The world of cricket

Harbhajan Singh came good with both the bat and the ball to play the sheet-anchor role as India scripted an incredible 39-run victory against England in the first of the seven-match one-day series at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground here today.

England, chasing India’s low score of 203, folded up for 164 runs in 38.1 overs after 170 minutes of batting to enable the hosts to go one-up in the one-day series. The turn-around came after Harbhajan’s magnificent second spell when he returned figures of 6-2-9-4 for an overall 10-2-31-5, which set India on course for victory. (more…)

It must be an exciting time to be Andrew Flintoff. Around a month ago he was handed the captaincy; last week he inspired his bunch of boys to a most unlikely series-levelling win; few days back he flew back home and savoured the moment with his newly-born son, who he “hadn’t seen for a while, in fact never”. Now he’s back, for the first of the seven-match one-day series, to the same venue where, in January 2002, he was “shot”.

England’s last game at the Feroz Shah Kotla was a cliffhanger, one where they sneaked by two runs. The reason why the game is remembered, though, is because of Flintoff’s startling remarks in his book, Being Freddie: “I felt something hit me and, looking down, saw pellets on the ground. You expect to have plastic bottles thrown at you when you are playing on the subcontinent, but you don’t expect to be shot … I think I should have made more of a stand because I wasn’t there to be shot at.” (more…)

Twenty20 cricket is set to become an official part of the ICC international calendar from 2007 onwards - and England could be named as hosts of the inaugural world championship in 2009 - after a deal was struck on the second day of the ICC executive board meeting in Dubai.

There had been much scope for disagreement before the meeting, with the powerful Indian board especially sceptical about a form of the game that has drawn massive crowds across the globe since its inception in 2003.

But with India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh keen to make a belated submission to host the fifty-over World Cup in 2011, the opportunity arose for a compromise to be reached. As a result, the Asian bloc have been given until April 21 to make their hosting submission for 2011, and England in the meantime have set their sights on hosting the first mandatory Twenty20 tournament in 2009. (more…)