Mithali rises, Jhulan slips in ICC rankings

DUBAI: Mithali Raj, on Monday, became the number one player in the ICC ODI Women's batting chart after gaining two positions while captain Jhulan Goswami swapped her top spot in the bowlers list with Holly Colvin.

With 758 rating points in her kitty, Mithali replaced ICC Women's cricketer of the year Claire Taylor of England at the top and thus pushed Claire's compatriot Sarah Taylor to the third spot.

Apart from Mithali no other Indian batter features in the top-10 list with veteran Anjum Chopra languishing at the 18th place.

Among bowlers, after dropping one position lanky right-arm pacer Jhulan occupies the second spot with 713 rating points.

England's Holly Colvin (719) heads the list while India-origin Australian Lisa Sthalekar (693) is holding the third position.

Rumeli Dhar is the other Indian to find a place in the top 10 bowlers chart as she climbed up three places to occupy the sixth position.

Mithali guides India to series win against England

Former captain Mithali Raj's unbeaten 84 guided Indian women to a series clinching five-wicket win over England in the fourth One-Day International at the YSR-ACA VDCA Stadium on Friday.

Mithali's third half-century of the series helped India take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.

Indian captain Jhulan Goswami and Preeti Dumri claimed three wickets apiece as England were

Cook sets sights on Tigers

Alastair Cook insists he can cope with the added pressure of leading England ahead of the start of the one-day series against Bangladesh.

The opening batsman will be in charge of the tourists throughout the tour following Andrew Strauss' decision to take a break.

The Essex left-hander has led his country in international cricket just once before, a Twenty20game against South Africa that ended in a heavy defeat.

On that occasion he was a late stand-in for the injured Paul Collingwood, but this time around Cook is very much the man at the helm for the entire trip.
Proud moment

"It's a hugely proud moment for me, but that's beside the point," he said ahead of the opening one-dayer on Sunday.

"It is a proud time but I'll be even prouder if we go out and play some good cricket, execute our skills well and are good enough to win.

"Being comfortable with the captaincy is something that comes with time in the job as you gain in confidence.

"As time goes on you feel more settled and less new in the role.

"The first international (of a tour) is different, there's a bit more pressure on but I'm really looking forward to that pressure."

Cook has enjoyed success both as a captain and as a batsman so far in Bangladesh, registering back-to-back half-centuries in a pair of warm-up wins.

Craig Kieswetter seems likely to be the skipper's opening partner in Dhaka having only been added to the one-day squad last weekend.

The Somerset wicketkeeper-batsman starred for the England Lions in Twenty20 action this winter and, after completing his qualification period, smashed 143 against a Bangladesh Cricket Board XI in Fatullah on Tuesday.

His fine form could lead to him taking over behind the stumps from Matthew Prior, though England may also opt to pick both in their starting XI.

The other selection issues for team director Andy Flower ahead of the first ODI concern the structure of the bowling attack.

There is the option of playing James Tredwell, who picked up 2-17 against the BCB XI on Thursday, to compliment fellow spinner Graeme Swann on what is expected to be a slow, low pitch.

Whichever team England pick, Cook has warned the players not to let complacency creep on the eve of the three-match series.

"It's been a good week so far. We've played some very good cricket in the warm-up games and improved in the areas we wanted to," he said.

"But that doesn't count for anything before the first international game so we have to come out firing and play the cricket we have been playing for the last eight months.

"The lads have built up nicely with the matches (against Pakistan) in Dubai and the two warm-ups here, but everyone has talked about how we have to be on our game. There's no complacency."

Home advantage

Bangladesh will be hoping to register a win over England to complete a full set of international scalps, with captain Shakib Al Hasan hoping home advantage can tip the balance in the Tigers' favour this weekend.

"We will try to win at least one game," said the all-rounder.

"Hopefully we can win two to win the series but we will target our first match and then go step by step. If we play to our ability, it's possible

"Obviously when playing at home we know we are a very good team, with home advantage. We are definitely a better team at home."

The hosts are without captain Mohammad Ashraful after he asked to be rested following an indifferent run of form with the bat.

Kallis looks ahead after win

Stand-in captain Jacques Kallis reflected on a pleasing end to South Africa's tour of India after they won the third one-dayer by 90 runs.

Kallis scored an unbeaten 104 as his side made 365 for two in their 50 overs, with India bowled out in reply for 275.

The all-rounder admitted the tour had been a great learning experience for a side still building for the future, having tied the Test series 1-1

"The wicket turned out to be much better than we thought, but it was also a better performance from the guys all around," Kallis said.

"We had a good start at the top and that's vital in this form of the game. With wickets in hand at the death, you can cash in and hit some big scores.

"We know we are a lot better than we have played in this series, but this is a start and we are looking forward to the (World Cup) next year.

"It's been a good learning curve for us and I think the guys can take away a lot from this series.

"It was a good experience for the bowlers too, playing on these pitches in the sub-continent.

"I'm sure they will be a lot better cricketers with this and come up with better strategies and target better areas the next time."

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted his bowlers came up short against a batting side firing on all cylinders.

"It was a difficult score to chase and I think the wicket was on the slower side, but I think our problem was the bowling," he said.

"Change of pace could have proved vital on this wicket but it isn't something which the three fast bowlers we fielded today are good at.

"However, it's a good experience for them because they were up against a strong side.

"With the kind of the start they got it would have been difficult to restrict them to 300, but I think 340 would have been competitive and we could have looked to get it."

T20 chance Lee handed

Brett Lee will have the chance to resume his international career after being named in Australia's preliminary squad for this year's World Twenty20.

Lee and fellow paceman Nathan Bracken, who has also struggled with injuries of late, have both been included in the initial 30-man squad.

15 names will be cut to leave a 15-man squad for the tournament itself, which takes place in the Caribbean in April, and Lee will be desperate to be there.

Lee announced his retirement from Test cricket on Wednesday after being sidelined since October with a serious elbow injury, but he remained hopeful of playing a role for Australia in the shorter forms of the game.

The 33-year-old still has some work to do before heading to the Caribbean though, and will be training flat-out to prove his fitness.


Fellow New South Wales bowler Bracken has also been included, despite missing most of the summer through injury, while the preliminary squad contains four new names.

Tasmanian duo George Bailey and Xavier Doherty are in, along with Victorian John Hastings and young Queensland fast bowler Ben Cutting, who has enjoyed a breakout season in the domestic competition.

"The Australian Twenty20 team has played well in recent times with a solid win against reigning champions Pakistan and also against the West Indies at home this summer," said National Selection Panel chairman Andrew Hilditch.

"The squad also has two matches against New Zealand and the NSP will be watching performances closely.

"We consider the squad to contain a good blend of youth and experience with several players who have excelled in Twenty20 cricket both internationally and domestically this year.

"From this 30 we hope to pick a final World Twenty20 squad that if it plays to its ability will be a very exciting, entertaining and extremely competitive team in the Caribbean

Preliminary Australia squad: George Bailey, Travis Birt, Doug Bollinger, Nathan Bracken, Daniel Christian, Michael Clarke, Ben Cutting, Xavier Doherty, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris, John Hastings, Nathan Hauritz, Moises Henriques, Brad Hodge, James Hopes, David Hussey, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Andrew McDonald, Shaun Marsh, Clint McKay, Dirk Nannes, Tim Paine, Steven Smith, Shaun Tait, Adam Voges, David Warner, Shane Watson, Cameron White.

New Zealand complete 3-0 series win

New Zealand completed a 3-0 Twenty20 series clean sweep after a seven-run victory over Australia on Tuesday.

Maria Fahey (42) and Aimee Watkins (33) were instrumental in New Zealand reaching 141-7 to set an imposing target for the home team.

Shelley Nitschke (56) was once again in fine form with the bat as she led the victory chase, with her innings coming off just 45 balls, but she didn't receive the support she needed as her side ended up seven runs short.

The sides will now head to New Zealand for a return series.

Tests are to Bradman as ODIs are to...

 As if a first-class batting average of 95.14 and a Test average of 99.94 weren't enough, he scored 29 centuries in only 52 Tests and Australia won 30 of those matches. Even when he was dismissed for a duck in his final Test innings, it became the most famous duck in Test history. The Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings tell us that he had an "average" Rating of 855 points throughout his career, far ahead of the chasing pack. And remember that this is an average over his entire career. After scoring just 18 and 1 in his first Test against England at Brisbane in 1928 his Rating stood at just 120, but he scored 79 and 112 next time out to move up to 467, and the rest is history.

In fact, such is Bradman's domination of the batting charts that he spent his last 20 Tests at a higher level than anyone else has ever achieved, before retiring at the age of 39. Even his final duck didn't have a huge effect on his points tally, merely dropping him from 957 to 954.

Next on the batting list comes Jack Hobbs who averaged 799 over the course of his 61 Tests, peaking at 942 in the summer of 1912. It is quite apt that he should be second on the list as his 5,845 days as number one batsman is second only to Bradman's 6,320. Between the two of them, they occupied top spot for nearly the entire period of time from 1910 to 1948.

Third place by this measure is Brian Lara, whose achievement of averaging 784 points is perhaps even more remarkable in that he played a total of 131 Tests, more than the number Bradman and Hobbs participated in between them. Often holding the fragile West Indian batting together single-handed, setting two individual world record scores in the process, he is just ahead of Len Hutton and Garry Sobers who round out the top five.

So - if Bradman is peerless among batsmen in terms of average Rating points, who is his equivalent in the shorter form of the game? Funnily enough, Bradman's lead over the second-placed batsman in terms of average Ratings points in Test cricket is pretty much exactly the same as this person's lead over the second placed man in ODI cricket.

Viv Richards needs no introduction to cricket aficionados. The "Master Blaster" ascended every peak in the game culminating in a Knighthood and a stadium named after him on his home island of Antigua. But perhaps we forget how totally dominating he was in the limited overs arena.

Last year we discovered that more than a quarter of a century on, the Ratings computer rates Richards's unbeaten innings of 189 against England at Old Trafford in 1984 the greatest-ever ODI innings - and by a clear margin. However, what is truly remarkable about his career is that he spent a lengthy period of time at such a consistently high level, with his points tally permanently hovering between 931 and 935 for a full four-year period following his Old Trafford tour de force.

To summarise - for a period of 73 matches he was batting at a level only one player has ever achieved. Zaheer Abbas reached 931 points fleetingly in 1983 - no-one else has achieved more than 921, and Brian Lara was the last batsman to break the 900 point barrier back in 1997. This glut of run-scoring goes some way to explaining how Richards spent a total of 2,306 days on the top of the batting tree - longer than anyone else.

Unsurprisingly it is the Australian "finisher" Michael Bevan who is next to Richards in the average Ratings stakes, maintaining an average of 793 points throughout his career to end with a batting average of 53.04. Spending a total of 486 matches as the number one in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, he often enabled Australia to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with some fantastic late-innings heroics. Who can forget his sensational unbeaten 74 against England at Port Elizabeth in ICC World Cup 2003 when his side were floundering at 135-8 chasing 205 for victory?

In third place on the ODI batting list is an Englishman which may come as a surprise to many considering their recent failings in the shorter form of the game. However, Allan Lamb ended his career with an average of 39 and a strike rate of nearly 76 in an era when scoring rates were far lower than they are today. His sensational 18 runs from Bruce Reid's final over at the S.C.G. in January 1987 was the stuff dreams are made of.

Two World-cup winning batsmen complete the top five. Dean Jones revolutionised running between the wickets and was a key member of the Australian team who was triumphant against England in the 1987 final at Kolkata. Gordon Greenidge was part of the West Indian teams who won the first two World Cups and came so close to a hat-trick of triumphs in 1983.

IPL Ticket Prices:Tickets for DLF IPL T20 Cricket Matches Online

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ipl tickets Season 2 of DLF Indian Premier League 2009 will happen in South Africa, one of the most popular holiday destinations on the African continent. The IPL opening match is in Cape Town on April 18 while the finals would be played in Johannesburg on May-24.

If you are a cricket fan and planning a visit to South Africa to watch the IPL cricket matches live, it may be a good idea to book your tickets in advance as the tickets for the inaugural matches have been sold out already.
How to Book Tickets for IPL Matches in South Africa

To buy your IPL tickets online, go to computicket.com (a popular ticket booking site of South Africa) and type IPL in the event Search box. You’ll then be presented with a detailed schedule of all the T20 cricket matches – select the venue and date for which want to buy or reserve tickets.

You’ll need a Java enabled web browser because on the next screen, Computicket website will show you a rough layout of the stadium where you need to pick an area (like Grass, Stand, Suite, etc.). Now enter the number of tickets you want to buy and make the payment using your credit card.

You can either use your International Visa or Mastercard to buy tickets for the Indian Premier League matches via Computicket. Once your booking is confirmed, you can collect a physical copy of your match ticket from any of the Computicket outlets – they’ll ask for your credit card and an identity proof (passport should do).

Some cricket stadiums may also have ticket collection facilities but you have to confirm this with the Computicket store or email them at info@computicket.com. Please remember that you must present the same credit card used to make the online booking as well as your identification document at the Computicket outlet or theatre box office.
Ticket Prices for IPL Cricket Matches

The ticket price varies depending upon the venue, the area where you want to book and who is playing the cricket match.

The prices vary from R 20 to R 200 where R is Rand – the official currency of South Africa. 1 U.S. Dollar = 9.1 South African Rands and 1 South African Rand = 5.5 Indian Rupees so that should give you an idea of the match ticket prices.

Tickets for the opening and final games are available at R 100 and R 200 while the tickets for semi finals will cost you around R140 or Indian Rs 770. The two semi-finals have been scheduled for May 22nd and 23rd at Pretoria and Johannesburg respectively, with the Grand Final schedule for May 24th at Johannesburg.