McCullum and Taylor guide New Zealand to 254-7 in first ODI

Wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum fell agonisingly short of his first one-day international century but guided New Zealand to 254 for seven in their first one-day international against Australia in Adelaide on Friday.McCullum, promoted to open the batting, anchored New Zealand's innings with 96 -- his highest one-day score -- but holed out to Nathan Bracken in the deep off left-arm spinner Brad Hogg just when it seemed he would push on to three figures. Read more...

Cricket: Harmison is ready for the battle

STEVE HARMISON has got his England shirt back and does not want to give it up, no matter how much graft lies ahead.Fast bowler Harmison was given a stern examination by the conditions in his first international appearance for six months – made to toil for 13-and-a-half hours in the second Test at the SSC in Colombo yesterday, as Sri Lanka eked out a 197-run first-innings lead.Although wickets proved hard to come by, he finished with three for 111 - before Sri Lanka declared on 548 for nine – his final one making Prasanna Jayawardene the third home batsman to perish to his extra bounce. Read more...

Pakistan pacer Asif recovering after surgery

Pakistani pacer Mohammad Asif has undergone successful keyhole surgery in Australia to fix a chronic elbow problem that forced him to miss the ongoing series in India.A Pakistan cricket Board official said the surgery was carried out by a well known Australian specialist in Sydney on Monday. Read more...

Cricket-In form Misbah almost turned his back on game

Misbah-ul-Haq, who has ignited his Pakistan career in recent months, said he almost turned his back on the game at the age of 23 in favour of a business career.He studied for his MBA in business management and only started playing top-level cricket at 24." Read more...

Cricket-Pakistan's Asif told to have surgery for elbow problem

Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif needs surgery to cure a chronic elbow problem, an Australian specialist has told the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)."Asif is likely to remain out of action for two months from the day he has the surgery. He will certainly miss the one-day series against Zimbabwe in January," a PCB source told Reuters on Thursday. Read more....

Sri Lanka Scores 1-0, Upset English Cricket Team

National cricket player Muttiah Muralitharan made two significant deliveries that handed team Sri Lanka its victory against England. He sealed the home team victory against the visiting team with an 88-run in the first Test in Kandy, a city in the outskirts of capital Colombo.Muralitharan, an off spinner, managed to keep off Matt Prior and Ian Bell in the space of three deliveries with the second new ball to end England's spirited challenge. Read more....

Sick Jaques looks for quick return

Phil Jaques is trying to recover from the mumps in time to play in New South Wales' FR Cup match against South Australia in his home town of Wollongong on Sunday. Jaques is desperate to move off Australia's injury list after being struck by the disease after scoring two centuries in the Sri Lanka series. Jaques is one of a group of players causing concern - Stuart MacGill, Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke, Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting have all missed domestic games. Read more...

Cricket-Australia to ditch Tri-Series in 2009 and 2010

Australia is abandoning its traditional Tri-Series in 2009 and 2010 to alleviate scheduling problems, Cricket Australia (CA) said.The hosts, India and Sri Lanka will contest the 29th annual three-team one-day tournament in Australia starting in February, but the following season New Zealand and South Africa will play separate five-match limited-overs series."It's a better fit for us to have teams come in for a short, sharp visit," CA chief executive James Sutherland said in a statement. "Whether the test matches or one-day series are together or they're split or they're in a block that's something we can vary from series to series and from year to year."New Zealand and South Africa will also play three tests and a Twenty20 game against the hosts during their 2008-09 tours. Read more...

Muralitharan on the brink of history

Muttiah Muralitharan moved level with Shane Warne on 708 wickets as he bowled Sri Lanka back into the first Test at Kandy. He claimed the first four England batsmen to fall on the second day as they lost 5 for 78 and drew level with Warne when he removed Ravi Bopara. But he was forced to wait for his crowning moment as rain, which had threatened during the morning, moved across the ground and wiped out the final three hours of play. It was a wonderful spell from Muralitharan - which brought the same number of wickets as he claimed during two Tests in Australia - after he was introduced into the attack for the eighth over of the day. With so few runs to play with it was a surprise he wasn't used from the start, but Mahela Jayawardene had a curious day as captain. Read more..

Vaughan puts mastering Murali top of the agenda

England's captain, Michael Vaughan, admitted yesterday that the unique challenge of Muttiah Muralitharan had been uppermost in their minds as they planned for the first Test against Sri Lanka, which was due to start here early this morning.Vaughan said: "He didn't totally dominate our preparation because that would be disrespectful to the rest of their team. The likes of Lasith Malinga, Chaminda Vaas and Dilharo Fernando are very, very good bowlers and unorthodox in their own way.Article continues"But it would be stupid if we didn't put Murali at the forefront of our minds. The teams that come over here and are successful are those who play Murali well and that is what we will have to do."Murali needs five more wickets on his home ground to become the most prolific bowler in Test history. But Vaughan said it is up to each batsman to work out the best way to play him."Every batsman has to play him in his own individual fashion. Read more...