Post from Deep Fine Leg
Saturday, May 30, 2009, 3:09 pm
Read more: Ashes, England, Freddie Flintoff, Ricky Ponting (add tags)

Australia captain Ricky Ponting says England may be better off without Andrew Flintoff in their Ashes side, unless the key player is 100% fit.
Ponting said Flintoff was not the force he had been in 2005 when he led England to a 5-0 defeat in Australia 18 months later after an injury comeback.
“Flintoff is obviously very [...]

Post from Deep Fine Leg
Saturday, May 30, 2009, 3:06 pm
Read more: Ashes, Australia, Michael Hussey (add tags)

Michael Hussey said this summer’s Ashes would be a “huge challenge” as he landed in England with the rest of the Australia squad on Thursday. BBC Report in full Here

Batsman Hussey starred as Australia won the 2006-07 series 5-0, but he believes England have improved since then.
“England have added a lot of depth to their [...]

Post from Deep Fine Leg
Thursday, May 28, 2009, 11:26 am
Read more: Ashes, England, Freddie Flintoff, IPL (add tags)

When Andrew Flintoff picked up his latest injury in the Indian Premier League, it was suggested that he would comfortably be fit for the World Twenty20 tournament and the Ashes. Now though, he has been ruled out of the former with there being increasing concerns over the latter.
It was announced yesterday that although Flintoff’s knee [...]

Post from Fuel for Debate
Monday, May 25, 2009, 7:39 am
Read more: IPL (add tags)

Picking the best XI of the tournament is kind of like the Oscars- you pick the best performer for a particular role. For instance, you pick the best batsman in an opening role or the best bowler in a miserly role. And what you end up with is the “Dream Team” of the tournament.
One [...]

Post from Deep Fine Leg
Sunday, May 24, 2009, 12:42 pm
Read more: Ashes, England, Stuart Clark (add tags)

Whoever said that lightening doesn’t strike twice certainly wasn’t a cricket fan. Following Australian opener Phillip Hughes’ magnificent short but profitable stint for Middlesex, Australian paceman Stuart Clark is set to join Gloucestershire on a similar deal ahead of the Ashes.
Gloucestershire County Cricket have confirmed that they are waiting on a visa application for the [...]

Post from Fuel for Debate
Sunday, May 24, 2009, 10:20 am
Read more: Adam Gilchrist, IPL (add tags)

Different strategies adopted by Deccan and Bangalore brought about changes in their approach in this IPL. While Deccan skipper Adam Gilchrist changed his game in the semi-finals, Bangalore captain Anil Kumble brought discipline in all the departments of the game. Two different approaches adopted, and both are working fine with the teams.
Gilchrist changed his [...]

Post from Deep Fine Leg
Friday, May 22, 2009, 1:57 pm
Read more: Ashes, Australia, England, Phillip Hughes (add tags)

Phillip Hughes, the new wonder kid on the block for Australia has, despite furious calls for Middlesex to cancel his contract, produced a dazzling display of batting ahead of this summer’s Ashes.
Hughes has scored a record-breaking four hundreds in four week for the county and at the same time gaining invaluable experience not only at [...]

Post from Deep Fine Leg
Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 4:08 pm
Read more: England, Kevin Pietersen, Twenty20 (add tags)

Pietersen out of the NatWest Series with Achilles tendon injury
Kevin Pietersen has been withdrawn from England’s NatWest Series squad due to a minor right achilles tendon injury.
Pietersen will undertake a period of rest and treatment during the NatWest Series ahead of England’s ICC World Twenty20 campaign.
Nick Peirce, ECB chief medical officer, said: “The achilles injury flared up [...]

Post from Deep Fine Leg
Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 1:50 pm
Read more: Ashes (add tags)

Ashes 2009 T Shirt

Well, for once just a brieft blog post to let you all know that the Npower Ashes 2009 t-shirt is available to buy for as little as £14.95, sizes are varied and go up to XXL.
The shirt comes in a grey colour with the Ashes 2009 emblem on the front and [...]

Post from Deep Fine Leg
Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 12:49 pm
Read more: England, Freddie Flintoff, Tim Bresnan (add tags)

In the aftermath of taking his first test match wickets for England, Tim Bresnan has admitted that he will struggle to stay in the team when Andrew Flintoff returns to full fitness.
The England all-rounder is currently recovering from knee surgery and is expected to be fit enough to take part in this summer’s Ashes test [...]

Post from Fuel for Debate
Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 11:49 am
Read more: IPL (add tags)

With less than a week to go in the IPL 2009, its time to look back and pick this year’s Most Valuable Player (MVP). Selecting the best player in a league is a subjective call. And when it comes to cricket you can be sure that everyone has their own opinion.
In the NBA, the [...]

Post from Deep Fine Leg
Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 9:41 am
Read more: Andrew Symonds, Ashes, Australia (add tags)

Cricket Australia’s National Selection Panel (NSP) today announced a 16-man squad for the five-Test Ashes Series during Australia’s VB Tour of England. The first Test of the series, to be played in Cardiff, will begin in 50 days.
“The Ashes squad contains an exciting blend of experience and youth.  The core of the squad is made up [...]

Post from Deep Fine Leg
Tuesday, May 19, 2009, 9:35 am
Read more: Andrew Symonds, Ashes, Australia, Ricky Ponting (add tags)

Ricky Ponting has given his strongest hint yet that Andrew Symonds’s Test exile will end when Australia’s Ashes squad is named on Wednesday. More from the BBC

The all-rounder has endured a string of off-field and injury problems over the past year, fuelling talk the 33-year-old will be overlooked for the series.
But skipper Ponting believes he [...]

Post from OmniCricket Admin
Monday, May 18, 2009, 9:38 pm
Read more: OmniCricket News (add tags)

After the successful launch of OmniFootball earlier this month, we’re now looking for blogs and bloggers to join OmniCricket.
If you run or write for a blog about cricket, or even one where you write about the sport every now and then, now is the ideal time to submit your blog and be among the first [...]

Post from Fuel for Debate
Monday, May 18, 2009, 8:38 pm
Read more: IPL, Twenty20 (add tags)

IPL 2009 has indicated an interesting shift in batting trends from IPL 2008. The overcast conditions in the initial games and difficult batting tracks have forced batsmen to take guard. They have switched to the “Grafters” mode this year as compared to the “Blasters” role most batsmen donned in IPL 2008.
Batsmen who are applying [...]

Post from Fuel for Debate
Sunday, May 17, 2009, 6:07 am
Read more: IPL, Twenty20 (add tags)

Batting and bowling are the core skills, which determine the fate of any cricket match. But with the race to the semi-finals getting hotter, fielding may play a bigger role in deciding winners. Castrol Index tracks fielding parameters like catches taken or dropped, runs saved in the field, run-outs effected or missed. Now let’s take [...]

Post from Fuel for Debate
Friday, May 15, 2009, 6:03 am
Read more: Freddie Flintoff, IPL, Twenty20 (add tags)

Andrew Flintoff, Jacob Oram, Sanath Jayasuriya- these were the guys people expected to star in Twenty 20 cricket. Multi-skilled cricketers were supposed to thrive in the shortest format of the game. But at this year’s IPL, we have witnessed the rise of the specialist. 
Don’t worry- this article isn’t about the renaissance of an old, [...]

Post from Deep Fine Leg
Thursday, May 14, 2009, 12:16 pm
Read more: Chris Gayle, ICC, Test Match, Twenty20 (add tags)

Following Chris Gayle’s comments that he ‘wouldn’t miss test cricket if it died out’, a lot has been discussed about the way in which cricket is going. Many fear that the five-day game is in danger because of the emergence of ICC World Twenty20 cricket.
Personally, I think this is complete nonsense. Test cricket is and [...]

Post from Fuel for Debate
Wednesday, May 13, 2009, 12:53 pm
Read more: (add tags)

As we have been telling you (Momentum and the Castrol Index), keep an eye on each team’s Castrol Index- it’s a good indicator of team success. A look at the rankings  today will tell you Chennai and Delhi are the best in class. Deccan, Mumbai and Rajasthan form the second tier- bunched up within 5 [...]

Post from Fuel for Debate
Monday, May 11, 2009, 8:20 pm
Read more: (add tags)

Only 4 foreign players per team are allowed to be in the players eleven in a single match, according to the rules in IPL. But the “Fabulous Four” are already shouldering the lion’s share of the team’s work load.
According to data available to Castrol Index, the table below shows the Foreign Player’s contribution in this [...]