As the Indian cricket team reached here aiming to avenge their World Cup loss, Bangladesh vice captain Mohammad Ashraful said his side had plans to stretch Rahul Dravid's men in the upcoming series. "They will come hard at us as they probably lost out on a Super Eights spot because of u

Sri lankan spin Wizard Muthiah Muralitharan has said he won't be associated with the game in any other form after leaving it as a player. "I am not thinking about it (staying on) because I have played this game since I was six or seven so when I retire I will retire properly," M

Players were not the only ones tired and bored of the long-drawn Cricket World Cup, umpires were left equally exhausted by the tournament's length, said Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar. Dar, who stood in the finals of the mega-event which ended last week, felt the World Cup was pretty well-orga

Even as the Australian government stepped up pressure on Cricket Australia to boycott its tour of Zimbabwe in September, captain Ricky Ponting said every player should be allowed to make an independent decision on the issue. "There are some issues there and every individual player will

The International Cricket Council has drawn flak from former cricketers Darren Lehmann of Australia and England all rounder Derek Pringle for considering umpires' nationality over their "excellence" in big games like World Cup final. The duo believe the ICC must move beyond parochi

Retired legends Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, along with Damien Martyn and Justin Langer, made way for fresh faces in Cricket Australia's list of 25 contracted players announced here today. With form over the past 12 months and the likelihood of selection in future being the criteria, the

International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed has apologised for the farcical end to Saturday's World Cup final but ruled out blacklisting the erring officials. "It was an unnecessary error, a fundamental error. It was made under difficult circumstances at the end of the

Australia recorded a hat-trick of World Cup titles by subduing a fighting Sri Lanka to a 53-run win in a rain-marred cricket final here on Saturday. Adam Gilchrist set the tone for an imposing Australian total as he hammered a 104-ball 149, the highest score in a summit clash as well as

After five grueling weeks of action in the Caribbean, the semi-final line up for the cricket World Cup has now been finalised with New Zealand taking on Sri Lanka and defending champions Australia clashing with South Africa. New Zealand and Sri Lanka will face-off in the first semifinal

Australia has defeated South Africa by 83 runs in their final league match to top Group 'A' at St. Kitts here. Chasing a mammoth total of 378 runs, South Africa was bowled out for 294 in 48 overs. Australia carry forward two points from this match in to the Super Eights round. Ea

Matthew Hayden has said his pulverising of the South African bowling, which gave Australia a thumping 83-run win in the World Cup encounter here on Saturday, was premeditated. "To some degree, yes. But I still had to weigh up the conditions," the Australian opening batsman said

Antigua has been Brian Lara's happy hunting ground and the West Indies captain hopes to be lucky again when his team crosses sword with Australia in the World Cup Super Eights opener here tomorrow. Australia have been in menacing form, amassing 300-plus score in each of the three group ma

The Australia can once again be termed mighty after their World Cup win over South Africa on Saturday which erased the bad memories of their consecutive defeats against New Zealand recently. Australia need to win this week's Super Eights World Cup matches against the West Indies and Bangl

Thanks to their disastrous Caribbean campaign, Team India can slump to as low as eighth position in the ICC ODI Championship ladder after the cricket World Cup. Rahul Dravid's men cut a sorry figure in the West Indies, managing their lone win against a lowly Bermuda and losing to Sri Lank

Reigning champions Australia stormed into the Super Eight with a crushing 229-run win over the Netherland in the World Cup Group 'A' cricket one-dayer here today. After Brad Hodge smashed the Orange attack to post his maiden ODI century to propel Australia to a massive 358 for five, the p

The difference between a good player and a great player is that a great player never stops believing until he achieves his dreams, goals and desires. One such great player is Herschelle Gibbs. After having donned the limelight in the record chase of 400 plus runs against Australia last y

Three-time champions Australia sounded an ominous warning to their World Cup rivals thumping minnows Scotland by a record 203-run margin in the Group 'A' encounter here on Wednesday. The Aussies, smarting under a five-match losing streak and dethroned as world's number one one-day side,

Three-time champions Australia sounded an ominous warning to their World Cup rivals thumping minnows Scotland by a record 203-run margin in the Group 'A' encounter here on Wednesday. The Aussies, smarting under a five-match losing streak and dethroned as world's number one one-day side,

Australian captain Ricky Ponting hit his fourth World Cup century registering a 203-run victory over Scotland in their opening Group A match on Wednesday. Ponting batted with determination after being dropped on 23 to make 113 with five sixes before he was bowled by Craig Wright. Tail-en

Australian openers, Mathew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist have given flying start to their team against cricket minnow Scotland in a Group A match here at Warner Park. Australia were 82 runs without loss in the 15th overs. Gilchrist and Hayden are playing on 40 and 38 respectively at this mom

World champions Australia will today take on minnows Scotland here in the second match of the ICC World Cup 2007. The Aussies, who have seen a series of defeats in the past, are also plagued by injuries to key players. The two-time defending champions lost five matches in a row last mont

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming says that there are no clear favourites in the World Cup and all the top teams will fancy themselves winning the coveted trophy. Fleming believes that the recent wins against Australia have been a big confidence booster for his side but the poor show in

West Indian captain Brian Lara has said he could not be "too sarcastic" about his team, which was trying to with their chronic middle order collapse to bounce back in time at the cricket World Cup. The West Indies, who lost their Champions Trophy title to Australia after losin

Bringing shock for Stephen Fleming's New Zealand squad, minnows Bangladesh registered victory, shattering the joy of the kiwi's last month's series win over Australia. Fleming struggled to explain an upset two-wicket loss to Bangladesh in a World Cup warm-up match yesterday, while Austra

Having forced his way into India's World Cup cricket squad with some blazing knocks, opener Robin Uthappa believes his ability to adjust quickly to pitches and bowlers will prove handy during the mega event. The 21-year-old batsman said he had now matured as a player and was smart enough

With the strength of Australia receding considerably, the forthcoming cricket World Cup is going to a closely-fought one, said Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq. While talking to newsmen Inzamam said, "Any of the top five or six teams can win this World Cup. I think it will be one of th

Australian pace spearhead Brett Lee was Friday ruled out of next month`s World Cup in Caribbean with an ankle injury, Cricket Australia said. It is a shattering blow for the Australians, whose World Cup-strength bowling attack was flayed by New Zealand in last weekend`s 3-0 Chappell H

Rahul Dravid and his men may have their concerns with injuries and form, but Pakistani legend Abdul Qadir believes India are "favourites" while Australia will fail to reach the semi-final of the World Cup in the Caribbean. The former leg-spinner said India had more strengths than we

Australia's injury problems appear to be easing with fast bowler Brett Lee the only player still in serious doubt for the World Cup. Five of the 15 players in Australia's World Cup squad are struggling with injuries but only Lee is considered to be in danger of missing the tournament.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting has come up with a simple solution to end his team's habit of failing to defend massive totals -- bat second. Australia have been on the wrong end of the four biggest run-chases in one-day cricket history, all in the past 14 months, raising concerns abou