We dedicate this one to McGrath

Pretty in pink Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds used pink grips on Boxing Day in 2006; Adam Gilchrist wore pink wicketkeeping gloves at the MCG in 2007; but the efforts to raise awareness and funds for the McGrath Foundation will be far more widespread during the third Test against South Africa at the SCG in 2009. The stumps, parts of the outfield, and players' shirts will carry the foundation's pink logo and Glenn McGrath has also urged fans to wear pink at the SCG. The third day, usually known as ladies day, has been renamed Jane McGrath day, after the former Australian fast bowler's late wife. "I thank the SCG Trust for naming the Ladies Day after Jane and who would have thought they would name something here after her and not me!" McGrath said. "It will be amazing to walk out there and see everything is pink and I am not sure how I will feel on that first day of play. Jane would have been so proud." He may not be causing whitewashes anymore but, true to form, McGrath predicted Australia to beat South Africa 3-0,
Below is littered of Jane and the Funeral

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He's a bit soft

Kallis is a bit of a bully when it comes to minnows Bangladesh and Zimbabwe but goes missing against the Australians." Those were the words of Rodney Hogg, former Australia fast bowler, as part of some typically Aussie pre-match talk ahead of the upcoming series against South Africa. Kallis record is 124.50 against the minnows. He has a average of 38.32 agaisnt Australia in 18 matches well below his overall average of 55.06. In his early days, before 2000, Kallis managed just 256 runs from 11 innings against Australia at 23.27; since the turn of the century, in 24 innings against them, his average has doubled to 46.60. Admittedly these aren't outstanding numbers, but that's hardly a record to be scoffed at, especially against the best team of his era. In fact, if Hogg believes that to be the definition of a player gone missing, you'd have to wonder what he would say for the rest of the South African batsmen against Australia in this decade - among those who have played five Tests against Australia during this period, none averages even 40. Their captain has been especially disappointing, scoring 344 runs in 14 innings at 24.57.

How Kind!

England players have said that they will donate half of there match fees to the victims of the Indian terrorist attack, in Mumbai. I wonder why did they return because you know these people are cricketers and there grown men in skirts really ,that's what i wear when i step out in the field, no I'm only joking . But in a way i feel proud what the English cricketers have done GOOD ON YOU ENGLAND

It's not over until the fat boy sings

We have seen for many years the voice of Mr Warne cheering, We have seen Warne been the centre of attention of the British Newspapers but know well Now we have Shane Warne: the Musical - though it could easily have been entitled Shane Warne and his Amazing Technicolour Life. The spin master has 24 songs, and one of them sings, "he crapped himself against KP in 2005 ashes, and he bowled at his legs" No that was me making a song up, It's about a young chubby school boy who turns into a little bit less chubby international sport fenomenon. Here is some of the actuall song:

Look, look at young Shane, jogging whether its sunshine, hail or rain,Now he's doing crunches, Wow, look at him doing crunches," echoes the chorus.
As the song continues, we get a flashback, with Mrs Warne walking behind cradling baby Shane in her arms. "Hush little Shane," she whispers. "When you grow up you are gong to destroy the English," her voice rising in volume with each word. "Do you hear me? DESTROY THE POMS!"
Pucker accent
Then we see two bowler-hatted City types enter from stage left. "Look at that frighteningly blonde man from the colonies," says one in a pucker English accent.
"Does he seriously think he has the mustard to take on the motherland?" the other responds. They collapse into maniacal laughter when one lands the cheap shot: "It's not over until the fat boy spins."
By the end of the song, the shell-suit has come off, replaced with a pristine set of cricket whites. The mullet is cast aside and we see for the first time the trademark shock of peroxide blonde hair.

We have finally got there!!!

After spending the last 72 hours consulting security advisers and Government agencies at the highest level, the ECB has determined that England will leave for Abu Dhabi on Thursday (So that means they'll be fueled up for India, because all they'll be drinking is Fuel) . Yesterday Hugh Morris, Managing Director England Cricket said to the player that the tour will be going ahead because that the security was good. Well he said somert on the lines of that.The England test squad will practice in Abu Dhabi with nine members of the England Performance Squad and will fly on to India early next week for the two Test matches in Chennai and Mohali if the security recommendations have been implemented (Put into place) .Ryan Sidebottom, who was named in England’s original 15 man tour party, has been ruled out of the series with a side injury. Stuart Broad will miss the first Test having picked up a hamstring strain in Cuttack during the fifth one day international. He will remain in England for intensive physiotherapy and then fly out to Chennai where his fitness will be reviewed ahead of the second Test. The Test squad will be supplemented by nine players from the England Performance Programme Squad. England Test

Squad:

Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire) captain

Tim Ambrose (Warwickshire)

James Anderson (Lancashire)

Ian Bell (Warwickshire)

Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire) – travelling directly to ChennaiPaul

Collingwood (Durham)

Alastair Cook (Essex)

Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire)

Stephen Harmison (Durham)

Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire)

Matthew Prior (Sussex)

Owais Shah (Middlesex)

Andrew Strauss (Middlesex)

Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire)

Performance Squad:

Ravinder Bopara (Essex)

Mark Davies (Durham)

Robert Joseph (Kent)

Amjad Khan (Kent)

Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire)

Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire)L

iam Plunkett (Durham)

Oliver Rayner (Sussex)

Alan Richardson (Middlesex)

Forget that I'm not going

What a time it is for the English cricketers, We have heard absolute all sorts, the decision is suppose to be made in about 5-7 days which will leave it very close to the opening test. But the latest is that, the squad is happy to travel to the United Arab Emirates before a final decision on the Test series is made. Dominic Cork says "I know at least five who will turn their backs." Matt Prior says that he wants to get out there and get his gloves out. Corky also says "What is the point of England taking a diluted squad? He has a point there! What would be the point of getting thrashed. There wouldn't be it would just be embarrassing. Well what ever happens all I'm going to say is make sure you make the right decision.

It's just Cricket

I have come across this cricket game, but it's not any ordinary cricket game, it's a game in which you manage a team. It's free to register and play, if you have a crap team then you may have to pay to get better players. You can get a couple of free credits a day but not many, it's quiet a popular little game, i have been playing for a couple of weeks and I'm really impressed, you play a match everyday, but sometimes it's every other day, if i was you i would give it a go. Here is the link:
http://cricinfo.cricketmanager.co.uk/f.php?f=jackchafer

England are home but for what decision

England dropped down at Heathrow a couple of hours ago, so that means they are at the moment safe from the big boom bombs, in Mumbai. Will they be back, well who's knows, I don't! Officials from both England and India are adamant that the Test series will go ahead, particularly after the BCCI agreed to shift the second Test from Mumbai to Chennai after a request from the ECB. Is that enough though?, to me it sounds like no. It also sounds like Mr Pietersen doesn't want to go, but knows that if the team go he has to go or it'll look like hes a wuss.

He says:

We need to make sure the security's right - but if it's not safe then we won't be coming back," "People are their own people, I'll never force anyone to do anything or tell them to do anything against their will. On the field I may ask people to do things in a certain way but people run their own lives. We'll have to see how the security is.
"I do think the BCCI will make every single effort to get us back here playing Test-match cricket in India. There are TV rights and financial considerations and they run world cricket don't they? But we will not come back to India if it's not safe. My life means more to me than anything else and I won't come back if it's not safe."

Sean Morris, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers' Association, said the ultimate decision on the tour will rest with the ECB. "It won't be down to the players, it'll be down to the ECB ultimately, and we are comfortable with that, We have worked very well with our board in the past, so we are confident of the processes involved and with the people who provide the information."

There is the strong possibility of a weakened England side returning to India if players make individual decisions on whether to tour. There is a precedent for that, as following the 9/11 attacks in 2001 Robert Croft and Andrew Caddick opted out of the India tour.

We are missing him!

If you like Marcus Trescothick then you would have been glad to see him win the £20,000 prize for his autobiography "coming back to me" also you would have been glad to see him with a huge smile back on his lips. After years battling the depression that ended his international career, Trescothick at last looked at peace as the champagne and canapés were raised in his direction . As everyone one was so happy that day applauding him congratulating him, But i wonder was someone thinking we need him back more then ever before. That's what I would have been thinking. Especially in thee ODI's. England are 4-0 down in the series, England's opening pair have struggled from the start of the current tour. Ian Bell is averaging 21, Matt Prior 15. Ravi Bopara, brought in for Sunday's defeat in Bangalore, made just one. Bell now averages just 33 after 27 matches at the top of the order; Prior 25 from 28. Trescothick, in almost five times as many matches opening for England, averaged 37 - with 12 hundreds, four more than any other England player in history and twice as many as Kevin Pietersen. Even a better statistic is that Marcus averages 53 in one-dayers in India, compared to Bell's 23 and Prior's 24. The thing was it wasn't that he's got 53 for an average in India it was the way he would do it, He would smash it all around the park, he was our Adam Gilchrist or Chris Gayle, he has a strike rate of over 100 in India, what more could you ask for?

Then there's the Test arena.

Trescothick averaged just under 44 in the the test matches, and 48 in India .With the ability to score quickly off the fast bowlers at the start of an innings, and being able to play the spinners perfectly, he was suited to the subcontinent. When you look ahead to the Ashes, There is only Vaughan, Pietersen, Bell, Harmison, Strauss, Flintoff, i suppose Collingwood. Wear did the rest go,

Garent Jones- Crap

Simon Jones - Injured never been picked since

Matthew Hoggard- Got dropped because he had one bad match

Trescothick- Went a bit loopy and retired from International crick

Ashley Giles- Retired because he knew Monty had taken his place

From that we can see we miss 3 players, Hoggard because of his excellent bowling, Trescothick because of his hitting and batting starts and lastly Simon Jones because he just makes the ball do things, like go to the toilet.

It was Trescothick's aggression on the first morning of the second Test that seemed to convince England, already a match down, that they could actually take the Australians on and beat them.
We were used to seeing Australia score 50 off the first 10 overs, but not England. That opening stand of 112 with Andrew Strauss at Edgbaston set the tone for both the day (407 England runs

by close of play) and the rest of the series.

Trescothick is still only 32 years old, two years younger than Vaughan and a year younger than Ricky Ponting. By rights he should be at his peak.
Instead, he'll see out the remainder of his playing days at his beloved Somerset, determined to never again be more than a car journey away from wife Hayley and daughters Ellie and Millie. Because if he does he'll start crying again.He's not coming back!

He said:

"India's a fantastic place to play cricket," he said on Tuesday, "but I don't envy them being out there.
"There were a lot of things left uncovered for me throughout the two years of trying to deal with the illness, and it was definitely a very cathartic process writing this book.
"To write about it and get it all out in the open was great and to read it back was quite an amazing experience. This was my opportunity to tell exactly the story that me and my wife went through."

Best of the best

My views on what the test and ODI team should look like:
Test: ODI:
Horton
Cook
Strauss
Pietersen (c)
Bell
Shah
Flintoff
Prior
Jones
Harmison
Panesar

ODI:
Strauss
Prior
Pietersen (c)
Napier
Collingwood
Flintoff
Mascheranas
Swann
Harmison
Rashid
Anderson

Can you pick a bette squad try

Let's win it

I think if I put think in a few days, I will be in a psychiatric unit. I honestly think that we will win the ashes 2009. Just as I said that, you could hear the whole of the cricketing world smirk. Seriously think about it they do not have a spinner he is more like Paul Harris. You might as well call him a slow medium pacer. With the whole of England on the back of England cheering us on to win back those ashes from the Aussies, which in time will just fade a way a bit like West Indies. I think yes it will be hard. If we have Harmison back to full strength and Flintoff. Simon Jones looks in fantastic form. Panesar well a little sketchy. If Vaughan come back to his form again like in his youth and Pietersen who knows what England could do to those smug Australians who think they will rule cricket forever. With no McGrath and Warne who is going to bowl us out. You could clearly see those two where needed badly to bowl us out in the 05 ashes. I think maybe all these crap performances will stop and become the fairytale we were looking for. Remember every thing has to end and the Australians and the reign on the ashes will die on the Monday 24th August 2009 at 6:30. These are the fixtures of the 2009 test series. Just look where the first test is going to be taking place:

July 2009
England v Australia, 1st Test, The Ashes, 2009
Cardiff

Thu 16 - Mon 20
England v Australia, 2nd Test, The Ashes, 2009
London

Thu 30 - Mon 03
England v Australia, 3rd Test, The Ashes, 2009
Birmingham

August 2009
Fri 07 - Tue 11
England v Australia, 4th Test, The Ashes, 2009
Leeds


Thu 20 - Mon 24
England v Australia, 5th Test, The Ashes, 2009
London

VS

South Africa In Charge of english cricket

Yes, South Africa are in charge of us in two ways they control us in test cricket and now they control us even by being the captain of England. English cricket is captained by a South African the one and only Kevin Pietersen. In all fairness, he does play for England. So why not give him a chance of being our captain. Well I do not really like the idea of Him being captain of the test team when we have Andrew Strauss in the side. We have seen he a good captain and his average went up while he was captain. So surly he is a good choice, but no, they had to give it to someone with no experience at all. Why wellI do not really know but I know one thing, for sure, he had better do a good job or he will go to hero to zero. Pressure Pietersen good you had better not drop your performances in with the bat.

I'm White and i'm out

We all know that Nel has a bit of a gob on him when hes angry of course. Would you ever drop your best bowler unless he has done something really bad well the South African Cricket selection team have, just because he is white. There new rule is now that you have to have 6 black players in the team. Just because there country is corrupt and racist. Now i wouldn't lke to be Mrs Nel when he heard that news. Even though i'm not the best of fan with Nel i still feel sorry for the poor guy. If you wanna be the best, you can have all these daft rules about howmany black or white people are allowed in your squad. Just look at that face he's gonna blow.

This Year Maybe

For the past two years Lancashire Cricket Club have been so close to the County Championship title, but unfortuantly Susex have won the title. Now maybe without Peter Moores maybe just maybe Lancashire can come from behind and get a piece of silverwave that all Lancashire fans want the most the Championship. Yeh the other Titles would be nice but the County Championship is the biggest title in english domestic Cricket. Andrew Flintoff is back within the runs when he hit 51 runs just before bowled by Shahzad a Yorkshire bowler. He only go 1 wicket though. We have the squad but do we have the determination. Come on Lancs