Team History:Royal Challengers Bangalore

 

STRENGTHS
Top-heavy and plenty of experience: Chris Gayle, Tilakaratne Dilshan, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers form a formidable top order, perhaps one which most other teams would fail to match. Gayle's reputation and recent T20 form would cause jitters for any bowler while Kohli's form in the last couple of years would suggest that he has the talent to destroy any opposition. Going with this is the experience of Muttiah Muralitharan, Daniel Vettori and Zaheer Khan - the most precious weapon in the Challengers' armoury.

T20 Super 8 Champions

 

T20 Super 8 Champions - Sialkot Stallions ♥. Stallions are Six times National Twenty 20 Champions as well, easily the world's most strongest T20 Team.

Last-over run-out ties Australia v Windies match

Any lingering thoughts of a Caribbean holiday were swept decisively away from Australia by a thrilling and courageous West Indies chase to force a dramatic tie at a heaving Arnos Vale Ground. Tuesday had been declared a public holiday in St Vincent and a sold-out crowd was kept on its feet throughout as the two sides finished locked on 220 apiece on a pitch almost as lively for spin bowling as for dancing at the boundary's edge.

Bangladesh reach historic final - and send India home

Bangladesh made it to the final of the Asia Cup, defying pre-tournament expectations with consecutive victories against their more fancied neighbours. It was only the second time they had reached the finals of a one-day tournament. The bowlers restricted Sri Lanka to 232, but rain siphoned off ten overs and reduced the target to 212.

The Making of New Zealand Cricket: 1832-1914

 

Heroes Of Pakistan Cricket

Book name "Heroes of Pakistan Cricket Team. Complete bio-data of 36 stars Pakistanis  cricketers . A gift for those, whose love cricket on the occasion of ICC World Cup 2011.

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U.S.A Cricket.

The history of United States cricket begins in the 18th century. Among early Americans, cricket was as popular a bat and ball game as baseball. Though Americans generally never played cricket in great numbers, it did enjoy an initial period of sustained growth.Around the time of the United States Civil War, the game began competing with baseball for participants, and cricket slowly declined in popularity. This was followed again by a brief golden age with the Philadelphian cricket team. This lasted until roughly the start of World War I, at which time cricket again became less popular. In the latter part of the 20th century immigrants from cricket playing nations in south Asia and the West Indies helped spark a resurgence in the game's popularity. This led to participation and success in several International Cricket Council events. In 2007, the United States of America Cricket Association was suspended by the ICC because of problems with its administration, but was again recognized beginning in 2008.Cricket was being played in British North America by at least the beginning of the eighteenth century.[The earliest definite reference to American cricket is in the 1709 diaries of William Byrd of Westover on his James River estates in Virginia.By the time of the American Revolution, the game was so popular that the troops at Valley Forge participated in matches among themselves. There is at least one instance recorded of George Washington himself joining in a game of "wicket.John Adams was recorded as saying in Congress that if leaders of simple cricket clubs could be called "presidents," there was no reason why the leader of the new nation could not be called something more grand.Cricket continued to develop slowly as a recreational sport until the time of American independence in 1783.The history of United States cricket begins in the 18th century. Among early Americans, cricket was as popular a bat and ball game as baseball. Though Americans generally never played cricket in great numbers, it did enjoy an initial period of sustained growth.Around the time of the United States Civil War, the game began competing with baseball for participants, and cricket slowly declined in popularity. This was followed again by a brief golden age with the Philadelphian cricket team. This lasted until roughly the start of World War I, at which time cricket again became less popular. In the latter part of the 20th century immigrants from cricket playing nations in south Asia and the West Indies helped spark a resurgence in the game's popularity. This led to participation and success in several International Cricket Council events. In 2007, the United States of America Cricket Association was suspended by the ICC because of problems with its administration, but was again recognized beginning in 2008.Cricket was being played in British North America by at least the beginning of the eighteenth century.[The earliest definite reference to American cricket is in the 1709 diaries of William Byrd of Westover on his James River estates in Virginia.By the time of the American Revolution, the game was so popular that the troops at Valley Forge participated in matches among themselves. There is at least one instance recorded of George Washington himself joining in a game of "wicket.John Adams was recorded as saying in Congress that if leaders of simple cricket clubs could be called "presidents," there was no reason why the leader of the new nation could not be called something more grand.Cricket continued to develop slowly as a recreational sport until the time of American independence in 1783.[Cricket enjoyed its greatest popularity along the east coast corridor between Philadelphia and New York. A contemporary report notes that upwards of 5,000 people played the game in those cities.n 1833, students at Haverford College established what is generally accepted as the first cricket club exclusively for Americans. This club was short-lived, but helped to keep interest in the sport alive in Philadelphia leading to the foundation of the Philadelphia Cricket Club in 1854 and the Germantown and Young America clubs in 1855.

By this time, Philadelphia had become the unofficial "Cricket Capital of America."

The United States holds the distinction of being a participant in the first international cricket match. This match was first played against Canada on 24 September 1844 by the St George's Cricket Club at the former Bloomingdale Park in Manhattan.The match was attended by some 10,000 spectators, and is today the world's oldest international sporting event.
Wagers of around $120,000 were placed on the outcome of the match. This is equivalent to around $1.5 million in 2007.As late as 1855, the New York press was still devoting more space to coverage of cricket than to baseball.Sides from England toured North America (taking in both the USA and Canada) following the English cricket seasons of 1859, 1868 and 1872. These were organised as purely commercial ventures. The 1859 team comprised six players from the All-England Eleven and six from the United All-England Eleven and was captained by George Parr. They played five matches, winning them all. There were no first-class fixtures. The match at New York attracted a crowd that was claimed to be 10,000, all that the ground would hold.

Tne 1868 tourists were led by Edgar Willsher and those of 1872-3 by R.A. Fitzgerald. The latter side included W.G.Grace.

Most of the matches of these early English touring teams were played "against odds", that is to say the home team was permitted to have more than eleven players (usually twenty-two) in order to make a more even contest.
In spite of all this American growth in the game, it was slowly losing ground to a newcomer. In many cities, local cricket clubs were contributing to their own demise by encouraging crossover to the developing game of baseball. After the United States Civil War the Cincinnati Red Stockings brought a talented young bowler from the St. George's Cricket Club in New York to serve as a player and manager of the team. Harry Wright applied the "scientific" batting and specialized placement of fielders that he had learned in cricket to his new sport. This development was instrumental in creating the Cincinnati team's undefeated 1869 season. It also helped to secure the place of baseball as one of the most popular sports in the country.[It may have been during the Civil War that baseball secured its place as America's game.[An army making a brief stop at a location could easily organise a game of baseball on almost any clear patch of ground, whilst cricket required a carefully prepared pitch. Baseball began to poach players and administrators from the world of cricket. Nick Young, who served for 25 years as the president of the National League, was originally a successful cricketer. It was not until the Civil War that he took up baseball because "it looked like cricket for which his soul thirsted."[16] It has been suggested that the fast-paced quick play of baseball was more appealing to Americans than the technical slower game of cricket.This natural tendency toward baseball was compounded by terrible American defeats at the hands of a traveling English side in 1859, which may have caused Americans to think that they would never be successful at this English game.By the end of the Civil War, most cricket fans had given up their hopes of broad-based support for the game. Baseball filled the role of the "people's game" and cricket became an amateur game for gentlemen.Following the Civil War, cricket grew into in amateur sport with much less broad appeal than it had had before. This manifestation can be seen in the foundation of the Staten Island Cricket and Baseball Club. The club was to be based on "the broadest and most liberal interpretation of the terms 'gentlemen' and amateur." They were not that interested in playing baseball, but in founding a more responsive club in the area than the St George's Cricket Club.[19] The members of the Seabright Lawn Tennis Club became so interested in cricket that they convinced club officials to sod their cricket ground with turf imported from Englanand had the name of the club changed to the Seabright Lawn Tennis and Cricket Club in 1885.Nowhere was this new trend in cricket more evident than in Philadelphia. In 1865 a group of young people in that city founded the Merion Cricket Club. They were very emphatic about the purity of the sport and thwarted early attempts by some to convert the club into baseball club.In the end, the club members passed a resolution that the remaining baseball equipment "be sold off as quickly as possible" to guarantee the purpose of the club.Following the lead of New York and Philadelphia, other cities saw new clubs form. These included St Louis, Boston, Detroit, and Baltimore.Even as the Philadelphians were faring poorly in England in 1908, a more disturbing trend was showing itself back home in Philadelphia. The sport's grassroots popularity was waning. Many Philadelphian professionals began to fill their leisure time with other activities such as golf and tennis. Starting around 1905, the number of matches held in the city dropped off. Some of the great clubs of the city even began to close down due to lack of members. Bart King's own Belmont Cricket Club sold its grounds and disbanded in 1914. The sport slowly declined in Philadelphia and the last first-class match in the city was played in 1913.[he game was still being played at Haverford College at least as late as 1925, when a team from the college visited England and played a number of English "public schools"Another blow to cricket in the United States was the formation of the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909. As the name implied, this was meant to be an organization for cricketing nations in the British Empire. Countries such as Australia and South Africa were able to continue playing internationally, while the United States was left out. Although commentator Robert Waller predicted that cricket "had taken so deep a root in Philadelphia that it could never be uprooted, the lack of support and international apathy caused an irreversible decline.The United States of American Cricket Association was admitted as an associate member of the International Cricket Conference in 1965. This was the same group that had been so integral in keeping the United States out of international cricket when formed in 1909. The United States was also able to participate in the ICC Trophy when the tournament started in 1979. They have been successful and have continued to improve.Unfortunately, the administration of the USACA has proved unable to administer the sport in the United States effectively. This has led to suspensions from tournaments and ineligibilities. In May 2007 the USA were to visit Darwin, Australia to take part in Division Three of the ICC World Cricket LeagueA top two finish in this tournament would have qualified them for Division Two of the same tournament later in the year. Unfortunately, the USACA was suspended from the ICC and the team was pulled from this competitionThe Compton Cricket Club or CCC is a cricket club based in, Compton, Los Angeles County, California, USA. The CCC is an all American-born disadvantaged exhibition cricket team. The team, which includes Latino and African American ex-gang members, was founded in 1995 by US homeless activist Ted Hayes and Hollywood movie Producer Katy Haber to combat the negative effect of poverty, urban decay and crime in Compton. The club uses the ideals of sportsmanship, and the particular importance of etiquette and fair play in cricket, to help players develop respect for authority, a sense of self-esteem and self-discipline. Having toured England once as a homeless team and 3 times as the Compton Cricket Club - the Homies will tour Australia Jan 31 - feb 12, 2011 & become the first American born cricket club to tour to Australia.In 2004 a professional cricket league called Pro Cricket was formed with eight geographically distributed teams organized in two divisions. Most teams used minor league baseball parks as home fields during that first and only year of league operation. However, with the absence of adequate revenue the league closed at the end of the 2004 season.Although the United States is only an associate member of the ICC and has never played a Test match, three Test cricketers have been born in the USA. Ken Weekes was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1912 and played in two of the Tests on the West Indies' tour of England in 1939. Weekes scored 137 at The Oval in the last Test match before the Second World War. Weekes eventually returned to the United States from Jamaica, and died in Brooklyn in 1998.Later, the Washington-born Jehan Mubarak became an international Test player. He has played 8 Tests and 20 One Day Internationals for Sri Lanka.Clayton Lambert, who played 5 Tests for the West Indies, reappeared for the USA in 2004 and played in the ICC trophy.

Pakistan Cricket(Green Shirts).

The Pakistan cricket team is the national men's cricket team of Pakistan. It is administrated by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Pakistan is a full member of the International Cricket Council, and thus participates in Test, ODI and Twenty20 International cricket matches.

Pakistan have played 358 Test matches, with winning 108, losing 100 and drawing 150. The team has the 3rd-best win/loss ratio in Test cricket of 1.08, and the 4th-best overall win percentage of 30.16%.[
Pakistan was given Test status on 28 July 1952, following a recommendation by India, and made its Test debut against India at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi, in October 1952, with India winning by an innings and 70 runs.

Previously, Pakistani cricketers had competed as a part of the Indian national team before the partition of India.

Pakistan have played 748 ODIs, winning 400, losing 326, tying 6 and with 24 ending in no-result.
Pakistan were the 1992 World Cup champions, and also came runners-up in the 1999 tournament. Pakistan, in conjunction with other countries on the Subcontinent, have hosted the 1987 & 1996, with the 1996 final being hosted at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The team has also played 46 Twenty20 Internationals, the most of any team, winning 27, losing 18 and tying 1.[

Pakistan won the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 and came runners-up in the inaugural tournament in 2007.


Following the Partition of India in 1947 and the establishment of the separate province of Pakistan, cricket in the country developed steadily and Pakistan was given Test match status at a meeting of the Imperial Cricket Conference at Lord's Cricket Ground in England on 28 July 1952 following recommendation by India,[6

which, being the successor state of the British Raj, did not have to go through such a process. The first captain of the Pakistan national cricket team was Abdul Kardar.

Pakistan’s first Test match was played in Delhi in October 1952 as part of a five Test series which India won 2–1. Pakistan made their first tour of England in 1954 and drew the series 1–1 after a memorable victory at The Oval in which fast bowler Fazal Mahmood took 12 wickets. Pakistan’s first home Test match was in Dacca in January 1955 against India, after which four more Test matches were played in Bahawalpur, Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi (all five matches in the series were drawn, the first such occurrence in test history[
The team is considered a strong but unpredictable team. Traditionally Pakistani cricket has been filled with players of great talent but limited discipline, making them a team which could play inspirational cricket one day and then perform less than ordinarily another day. Over the years, competitions between India and Pakistan have always been emotionally charged and provide for intriguing contests, as talented teams and players from both sides of the border elevate their game to new levels to produce high-quality cricket. Pakistani contest with India in the Cricket World Cup have seen packed stadiums and elevated atmospheres no matter where the World Cup has been held.The 1986 Australasia Cup, played in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, is remembered as a famous last-ball victory for Pakistan against arch-rivals India, with Javed Miandad emerging as a national hero.India batted first and set a target of 245 runs, leaving Pakistan with a required run rate of 4.92 runs per over. Javed Miandad came in to bat at number 3 and Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals. Later recalling the match, Miandad stated that his main focus was to lose with dignity. With 31 runs needed in the last three overs, Miandad hit a string of boundaries while batting with his team's lower order, until four runs were required from the last delivery of the match. Miandad received a leg side full toss from Chetan Sharma, which he hit for six over the midwicket boundary.At the 1992 World Cup Semi Final, having won the toss, New Zealand chose to bat first and ended with a total of 262 runs. Pakistan batted conservatively yet lost wickets at regular intervals. With the departure of Imran Khan and Saleem Malik shortly thereafter, Pakistan still required 115 runs at a rate of 7.67 runs per over with veteran Javed Miandad being the only known batsman remaining at the crease. A young Inzamam-ul-Haq, who had just turned 22 and was not a well-known player at the time, burst onto the international stage with a match-winning 60 off 37 balls. Once Inzamam got out, Pakistan required 36 runs from 30 balls, which wicketkeeper Moin Khan ended with a towering six over long off, followed by the winning boundary to midwicket. The match is seen as the emergence of Inzamam onto the international stage.The 1992 Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand marked Pakistan's first World Cup victory. It is remembered for the comeback Pakistan made after losing key players such as Waqar Younis and Saeed Anwar and being led by an injured captain in Imran Khan. Pakistan lost 4 of their first 5 matches and were nearly eliminated in the first round of the tournament after being bowled out for 74 runs against England, until the match was declared as a "no result" due to rain. Imran Khan famously told the team to play as "cornered tigers", after which Pakistan won five successive matches, including, most famously, the semi-final against hosts New Zealand and the final against England.

New Zealand Cricket(Black Caps).

The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first Test in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the West Indies at Eden Park in Auckland.

They played their first ODI in the 1972–73 season against Pakistan in Christchurch.

The current Test, One-day and Twenty20 captain is Ross Taylor. Taylor replaced Daniel Vettori after Vettori stepped down following the 2011 World Cup. Vettori had replaced New Zealand's most successful captain, Stephen Fleming, who led New Zealand to 28 Test victories, more than twice as many as any other captain. The national team is organised by New Zealand Cricket. The New Zealand cricket team became known as the Black Caps in January 1998, after its sponsor at the time, Clear Communications, held a competition to choose a name for the team.
As of July 2011, New Zealand have played 364 Test matches, winning 68, losing 147 and drawing 149.The reverend Henry Williams provided history with the first report of a game of cricket in New Zealand when he wrote in his diary in December 1832 about boys in and around Paihia on Horotutu Beach playing cricket. In 1835, Charles Darwin and the HMS Beagle called in to the Bay of Islands on its epic circumnavigation of the Earth and Darwin witnessed a game of cricket played by freed Maori slaves and the son of a missionary at Waimate North. Darwin in The Voyage of the Beagle wrote:

several young men redeemed by the missionaires from slavery were employed on the farm. In the evening I saw a party of them at cricket.

The first recorded game of cricket in New Zealand took place in Wellington in December 1842. The Wellington Spectator reports a game on 28 December 1842 played by a “Red” team and a “Blue” team from the Wellington Club. The first fully recorded match was reported by the Examiner in Nelson between the Surveyors and Nelson in March 1844.

The first team to tour New Zealand was Parr's all England XI in 1863–64. Between 1864 and 1914, 22 foreign teams toured NZ. England sent 6 teams, Australia 15 and Fiji 1.

On 15–17 February 1894 the first team representing New Zealand played New South Wales at Lancaster Park in Christchurch. NSW won by 160 runs. New South Wales returned again in 1895–96 and NZ won the solitary game by 142 runs, its first victory. The New Zealand Cricket Council was formed towards the end of 1894.

New Zealand played its first two internationals (not Tests) in 1904–05 against a star-studded Australia team containing such players as Victor Trumper, Warwick Armstrong and Clem Hill. Rain saved NZ from a thrashing in the first match but not the second which NZ lost by an innings and 358 runs – currently the second largest defeat in NZ first-class cricket.

In 1927 NZ toured England. They played 26 first class matches, mostly against county sides. They managed to beat Worcestershire, Glamorgan, Somerset, and Derbyshire. On the strength of the performances on this tour NZ was granted Test status.

In 1929/30 the M.C.C toured NZ and played 4 Tests all of 3 days in duration. NZ lost its first Test match but drew the next 3. In the second Test Stewie Dempster and Jackie Mills put on 276 for the first wicket. This is still the highest partnership for New Zealand against England.

NZ first played South Africa in 1931–32 but were unable to secure Test matches against any teams other than England before World War II ended all Test cricket for 7 years. NZ's first Test after the war was against Australia in 1945/46. This game was not considered a "Test" at the time but it was granted Test status retrospectively by the International Cricket Council in March 1948. The NZ players who appeared in this match probably did not appreciate this move by the ICC as NZ were dismissed for 42 and 54. The New Zealand Cricket Council's unwillingness to pay Australian players a decent allowance to tour NZ ensured that this was the only Test Australia played against NZ between 1929 and 1972.

In 1949 NZ sent one of its best ever sides to England. It contained Bert Sutcliffe, Martin Donnelly, John R. Reid and Jack Cowie. However, 3-day Test matches ensured that all 4 Tests were drawn.

NZ played its first matches against the West Indies in 1951–52, and Pakistan and India in 1955/56.

In 1954/55 NZ recorded the lowest ever innings total, 26 against England. The following season NZ achieved its first Test victory. The first 3 Tests of a 4 Test series were won easily by the West Indies but NZ won the fourth to notch up its first Test victory. It had taken them 45 matches and 26 years. In the next 20 years NZ won only 7 more Tests. For most of this period NZ lacked a class bowler to lead their attack although they had 2 excellent batsmen in Glenn Turner and Bert Sutcliffe and a great all-rounder in John R. Reid.

In 1973 Richard Hadlee debuted and the rate at which NZ won Tests picked up dramatically. Hadlee was one of the best pace bowlers of his generation and played 86 Tests for NZ before he retired in 1990. Of the 86 Tests that Hadlee played in New Zealand won 22 and lost 28. In 1977/78 NZ won its first Test against England, at the 48th attempt. Hadlee took 10 wickets in the match.

During the 1980s NZ also had the services of one of its best ever batsman, Martin Crowe and a number of good players such as John Wright, Bruce Edgar, John F. Reid, Andrew Jones, Geoff Howarth, Jeremy Coney, Ian Smith, John Bracewell, Lance Cairns, Stephen Boock, and Ewen Chatfield, who were capable of playing the occasional match winning performance and consistently making a valuable contribution to a Test match.

The match that epitomized the phenomenon of NZ’s two star players (R. Hadlee and M. Crowe) putting in match winning performances and other players making good contributions was NZ v Australia, 1985 at Brisbane. In Australia's first innings Hadlee took 9-52. In NZ's only turn at bat, M Crowe scored 188 and John F. Reid 108. Edgar, Wright, Coney, Jeff Crowe, V. Brown, and Hadlee scored between 17 and 54*. In Australia’s second innings, Hadlee took 6-71 and Chatfield 3-75. NZ won by an innings and 41 runs.

One-day cricket also gave NZ a chance to compete more regularly than Test cricket with the better sides in world cricket. In one-day cricket a batsman doesn’t need to score centuries to win games for his side and bowlers don’t need to bowl the opposition out. One-day games can be won by one batsman getting a 50, a few others getting 30s, bowlers bowling economically and everyone fielding well. These were requirements New Zealand players could consistently meet and thus developed a good one-day record against all sides.

Perhaps New Zealand's most famous one-day match was the infamous "Under arm" match against Australia at the MCG in 1981. Requiring six runs to tie the match off the final ball, Australian captain Greg Chappell instructed his brother Trevor to "bowl" the ball underarm along the wicket to prevent the New Zealand batsman from hitting a six. The Australian umpires ruled the move as legal even though to this day many believe it was one of the most unsporting decisions made in cricket.

When New Zealand next played in the tri-series in Australia in 1983, Lance Cairns became a cult hero for his one-day batting. In one match against Australia, he hit six sixes at the MCG, one of the world's largest grounds. Few fans remember that NZ lost this game by 149 runs. However, Lance's greatest contribution to NZ cricket was his son Chris Cairns.

Chris Cairns made his debut one year before Hadlee retired in 1990. Cairns, one of New Zealand’s best allrounders, led the 1990s bowling attack with Danny Morrison. Stephen Fleming, NZ’s most prolific scorer, led the batting and the team into the 21st century. Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan also scored plenty of runs for New Zealand, but both retired earlier than expected.

Daniel Vettori made his debut as an 18-year-old in 1997, and when he took over from Fleming as captain in 2007 he was regarded as the best spinning allrounder in world cricket. On 26 August 2009, Daniel Vettori became the eighth player and second left-arm bowler (after Chaminda Vaas) in history to take 300 wickets and score 3000 test runs, joining the illustrious club.

Shane Bond played 17 Tests for NZ between 2001 and 2007 but missed far more through injury. When fit, he added a dimension to the NZ bowling attack that had been missing since Hadlee retired.
The rise of the financial power of the BCCI had an immense effect on NZ cricket and its players. The BCCI managed to convince other boards not to pick players who had joined the rival Twenty-20 Indian Cricket League. NZ Cricket lost the services of Shane Bond, Lou Vincent, Andre Adams, Hamish Marshall and Daryl Tuffey. The money to be made from Twenty-20 cricket in India may have also induced players, such as Craig McMillan and Scott Styris (from Test cricket) to retire earlier than they would have otherwise. After the demise of the Indian Cricket League Bond and Tuffey again played for NZ.