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England captain Andrew Strauss has said his team will take the field this summer and go "blow for blow" against Australia. Strauss, whose first Ashes series was in 2005 when England regained the urn, chose not too delve too far back into that epic summer when chalking up the home side's chances.

"It's unhelpful to look back too much to 2005," said Strauss at Edgbaston. "This is going to be a very different series and it would be wrong to expect things to go in a similar manner. What I take from 2005 is how close those games were and how hard it was to finish them off. There were times we were right on top and maybe we didn't have enough belief to do that. One of the things we have been trying to work on is to be very clinical so that when we get on top of teams we finish them off once and for all. That's going to be important in the coming days."

Strauss said to seriously compete with Australia, England would have to be prepared to scrap. "Anybody who goes in there and just thinks 'Oh no, we'll just stick to our own game' is going to come unstuck. Our players are absolutely certain that they will go out there and go blow for blow."

He was, however, wary of overdoing that competitiveness. "There's a fine line between aggression and being over the top so we have to check that line carefully," said Strauss. "I think we know the type of cricket we need to play to beat the Aussies, we just need to go out and play it."

Strauss was eager to point out that England will not be overly dependent on Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen. "You don't win Ashes series unless all 11 play a big part", he said. "If Fred bowls with aggression no player in the world is going to enjoy that. I still think there are some scars in their side. Maybe some of their batsman haven't faced him very much before but they will have watched that series four years ago and know that when he's good he's very, very good."

Pietersen's failures in the warm-up against Warwickshire at Edgbaston didn't deter Strauss. "KP hasn't changed his style of batting in four years. I don't expect him to this time. KP is a man for the big occasion," he said. "I wasn't overly surprised he didn't get many runs in the Warwickshire game, but come that first Test match you know that's he's going to be switched on and keen to make his mark on the series right from ball one. He backs himself against any bowler, he backed himself against [Shane] Warne and [Glenn] McGrath and he will do that against these bowlers. His number-one asset is his confidence".

Strauss was pleased with England's build-up to the Ashes, even though their main competition in recent Tests has been West Indies. "I like where we're at. I thought there were some really encouraging signs against the West Indies, there was good, controlled aggression and we were clinical," he said. "We're not going to know for certain until we go out there against the Australians, but the signs are good, and I like the characters we have got in the side. I don't see any that are going to be open to exploitation and that's vital."

While there has been plenty of understandable anticipation leading up to Glamorgan's big day, Strauss said his players "will be walking into the unknown" when they take the field in Cardiff. "We are not entirely sure what to expect. Both teams will go there not knowing what to expect, and we can only judge when the Test match is over," he said. "In world cricket home advantage counts for a huge amount."

Australia have no Ashes fears for Phillip Hughes after the young Australian opener was twice dismissed by short-pitched bowling during the final hit-out before the first Test. Hughes fell in uncomfortable fashion for 7 and 8 when undone by Steve Harmison's steepling bounce, ensuring the tactic will be employed by England in Cardiff from Wednesday.

Ricky Ponting and Tim Nielsen, the coach, both supported the 20-year-old Hughes to overcome his sudden problems with the short ball. "Without wanting to make too much of that, that's how South Africa bowled to him all series when he had great success," Nielsen said. "A couple didn't bounce as much as he thought or were a bit fuller, it's one of Harmison's great strengths that he comes from such a height and can get lift.

"It's great experience for Hughesy because he hasn't faced that quality fast bowling in the last month or so. It's given him a chance to be aware of how they are going to attack him." After struggling in the opening innings of his Test debut in Johannesburg, Hughes responded with a half-century and two hundreds in the three-match series for a collection of 415 runs at 69.16.

Ponting was not concerned by Mitchell Johnson, who improved with each spell against the England Lions, or Hughes. "Both of those guys will come out of this game with a good idea and understanding of what to expect for the rest of the tour, particularly on those sorts of wickets," he said.

"Hughesy got out a similar way in both innings so he has work to do, but he will work on that. Mitchell, after missing last week, needed this hit-out but he should be topped up and ready to go for Wednesday."

Brett Lee was the outstanding bowler for Australia with seven wickets, including one on the final day, and he was the only visitor to be able to reverse the ball consistently. "He really stood up in that first innings when the ball swung like it did," Ponting said. "Nobody in the world is as good at exploiting those conditions."

Nielsen would not reveal the team's thoughts on the make-up of the attack, preferring to wait until they see the pitch in Cardiff. However, he was pleased with the performance of Lee and the pressure applied by the rest of the bowlers.

"[Lee's] was a very impressive spell of 90mph with the ball reversing in," Nielsen said. "It's his big strength that when the ball starts to reverse, because of his pace and the fact he stands the seam up so straight, he can do it and he's done it well in the past."

Both teams believed the conditions at Sophia Gardens would be similar to here, with low bounce and a hard square roughing up the ball. Ian Bell, the England Lions captain, said the Test squad would now know what to expect from the Australians after Lee's display.

"England are going to have to deal with reverse-swing, especially the middle-order players, and they can prepare for that," he said. The local selectors met in Worcester on Saturday and will name their squad at 10am (BST) on Sunday.

crazycricinfo staff

Pakistan will begin its title defence in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 against Bangladesh at St. Lucia on May 1. The tournament will be staged at four venues - Barbados, Guyana, St Kitts and St Lucia - and the final will be played at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on May 16.

The 2007 World Cup, the premier 50-over tournament, was held in the West Indies and the World Twenty20 will present an opportunity to the island nations to set right some of the criticism directed at the 2007 tournament.

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, was confident that the tournament would be a success among the spectators. "One measure of success will be to fill the venues and to try to achieve this we have worked hard with the West Indies Cricket Board to ensure the ticket prices are extremely competitive," he said.

"In Barbados, Guyana, St Kitts and St Lucia we have four outstanding venues, something that was shown in 2007 when they hosted matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup, and we know that West Indian spectators enjoy the format as they have already embraced Twenty20 at domestic level."

The tournament will also see women's matches played alongside the men, a concept that was used in the recently concluded World Twenty20 in England. "I'm delighted we have retained the men's and women's tournaments in one event with the respective semi-finals and finals being played on the same days at the same venues," said Lorgat. "This will again provide women's cricket with a great platform to showcase the talents of the top players."

In an effort to spread out major tournaments so two important events are not held close to each other, the ICC has decided to host the Twenty20 World Cup in 2010, between the Champions Trophy in October 2009 and the World Cup to be held in 2011.

Toss: Pakistan (Elected to Field) Session: Day 1
Summary: Pakistan trail by 277 runs (Stumps) Target: Req. R/R:
Pakistan : 15 / 2 in 7.0 overs (RR: 2.14) Sri Lanka : 292 in 80.2 overs (RR: 3.63)
Batsmen R B 4s 6s SR Bowlers O M R W Nb Wd Eco.
Abdur Rauf * 0 9 0 0 0.00 Thilan Thushara * 3.0 2 2 1 0 0 0.67
Younis Khan (c) 7 20 0 0 35.00 Nuwan Kulasekara 4.0 0 7 1 0 0 1.75
Partnership: 10 runs, 3.1 overs, R/R: 3.16 Last 18 Balls: 3 . 1B . | . . . . . . | . . . . 2 4B |
Full Scorecard
Pakistan Ist innings
Show Current Innings on Top (new)
Pakistan Ist innings
Runs Balls Fours Sixes SR FoW
Khurram Manzoor lbw b Thushara 2 12 0 0 16.67 2-5 ( 3.5 ov. )
Salman Butt b Kulasekara 0 1 0 0 0.00 1-1 ( 0.2 ov. )
Younis Khan (c) not out 7 20 0 0 35.00
Abdur Rauf not out 0 9 0 0 0.00

A Cricket South Africa (CSA) online survey has revealed that 96 per cent of fans agreed that 2008 was the most successful year for South African cricket.

This came just days after CSA feted the Proteas in a glittering tribute at the 2009 SA Cricket Awards ceremony in Johannesburg.

CSA CEO Gerald Majola said the online fan survey demonstrated the kind of support cricket enjoyed among the people in South Africa.

"This support is graphically illustrated in the most positive response to the online fan survey conducted on CSA's website," he said.

"We will study the results to ensure that we keep in touch with the fans. Their support was a critical factor in taking the Proteas to the world's top ODI spot and second in the Test rankings, and achieving the best results in South African cricket history over the 2008-09 season," said Majola.

"From May last year to April 2009, the Proteas achieved unparalleled success in the history of South African cricket, either before or after cricket unity in 1990, winning away Test series in both England and Australia and both the home and away ODI series against Australia," added Majola.

The online survey which ran concurrently with face-to-face research was launched by CSA in association with IFM Sports Marketing Surveys to better understand the modern cricket fan following the Proteas unprecedented successes over Australia.

It ran for just over three weeks on the CSA website (www.cricket.co.za), drawing nearly 550 responses.

The survey also revealed that 85.1 per cent of the participants were now more positive about supporting the Proteas due to their performance over the past 12 months, while 68 percent added that they considered themselves as fanatical cricket supporters.

"Participants said words that came to mind when describing the Proteas were professional, likeable and traditional," Majola said.

"The final report on the fan survey, which will include analysis of the face-to-face fan research, will be released in the next few weeks," he added.

Veteran Sri Lankan seamer Chaminda Vaas has decided to retire from Test cricket, the country's chief selector Asantha de Mel told AFP on Saturday.

The 35-year-old left-armer, who has served Sri Lanka at the top level for 15 years, will, however, still be available for one-day and Twenty20 cricket, the official said.

"Chaminda has told me he does not want to play Test cricket anymore, but he will continue in the shorter formats," de Mel, a former Sri Lankan fast bowler, said.

Vaas, a 110-Test veteran, was overlooked for the Test series against Pakistan which began at the Galle International Stadium on Saturday.

The selectors did not pick him even after spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan was ruled out of the first Test due to a knee injury, leaving the Sri Lankan attack short of experience.

Vaas, who made his Test debut against Pakistan at Kandy in 1994, claimed 354 wickets at an average of 29.40 with 12 five-wicket hauls and twice took 10 wickets in a match.

He also has 400 wickets from 322 one-day internationals, including a hat-trick off the first three balls of the match against Bangladesh during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.

De Mel, asked if Vaas will be picked in the one-day team after being ignored for the World Twenty20 in England last month, said no player could be guaranteed a place in the side.

Staff Report

LAHORE: Opener Imran Nazir has been pardoned by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt after sending a written apology for showing dissent over an umpiring decision in a Twenty20 domestic game. Nazir will now be available for selection for the one-day and Twenty20 leg of the Sri Lanka tour. Nazir showed dissent after being adjudged LBW by umpire Nadeem Ghauri in the final of a Twenty20 competition. As a result, he was not considered for the Sri Lanka tour and was fined and suspended for three domestic games. A few days ago, interim chief selector Wasim Bari had said that Nazir was ‘now in contention for selection for the ODIs and Twenty20s.’ Nazir recently returned to the official fold after ending his stint with the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), where he represented the Lahore Badshahs

KARACHI: A Pakistani former head of cricket’s international governing body on Friday accused India of exploiting its financial clout by trying to form a cartel of top nations. Former International Cricket Council (ICC) president Ehsan Mani warned against attempts to create a divide in international cricket by allowing a top tier with Australia, England, India and South Africa. “It may not be deliberate but Australia, England and South Africa want to benefit financially by playing India more and more, which would squeeze out countries like Pakistan from international cricket,” Mani told AFP.

The ICC was last week due to finalise a Future Tour Programme (FTP), a six-year scheduling of countries playing home and away cricket, but deferred after Pakistan complained of being given less cricket. The first FTP, which runs out in 2012, was signed by all 10 Test playing countries in 2006. A senior official from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said Thursday the PCB had raised serious concerns over attempts to marginalise Pakistan. “We have raised our concerns that there were attempts to marginalise us in the FTP and the ICC has assured us that our concerns will be addressed,” chief operating officer Salim Altaf told AFP.

Mani said it was up to the ICC, not the four countries, to finalise the FTP. “I think ICC is not doing much and is not reactive to pressures. It really bothers me,” said Mani, who was ICC president from 2003 to 2006 and who spoke to AFP in English. Mani said India had not scheduled any series with Pakistan in the second FTP. “PCB has a strong stance on why India is not giving Pakistan any series in the FTP post-2012 and India is giving a blatant message that they just want to play top countries who for self-interests (are) fulfilling what India asks. Pakistan should refuse to sign the FTP because it is a programme aimed at giving all countries home and away cricket with all other countries at least once in six years.”

Mani again accused India, an arch-rival of his home country Pakistan, of being behind an ICC decision that stripped Pakistan of its share of World Cup 2011 matches over security fears. “The whole issue of Pakistan stripped of World Cup matches was due to India,” said Mani. The matches will now be held in co-hosts India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The ICC said last month Pakistan’s matches would be shared by the other co-hosts – prompting the PCB to initiate a court appeal. “I am afraid Pakistan will have to improve its relationship with other countries as well and needs to do a lot of lobbying,” said Mani. “Pakistan had fulfilled what Australia had demanded on security and played their home series on neutral grounds,” said Mani of two series played on neutral grounds in 2002 and 2009 over Australian fears about security. “Now Pakistan (touring Australia next year) should also ask Australia to provide top-level security because a lot of students have been killed in Melbourne recently.”