DUBAI, March 3: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday named the 16 umpires who will officiate at the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean. The list is made up of nine officials from the elite panel and seven members of the international panel. Of the eight members of the elite panel of ICC match referees, seven have been selected to officiate with the only man missing Clive Lloyd, who is occupying a role as team manager for hosts the West Indies.
The umpiring team is full of vastly experienced officials including five men - Rudi Koertzen, Steve Bucknor, Daryl Harper, Simon Taufel and Brent Bowden - who have stood in more than 100 ODIs each. The three group matches Koertzen is due to stand in will take him to 166 matches, just six short of David Shepherd's mark for most ODIs umpired. With Shepherd retiring in 2005, one thing that is certain is that at least one umpire will stand in his first World Cup final as Shepherd and Bucknor have stood together in the past three finals, 1996, 1999 and 2003. Umpires: Mark Benson, Brent Bowden, Steve Bucknor, Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Billy Doctrove, Ian Gould, Daryl Harper, Tony Hill, Ian Howell, Brian Jerling, Rudi Koertzen, Peter Parker, Asad Rauf, Asoka de Silva, Simon Taufel Referees: Chris Broad, Jeff Crowe, Alan Hurst, Ranjan Madugalle, Roshan Mahanama, Javagal Srinath, Mike Procter.
courtesy:timesofindia
Sunday, March 11, 2007
ICC names World Cup umpires
Three Ws Oval
Named in memory of three great West Indies players - Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Clyde Walcott and Sir Everton Weekes- the 3Ws Oval is located on the grounds of the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies and will host four warm up matches of the 2007 World Cup.
A monument with the busts of the magnificent trio is found bordered by tropical flora in the park opposite the University campus.
Each of the three great players of the game were born within a couple of miles of each other and Kensington Oval and were knighted for their contributions to the game of cricket.
The 3Ws Oval is the latest addition to Barbados' cricket grounds and usually hosts local and regional matches, together with warm up matches for touring teams. The ground can seat 3,500 spectators and even has an indoor cricket school with practice nets and a small gymnasium.
A monument with the busts of the magnificent trio is found bordered by tropical flora in the park opposite the University campus.
Each of the three great players of the game were born within a couple of miles of each other and Kensington Oval and were knighted for their contributions to the game of cricket.
The 3Ws Oval is the latest addition to Barbados' cricket grounds and usually hosts local and regional matches, together with warm up matches for touring teams. The ground can seat 3,500 spectators and even has an indoor cricket school with practice nets and a small gymnasium.
| Date (March 2007) | Match | Between |
| Monday 5 | Warm-up Matches | Scotland v Sri Lanka |
| Tuesday 6 | Warm-up Matches | Bangladesh v New Zealand |
| Thursday 8 | Warm-up Matches | Bangladesh v Scotland |
| Friday 9 | Warm-up Matches | New Zealand v Sri Lanka |
Monday, March 5, 2007
McGrath the One-Day Batsman
The end is now in sight for one of the great international careers: that of Glenn McGrath - the batsman. While McGrath's bowling career has been a long story of sustained, tedious excellence, his batting has been a secret joy - gloriously inept and largely unreported.
He has always been an enjoyably bad batsman in Tests, but it is in one-day internationals that he has really flexed his lack of muscles. Somehow, he has managed to collect fewer one-day runs than wickets. As retirement looms, it's time to take a close look at the phenomenon that is Glenn McGrath: the anti-Tendulkar. Here are 30 things you may not know about his one-day batting.
McGrath faces one ball per match. He has played 239 one-day internationals and faced 236 balls.
The ball he faces is typically a dot. He has only scored 115 runs.
His average innings lasts three-and-a-half balls.
Mostly, he is not out: he has been out only 30 times in 68 innings.
In an average year, he has five innings, faces 17 balls and makes seven runs for twice out. One of his two dismissals is a duck.
He has gone through 27 series without scoring a run.
He has gone through 14 series without even having a bat.
His average is 3.83. It goes up in New Zealand, to 16.00, and down in England, to 1.00. He is better away (4.20) or on neutral turf (4.00) than at home (3.56).
His favourite opponents are New Zealand, whom he has pummelled for 37 runs at a rate of more than one a match (31 games). Against South Africa, he has managed only 12 runs in 39 games.
He started as he meant to go on <http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65507.html> , with a duck.
In his first series, he batted four times.
He has never batted that many times in a series since.
He has hit seven fours, at a rate of one every two years.
He is still waiting for his first six. (In Tests, he did once hit one.)
His most prolific series was the home triangular of 2001-02 <http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2001-02/OD_TOURNEYS/VBS/> , against South Africa and New Zealand, when he made 14 runs.
West Indies have only ever got him out once (in eight innings) and India twice (in nine).
In 2004, he didn't make a run, despite playing nine games. In 2001 he played 18 games and made only one run.
His highest score is 11, at Auckland <http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1999-2000/AUS_IN_NZ/SCORECARDS/AUS_NZ_ODI6_03MAR2000.html> in 1999-2000, which is apt because that is where he almost invariably bats.
He hasn't reached double figures this century.
He prefers day-nighters, averaging 4.31, whereas he only manages 2.50 in day games.
Only twice has he appeared anywhere other than No.11.
The first time was in the Tsunami Appeal match <http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2004-05/OTHERS/TSUNAMI/SCORECARDS/ASIA-XI_ICC-XI_TSUNAMI_ODI1_10JAN2005.html> of 2004-05, when he went in at No.6, which proves that it wasn't a serious match and has no business being included in the records. It didn't affect his game: he still made 0.
The second time was the other day against England at Sydney <http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/cbs/engine/match/249235.html> , when he had a shock promotion to No.10, which suggests that Adam Gilchrist, the captain that day, doesn't rate Shaun Tait very highly - although Tait scored 11 off 10 balls, while McGrath had managed only 1 off 7. Australia lost by 92 runs.
Of McGrath's 115 career runs, 94 have been made in defeat, in 71 games.
He has finished on the winning side 160 times, batting only 14 times, making 18 runs, and only being out three times. If he bats, it means Australia are in trouble; if he passes 5, they lose.
When Australia tie a match, he always bats, but never gets off the mark.
He is twice the batsman in big tournaments. When there are five or more teams involved, his average is 6.00, whereas in two-team series, it's 2.77.
He's a liability in semi-finals. He has played seven, batted five times, and never made a run.
In the World Cup, he has played 28 games and made three runs, all in the same innings, against NZ at Port Elizabeth in 2003. Shane Bond took six for 23, and Australia still won by 96 runs.
If McGrath bowled to himself, he'd never concede a run.
He has always been an enjoyably bad batsman in Tests, but it is in one-day internationals that he has really flexed his lack of muscles. Somehow, he has managed to collect fewer one-day runs than wickets. As retirement looms, it's time to take a close look at the phenomenon that is Glenn McGrath: the anti-Tendulkar. Here are 30 things you may not know about his one-day batting.
McGrath faces one ball per match. He has played 239 one-day internationals and faced 236 balls.
The ball he faces is typically a dot. He has only scored 115 runs.
His average innings lasts three-and-a-half balls.
Mostly, he is not out: he has been out only 30 times in 68 innings.
In an average year, he has five innings, faces 17 balls and makes seven runs for twice out. One of his two dismissals is a duck.
He has gone through 27 series without scoring a run.
He has gone through 14 series without even having a bat.
His average is 3.83. It goes up in New Zealand, to 16.00, and down in England, to 1.00. He is better away (4.20) or on neutral turf (4.00) than at home (3.56).
His favourite opponents are New Zealand, whom he has pummelled for 37 runs at a rate of more than one a match (31 games). Against South Africa, he has managed only 12 runs in 39 games.
He started as he meant to go on <http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65507.html> , with a duck.
In his first series, he batted four times.
He has never batted that many times in a series since.
He has hit seven fours, at a rate of one every two years.
He is still waiting for his first six. (In Tests, he did once hit one.)
His most prolific series was the home triangular of 2001-02 <http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2001-02/OD_TOURNEYS/VBS/> , against South Africa and New Zealand, when he made 14 runs.
West Indies have only ever got him out once (in eight innings) and India twice (in nine).
In 2004, he didn't make a run, despite playing nine games. In 2001 he played 18 games and made only one run.
His highest score is 11, at Auckland <http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1999-2000/AUS_IN_NZ/SCORECARDS/AUS_NZ_ODI6_03MAR2000.html> in 1999-2000, which is apt because that is where he almost invariably bats.
He hasn't reached double figures this century.
He prefers day-nighters, averaging 4.31, whereas he only manages 2.50 in day games.
Only twice has he appeared anywhere other than No.11.
The first time was in the Tsunami Appeal match <http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2004-05/OTHERS/TSUNAMI/SCORECARDS/ASIA-XI_ICC-XI_TSUNAMI_ODI1_10JAN2005.html> of 2004-05, when he went in at No.6, which proves that it wasn't a serious match and has no business being included in the records. It didn't affect his game: he still made 0.
The second time was the other day against England at Sydney <http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/cbs/engine/match/249235.html> , when he had a shock promotion to No.10, which suggests that Adam Gilchrist, the captain that day, doesn't rate Shaun Tait very highly - although Tait scored 11 off 10 balls, while McGrath had managed only 1 off 7. Australia lost by 92 runs.
Of McGrath's 115 career runs, 94 have been made in defeat, in 71 games.
He has finished on the winning side 160 times, batting only 14 times, making 18 runs, and only being out three times. If he bats, it means Australia are in trouble; if he passes 5, they lose.
When Australia tie a match, he always bats, but never gets off the mark.
He is twice the batsman in big tournaments. When there are five or more teams involved, his average is 6.00, whereas in two-team series, it's 2.77.
He's a liability in semi-finals. He has played seven, batted five times, and never made a run.
In the World Cup, he has played 28 games and made three runs, all in the same innings, against NZ at Port Elizabeth in 2003. Shane Bond took six for 23, and Australia still won by 96 runs.
If McGrath bowled to himself, he'd never concede a run.
Cricket Fever 2007
Sachin Not Under Any Pressure
MONTEGO BAY (JAMAICA), Mar 4: Sachin Tendulkar might have to cope with a new role in batting and the extra responsibility of being the vice-captain, but India's premier batsman on Sunday said he felt no pressure and was keen to contribute with both bat and ball at the World Cup. "I am looking forward to having a good World Cup. I am hoping that both my batting and bowling will come good. I am not under any pressure. I feel quite confident," Tendulkar said at the Indian team's first press conference after arriving in the Caribbean for the mega event.
Tendulkar is the all-time leading run-getter in One-day cricket with 14,783 runs and, having played in 381 One-dayers since his debut in 1989, will be the most experienced cricketer at the 16-team event that begins on March 13. Despite the iconic status of Tendulkar, coach Greg Chappell said the team would rely less on a player's star value than the basics to win the quadrennial event. "We will not be relying on any special players because the team is fairly well balanced," the 58-year-old former Australian captain said. Captain Rahul Dravid said he was confident of a strong show by his team in the 51-match tournament which will have its final on April 28. "I know that all the other teams will be aiming to play their best cricket but we are very confident that this is going to be a very good tournament for us," he said. The opening ceremony of the event is slated for March 11. India, placed in Group B, are scheduled to play their opening match on March 17 against Bangladesh at Port of Spain, Trinidad. Sri Lanka and Bermuda are the two teams in the Group. They begin their campaign with two warm-up matches on March 6 against the Netherlands and on March 9 against the West Indies.
India's World Cup win came in 1983 under the captaincy of Kapil Dev. In the last edition in 2003, they reached the final before losing to Australia.
MONTEGO BAY (JAMAICA), Mar 4: Sachin Tendulkar might have to cope with a new role in batting and the extra responsibility of being the vice-captain, but India's premier batsman on Sunday said he felt no pressure and was keen to contribute with both bat and ball at the World Cup. "I am looking forward to having a good World Cup. I am hoping that both my batting and bowling will come good. I am not under any pressure. I feel quite confident," Tendulkar said at the Indian team's first press conference after arriving in the Caribbean for the mega event.
Tendulkar is the all-time leading run-getter in One-day cricket with 14,783 runs and, having played in 381 One-dayers since his debut in 1989, will be the most experienced cricketer at the 16-team event that begins on March 13. Despite the iconic status of Tendulkar, coach Greg Chappell said the team would rely less on a player's star value than the basics to win the quadrennial event. "We will not be relying on any special players because the team is fairly well balanced," the 58-year-old former Australian captain said. Captain Rahul Dravid said he was confident of a strong show by his team in the 51-match tournament which will have its final on April 28. "I know that all the other teams will be aiming to play their best cricket but we are very confident that this is going to be a very good tournament for us," he said. The opening ceremony of the event is slated for March 11. India, placed in Group B, are scheduled to play their opening match on March 17 against Bangladesh at Port of Spain, Trinidad. Sri Lanka and Bermuda are the two teams in the Group. They begin their campaign with two warm-up matches on March 6 against the Netherlands and on March 9 against the West Indies.
India's World Cup win came in 1983 under the captaincy of Kapil Dev. In the last edition in 2003, they reached the final before losing to Australia.
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