Briefly Cricket: ‘WICB officials must go to India to salvage situation’

“If India goes through with their threats of cancelling or suspending tours for how much years, our cricket is going to suffer tremendously,”

Roberts said. “It may take you another two or three months before this task force sends in its report. For me, it’s a situation of let’s see if we can salvage something from the Indian board before that.”

Dhoni is an amazing captain, says Gilchrist

Former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist has said he doesn’t agree with Ian Chappell’s views that Mahendra Singh Dhoni should relinquish India’s Test captaincy and hand over the reins to Virat Kohli.

“I have said it number of times before that I am very impressed with Dhoni right from the moment he arrived into the scene. He is an amazing captain and has won India T20 and ODI World Cups and India also reached the number one spot in Tests,” Gilchrist said.

Asked about India’s chances in the upcoming Test series in Australia, Gilchrist said all the teams hold the home ground advantage at the moment and that is reflected in the performances of India, England and Australia.

“As of now the teams are maintaining home ground advantage at the moment. You can see Australia, India and England — they have not done well abroad,” he said. Regarding India he said, “I am sure India and Virat Kohli would have addressed themselves and checked their mistakes, and are ready for the Australian heat,” he said.

New Zealand gives Ryder another chance
Wellington: Troubled New Zealand batting star Jesse Ryder was handed a World Cup lifeline Friday when selectors included him in the New Zealand A squad to tour the United Arab Emirates next month. Ryder has had numerous off-field issues involving alcohol and has not played for the Black Caps since February, when he went on a late-night drinking session in Auckland before the start of a Test series against India. His chances of representing New Zealand at the World Cup looked bleak but he has hit a rich vein of form just as New Zealand are struggling to find an opening batsman in the 50-over format. He averaged 37.08 with the bat and 18.09 with the ball during a recent stint with English county side Essex, and earlier this month smashed 136 from 57 balls playing for Otago against Ireland in a one-dayer on New Zealand’s South Island.

SA seek momentum in Australia T20 series
South Africa hope a win against Australia in a Twenty20 series getting under way this week will set them on the path for a successful summer, coach Russell Domingo said Friday. The Proteas are in Australia for three T20 matches before a five-match one-day series in mid-November ahead of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Domingo said the Proteas were determined to create a winning habit early on tour. “It’s all about momentum,” Domingo told reporters. “If we can get some good results under our belts in the T20 campaign, we can take a lot of confidence into the one-day series.”

Domingo said winning the T20 series was particularly important because the Proteas considered Australia tough opponents to stop once they got on a roll. “Australia are always a great team, a great team when they’re ahead, difficult to catch,” he said. “So whatever momentum we can get from the T20 series to carry into the one-day series I think is going to be very important.

‘Under new rules, Murali would never have played’

Former Pakistan captain Muhammad Yousuf has said that the world’s highest wicket-taker in Test cricket Muttiah Muraliatharan would have never been allowed to play top-flight cricket had current ICC rules on chucking would have been in place during their time. “Murali straightened his elbow well past the current allowed limit of 15 degrees but he was fortunate to play top-flight cricket because at that time the ICC protocol was different,” Yousuf said. “I played him a lot of times and I know how he exceeded the 15-degree limit. With each ball, one could see him speed up his deliveries and I told him myself “You are lucky to be playing,” Yousuf told Geo News channel.     (Agencies)