Official Cricket Discussion Thread

[Doom]

excellent rearguard action from WI, have to give powell, sarwan & co credit. Struass follow on decision being critisced heavily by Botham. Very profitable test for me +£170

[Black Ant]

sarwan's on fire

[Black Ant]

Gunmen remain at large after Pakistan attack on Sri Lankan cricket teamFive policemen killed and up to six players injured in attack on team bus heading to Gaddafi stadium in LahoreA dozen masked and heavily armed gunmen who launched an audacious commando-style attack on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, killing five policemen and injuring seven players, remain at large.In scenes similar to the terror attacks on Mumbai in November, the gunmen opened fire with AK47s, grenades and a rocket launcher, spraying the Sri Lankan team bus with bullets as it drove to the 60,000-seater Gaddafi stadium in Lahore.Television footage showed glimpses of the assailants running through the streets with machine guns in their hands and firing towards police lines.They had rucksacks on their backs, and are reported to have escaped into a nearby shoping centre.Police cordoned off the area, vowing to kill or capture the terrorists.Two of the cricketers were admitted to hospital. Thilan Samaraweera suffered a thigh injury and Tharanga Paranavithana sustained a chest wound.Paul Farbrace, the team's British assistant coach, was slightly hurt, suffering a shrapnel wound to his right arm. The reserve umpire, Ahsan Raza, a Pakistani, was critically hurt.A Sri Lankan foreign ministry official said three other players had suffered slight injuries and the head coach, Trevor Bayliss, an Australian, sustained minor wounds.Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lankan vice captain, said he and his team-mates were now out of danger."There are a few injuries, but everyone is safe," he said. "We are shocked, but apart from that everyone is ok. The attack happened in Gulberg, an upmarket area of Lahore, at around 9am (4am GMT).The gunmen approached from four sides, some arriving in rickshaws and at least one car.The driver of the Sri Lankan team bus said the militants fired a rocket at the vehicle but missed.They also threw a grenade under the bus, but it failed to go off.The vehicle was fired on from several directions, the driver said. Bullet holes could be seen around it.The vehicle carrying umpires Simon Taufel and Steve Davis and match official Chris Broad, the father of the England bowler Stuart, was also attacked.A rocket launcher and grenades were recovered from the scene. Police cordoned off the area.Habibur Rehman, the leading policeman in the Lahore city force, said there were around 12 gunmen.The shootout with police lasted for about half an hour, he said, but other reports indicated that it went on for 15 minutes."Because the police were protecting them [the Sri Lankan team], we were the main victims," Rehman said. "They [the gunmen] looked like trained people. The security provided was good."The Sri Lankan team, which had been due to play a Test match against Pakistan in Lahore, is to be evacuated immediately.A military army helicopter landed in the middle of the Gaddafi stadium pitch to take the players to Lahore airport.The Pakistan cricket team, which was travelling about 15 minutes behind the Sri Lankans, was not caught up in the onslaught.Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab, said: "This was a planned terrorist attack. They had heavy weapons.."These were the same methods and the same sort of people as hit Mumbai."The former England all-rounder Dominic Cork, who was in the stadium to do commentary work for Pakistan TV, told Sky Sports News: "The Sri Lankan players are quite shocked. "They all fell to the floor of the team bus when the attack happened."Some of them have wounds, but I think most of them are superficial wounds. I have spoken to ] Sangakkarra ... he has a shrapnel wound in his right shoulder."The team are sitting in the changing room watching local TV. They are waiting for helicopters to arrive to take them to a local army base and wait for a connecting flight to Abu Dhabi."Cork also spoke to former England opener Broad. "He said it was the most frightening experience of his life," he added."Their driver was shot and they had to ask a policeman to drive them to the stadium."Around 170 people died in Mumbai in November, when militants staged a three-day gun attack on the city.Earlier this year, there was an armed attack on government buildings in the middle of Kabul.Today's attack in Lahore makes it appear that terrorists may have adopted new tactics, preferring guns to suicide bombings.Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, a military spokesman, said authorities did not believe the attack had been carried out by separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, who have fought a 25-year civil war against the Sri Lankan government.Cricket teams had stopped visiting Pakistan because of the country's deteriorating security situation, with an international tournament cancelled last year.Australia and India had refused to go on pre-planned tours, and it was with great difficulty that the Pakistani cricket authorities managed to persuade Sri Lanka to tour the country.Sanath Jayasuriya, a Sri Lankan cricketer who was not part of the touring team, said that, even in conflict-hit Sri Lanka, cricketers never became the target."We are shocked," he said. We have never gone through this kind of thing before ... the good news is that they [the team] are all safe."The second Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan has been called off.Raja Riaz, a senior member of the ruling Pakistan People's party, said: "This [attack] is against Pakistan, to ruin our image and get us labelled a terrorist state."But we are ready to fight terrorism."Today's developments will probably mean the end of international cricket in Pakistan for months, if not years.The Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, condemned the attack on his country's cricket team and called for the players to come home immediately.He ordered his foreign minister to immediately travel to Pakistan to help assist with the team's evacuation and ensure they were safe and secure.Haroon Lorgat, the International Cricket council chief executive, said the attack was a "source of great sadness" and "upsetting for the wider cricket family."Javed Miandad, the former Pakistan captain, denounced the "carnage and terror"."What is worse is that all the fears expressed by foreign teams about coming to Pakistan have been proved correct," he added. "Pakistan cricket will take a long time to recover now."

[Guest Medic]

Didnt see a thread on this.Pakistan situation was already f*cked up, and now these stupid cunts have gone and shot a team that was doing Pakistani cricket a massive favour playing there since no-one else would take the risk. This is what they get in returned. f*ck*ng disgraceful. Everythings gonna change now, world cup in 2011 will probably move from Pakistani stadiums, and its very unfortunate for the masses of fans but for these dumb motherf*ckers. Need to stop any country from playing there until they can sort themselves out, unacceptable. Hope Samaraweera and the other Sri Lankans make a full recovery, deep condolensces to the dead policemen and driver.

[MrJibbles]

Pure crazyness!Lucky it wasn't far worse.As for the World Cup that will be moved, can't go on after this happening.First test match in 14 months, who knows when the next one will be.

[Guest Medic]

Cricket in Pak is done.

[MrJibbles]

ICC are delaying their decision on the World Cup, why? come on now.

If the International Cricket Council is to prove itself fit to govern international cricket, it must now accept the inevitable consequences of the terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team in Lahore. It must announce categorically that all international cricket in Pakistan is suspended until further notice.That suspension must also involve an immediate and irrevocable decision that Pakistan has been removed as a co-host of the 2011 World Cup. It would be a regrettable decision, but the consequences of inaction would be far more damaging.The threat of terrorism is part of cricket's everyday fabric. It is less than three months since England stoutly returned to India in defiance of the Mumbai terrorist atrocities. And the reason why the Sri Lanka team have always been the most willing of tourists is partly because their own country's long history of terrorist conflict enables the players to put the real levels of risk into perspective. They will return to Colombo shaken, but they are not about to make a fuss.But the chilling events in Lahore are different. For the first time a cricket team have been deliberately targeted. Cricketers have often feared being caught up in random attacks, but only recently have they come to imagine that they might be the targets. The comforting, fraternal world of the international cricket circuit will never be the same again.Pakistan cricket will feel aggrieved. Its society is under attack. The majority of Pakistanis are adamant that this is not a war of their own making, but a consequence of the west's military response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. Whatever the truth of that, the imperative has been for international cricket to support Pakistan as a result. But cricketers are not soldiers and that duty now carries an unacceptable level of risk.The priority now for the ICC is not to retain cricket in Pakistan, but to ensure that it is not entirely abandoned. To decamp to the Middle East at least offers it some sort of future. A one-day series against Australia has already been scheduled for Dubai and Abu Dhabi next month and others will follow. It is the only solution that offers the prospect of certainty and stability – perhaps even survival – in the years ahead.Only by taking decisive action on Pakistan will the ICC convince such teams as England and Australia that the safety of players is its overriding concern. Indeed, only by swift action will the ICC prevent exaggerated safety fears being voiced about the whole of South Asia.Since his appointment as the ICC's chief executive last April, Haroon Lorgat has spent much of his time proclaiming that Pakistan can safely stage international cricket. The Champions Trophy was suspended last year against the ICC's wishes largely because of player pressure and was only finally removed from Pakistan last month after India, shaken by the terrorism in Mumbai, withdrew its support.The age of wishful thinking must now come to an end. The ICC is a cricket body, not an aid agency.Some will observe this dreadful terrorist attack in Pakistan and ask why security fears are any less real in India or Sri Lanka, the fellow hosts for the 2011 World Cup. They will question whether the Indian Premier League can safely go ahead in India next month. They will ask how England could agree to return to India under record levels of security before Christmas and now discuss abandoning Pakistan.The only answer – and it is an unsatisfactory answer – is that it is a question of degree. Security in India was intense, professional and committed, and the prospect of a second terrorist attack after Mumbai was slim. Statistically, there really was far more danger crossing the road. In Sri Lanka, too, there has never been targeting of sports teams – or for that matter tourists – by the LTTE, the Tamil Tiger separatists.But Pakistan is an increasingly unstable society, a cricketing risk no longer worth taking. The sense here is that terrorist attacks need not be planned over many months, but can occur almost on a whim. Security also seems to have been lighter than promised. "It was hardly presidential" is the assessment coming from the Sri Lanka players, who believe that they owe their survival largely to the quick thinking of a Pakistani coach driver who rammed his foot on the accelerator pedal.For Pakistan to stage international cricket, it must, if not conquer, largely suppress its terrorist threat. To enjoy the fruits of peace it must first prove that it is winning the war.http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/...rism-lahore-icc

Pakistan is likely to be instructed by the International Cricket Council to play all future internationals at neutral venues in the Middle East following the terrorist attack in Lahore on the Sri Lanka team.But an ICC board meeting next month could fall short of removing Pakistan as a co-host for the 2011 World Cup, preferring to delay that decision until next year in the seemingly forlorn hope that the security situation will improve."Many teams will be sceptical about playing in Pakistan," Haroon Lorgat, the ICC's chief executive, admitted at Lord's. "It is difficult to see international cricket being played in Pakistan in the foreseeable future."http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/mar/0...ld-cup-pakistan

[Sinister]

Spme f*cked up sh*t.Cant see cricket being played there for a long time.ICC are idiots, how can they NOT cancel the world cup there.

[Guest Medic]

Its not just in Pak though, matches are held in India, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh. Just move those matches.

[Black Ant]

what a farce!

[Sinister]

1 RunThey lost by 1 RunHow can the england team be celebrating out of the blue as well?!?!?!?!Then they wonder why cricket viewing figures are down after this farce.

[Guest Medic]

This really shouldnt be happening now.

[Sinister]

This really shouldnt be happening now.

EXACTLY!!!They're saying they will start 30 mins earlier for the next one.THEY ARE DOING THIS NOW!?!?!?!This has happened so many times now, I STILL dont understand how they calculate this boog duckface lewis method.Some intergalactic sport they're trynna make.*Sighs*

[Sinister]

Morkel>>>>>>>>>>>______________SA murking.

[Guest Medic]

Cricket has just died over these past years.

[Sinister]

TBH, the ICC dont have clue, they know they have to react to declinging figures in the west, but dont know how to react to the IPL either.Stanford flopped.Yet the majority of its money comes from the BCCI + CAWorld Cup in the West Indies was a flop as well.ICC need to fix up.

[Reuben]

guy who did the calculations must feel like a pleblol at celebrating like man already said all happy cos you got a maths equation correct

[MrJibbles]

Lol at this, I wouldn't really celebrate at winning like they did.First win since the South Africa match am I correct?

[MrJibbles]

This season's Indian Premier League will take place outside of the country after the Board of Control for Cricket in India failed to receive adequate safety assurances from the Indian government.The IPL is due to start on 10 April, but the tournament coincided with general elections in India, and although strenuous attempts were made by IPL officials to reschedule the event they were unable to reach an agreement with certain states.Either England or South Africa will be the likely new hosts for the Twenty20 tournament, with Abu Dhabi also in the running.A decision is due to be made this week once IPL officials hold further talks representatives from each country's cricket board. Preliminary discussions have already taken place."At an emergency working committee meeting of the Board, we considered all aspects of the matter," BCCI president Shashank Manohar said."We are aware that the people of India love this event and have given us great support last year and are eager for this year's event. We made our best efforts to see that the event takes place in India."However, because of the government's attitude that they cannot provide security, particularly by the state of Maharashtra and the state of Andra Pradesh, we were forced to take a decision to move the event out of India."We are in discussion with other boards who have show their willingness to hold the event in their respective countries."My apologies to the people of India for not being able to hold the event in India."IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi had previously repeatedly denied suggestions that the tournament could be moved out of the country, but the decision of the two states forced the hand of the BCCI.Modi remains adamant, however, that the duration of the tournament will not change nor will the timings of matches, which means that, should the IPL end up in England, there could be some unusual start times in order to accommodate Indian television."The dates and timings of events as far as the public is concerned remain the same," Modi said."What is critical for us is that Indian viewers get to watch the matches at 4pm and 8pm IST. That is what we are aiming for and that is what we will achieve."The chairman of the Engand and Wales Cricket Board Giles Clarke says that England are ready to "stand ready to help" if the IPL chooses to move the event in England."They must make their own decision on what they want to do," Clarke told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme. "We've got a close and friendly relationship with the BCCI (Indian cricket board) and if they need any help on matters we'll be delighted to help if we can."However, Nottinghamshire coach Mick Newell has warned that it would be a very difficult process to stage the event in England."It would be a heck of a process. You've got the English domestic season running for the six weeks of the IPL so that would have to fit in around all the English domestic games that are already in place," Newell told 5Live."We at Trent Bridge have also got the World Twenty20 tournament starting on June 5 so we've got 11 major days of international cricket through June."It would be a very difficult process to bring it to the UK but I'm sure some grounds would be keen to get involved."

[Guest Medic]

Thats bullshit. Defeats the whole purpose.

[Sinister]

Some Joke.

[Guest Medic]

Confirmed - to be held in SApissed, wanted it to be in England if anything.

[The King]

Was always going to SA tbh. Shame though, wouldve been a great money spinner for English cricket.

[Guest Medic]

I just wanted to go and see Flintoff and co get bowled.

[Guest Medic]

So confirmed today WC wont be held in Pakistan, games in India are stripped.Watching Australia flop here, 231-4 in 38 overs to no 290-7 in 49. Brilliant run out, de Villiers with the acrobatic throw right on the money. SA should win this, pitch is made for a big score