Alastair Cook still wary despite latest hundred

June 20, 2012

alister_cookLondon, June 20: England one-day captain Alastair Cook refused to get carried away after his latest limited overs hundred sealed a series win over the West Indies.

Cook made 112 as England, set 239, won by eight wickets at The Oval on Tuesday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in a three-match series.

It was left-handed opener Cook's fifth hundred in 47 one-day internationals (ODIs) and third in just his last six matches at this level.

Yet there was a time when the 27-year-old Essex batsman , a mainstay of the Test side, was considered too slow a scorer for the 50-over format.

His appointment to the one-day captaincy last year, after Test skipper Andrew Strauss quit limited overs internationals, prompted former England captain Michael Atherton, himself an opening batsman, to describe Cook as "plodder" with the bat and a "donkey" in the field.

As Cook faced just 120 balls with a six and 13 fours during his innings on Tuesday, having previously run out West Indies opener Lendl Simmons with a direct hit, he could have been forgiven for thinking 'some plodder, some donkey', especially as Atherton managed just two hundreds in his 54 ODIs.

However, Cook insisted concerns about his form were a constant companion.

"I don't think you ever firmly put them to bed, as I always say," he said after his man-of-the-match performance.

"You are only ever a few low scores away but what was pleasing today, I haven't really hit the ball quite as nice over the last month as I'd like to have done.

"I've ground out a few scores in the Test matches but it was nice to go on today and contribute a match-winning innings.

"Any hundred for England is very pleasing," he added.

The West Indies came into this series with high hopes, firmly believing one-day cricket was more to their liking than the Test game where they suffered a 2-0 defeat by England in a three-match series earlier in the tour.

But Tuesday's defeat came after an equally comprehensive 114-run loss in the first ODI at Southampton on Saturday.

"We didn't score enough runs," said West Indies captain Darren Sammy, who saw his side collapse after opener Chris Gayle made a typically rapid fifty upon his return to the international stage following a 15 month-long dispute with Caribbean cricket chiefs.

"At the end of the day you need runs on the board to defend," all-rounder Sammy added. "We wanted 280, we know the Oval wicket is a good one.

"We know cricket isn't played on paper, it's played in the middle. You have to go out and perform and we haven't done that."

England announced later Tuesday they would be resting frontline bowlers Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann from Friday's series finale at Headingley, with their places in the squad taken by the newly called-up trio of Stuart Meaker, Chris Woakes and James Tredwell.


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Agencies
February 12,2020

Mumbai, Feb 12: Former Indian greats Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin have been left disappointed by the behaviour of the Under-19 team after the World Cup final where they were involved in an altercation with their Bangladeshi counterparts.

After Bangladesh won the final beating India by three wickets (via DLS) at the Senwes Park on Sunday, the players of the two teams were seen engaging in an exchange of words and even some pushing and shoving on the field.

"I would like to see the board (BCCI) take some strict action against the players to set an example. Cricket is not about abusing the opponent. I am sure there is enough reason for these youngsters to be dealt with firmly by BCCI," Kapil was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

"I welcome aggression, nothing wrong in it. But it has to be controlled aggression. You can't cross the line of decency in the name of being competitive. I would say it was unacceptable that youngsters put up such an obnoxious display on the cricket field," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sanctioned five players, including three from Bangladesh -- Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan --and two from India --Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi for the scuffle.

Azharuddin also reiterated what Kapil said, insisting that players need to be disciplined.

"I would take action against the errant Under 19 players, but I also want to know what role has the support staff played in educating these youngsters. Act now before it is too late. The players have to be disciplined," Azharuddin said.

Earlier, Bishan Singh Bedi has lashed out at the Priyam Garg-led team, saying their behaviour was disgusting and disgraceful.

"You bat, bowl and field badly�happens, but there's no excuse for behaving badly. The behaviour was disgusting and most disgraceful. The innocence of that age was not visible at all," Bedi told Mid Day.

Bedi, who represented India in 67 Tests and 10 ODIs, said the behaviour of the Bangladesh cricketers is not our problem.

"Look, what Bangladesh do is their problem, what our boys do is our problem. You could see that there was abusive language used," he said.

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News Network
June 29,2020

Jun 29: The West Indies cricketers will sport a 'Black Lives Matter' logo on the collars of their shirts during the upcoming three-Test series against England to protest against racism in sports.

Skipper Jason Holder, who has voiced his support to the cause that has once again come to the forefront after the killing of American George Floyd, said in a statement on Sunday: "We believe we have a duty to show solidarity and also to help raise awareness."

The ICC-approved logo, designed by Alisha Hosannah, will be the one which featured in the shirts of all 20 Premier League football clubs since the sport's resumption earlier this month.

"This is a pivotal moment in history for sports, for the game of cricket and for the West Indies cricket team," Holder was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"We have come to England to retain the Wisden Trophy but we are very conscious of happenings around the world and the fight for justice and equality. "As a group of young men, we know of the rich and diverse history of West Indies cricket and we know we are guardians of the great game for a generation to come."

Holder, who wants racism to be treated at par with doping and corruption, said they arrived at the decision to wear the logo after much thought.

"We did not take our decision lightly. We know what it is for people to make judgments because of the colour of our skin, so we know what it feels like, this goes beyond the boundary. There must be equality and there must be unity. Until we get that as people, we cannot stop," he said.

"We have to find some way to have equal rights and people must not be viewed differently because of the colour of their skin or ethnic background."

The West Indies players are likely to wear the shirts for the first time in this week's four-day warm-up match at Emirates Old Trafford, starting on Monday.

The opening Test of the series, which will mark the resumption of international cricket after the coronavirus-forced hiatus, will get underway at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on July 8.

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Agencies
February 13,2020

New Delhi, Feb 13: Sanjiv Chawla, a key accused in the match-fixing scandal involving former South African cricket team captain Hansie Cronje in 2000, was extradited from the UK on Thursday, Delhi Police said.

The 50-year-old British national, accompanied by a crime branch team from London, reached IGI Airport this morning, a senior officer said.

He is likely to be taken to the crime branch office for questioning, he added.

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