Buzz Up Chinese cricket a surprise package, says Pakistan great

New Delhi: Unfancied China should not be underestimated when cricket makes its debut at the Asian Games next month, according to Pakistan great Javed Miandad. China will play cricket on the world stage for the first time during the November 12-27 Games in Guangzhou, having qualified for the Twenty20 competition by virtue of being the hosts.

But Miandad, one of the mentors of the fledging sport in China, said the country's cricketers could prove to be the surprise of the tournament. "Cricket may not be very popular in China, but it is a known fact that when they decide to do something, they go all out," Miandad said.

"Same is the case with cricket. The Chinese are very quick learners. Just as an example, they have a player who until three months ago did not know what cricket was, he was completely clueless. But today he can bowl leg-breaks as good as many professional players. Their complete devotion to mastering anything is simply awesome. Something that is missing in Pakistan and India," the former batsman said.

Miandad, who says he will travel to Guangzhou to encourage his wards, has been in constant touch with former internationals, Rashid Khan of Pakistan and Aminul Islam of Bangladesh, who coach the Chinese men's team.

The women's team is coached by former India player Mamatha Maben. With India opting out of the competition and other top cricketing nations like Sri Lanka and Pakistan fielding second-string teams, China is hoping for a podium finish in Guangzhou.

Cricket was last seen at a major multi-sport event at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, but was dropped for the next three editions in England, Australia and India.

The sport will continue to be played at the Asian Games and will be part of the programme for 2014 in the South Korean city of Incheon.

Buzz Up We should keep Gary even after WC: Gambhir

New Delhi: Prolific Indian opener Gautam Gambhir feels that the Indian cricket board should renew the contract of coach Gary Kirsten after it expires at the end of the Cricket World Cup next year.

"Gary is the best coach India has ever had. I have often said that and I keep on stressing that we need Gary. I don't need to speak much about him. His fabulous record speaks for itself. He has been a great man-manager. So I believe that he should be retained after the World Cup also," Gambhir said.

Gambhir is thus the latest among the Indian stars to join the bandwagon who want the South African to be retained as Cricket South Africa wants him to take over once he finishes his stint with the Indian team.

The opener also supported Kirsten's idea of sending the top-order batsmen to South Africa, a week in advance so that they can get themselves acclimatised to the pace and bounce of wickets over there.

"We haven't played much cricket in South Africa of late. So it will be a great idea if we go there a bit early to get used to the conditions. If such a thing happens, it may just work in our favour," Gambhir said.

He also reiterated that one can't continue his blazing form for life and there is bound to be ups and downs. "Right now I am coming back from injury. It's always a difficult thing when you come back from injury. Only when you spend considerable time out there in the middle, you get to know how it's shaping up for you," he said.

The Delhi batsman also feels that just because Bangladesh whipped New Zealand 4-0 in the ODI series, it did not mean that it will be a cakewalk for the Indians when they meet the Black Caps from November 4.

"You can never take any international opposition lightly. Just because Bangladesh beat them 4-0 doesn't mean that we can take it easy against the New Zealanders. Their team consists of some proven match-winners who can turn a match head on. So we need to be very careful and can't take things for granted," Gambhir said.

On a lighter vein, he said that walking ramp is tough but not as tough as opening the batting for the country. He also said that he hasn't seen the likes of Yuvraj Singhs and Mahendra Singh Dhonis walk the ramp but said that a cricketer's endeavour is to perform on field rather than score points off it.

Buzz Up Australia readies Big Bash T20 league to rival IPL

 SYDNEY (Reuters) - Cricket Australia (CA) approved an IPL-style league on Friday but conceded the eight-team event would not be able to rival the financial gloss of the Indian Twenty20 tournament.

After the board meeting in Melbourne, chief executive officer James Sutherland said CA were "amenable" to private ownership in the expanded Big Bash League from 2011-12 season but finalising the terms would take more time.

"The Board has considered the position of private investment into these teams and taken a view that the board is amenable to that situation," Sutherland told reporters.

"It will, over the coming months, consider the terms under which that private investment may take place but the Board is certainly open to that."

Local media reports claimed Indian companies were eyeing minority stakes in some of the teams, while Sutherland said the new league would not vie with the glitzy $4 billion IPL.

"I don't think we see ourselves as a competitor to the IPL (in terms of player earnings) and certainly the revenues that the Cricket Australia Big Bash League can generate," he said.

"In a small market such as Australia it's not going to be the same as the Indian Premier League. But at the same time this league is on the international stage and the teams that play-off in the finals will qualify for the Champions League."

The CA official envisages the league, to be played over a 5-6 week period in December and January, to be a 10-team affair by the next five years but ruled out any threat to the traditional Boxing Day (Dec. 26) test.

Strauss excited by Ashes challenge

Andrew Strauss is ready to deal with the pressure of expectation as England prepare to depart for Australia with their best chance of winning down under in more than 20 years. The pre-Ashes hype is well underway on both sides of the world although Strauss doesn't feel the need to be drawn into any slanging matches before the action gets underway. 

England haven't won in Australia since 1986-87 but on the back of a successful 18 months which has seen the team win the Ashes at home, draw in South Africa and beat Pakistan 3-1 there is a feeling that the squad has the ability to turn over the hosts who have lost their last three Tests and slipped below England in the rankings. Victory in Australia would cement Strauss's position as one of his country's finest captains, but he is putting individual thoughts to one side.

"I think we all feel a slight burden of responsibility but that's mixed in with a huge amount of pride in representing our country in what is a massive series," Strauss said. "From my own point of view I'm relaxed but excited about our prospects. Those of us on the last tour know what a tough place it is to tour but we also know what an amazing thing it would be to win out there. I think we have a great chance. The only time the 5-0 result will be wiped out is if we go out and win this time. That's our challenge."

There is unlikely to be any shortage of mentions of what happened four years ago when England arrived holding the Ashes before being thrashed by a rampant home side, but already there are differences from that tour. The squad is settled and the ECB have gone to great lengths to lay on the ideal preparation with a month-long lead-in period before the first Test including three first-class matches.

"We've had a lot of success over the last 18 months so confidence levels are very high," Strauss said. "Our preparation has been very good and so there's a feeling of relaxed excitement of what lies ahead. We have an excellent chance of winning out there, we are a nice tight unit and know what to expect.

"We've left no stone unturned in making sure that we hit the ground running. Ultimately preparation only takes you so far and you have to front up in the crucial sessions but I have every confidence our players will be able to do that."

Strauss also attempted to put to bed talk about injuries sustained during the team's bonding camp in Germany. James Anderson returned with a cracked rib and it also emerged that Chris Tremlett suffered bruising, but both are not causing the captain any concern. "Chris is 100% fit. I think he had a tiny niggle but it hasn't affected his preparation at all," he said. "Jimmy Anderson is coming on well and we fully expect our squad to be 100% fit by the first Test."

ICC not to investigate Sydney Test: Lorgat

Melbourne: The International Cricket Council will not re-investigate the Sydney Test between Australia and Pakistan despite being confronted with reports that it knew of suspected match fixer Mazhar Majeed's "activities" during the game.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the governing body did not have "sufficient evidence" to warn the Australian authorities about Majeed's activities during the January series.

Australia won the Sydney Test after Pakistan suffered a dramatic collapse and committed several fielding errors.

In a sting operation conducted by a British tabloid a some weeks ago, Majeed was shown boasting that the match had been fixed.

But Lorgat insisted that the ICC will not launch a re-investigation unless "credible evidence comes forward."

"We've kept it open, we concluded in the end it was a dysfunctional team," he told ABC channel.

Asked whether the ICC should have issued an advisory when it came to know of Majeed's presence in Sydney, Lorgat said, "these are leads that we have to follow through and be quite confident before we make allegations and it was the subject of an ongoing investigation and we weren't in a position to make any allegations."

"We were not satisfied of the extent of his activities and we needed to be quite confident before we levelled any accusations," he said.