Ganguly hopeful about India's chances at 2011 World Cup

Siliguri (West Bengal), Dec.24 (ANI): Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly said he is hopeful the recently announced Indian squad would win the forthcoming World Cup.

Interacting with mediapersons here on Thursday, Ganguly said that seeing the performance of Indian players at home ground, a victory in the World Cup could be expected.

"I am very hopeful. India is a very strong One Day International (ODI) team and they are playing it at home. If they can handle the pressure of the people at home, they'll be at the side who can win the World Cup," said Ganguly.

He further remarked that the team's performance in the first test against South Africa was disappointing but he was optimistic of the second test in Durban.

"Nobody wants to lose, am sure none of us, none of the players, or the team, or the supporters would be happy with the loss. But it can happen. You can win some game, you can lose some game, and am sure they will bounce back in the next tour... obviously toss will be important," said Ganguly.

Australia names Dovey as new team manager

Cricket Australia (CA) has appointed Rugby Football Union England Team Operations Manager Gavin Dovey, an expatriate Australian, to be new team manager of the Australian cricket team from April 2011.

Dovey will replace long-serving Australian team manager Steve ("Brute") Bernard, who will be retiring from the role after the ICC Cricket World Cup early next year.
Bernard and Dovey will conduct a handover during the Australia tour to Bangladesh which is scheduled immediately after the CWC.

Announcing the appointment on Monday, CA General Manager Cricket Michael Brown said he was excited to have recruited an appointee of Dovey's background and sports management expertise to fill the role, which is critical to the smooth operation of the team and its support group.
"Not surprisingly, we had a large field of strong candidates when we sought a replacement for Steve but Gavin was the stand-out candidate," Brown said.

"Steve Bernard has been an outstanding Australian team manager, is one of the most popular identities in world cricket and we knew his would be big shoes to fill.

Canberra-educated, Dovey worked for the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority before moving to a role managing anti-doping with the RFU, which in turn preceded his promotion into his current role.
He said he was looking forward to returning to Australia to take up a position he expected to be challenging but fulfilling.

"The RFU has been great to me and I will always be grateful for the opportunities they offered me - I have learned a lot. I now look forward to taking up the challenge of replacing Steve and of doing my part to help support the sporting team that the whole nation follows".

Cabs to drive fans in England 'World Cup' crazy

The International Cricket Council and Gullivers Sports Travel are gearing up cricket fans in England for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, which starts on 19 February.


Hailed as 'The Cup That Counts', the England cricket team go into the tournament with high expectations after winning the ICC World Twenty20 2010 in the West Indies while also beginning its Ashes retention campaign in a positive manner Down Under.

Gullivers, which is the official UK travel agent for the event, is urging fans to get behind the England team and support its mission to bring back the ICC Cricket World Cup from the Asian sub-continent.
It is also offering packages to supporters of all the 13 other teams, with thousands of people from the UK expected to travel to the event.

To drive the point home, more than 150 ICC Cricket World Cup 2011-branded black cabs are hitting the cities of London, Manchester and Birmingham, calling on fans to make sure they book official packages with appointed provider, Gullivers Sports Travel.

Gullivers has been working with the ICC since 1995 and its range of ICC Cricket World Cup travel 2011 packages starts at just GBP 169 per person and guarantee official match tickets. Gullivers can also arrange tailor-made holidays, combining the cricket with some of the region's many tourist highlights, including visiting tea plantations in Kerala, a houseboat stay, elephant spotting in Periyar National Park and the beautiful beaches of Sri Lanka.