Collingwood retires from Test cricket

England batsman Paul Collingwood, who has struggled for runs in this Test series, has announced his retirement from Test cricket at the end of the fifth Ashes match in Sydney, but will continue to play the one-day game.

Collingwood, 36, announced his retirement after 68 Tests for England stretching over seven years.
He told his teammates this morning and gave an emotional speech to the entire squad on the field before play began as England searched for victory in the final Test.

There was no official release from the England and Wales Cricket Board and it was left to the PA announcer at the SCG to break the news, The Telegraph reports.

"On a personal level, this is a big week for me in Sydney. I'm at the crossroads and what happens in the final Test may well determine what direction I go in," he said.

"I'm sure by the end of this Test I'll know more myself and be better able to judge what the general feeling is in terms of where I am as a Test player and the contribution I can still make to the England team in future and what is the best way forward," he said.

Collingwood's dismissal in England's first innings for 13 off 67 deliveries persuaded him his time as a Test player is over but he is on the verge of being a part of a third Ashes series success.
Eoin Morgan, who has been successful in one-day cricket and scored a hundred on his Test debut against Pakistan last summer, is likely to step into Collingwood's place.

Collingwood retires with a healthy Test average of 40.56 having scored 10 centuries with a highest score of 207 in the Adelaide Ashes Test four years ago.

PCB against playing 2011 World Cup matches in India

Lahore: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is against playing its matches in India during the 2011 World Cup, and has reportedly asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to shift its matches to Sri Lanka or Bangladesh.

Sources said PCB chief Ijaz Butt, during the recent ICC executive board meeting, had apprised the game's governing body regarding its stance.

Champions League 2009

"Even the ICC is aware of the tense relation between the two countries and not keen to take any risks. Pakistan has also indicated it would be more comfortable playing maximum number of matches in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh," The Nation quoted PCB insiders, as saying.

Butt, however, has expressed the hope that the soured relationship between India and Pakistan would improve by 2011 World Cup, but made it clear that it will follow the government's directives on allowing players to visit India.

"We will do whatever the government tells us to do in this regard. But hopefully by 2011 relations between the two countries would have improved quite a bit," Butt said.

The ICC had recently announced the groupings of the 2011 World Cup, saying the schedule and venues of the matches will be finalized by next year.

'India had a hand in Pakistan's defeat against Kiwis'

While is India in placed in Group B along with South Africa, England and the West Indies. Pakistan will be in 'Group A' along world champions Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Canada.

Netherlands, Ireland and Bangladesh are also in Group B.

Brett Lee hopes for a World Cup comeback

Melbourne: Constant run with injuries forced Brett Lee to retire from Test cricket but the Aussie speedster is still determined to make a comeback in the limited overs format of the game, at least in time for the 2011 World Cup.

Lee Sunday expressed disappointment at being left out of Australia's Twenty20 and One-day International side for the series against Sri Lanka and said he is now aiming for the big event in the sub-continent.

"That is definitely what I am aiming for, that is the reason I am training so hard," Lee was quoted as saying by the Sunday Telegraph.

In a comeback match after an elbow injury, Lee playing for New South Wales (NSW) picked up two wickets and was instrumental in his team's victory against Queensland in a one-day match Friday.

Lee next plays a one-day game not before Nov 26 and he says the long gap will not help his cause of getting back to being match-fit at the earliest.

"I have got a few weeks off, which is not ideal preparation," Lee said.

"It is disappointing but it is the way it goes. They told me they wanted me to play some more cricket. Unfortunately, I do not have any more cricket to play. I would have loved to have been playing (for Australia) but I am not. So, it is back to the drawing board and keep trying to do well whenever I get the opportunity," he summed up.

BCCI to give students free tickets for World Cup

New Delhi: To ensure capacity crowd at the stadiums, the organising committee of the 2011 cricket World Cup has decided to distribute free tickets to school and college students.

Tournament director Ratnakar Shetty told reporters here Thursday that the organising committee is in talks with the sponsors and the host associations to work out how many tickets can be distributed among the students.

"We have decided to distribute free tickets among students. We have lots of sponsorship programmes through which we will be distributing the tickets. State associations will also have some quota for the students. We want the state associations to throw their gates open for the students," said Shetty.

World Cup 2011

Shetty, who is also the chief administrative officer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said that free tickets will be given to draw crowds, specially for the non-India matches.

"The real challenge is to bring in people for non-India games and one of the suggestions is to bring in school and college children," he said.

Shetty said that ICC officials have visited Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata to inspect the stadia, which have been renovated.

"All the three stadiums in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata have undergone massive renovation. We have made sure that the stadiums have better spectator services, media facilities and proper set-up for the broadcaster," he said.