Ballance goes on drinking binge, warned by Moores
london: England's top-order batsman Gary Ballance has been handed a stern warning by team's coach Peter Moores over the left-hander's conduct in a drunken state at a Nottingham pub after the end of the first Test match. Pictures of Ballance in a topless state with a beer can in hand was splashed all over the British newspapers but ECB has decided that a warning is enough for the talented batsman, who scored a gritty half-century in the first Test against India at Trent Bridge. According to the Daily Telegraph, "The England and Wales Cricket Board said Ballance had been reminded of his responsibilities by Moores in the build-up to the second Test against India at lord's, after he was pictured dancing in the nightclub and was then, according to an eyewitness, carried out drunk." The ECB had stated Ballance would not face formal disciplinary action and would retain his place in the Test team at lord's. "Ballance was photographed, apparently by another drinker, in the Pandora's Box nightclub, with no top on, and clutching a beer. The pictures were taken hours after the first Test had ended in a draw. An eyewitness is quoted as saying: "They had to carry him out at the end of the night. He was standing outside with his top off screaming, "England!, England! England!'," the paper was quoted as saying. Moores said:"I am aware that some of the England players were caught on camera relaxing after the conclusion of the recent Trent Bridge Test match. "As the players had been released at the end of the first Test and were not due to meet up to begin preparations for the second Test until Monday evening, and there were no suggestions of impropriety there is no need for any disciplinary action. I will however be reminding all players of their responsibilities to uphold the best possible image for England cricket," the coach further added. Another eyewitness said:"A song came on and he clearly enjoyed it so he removed his top." One report, in student newspaper website The Tab reported that Ballance was accompanied by controversial speedster James Anderson, Joe Root and liam Plunkett.
No need to change Bat related law: World Cricket Committee
london: The game of cricket appears heavily loaded in the favour of the batsmen but the World Cricket Committee has ruled against changing the law related to the size of the bat due to lack of consensus on the issue. The WCC discussed the issue at its meeting and decided that the balance between bat and ball has not yet tipped so far in favour of the batsman so as to warrant a change to the laws of Cricket. "With no consensus, the committee ruled that MCC should not look to limit the edges and depths of cricket bats within the laws at this stage, but should continue to monitor this aspect of the game closely," a report on official MCC website stated. At present the permissible length of the bat is 38 inches while the width is 4 and a half inches. MCC had asked Imperial College london to study the size of cricket bats through the decades, with specific reference to the thickness of bat edges and depths.
Indian eves to play ‘Test' match after 8 long years
New Delhi: The Indian women's cricket team will be playing a four-day 'Test' match after a gap of eight long years as they gear up for a short two and half week tour of England starting
August 7. India will be playing a 'Test' and three ODIs during the 19 day trip after from two practice games. The Test match will be played at the Wormsley Cricket Ground from August 13-16. The Mithali Raj led side will also get a chance to play at the prestigious lord's ground where the third and final ODI will be played.
Incidentally the last time that Indian women were seen in whites was back in August 2006, when they beat England in a memorable Test match at Taunton.
Squad: Mithali Raj (Captain), Karuna Jain (Vice Captain), Smriti Mandhana, MD Thirushkamini, Punam Raut, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jhulan Goswami, Niranjana N, Shubhlakshmi Sharma, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav, Swagathika Rath, Vanitha VR, Sushma Verma. Support Staff: Coach: Sudha Shah; Manager: Cavatina Patel; Physio: Neha Karnik; Trainer: Kavita Pandya; Video Analyst: Aarti Nalge; Asst Coach: Devieka Sathe.
Itinerary: August 7 & 8: Warm-up game (loughborough, Haslegrave); August 13-16: 1st Test Match (Wormsley CG); August 19: 50-over Warm-up game at Harrogate CC; August 21: 1st ODI (Scarborough CC); August 23: 2nd ODI (Scarborough CC); August 25: 3rd ODI (lord's, london).
India blowing things out proportion: Vaughan
london: Insisting that the much talked-about altercation between Ravindra Jadeja and James Anderson was nothing more than a "minor bust-up, former England captain Michael Vaughan said the visiting Indians were blowing things out of proportion in an attempt to unsettle the home team. "It is all a bit pathetic and sad that India have reported James Anderson for something that sounds like nothing more than a minor bust-up — something that can happen in the pressurised environment of Test cricket," Vaughan wrote in The Daily Telegraph. "The sad part for me is that they could not sort this out between the teams before going to the International Cricket Council. India are such a powerful force in world cricket but the game needs them to wield that power responsibly and make sure they do not just use that influence to their own advantage, as naive as that may sound," said the former skipper. Anderson allegedly pushed and abused Jadeja on the second day of the drawn opening Test in Nottingham. The Indians pressed formal charges quite a few days later and the English responded by counter-charging Jadeja. "India have to be careful. They have to make sure they have enough evidence to prove Anderson did something seriously wrong otherwise they will be accused of crying wolf or confirm suspicions they are just trying to get England's best bowler banned," said Vaughan. "I also do not see why MS Dhoni has got himself involved in this. It should have been dealt with at board level with slaps on the wrists for both players. I am a huge admirer of Dhoni. He has been fantastic for the game, a wonderful player and captain of India so I do not understand why he wants to lower himself like this. It is a shame. It leaves a bad taste," he fumed.