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Posts Tagged ‘England’
Sun, November 16, 2008 5:35 am By James Coolridge  Printer friendly version
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 Born as Ian Terence Botham, the English all-rounder who ruled the English cricket world for more than 14 years was called as “Beefy” and “Guy the Gorilla”. Born on 24 November 1955, this former Test team captain, and current cricket commentator. Has scored 14 centuries and has taken 383 wickets in Test cricket. Known as a controversial player both on and off the field at times, Botham also held a number of test cricket records. He still remain as the highest wicket taker in English cricket history.
Botham was born in Heswall, Wirral. He began his first class career in 1974 with Somerset In 1985 he joined Worcestershire and in 1992 joined with Durham. His debut into Test cricket was on 28 July 1977 in the Third Test against Australia. In his Test career of 15 years,he has worn the English jersey for 102 matches. Botham has scored 5,200 career runs at an average of 33.54; taking 383 wickets at an average of 28.40; and holding 120 catches. Considered as one of England’s greatest players, Botham also has led the English side for 12 Tests in 1980 and 1981.
Even though was an all-rounder, Botham is known mostly for his bowling talent, which makes him stand apart from other players. Sir Ian Botham holds the record of reaching the fastest “doubles” of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets, 2,000 runs and 200 wickets, and 3,000 runs and 300 wickets. He was once the biggest wicket taker, but has now been surpassed by several players. In his ODI career, Botham played 116 games from 1976 to 1992 and has scored 2113 runs and has taken 145 wickets. This controversial figure of England team had faced charges for smoking cannabis in 1986 and was accused of racism and ball-tampering. He also had involved with arguments with different players including Imran Khan, Ian Chappel and Geoff Boycott froim time to time. Botham retire from international cricket in 1992 and is now involved with commentating.
Tags : Cricket, England, ODI, test, Ian Chappel, runs, centuries, 1992, Imran Khan, Ian Botham, all-rounder, wickets, cannabis
Sat, November 15, 2008 5:52 am By James Coolridge
 Rahul Sharad Dravid, the former Indian cricket team captain, who is also known popularly among the cricket lovers as the Great Wall, was born on 11 January, 1973in Indore, Madhya Pradesh into a Maharashtrian family living in Karnataka. Dravid is an integral part of the Indian squad since 1996 and has scored 10,000 runs in test cricket. He is also the sixth player in history and the third Indian to score 10,000 runs in One-Day Internationals.
Dravid began playing cricket at the age of 12, and was a part of the state team at the under-15, under-17 and under-19 level. He made his Ranji Trophy debut in February 1991 against Maharashtra alongside future Indian team mates Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath.
Dravid made his debut into international cricket in the Singer Cup in 1996 in Singapore. He made his entry into Test cricket against England in 1996. He made his maiden century with 148 against South Africa in 1996-97. He became the third Indian batsman after Vijay Hazare and Sunil Gavaskar to hit tons in both innings of a match. This happened in the 1999 New Year’s Test match against New Zealand with massive 190 and 103*. Dravid’s first double century came against Zimbabwe in Delhi.
In 2002, Dravid emerged as the top batsman of the Indian side with continuous massive performances against West Indies, England, New Zealand, Australia and Pakistan. Dravid was the top run scorer in the 1999 World Cup scoring 461 runs. He led the Indian side in for the 2007 World Cup in West Indies.
Dravid follows a batting style that is unique. He is considered as the back bone of the Indian side and is nicknamed ‘The Wall’. Dravid has 25 centuries in his kitty which include 5 double centuries. He has an average of 39.49, and a strike rate of 71.22 in One- Day Internationals.
He had often stood as wicket keeper in both Test matches and One-Day matches. He was replaced by Anil Kumble as skipper in Test matches and M.S. Dhoni in ODI matches.
Tags : Cricket, World Cup, England, Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar, India, MS Dhoni, Anil Kumble, test, Australia, West Indies, century, Javagal Srinath, Vijay Hazare
Fri, November 14, 2008 5:52 am By James Coolridge
 Known as the greatest spinner, ever produced by the Indian sub continent, Anila Kumble is also known as the gentleman of the game. This magic leg spinner of Indian side was born on 17 October 1970 in Banglore, Karnataka. The former Indian cricketer is a right-arm leg-spinner and a right-hand batsman, who is also the leading wicket-taker for India in both Test and One Day Internationals. Holding more than 600 Test wickets in his kitty, Anil Kumble is the leading wicket taker after Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne.
Kumble was appointed as the captain of the Indian Test cricket team on 8 November 2007 for the three-test home series against Pakistan that India won 1-0. He led the Indian side against Australia for the 2007-08 four-test series, which India lost 1-2. He was appointed the captain afetr the resignation of Rahul Dravid in September 2007. Kumble made his debut into international cricket on 25 April 1990. He has taken 619 Test wickets and 330 ODI wickets in his credit. He is one of only two bowlers in the history of cricket to erode all 10 wickets in a test innings. Kumble was honoured with the Padma Shri, one of India’s highest civilian honours in 2005. Kumble retired from international cricket on 2 November 2008.
Born in Banglore, Kumble began his cricket career with a club called Young Cricketers when he was 13. The right-arm leg spinner with an unorthodox style started his career as a medium pacer. His first-class debut for Karnataka was in November 1989 and became a part of the India Under-19 squad against Pakistan, the same year. He made his ODI debut on 25 April 1990 at Sharjah agaist Sri Lanka. He also made his Test debut in the same year against England. In 2006, he became the second player in the history of the game to score 2000 runs and take over 500 Test wickets.
Anil Kumble announced his retirement on the last day of the 3rd Test match against Australia at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium, New Delhi after continous injuries, which were causing him to miss matches from time to time.
Tags : England, retirement, India, Sri Lanka, Anil Kumble, test, Australia, batsman, Banglore, wickets, cicket, Shane Warne, Ione- Day Internatioanals, leg spinner, Padma Shri
Fri, October 31, 2008 6:43 am By James Coolridge
 He was the marshall of fast bowler. He was fearsome for his aggrassive bowling style. He was the one time dreaded paceman on field. Malcolm Denzil Marshall, the west Indies fast bowler falls in the list of the the ever best bowlers of Test cricket.
Born on April 18, 1958 in Barbados, this short man (5’9 is little short for fast bowlers) was also a very dangerous lower-order batsman, who used to wear pads at number eight. He had ten Test fifties in his credit, which makes him an all rounder. Marshall made his first class debut against Jamaica in 1979, where he eroded six wickets. His first Test series was against India in 1979. He was a part of the Carribean squad for the World Cup 1979, did not play a match in the tournament.
Marshall became an unavoidable part of the team in 1980 after his performance in the third Test at Old Trafford. It was from 1984 marshall’s careeer showed a big shoot up. He demoralised England in Headingly in that summer after eroding 7 wickets for 53 runs. His career best bowling was at Old Trafford in 1988, where he smashed the English side by claiming 7 wickets for 22 runs. He played his finale Test at at the Oval in 1991 and hended his career by picking up Graham Gooch as his 376th prey.
Marshall’s ended his One day career with the 1992 World Cup. After his retirement from international cricket, he continued bowling for Hampshire again in 1993. He withdrew from First Class cricket in 1995-96 season.
In 1996 Malcolm Marshall was appointed as the coach both of Hampshire and West Indies. In 1999 it was diagonised that Marshall was sufering from colon cancer. He passed away on 4 November 1999. He was 41 at the time of the death.
A trophy named after him, ‘The Malcolm Marshall Memorial Trophy’ was inaugurated in his memory. As per the rule, this trophy will be awarded to the leading wicket-taker in each England v West Indies Test series.
Tags : Cricket, England, Jamaica, India, wicket, West Indies, runs, batsman, Headingly, Graham Gooch, Old Trafford, Malcolm Marshall, fast bowler, Test cricket, World Cup 1979, Barbados, colon cancer, death, diagonise, career
Fri, October 24, 2008 6:01 am By James Coolridge
 Popularly known as simply Old Trafford, the Old Trafford cricket ground is a Test match stadium located on on Talbot Road in Old Trafford., an area of Stretford in Great Machester, England. This groud has been the home of Manchester Cricket Club since 1856 and of the Lancashire County Cricket Club since its formation in 1864. The ground is a test venue from1884. A big part of the of Greater Manchester falls with in the historic county boundaries of Lancashire.
The Old Trafford cricket ground is situated near the Old Trafford football stadium in the borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester to the south west of central Manchester. The stadium has a seating capacity of 22,000 for Test matches, as temporary stands are erected for the same. But other wise, the stadium can provide seating for 15,000 spectators. Old Trafford is the second Test venue in England after The Oval. It became a Test venue in 1882, even before Lords. Within the period of 126 years, this cricket stadium has hosted 72 tests, which is the third highest number in England after Lord’s and The Oval. The two ends of the Old Trafford ground are known as the Warwick Road End (to the east) and the Stretford End (to the west).
The cricket stadium is on efforts of development, including the construction of the centre of an anticipated 750,000 sq ft which will have at its heart a new 25,000 - 30,000 seater stadium on its historic site. It will have new stands, conferencing and banqueting facilities and hotel, and education, training and other sports opportunities for the local community making it more spectator friendly.
Various options for development are now being considered. The development partners are considering a mixed-use scheme of significant quality with business space, residential, retail, hotel, leisure and other supporting development with a potential end value of £190m. More than 2,000 new jobs could be created by the development. The stadium is closed from August 2008 for renovation work and will be opened by beginning of the 2009 cricket season. This first phase of development work including a new main scoreboard and permanent floodlights will cost £12 million, and is expected to get completed by April 2010.
Tags : Football, Cricket, England, Manchester, Old Trafford, cricket ground, cricket stadium, Lord’s The Oval, Warwick Road End, hotel, business space
Thu, October 23, 2008 5:56 am By James Coolridge
 Graham gooch, considered as one of the greatest batsman of his generation was asuccesful captian of England national team and Essex county club. Boen on June 23, 1953 in East London, he had his schooling at Norlington School for Boys in London.
Gooch made his first class cricket debut in 1973. His career in Test cricket startedin 1975 against Australia. But due to poor performance, he was sidelined from rest of the matches in the sereis. He was given a seat in th eteam only later in 1978. There had been ups and down in his career from time to time. He was appointed as the captain of England team in 1988. He knocked a surprising and shocking world record of 456 runs in the Lord’s Test against India in 1990. This included the 333 in the first innings and 123 in the second. This is still considered as a world record.
Gooch was considered as the best batsmen in the world for most of the early 1990s. But he lost out the form as crossed the age of 40. English cricket authories appointed Michael Atherton as the successor of Gooch during the 1993 Ashes series. He later retired in the same year at the age of 41. Batting for England for more than 118 Tests, he also holds the record of playing with 113 different team mates. Gooch is still holding the record of scoring maximum runs in Test matches for England side. He has 44,846 runs in all first-class cricket at an average of 49.01, including 128 centuries in his kitty.
According to Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Graham Gooch is the all-time highest run scorer in top level cricket, if one day matches were taken into account. Gooch made a comeback to the first-class cricket in July 2000, and captained MCC against New Zealand A which was a fiasco. Currently he is specialist batting coach of Essex team.
Tags : Cricket, England, London, test, Australia, century, Graham Gooch, Essex, MCC, batting, Michael Atherton
Tue, October 21, 2008 5:37 am By James Coolridge
 Every Ashes is popular for the rivalry between England and Australia. The 1989 Ashes series was also not different. The series came afetr the ashes 1985, which was won by England. The series began with English media calling the Aussies side as “possibly the worst side to ever tour England. It was therefore a matter of prestige for the Kangaroos to perform magic there. The massive victory of Aussies by 4-0 was a sweet revenge against the media. This was just a beginning of 16 years of reign by Australia in the Ashes series(4 in home and 3 away). This striking record was broken later in 2005 by the English side.
The argument that the Aussies team for the Ashes was pathetic, could not be denied by anyone. The Australian team had a deplorable performance in the previous 11 test, with 2 wins, 4 losses and 5 draws. But with tremendous performance they swept the series 4-0.
The first Test at Headingley witnessed 2 centuries from Aussies side, by Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh taking the Aussies score to cross 600 runs. They won the test by 210 runs. The second test again was won by Australia by 6 wickets, getting a lead of 2-0. The third Test of the Ashes was played in Birmingham from 6-11 July, 1989. This match ended in a draw. Dean Jones scored a ton for Aussies side and became Man of the Match.
Even in the fourth match, the lady luck was not with the British side. This time in spite of centuries from Robin Smith and R C Russell, England lost the match by 9 wickets. In the fifth Test also Aussies didn’t let the game go out of the hand. They assured the sweep with the double century of Mark Taylor and a ton by GR Marsh. Aussies won the match by 9 wickets letting the century of R.A Smith go waste.
Australia had won the fourth test by 9 wickets to lead the best of six match 1989 Ashes series 3-0. The sixth Test at the Oval ended in a draw giving a slight relief for the English side. The match saw another century from Dean Jones. After this Ashes, Australia made it a rule to sweep all the Ashes in a row. This flow was stopped in 2005, when England gained back the Ashes cup.
Tags : Cricket, England, Australia, Dean Jones, Ashes, Kangaroos, R.C. Russell, Robin Smith, Mark Taylor
Tue, October 14, 2008 6:04 am By James Coolridge
 Greenidge and Haynes – the most memorable opening pair of carribean side. That was the period when West Indies reigned the cricket world. He is considered as the best opener of the West Indies team. Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge was born on May 1, 1951 in Black Bess, St. Peter, Barbados. The most feard batsman of the carribean side began his Test career against India at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Banglore in 1974. In the 17 years long career was filled with impeccable records including 19 centuries.
Gordon Greenidge opened the West Indies side along with Desmond Haynes for more than a decade helping the team to win a majority of the matches. Greenidge wore pad for the Carribean side more than 108 Test matches scoring 7,558 runs. His career in One Day Internationals, spread over eight years (1975-1983)include 128 matches. He has 5,134 runs in his credit including 11 centuries. He also had played in 1975 and 1979 Word Cups.
A series of records falls into the kity of Greenidge. This includes the amazing double-double century performances against England in the 1984 summer Test series. With his brilliant knocks, West Indies swept the series 5-0. This series afterwards became famous as the “Backlash” series. Greenidge smashed 214 runs in the second Test at Lord’s in June of 1984, and later followed up with 223 runs during the fourth Test at Old Trafford in the last week of July. Greenidge is known in England for this massive destruction that he committed to the English side.
Greenidge also played for Hampshire in the English County Championship, where he used to open the innings with Barry RichardsIn his first class career, he have scored 37,000 runs including 92 centuries. After the retirement from the national team, Greenidge was a part of various cricket bodies. Currently he is a member of the West Indies Selection Committee for Test matches, along with Viv Richards.
Tags : Cricket, England, West Indies, Viv Richards, Test matches, Lord’s, Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge, centuries, Desmond Haynes, Barry Richards, Hampshire, Banglore
Sun, October 12, 2008 11:53 am By James Coolridge
 FIFA is the authorised body to look after the international football, head quartered in Zurich, Switzerland. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association, the French term for International Federation of Association Football is responsible for all major football events and tournaments happeneing around the world. FIFA is the football body with 208 members was founed in paris on May 21, 1904. In th beginning it consisted of only Europen countries, but expanded beyond theboundaries of Europe in 1909, by letting in Argentina and Chilie in 1912. Canada and the U.S. joined FIFA in 1913. FIFA do had to face troubles during the period of World War I, but things were settled in an orderly manner with in short span after the war.
FIFA acts under the Laws of Switzerland as it is head quartered in Zurich. The supreme body of FIFA is the FIFA Congress, an assembly comprising of a representative from each affiliated national federation. As ordinary session of the Congress is held every year and extraordinary sessions takes place as per the rquirements. The FIFA president, secretary-general and the other members of FIFA’s Executive Committee are elected by the Congress, who will manage the daily administration.
FIFA recognizes the best player of the year by awarding him FIFA World Player of the Year. It also takes part actively in the spreading of the game around the world. If found that any associate member organization is not functiong properly, FIFA never shy away from taking action agaist it including suspension.
AFC, the Asia wing of FIFA, is on plans to bring 22 leading associations in Asia aiming to further increase transparency, competition, quality training and a proper league structure with relegation, promotion and a 2nd division, that may result in the expansion of the market for football. FIFA brought out a ruling in 2007 that a player can register with a maximum of three clubswhich stirred controversy. It also took action agaist Iraq national team by suspnding it in May 2008 for government interference with independent national sports authorities.
Tags : Football, England, Asia, FIFA, Switzerland, Argentina, the U.S, Zurich, French, Iraq, Chilie, World War I, Canada
Sat, October 11, 2008 11:50 am By | | | | |
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