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CHRISTCHURCH: When it comes to batting for life, Sachin Tendulkar is the choice for most of the Kiwi cricketers, who rate the Indian batting maestro as the most accomplished player of his generation. New Zealand's 'Herald on Sunday' newspaper asked a few former cricketers who was the best batsman in the world and whom they would like to bat for their life? Replying to the questions, former Kiwi Test players John Morrison and Dipak Patel picked the Indian batting ace and were all admiration for his exploits all around the world in different conditions and various match situations. "I'd go with Tendulkar. He is still the most capable batsman in the world. He has the full array of shots too, though he might not play them as freely as he once did," Morrison said. "I like Tendulkar because there are guys out there brilliant on certain types of surfaces but he is adept at playing on anything." "Slow, bouncy, turning, whatever - he covers the field on ...

England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is doubtful for the second Ashes test against Australia at Lord's starting on Thursday after suffering pain in his right knee during the drawn first Test in Cardiff. Flintoff was included in a 14-man squad named on Monday -- with pace bowler Steve Harmison the only addition -- but the England and Wales Cricket Board said in a statement the all-rounder's place would depend on the results of a scan. "We have a like-for-like selection with Steve Harmison coming into the squad from a bowling point of view," England selector Geoff Miller told Sky Sports News. "But we will need to consider all our options carefully when we come to determine the make-up of our bowling attack at Lord's and the final decision will depend on our assessment of the pitch and the likely overhead conditions," Miller added in the ECB statement. Harmison won his recall following a series of good performances for Durham. Flintoff scored 37 in the first...

Sri Lanka romped to a seven-wicket victory over Pakistan to win the series after the visitors suffered a dramatic batting collapse on the third day of the second test on Tuesday. Sri Lanka raced to their 171-run victory target in 31.5 overs during the afternoon with opener Malinda Warnapura scoring a brisk 54, Kumar Sangakkara an aggressive 46 and Mahela Jayawardene finishing off the game with an undefeated 37. Having won the first test in Galle by 50 runs, Sri Lanka now have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-test series and can celebrate their first series win against Pakistan on home soil. The run chase had been set up by bowlers Rangana Herath and Nuwan Kulasekara, the pair ripping through the Pakistan order after lunch as nine wickets fell for just 35 runs. Spinner Herath claimed career-best figures of 5-99 and seamer Kulasekara finished with 4-37 as Pakistan were dismissed for 320. A few hours earlier, Pakistan had seized control of the match when makeshift opener Fawad Alam (...

England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has found one place where he can still sneak a pint ahead of the Ashes series. The new found place is Australian dressing room, where he is welcomed by Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke, among several others. “In Australia I spent a bit of time in the changing-room with him. There are going to be some tough times on the pitch and I think it would be silly for us not to catch up and congratulate each other and grab a beer or whatever,” the News of the World quoted, Clarke, as saying. According to reports, Freddie is close to several of the baggy green players and when England were thrashed 5-0 Down Under in 2007, former coach Duncan Fletcher claimed the all-rounder was in the Australia dressing-room and drank until midnight after the Second Test in Adelaide. Flintoff has also had a scandalous life, which has been full of controversies. Earlier, Strauss read Flintoff’s riot act over his drinking escapades last week and fined him 1,000 after a booz...

The speed with which England vacated the field at Edgbaston on Friday afternoon revealed plenty about their mindset in the lead-in to next week's first Test in Cardiff. The time was 5pm on a perfect summer's afternoon, and the opportunity was there for at least another hour and a half of fine-tuning. However, it was not deemed necessary by England's think tank, who have seen enough already, and just want to get the proper action underway now. On Sunday, that action will come one step closer to fruition when the national selector, Geoff Miller, unveils England's trimmed-down squad for Wednesday's massively anticipated Ashes opener. That Miller has spent the week in the stands at Worcester, watching the Lions - and more pertinently, Steve Harmison - rather than fussing about the form of, say, Monty Panesar, suggests that 11 of the expected 13 names on his list will be fairly easy to second-guess. All the permutations, therefore, come down to the selecti...

Following protests against the scrapping of the Deodhar Trophy tournament, the BCCI has decided to review their decision. The BCCI had this past week cancelled the Deodhar Trophy for the 2009-10 season due to the tight domestic schedule, but that has not gone down well with irate protesters of the Shiv Sena, a right-wing political party in Mumbai. Sena activists shouted slogans outside the Wankhede Stadium, where the BCCI has its headquarters, claiming the board had insulted the late DB Deodhar, after whom the limited-overs tournament was named. "The Board has insulted Marathi pride by cancelling the tournament," Sena leader Subhash Desai was quoted as saying by the Times of India on Friday. "If the decision is not reversed, Shiv Sena will not allow a single IPL match in the state." According to a press release from the BCCI, the schedule of the Deodhar Trophy will be finalised at the board's working committee meeting in August. The inaugural Deo...

Pakistan 15 for 2 (Thushara 1-2, Kulasekara 1-7) trail Sri Lanka 292 (Paranavitana 72, Aamer 3-74, Rauf 2-59) by 277 runs Pakistan had a day of typical Pakistani cricket. Two of their debutants got them off to a great start, but sloppy fielding and a failure to keep a lid on the scoring meant they hadn't run away with the game. The Sri Lankan batsmen, although never entirely comfortable in the middle, kept counterattacking, getting quick runs, making sure they got themselves a fighting total on a pitch that offered movement to bowlers of both variety. If Pakistan were slightly ahead at the end of the innings, the last half hour, when Nuwan Kulasekara and Thilan Thushara took a wicket each, made sure the match was as balanced as it was when it started.

Gary Kirsten, India's coach, has credited India's innings not being affected as much as by inclement weather as crucial to taking a series lead. West Indies innings began two hours late and was interrupted thrice due to rain, and further intervals initially readjusted India's target to 195 in 27 overs before a further shower reduced it to 159 in 22 overs. In the end, thanks to MS Dhoni's unbeaten hand, India won in the final over with six wickets in hand. "It definitely helps a team batting second in this type of set up," said Kirsten. "It did suit us to be batting second because you can dictate the game a little better when the overs are shortening in terms of what you need." India went into the final over needing 11 and Dhoni hit the second ball from Jerome Taylor over midwicket to leave India on course for victory. "Someone like MS Dhoni can hit the ball out the ground at any time so it was comforting knowing that we had him at the crease con...

The Indian skipper hit an unbeaten 46 as India won by six wickets in the last over to take a 2-1 lead. India beat West Indies by six wickets via Duckworth Lewis method in the rain-curtailed third ODI to take a 2-1 lead in the four-match ODI series at St. Lucia. More Details & Scoreboard

There is very little that Australia [Images] captain Ricky Ponting [Images] has failed to achieve in his distinguished career, either as an individual player or as a leader. There is, however, one major achievement that has eluded him -- captaining his country to an Ashes series win in England [Images]. Ponting will get the chance to rectify that over the next few months and he cannot hide his excitement. "It's something very dear to my heart," he recently told reporters in Australia. Ponting is undoubtedly one of the greatest batsmen to have played the game and could well finish up as the leading run-scorer of all time when he finally retires. Only Sachin Tendulkar [Images], Brian Lara [Images] and Allan Border [Images] have scored more Test runs than Ponting but the Tasmanian boasts a higher batting average than them all and, at 34 years of age, he still has time to overtake them. Ponting's success with the bat has not gone unrecognized. He twice been chosen as the ...