England spinner Graeme Swann quits international cricket

December 22, 2013

Swann_quitsMelbourne, Dec 22: England spinner Graeme Swann announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket with immediate effect on Sunday, just days before the beleaguered tourists meet Australia in the fourth Ashes Test.

Swann, who took 255 wickets in 60 Tests and is sixth on the list of Test wicket-takers for England, said defeat in Perth last week, which saw Australia seal the Ashes, had cemented his decision to call it a day.

His abrupt announcement further unsettles England, who trail 3-0 in the series after three heavy defeats and are battling to avoid a humiliating 5-0 series whitewash.

“I made the decision after the Perth Test. It was probably halfway through that Perth game to be honest,” Swann, 34, told a press conference in Melbourne.

“My body doesn’t like playing long forms of cricket, my arm doesn’t cope with bowling 30-40 overs in the first innings and then repeating it in the second innings a day later.

“I could feel my performances tapering off to the back-end of games and I wasn’t happy with that.

“I am not willing just to hang on and just get by by being a bit-part player. I want to win matches for England and I don’t feel like I was doing that in the second innings any more. As a result, it’s time to go.”

The off-spinner, a jovial and popular character within the England team, has been under pressure to keep his place in the England team after taking just seven wickets at an average of 80.00 in the three Tests in Australia.

He will miss the fourth Test, starting in Melbourne on Thursday, and the final Test in Sydney and his withdrawal means further disruption for England following the departure of batsman Jonathan Trott earlier in the tour with a stress-related illness.

“With two games to go in Australia and then a fiercely competitive summer against Sri Lanka and India I feel that it is a great time for someone else to strap themselves in and hopefully enjoy the ride as much as I have,” Swann said.

“It was very difficult decision. This England team has been my family for the best part of a decade now, and you spend so much time with guys you absolutely love to pieces.

“There are things I will genuinely miss and I am nervous about that, but to carry on just for those reasons would be really selfish and I’m not prepared to do that.”

Swann, who made his Test debut in 2008 and averaged 29.96 with the ball, said his decision had nothing to do with uproar over comments he made on Facebook last week that likened the third Ashes Test loss to being “raped”.

“It was unfortunate that someone chose to trawl through my brother’s Facebook page. I did apologise for that and it had nothing to do with it,” Swann said.

England team director Andy Flower said Swann had played a major role in England’s recent success.

“Graeme Swann has made an outstanding contribution to the England cricket team in all formats throughout an incredibly successful career, and I would like to congratulate him on all that he has achieved,” Flower said in a statement.

“His commitment, competitive spirit and sense of humour have been recognised and admired by team mates and supporters alike, and he has played a big part in England’s success over the last five years.

“The dressing room will be a very different place without Graeme’s unique personality and I would like to wish him all the very best for the future.”

Former England captain Michael Vaughan tweeted upon the news: “Too soon IMO for Graeme Swann 2 retire but it’s been a absolute pleasure watching him perform for many years. Finger spin out of the top draw.

“Of all the England players over the last 20 yrs he is the one the team (will) miss the most ... Spinners of his quality are a rare breed.”

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Agencies
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Expressing solidarity with the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign, star West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has alleged that he faced racist remarks during his career and cricket is not free of the menace.

Gayle did not elaborate when he faced racial remarks but hinted it might have been during his stints at global T20 leagues.

"I have travelled the globe and experienced racial remarks towards me because I am black, believe me, the list goes on," he posted on instagram on Monday night.

"Racism is not only in football, it's in cricket too. Even within teams as a black man, I get the end of the stick. Black and powerful. Black and proud," he said.

The big-hitting batsman's comments came in the backdrop of African-American George Floyd's death in the USA after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on the handcuffed man's neck as he gasped for breath.

The incident has sparked violent protests across the USA.

"Black lives matter just like any other life. Black people matter, p***k all racist people, stop taking black people for fools, even our own black people wise the p***k up and stop bringing down your own!," Gayle wrote.

Racism in cricket was drew attention most recently last year when England pacer Jofra Archer was abused by a spectator in New Zealand.

New Zealand's top players and the cricket board had offered apologies for the incident to the Englishman.

Also on Monday night, the England cricket team's official twitter handle posted a message denouncing racism.

"We stand for diversity, We stand against racism," the message read.

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News Network
January 10,2020

Srinagar, Jan 10: Real Kashmir FC made a strong comeback in the second half to play out a 1-1 draw against former champions Punjab FC in their home I-League match here on Friday.

The 'Snow Leopards' equalised in the 62nd minute through Gnohere Krizo in front of a partisan crowd of 8,500 spectators after Makan Chothe had given Punjab FC the lead in the 21st minute at the TRC ground.

After Thursday's draw, Punjab FC is placed third on the table with 10 points from seven games. Real Kashmir FC remained at eighth with six points from five matches. This was Real Kashmir's third home match on the trot.

The match was a story of two halves as the first belonged to the visitors who enjoyed a 62 per cent possession of the ball, whereas the second belonged to the home side.

Both the teams were looking to gain an early advantage and Punjab FC took the lead after 21 minutes.

Confusion inside the Real Kashmir box because of a long ball from Punjab opened up an opportunity for Chothe and he made no mistake as he smashed the ball at the back of the net.

As the fans cheered on, Real Kashmir created a flurry of chances, but none of the home side players could find the back of the net. Punjab was able to hold on to their slender lead heading into the tunnel.

The second half resumed with Real Kashmir pressing high up the field and pressurising Punjab.

In the 56th minute, Real Kashmir playmaker Kallum Higginbotham cut through two defenders on the left side of the box and the ball fell to Mason Robertson, whose shot was too weak to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper.

Soon after, it was Danish Farooq who tried a curler from a distance but his shot did not have enough bend to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper. The home team's effort finally paid off in the 62nd minute.

A miscalculated header by Danilo Augusto fell at the feet of Gnohere Krizo, who was one-on-one with the keeper. He made no mistake in striking the ball into the opponent's goal to score the equaliser.

Real Kashmir was in their groove now, and Kallum came in from the right with a beautiful low cross across the face of the goal but Mason could not get a touch as the chance went begging.

The duo of Kallum and Mason were proving difficult for Punjab to deal with. In the 82nd minute, a beautiful long ball by Kallum found the head of a towering Mason, but the effort went just over the crossbar.

Within a few moments, Punjab again had another nervous moment as Chesterpoul Lyngdoh's cross from the right side hit the arm of Thoiba Singh but the referee turned down an appeal for penalty.

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News Network
April 2,2020

New Delhi, Apr 2: It was on April 2, 2011, when the Men in Blue went on to win their second 50-over World Cup title.

India won its first World Cup in 1983 and then had to wait for 28 years to again lift the title.
Going into the 2011 tournament, India went in as the clear favourites as the competition was to be played in the sub-continent.

Under MS Dhoni's leadership, India lost just one match in the competition against South Africa.
India had defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in the semi-final to set up a summit clash with Sri Lanka.

In the finals, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first. Mahela Jayawardene top-scored for Sri Lanka as he struck a century to take the team's score to 274/6.

India in their chase got off to a bad start as the side lost Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag with just 31 runs on the board.

But Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni stepped up and stitched a match-winning 109-run partnership.

Gambhir perished after playing a knock of 97 runs, but in the end, Dhoni and Yuvraj took the team over the line by six wickets.

The winning six struck by Dhoni is still viewed as one of the most exciting moments in India's sporting history. 

As the winning six was hit, Ravi Shastri was doing commentary then, and he famously remarked, "Dhoni, finishes it off in style, India lifts the World Cup after 28 years".
As soon as the match-winning shot was hit, Tendulkar erupted with joy and had tears to see his dream finally being fulfilled.

Earlier this year, former Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the 2011 World Cup win, titled 'Carried On the Shoulders Of A Nation', was voted the greatest Laureus Sporting Moment of the last twenty years.

The lap after the World Cup is still edged into everyone's hearts.

Playing in his last mega 50-over tournament, it was the last chance for Tendulkar to lift the coveted trophy.

Before the 2011 World Cup, Tendulkar had played five tournaments (1992,1996,1999,2003 and 2007), and he fell short every time.

The closest he came to winning the trophy was in 2003 as India made the finals under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly.

But the Men in Blue fell short in the finals against Australia.

Then in 2007, the biggest setback was in store for the legend has India bowed out of the tournament in the group stages.

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