Pietersen retires from limited overs cricket

Updated May 31, 2012 21:35:10

England star Kevin Pietersen has retired from all forms of international limited overs cricket, a decision which took the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) by surprise.

Pietersen, who will continue to be available for Test selection, said in a statement he wished to step aside in order to give the next generation of players a chance to bed in before the 2015 World Cup.

"After a great deal of thought and deliberation, I am today announcing my retirement from international one-day cricket," said Pietersen, who turns 32 next month.

"With the intensity of the international schedule and the increasing demands on my body, approaching 32, I think it is the right time to step aside and let the next generation of players come through to gain experience for the ICC World Cup in 2015," added Pietersen, who has scored 4,184 runs at an average of 42 in one-day internationals and averages 38 in international Twenty20 cricket.

Pietersen's decision comes less than four months before England are due to launch the defence of their World Twenty20 crown in September.

The South Africa-born batsman was man of the tournament when England won the title in the West Indies in 2010 and had indicated a willingness to remain part of the Twenty20 squad in Sri Lanka this year.

But ECB rules dictate that centrally-contracted players must make themselves available for all forms of limited-overs cricket.

"I am immensely proud of my achievements in the one-day game, and still wish to be considered for selection for England in Test cricket," Pietersen said.

"For the record, were the selection criteria not in place, I would have readily played for England in the upcoming ICC World Twenty20."

Pietersen's decision was greeted with dismay by ECB managing director Hugh Morris.

"The ECB is disappointed by the timing of Kevin's decision less than four months before we defend our ICC World Twenty20 title," he said.

"Kevin is a world-class player and I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his efforts and we look forward to his continued contributions to the Test match side."

AFP

Tags: cricket, sport, united-kingdom, england

First posted May 31, 2012 21:30:34

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Cricket in the Times of Indian Premier League (IPL)

England coasts to series victory

Updated May 29, 2012 07:08:06

England raced to a series win over West Indies with a nine-wicket victory on the fourth day of the second Test at Trent Bridge after being set a modest target of 108.

Captain Andrew Strauss (45) and Alastair Cook (43 not out) took England near the finishing line soon after tea and Jonathan Trott (17 not out) helped complete the task at 1 for 111.

England is 2-0 up in the three-Test series after a five-wicket win at Lord's in the first match.

"We are delighted to win but again it was quite hard work at times," Strauss told Sky Sports.

"We got ourselves in positions where we felt we could really take the game by the scruff of the neck but all credit to the West Indies they came back at us.

"It's been a hot, hard four days and there were some reallygood performances from the lads for a well-earned victory."

Marlon Samuels had held up the home side with a defiant 76 not out, helping lift West Indies from a desperate 6 for 61 overnight in their second innings to 165 all out.

It was another fine knock by Samuels, who also topscored in the first innings with 117, but, captain Darren Sammy apart, he laboured virtually alone.

With the last man at the crease, Samuels thrashed the spin of Graeme Swann for two sixes and a four in what proved to be the penultimate over of the innings.

All-rounder Tim Bresnan had earlier dismissed Sammy for 25 to secure his fourth lbw victim of the innings and end a stout partnership of 49 with Samuels.

Sammy and Samuels had started the day with the tourists leading by three runs overall and badly needing a repeat of the their first innings heroics when Sammy also hit a century.

The pair responded boldly but Bresnan finally trapped Sammy, winding up with 4 for 37 to go with the four wickets he took in the first innings.

Bresnan, whose patient 39 not out boosted England to 428 all out on Sunday, is proving a talisman for the team, having now won all 13 Tests he has played, and was named man of the match.

Strauss, who fell in the second innings to the off-spin of that man Samuels, is in fine fettle too with centuries in both Tests ending an 18-month barren spell.

The third Test starts at Edgbaston, Birmingham on June 7 and West Indies face a tough task to salvage something.

"We really have to consider how we go about playing our cricket. We have been playing for a while now and we're not learning so something has to be done," Sammy said.

"We just have to be more focused, continue working hard andput a higher price on our wickets."

Strauss and his men will likely face a tougher task this summer in a three-match series against South Africa starting on July 19 at The Oval.

Reuters

Tags: cricket, sport, england, united-kingdom, jamaica

First posted May 29, 2012 07:08:06

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Televised Live Cricket Coverage - Is Pay Per View the Way to Go?

England on verge of series victory

Updated May 28, 2012 16:09:44

England was on the verge of clinching the three-match series against West Indies after the tourists' top order failed again on the third day of the second Test at Trent Bridge.

Trailing by 58 on first innings, West Indies limped to 6 for 61, a lead of just three runs with two days left.

England captain Andrew Strauss with 141 and a useful partnership of 53 by all-rounders Tim Bresnan (39 not out) and Stuart Broad (25) had lifted England past the West Indies first-innings total of 370.

Although the final score of 428 was much less than seemed likely at the close on day one with Strauss and Kevin Pietersen at the crease, it proved too stiff a challenge for the touring side missing the experienced Chris Gayle at the top of the order.

James Anderson struck early to dismiss openers Adrian Barath (7) and Kieran Powell (1) before Broad captured the prized wicket of Shivnarine Chanderpaul for 11, top-edging a pull and caught on the boundary by Jonathan Trott.

Bresnan trapped Darren Bravo (22), Denesh Ramdin (6) and Kirk Edwards second ball for nought, all out lbw, to leave the tourists in disarray.

Marlon Samuels and Darren Sammy, who both scored centuries in the first innings, were the not out batsmen at the close.

Bresnan ended with figures of 3 for 10 in six overs, cementing his talisman status for England as he has won all 12 Test matches he has played.

He told BBC Radio: "To get them six down on that wicket in that short little session was fantastic."

Critical period

Bresnan's valuable unbeaten contribution with the bat lasted 153 minutes in a critical period of the game.

"It was kind of a battling knock," he said.

"It just shows what the pitch was like really. It was quite slow, quite difficult to score off, especially when they bowled in the right areas."

Bresnan and Broad came together at 7 for 363 and comfortably steered England past West Indies' total of 370 only for Broad to top-edge a catch off the bowling of Shane Shillingford.

Graeme Swann (1) and Anderson (0) swiftly followed to wrap up the innings.

Strauss's steadfast knock, lasting 303 balls and seven hours and 12 minutes, contained 22 fours before he finally offered a catch behind off the bowling of captain Sammy.

West Indies had taken four important wickets before lunch to the disappointment of home supporters expecting a run feast.

Pietersen (80) and Ian Bell (22) fell to reviewed lbw decisions and Jonny Bairstow (4) was given a torrid timein only his second Test by pace duo Kemar Roach and Ravi Rampaul before top edging an easy catch to mid-on.

Just when it looked as if England was steadying the ship Sammy bowled Matt Prior for 16.

Rampaul, who captured the vital wicket of Pietersen, was the pick of the West Indies bowling with 3 for 75 off 25 overs.

Samuels, top scorer in the West Indies first innings with 117, mopped up the tail with 2 for 14.

Reuters

Tags: cricket, sport, england, united-kingdom, jamaica

First posted May 28, 2012 06:52:20

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Strauss' return to form continues

Updated May 27, 2012 07:25:06

England captain Andrew Strauss was determined to post an even bigger score after his unbeaten century saw the hosts reduce West Indies' first innings lead in the second Test at Trent Bridge.

Strauss was 102 not out at the close of Saturday's second day, with England 2 for 259 in reply to West Indies' first innings 370 - a deficit of 111 runs.

This was the 35-year-old left-handed opener's second hundred in as many matches after he ended an 18-month wait spanning 25 innings for a Test century with 122 in the five-wicket series opening win at Lord's.

On a beautiful batting pitch, and against a modest Windies attack, Strauss and Kevin Pietersen, 72 not out at stumps, added an unbroken 136 for the third wicket as England looked to go an unbeatable 2-0 up in this three-match series.

Strauss, asked to explain his recent form, said: "I suppose to a degree it's confidence but it's a strange game -- sometimes batting feels difficult, with a few runs under your belt it's easier.

"I'm delighted to be in form and determined to make the most of it. You can never look too far ahead. I'll focus on getting myself back in the morning - that's a big enough challenge for me."

A curious fact of Strauss's Test career is that he's never added more than six runs when not out overnight on a hundred - at Lord's it was just one run.

And with England still some way off a first innings lead, Strauss joked he might have to change his routine if he was to keep on batting on Sunday.

"It's nice to feel back in form and as a captain it's great to contribute and lead from the front," said Strauss, playing his 96th Test. "I've never got blindly drunk the night before so maybe that's an option.

"There's no reason why you can't (kick on the next day), that will be an opportunity for me tomorrow (Sunday)," explained Strauss, whose Test-best score remains the 177 he made against New Zealand in Napier in 2008.

Strauss's 21st Test century left him just one short of the England record of 22 held jointly by Walter Hammond, Colin Cowdrey and Geoffrey Boycott.

However, Strauss played down his achievement by saying: "It's a different game to those days, we play more cricket.

"You only have to look at Sachin Tendulkar to realise 21 is not that many (the India great has 51 Test hundreds). But it's still nice to get them."

Saturday proved a memorable day too for West Indies captain Darren Sammy as he completed a maiden Test century after being 88 not out overnight.

The all-rounder's place in the side has been repeatedly called into question, most recently by West Indies great Michael Holding, and a delighted Sammy said: "I'm playing against the number one team in the world and everybody wants to perform against the best.

"To do that (score a hundred) in this Test match with the bat, it feels good for somebody like me who has been under pressure from day one."

Sammy, whose 15 wicketless overs of medium-pace on Saturday cost 69 runs, helped rescue West Indies from the depths of 6 for 136.

Together with Marlon Samuels, who made 117, he shared a seventh-wicket stand of 204.

But neither Samuels, who only added 10 runs to his overnight score, nor Sammy lingered long after getting to a hundred.

"We're quite disappointed me and Marlon couldn't continue because we knew how flat the wicket was, as we saw when we bowled," said Sammy.

"We both should have carried on to get a bigger total for the team."

AFP

Tags: sport, cricket, england

First posted May 27, 2012 07:23:54

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Paine on target for Australia A tour

Updated May 28, 2012 15:42:58

Recuperating wicketkeeper Tim Paine admitted he was a little nervous when returning to batting practice this week after a long absence with a finger injury.

Paine has been troubled by a finger injury for the past 18 months and missed the entire summer of cricket.

He has been training at Australia's Cricket of Excellence in Brisbane in preparation for taking his spot in the Australia A tour of England in July.

Paine said his wicketkeeping is back to 100 per cent but he only just had his first session with the bat.

"I was a bit nervous to be honest as it's been a long time," Paine said.

"I've got new gloves and a lot of padding so I have to get used to holding the bat differently."

Paine said it was the first time he has had a long-term injury and he was unsure how to handle the long lay-off.

"I wasn't used to just sitting around but after five or six operations I got pretty good at it," he said.

"Last summer I didn't do a hell of a lot of cricket. I had a bit to do with the Big Bash, with the Hurricanes, but I stayed away from any training and plenty of time off away from cricket and away from Bellerive Oval.

"It's got me in a good frame of mind now. I'm nice and fresh and excited to be back."

Paine plans to work hard over the next four weeks and expects to be ready to play once he arrives in England.

"I'm going to have a really good build-up, so by the time I get to England I'll expect to be playing as well as I was two years ago," he said.

"My goals are to score a lot of runs, keep well and put my name back up there to play for Australia in any form of the game.

"There is some good hard cricket coming up for the Australian team and I'd love to be part of it over the next 18 months.

"For me the A series is the start of that, to try and get my name back up there."

AAP

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First posted May 28, 2012 15:42:58

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