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The Cricket Society
From The Student RoomTSR Wiki > Life > Societies > The Cricket Society
International CricketAustraliaCaptain: Ricky Ponting Coach Tim Nielsen World Ranking: 1st (Test and ODI) World Cup best: Winners - 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007. Recent form: Australia have been the best team in the world by a distance over the last decade, dominating the test rankings and winning the last three world cups. The big question at the moment is whether they can continue their success after the retirements of Warne, McGrath, Langer and Gilchrist. They were pushed all the way in the recent India series and suddenly don't look so invincible. TSR fans: Thirucumaran BangladeshCaptain: Mohammad Ashraful Coach Jamie Siddons World Ranking: 9th (Test and ODI) World Cup best: 7th in Super Eight Stage - 2007 Recent form: Bangladesh are the newest team to take up test cricket having played their first one in 2000. It has been a frustrating 8 years with only rare glimpses of the ability that they obviously possess. Bangladesh have started to become a credible force in ODIs and T20s though, and the improvement in test cricket is bound to come. TSR fans: Sarforaz EnglandCaptain: Kevin Pietersen Coach Peter Moores World Ranking: 5th (Test), 7th (ODI) World Cup best: Runners Up - 1979, 1987, 1992 Recent form: England were on the top of their game in 2005 when they finally regained the Ashes. They have been pretty poor in all forms of the game since, suffering a major post ashes hangover. Injuries to key players hasn't helped and neither did the indifferent selection policies of Duncan Fletcher and David Graveney. Its been all change in the past year with a new coach, new selectors and finally a new captain in Kevin Pietersen. There were encouraging signs in Pietersen's first ODI series with a comfortable 4-0 win over South Africa. TSR fans: SuperDaz IndiaTest Captain: Anil Kumble ODI Captain: MS Dhoni Coach Gary Kirsten World Ranking: 2nd (Test), 4th (ODI) World Cup best: Winners - 1983 Runners up -2003 Recent form: Realistically this India team, with the likes of Tendulkar and Dravid, has rarely met its potential. It should have been pushing Australia for top spot for the last decade but has often flattered to decieve. Recent form is good though with a surprise series win in England followed by winning the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup. India also performed very well in Australia, though fielding remains an area for drastic improvement. Newly appointed coach Gary Kirsten will look to heal the scars of the Greg Chappell era and take a new generation forward. MS Dhoni, the ODI and T20 captain, is the face of this new generation, whose undoubted natural talent presents a selection dilemma for Team India looking ahead to the 2011 World Cup, while still maintaining respectable results in the short term with the help of established 'seniors' such as Ganguly, Dravid and Tendulkar. It will be interesting, though, to see how they will cope with the possible losses of Ganguly, Dravid, Tendulkar and Kumble in the near future. TSR fans: CorpusNinja New ZealandCaptain: Daniel Vettori Coach John Bracewell World Ranking: 6th (Test), 3rd (ODI) World Cup best: Semi Finals - 1975, 1979, 1992, 1999, 2007 Recent form: New Zealand will really be up against it in the next couple of years. The retirements of key players and the lures of the County Championship and ICL have left them with a diminshed squad, already with such a small player pool it is inevitable they will struggle. New captain Daniel Vettori will have to reinstall the resilience and work ethic that we've come to expect from the Kiwis. TSR fans: Thirucumaran PakistanCaptain: Shoaib Malik Coach Geoff Lawson World Ranking: 6th (Test), 5th (ODI) World Cup best: Winners - 1992, Finalists - 1999 Recent form: Pakistan are going through a very chaotic period at the moment, with power struggles between the PCB and captain Shoaib Malik. Often called a talented side without application, they are constantly in the rebuilding process due to a lack of team ethic. A strong middle order has developed, but the opening pair and injuries to key bowlers like Shoaib Akthar and Mohammed Asif still remain a concern. Geoff Lawson's time is running out and patience seems to be wearing thin amongst Pakistani fans. The appointment of Misbah-ul-Haq should hopefully be a positive step in the rebuilding of the team. TSR fans: Socrates, Thirucumaran South AfricaCaptain: Graeme Smith Coach Mickey Arthur World Ranking: 4th (Test), 2nd (ODI) World Cup best: Semi Finals - 1992, 1999, 2007 Recent form: South Africa are a very good bet to challenge Australia over the next few years. They have put together a well balanced side and show few signs that they will weaken without Shaun Pollock. They've added some flair to their side and have even unearthed a half decent spinner. The only question about South Africa is a mental one and they will want to get rid of their chokers tag. TSR fans: Thirucumaran Sri LankaCaptain: Mahele Jayawardene Coach Trevor Bayliss World Ranking: 3rd (Test), 6th (ODI) World Cup best: Winners - 1996 Recent form: Sri Lanka have improved drastically under Tom Moody and Mahela Jayawardene. They play with a lot of flair and determination and will now give anyone a good game. Rugged veteran, Sanath Jayasuria, silky middle order batsman and captain, Mahela Jayawardene, flamboyant wicketkeeper-batsman, Kumar Sangakarra and legendary offspinner Muralitharan form the extremely talented and experienced core of this side, which is peppered with prodigious talent in the form of Chamara Silva, upcoming seamer Ishara Amerasinghe, and fast slinger Lasith Malinga. The balance of the bowling attack, dedicated fielding and robust top order make Sri Lanka a formidable ODI outfit, and a challenging Test side. Twenty20 World Cup underachievers, they are still perfecting their approach to this format, though with their honest and humble leader, it surely won't take too long. The installation of World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga as the president of the SLC should hopefully bring about a constant stream of good talent to the national team TSR fans: wackysparkle, Thirucumaran West IndiesCaptain: Ramnaresh Sarwan Coach John Dyson World Ranking: 8th (Test and ODI) World Cup best: Winners - 1975, 1979 Recent form: The West Indies have really struggled since their glory days of the 70s and 80s. The last 10 years have been a dreadful time, though there are signs of encouragement under new coach John Dyson. There is definitely talent in the side with the likes of Chanderpaul, Gayle and Bravo. The retirement of modern batting legend, Brian Lara, left behind a gaping void in the middle order, which has been mitigated to an extent by the supreme consistency of Chanderpaul, but the team will surely look to Samuels and Bravo to raise their game for the future. The batting also suffers from a chronic disease of collapsing dramatically after good starts. The fast bowling resources, are quick and passionate, if a tad unpredictable, and are threatening to match the glory boys Marshall, Garner, Holding and Roberts. TSR fans: Domestic CricketFrom established competitions like the County Championship and the Pura cup, to new inventions like the Stanford 2020 and the ICL. Australia State CricketEnglish County CricketEnglish domestic cricket is based on the idea of traditional English counties competing against each other. The only non English side to compete is Glamorgan who represent South Wales. There are four different competitions in which counties compete against each other. The County Championship which is the first class competition. The Pro40 league which is a 40 over a side league. The Friends Provident Trophy which is a 50 over aside knock out tournament and the Twenty20 cup which is a 20over a side knock out tournament. County cricket has changed a lot in recent years as it has tried to attract new fans, improve the quality of cricket played and to further assist the England team. These include the introduction of two leagues with promotion and relegation, the twenty20 cup and the introduction of central contracts. New obstacles have arisen in recent years. The Kolpak ruling means that there are more and more foreign players representing counties, while there are worries that with the added importance of money in the modern game, that the bigger, test match hosting counties will dominate county cricket and the smaller counties such as Leicestershire and Derbyshire will be squeezed out. Indian Domestic CricketWhile the pitches are tilted in the favour of batsmen in 90% of matches, the domestic arena has produced a pack of aspiring fast bowlers such as Sreesanth, RP Singh, Munaf Patel and more recently Ishant Sharma. Tall and speedy, they represent a new generation of bowlers consistently on the right side of 140kph, and each has had their moment of glory in Test or ODI cricket. Recurring injuries, however, have raised questions about their long term reliability. Batsmen have been India's forte, and while the coaches are still searching for the next Tendulkar or Dravid, there have been a crop of fearless batsmen ready to take the attack to the opposition, and the Twenty20 WC presented the perfect stage for them. Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina have all been in and out of the ODI side, knocking on the doors of Ganguly and Dravid, while Yuvraj and Dhoni present possible Test fixtures in the years following the retirement of middle order titans Laxman, Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly. Unrefined technique and lack of application in testing situations remains an area for improvement, but there is no doubt the Indian domestic circuit will continue to churn out batting talent for years to come - how they are handled is another issue altogether! IPLICLThis rebel 20/20 league was the first to get off the ground in India, with the ICC approved IPL yet to begin. The matches were initially low scoring, as the sides adjusted to a slowish pitch and subcontinental conditions which favoured slower bowlers, but once into their stride, most sides produced thrilling entertainment, with the international stars coming to the fore in most cases. Lara remained the sad exception, but the likes of Cairns, McMillan and Harvey showed why they were a class apart. Some young Indians shone through, but with the BCCI shunning ICL signees, their international prospects remain slim. The winners, Chennai Superstars (sporting horrific pink kit) took home $1m dollars, while international players pocketed extremely lucrative contracts for a fortnight's work. Stanford Twenty20Backdoor cricketDiscuss your own antics. How you're doing for your club and any tips you think may help others. Find your local teamPlay Cricket is a iniative by the ECB to get more people involved in cricket. Find your local club and join up today. For women who are interested in joining a side, visit the ECB women's section and contact a Regional cricket manager for more information TSR Member's Hall of FameBest Bowling: Best Batting: Most dismissals in match: Those who achived promotion with their sides in 2008: EquipmentDesktop Cricket
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