Tag: Skipper

COLOMBO - Canada captain Ashish Bagai praised opposite number Shahid Afridi after the Pakistan talisman smothered his team's push for an upset World Cup win.
"We started off with the approach of trying to milk him for 30-35 runs, but once he gets wickets he gets right on top of you," said Bagai. "He gets his variations going and then it gets harder and harder." Bagai had been hoping that Ireland's stirring victory over England could have inspired his team, but once again their

DHAKA Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan said his team's nine-wicket rout by the West Indies on Friday was the "worst day" of his career, but insisted his side's World Cup campaign was not over. "We did not play well at all," said Shakib after Bangladesh were shot out for their lowest one-day total of 58 in just 18.5 overs, with the West Indies cantering home in the 13th over of their innings.
"I did not expect that we would play so badly. This has to be the worst day of my

BANGALORE - Ireland captain William Porterfield has urged his side to be "cricket-smart" when they face England in a World Cup clash here Wednesday. The Irish, who knocked Pakistan out of the 2007 World Cup, were on course for another victory over a Test nation when they held Bangladesh to 205 runs in their opening match of this tournament.
But a batting collapse saw a side featuring several players with English county sides, of whom opener Porterfield is one, lose by 27 runs.

COLOMBO - Kenyan skipper Jimmy Kamande Monday brushed aside reports of a rift between the players and their West Indian coach Eldine Baptiste, saying such issues crop up only after defeats. Reports coming from Kenyan capital Nairobi said there were divisions within the squad, with Cricket Kenya chief Samir Inamdar blaming those differences for the team's lacklustre performances.
But Kamande said his team, with two crushing World Cup defeats so far, were united.
"I have read

AMSTERDAM - The Netherlands skipper Peter Borren, who started his cricket career in his native New Zealand, leads the Dutch into their fourth World Cup campaign.
The 27-year-old all-rounder, who played for New Zealand at under-19 level alongside the likes of Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor, made his one-day international debut for the Dutch in 2006 against Sri Lanka.
It was an inauspicious start for Borren, pummelled by the Sri Lankan bowlers as he went for 1-94 from his 10

LAHORE - Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ijaz Butt on Monday made it clear that the captain of national cricket team would be announced this week. Reports received here from Napier said that Ijaz Butt after meeting the team management and other players said that the captain for the Pakistan's ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 would most probably be announced in three days.
Ijaz Butt, who was in New Zealand to take stock of the situation arising out of the board's decision to withhold

LAHORE - The Pakistan Cricket Board Tuesday announced the 15-member squad for the 2011 World Cup without naming captain. Star middle order batsman Mohamamd Yousuf was left out from the team.
The PCB will most likely wait till the completion of the ODI series against New Zealand to reassess the performance of Shahid Afridi.
However, Pakistan's Test captain Misbahul Haq is one of the likely choices provided the PCB does not come under pressure from certain 'influential

LAHORE - Former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram has supported the PCB's decision to retain Shahid Afridi as the national team captain for the one-day series in New Zealand.
Akram's comments came in the wake of the raging debate over whether Afridi should lead the team in the forthcoming World Cup. Some former greats have backed Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq to lead the country in the prestigious one-day tournament. "I feel that changing the captain so close to the World Cup will cause

LAHORE - The Pakistan Cricket Board Wednesday recalled wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal in the squad for the six one-day internationals against New Zealand. The selectors retained Shahid Afridi as skipper ending speculations that Misbah could replace him as captain and did not consider Mohammad Yousuf for the one-day series.
The PCB selection committee announced that Misbahul Haq would work as deputy to Afridi amid speculations that the 'regional card' had some role in the decision.

LAHORE - Pakistan's former Test cricketer Sikandar Bakht has shunned the idea of retaining Shahid Afridi as captain of the team for the coming ODI series against New Zealand and the World Cup 2011.
His views on removing Afridi from captaincy came after Zaheer Abass, Aamir Sohail and Sarfraz Nawaz rejected the all-rounder in the role of a captain.
Sikander was quoted by German Radio Deutsche Welle Urdu Service as saying that Afridi has not been performing as a player and

SYDNEY - Cameron White was named as skipper of Australia's team on Friday for next week's two Twenty20 internationals with England after the sudden retirement of Michael Clarke.
Clarke announced he was quitting international T20 cricket immediately after Australia's humiliating Ashes series loss to England on Friday, saying he wanted to improve his Test form.
Brad Haddin, Clarke's vice-captain in the Sydney Test, was left out of the T20 team for younger wicketkeeper rival

MELBOURNE - Heart-broken after failing to regain the Ashes on Wednesday, Ricky Ponting was forced to admit the captaincy issue was out of his hands and his powers with the bat may be on the wane.
Ponting, whose struggles with the bat have mirrored Australia's underwhelming campaign, became his country's first captain in 120 years to lose the Ashes three times. Speculation has been rife that the 36-year-old may step down as captain or skip next week's fifth and final match of the

MELBOURNE - Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh on Monday tipped wicketkeeper-batsmen Brad Haddin or Tim Paine as future national captains as pressure intensified on incumbent Ricky Ponting.
In his assessment Waugh overlooked vice-captain Michael Clarke as Ponting's heir apparent and raised the possibility of either Haddin or Paine taking over after the five-Test Ashes series, which ends in Sydney next week. "That's the burning question right now: who potentially is the next