, it feels like the final nail in the coffin for a man whose career sadly slipped …read more

The 4th test between England and West Indies failed to get underway today due to torrential rain in most of northern England. That the game was abandoned by midday says plenty about exactly how wet it is. The forecast isn’t great for the next few days so it could be a very frustrating time indeed for all involved.
Despite the implication of the ridiculous title to this post, the West Indies would certainly have wanted to play, if only to save some face in this largely disappointing series. They very nearly pulled off a shock in the 3rd test during which …read more

Andrew Flintoff will have another operation on his ankle, which looks set to put him out for a considerable amount of time. Rumours have been floating around that he may even be forced to stop bowling and concentrate on a career as a batsman. Other rumours say that the earliest he’ll be back in action for England will be against India, some 2 months away. With Simon Jones also in the news recently for all the wrong reasons (his knee is swollen), Peter Moores isn’t have the luckiest start to his career as England coach.
Perhaps some time off will …read more

Australian prime minister John Howard has insisted to Cricket Australia that the proposed tour of Zimbabwe not go ahead on account of the political situation in Zimbabwe under the regime of Robert Mugabe.
However you feel about what is happening in Zimbabwe, it is absolutely right for this decision to be made by a government and not by the sporting body and will hopefully set a precedent for all International sides in the future. This is by no means the first discussion of cancelling tours over concerns about the situation in the host country, but it is the first example I …read more

Well hurrah for this. As if the recent World Cup and particularly its final was not farcical enough already, it has just taken a turn for the bizarre. After Australia won the World Cup final, not necessarily due to being a better side, but because they could just see in the dark, Adam Gilchrist, who scored a remarkable 149 off 102 balls, admitted to “using a squash ball”. Yep. Ball tampering at its finest – Adam Gilchrist had stuffed a regular squash ball in to one of his batting gloves which he admitted to giving him better control over his …read more

As a cricket fan so far away, it’s really hard to gauge what the real feeling is over this World Cup. There was always the danger of an increasingly waining interest from the International community considering that it has been spread out over such a long period of time. But a succession of events, starting with Pakistan’s early demise, the murder of Bob Woolmer, India’s exit and now the constant speculation over the pricing structure due to dwindling attendance figures. The man in charge has already defended the pricing structure, but it’s becoming increasingly hard to ignore the consternation at …read more

It has been a long time coming but perhaps it is finally here for Pakistan. Things have been going wrong in the Pakistan camp for some time now and the latest controversies and problems will hopefully be the end of the line for the existing Pakistani set-up.
Recent problems, such as Shahid Afridi’s ban, Shoaib and Asif’s bans / injuries and the failure to get through to the group stages of the World Cup have led to a shambolic state of affairs, which have been finished off by the resignation of captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, not to mention most of the PCB.

There were no prisoners yesterday, as the first weekend of the cricket World Cup 2007 claimed two high profile victims. First up was Pakistan versus Ireland, and on St. Patrick’s day of all days. And although the Irish rugby team narrowly missed out on the Six Nations crown, the Irish cricket team were on top form to embarass one of the teams tipped to win the World Cup. As was the norm for these “giants vs minnows” matches, the giants were batting first, but were humbled by some superb bowling and were bowled out cheaply for just 132. The innings …read more

… but they’ve already broken the trophy. Good work chaps. I’m intrigued that an $80k trophy can have parts “come unstuck” – sounds like real quality stuff.

David Graveney somewhat ridiculously called for an apology from anyone who doubted Duncan Fletcher’s ability, following England’s success in the CB Trophy. Evidently Graveney was on the bog when England lost the Ashes. It is often said that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but sometimes it is the only medium to portray your true feelings. So make yourself a cup of tea and enjoy Simon Barnes’ delightfully sarcastic “apology” to Duncan Fletcher.