Oz experts’ panel questions Ponting’s tactics

August 30th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Former Test selector John Benaud has blamed the Australian selection panel for a series of blunders, including dumping opening batsman Phil Hughes for Shane Watson, opting for wicketkeeper Brad Haddin over Graham Manou and leaving behind a spare batsman. Benaud has called for an overhaul of the four-man panel, claiming the team of Andrew Hilditch, Jamie Cox, Merv Hughes and David Boon lacks balance and innovation, and is too stubborn to change.

August 27th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Cricket Australia's embattled chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch has said that he is pleased with the selection decisions made in the Ashes series and says he has no plans to retire. "As far as the selection processes are concerned, we had a really good Ashes, generally speaking," Hilditch said yesterday.

August 25th, 2009 SYDNEY - Former Australian cricketers Shane Warne and Tom Moody have criticised the selectors, following Australia's Ashes-losing defeat in the Fifth Test at The Oval. Warne said that he was "staggered" by the decision to leave spinner Nathan Hauritz out of the side, while Moody said that selectors had got the decision "horribly wrong", The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

August 24th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Cricket Australia on Monday extended full support to both the national selection committee and team skipper Ricky Ponting, saying neither would be targeted because of Australia's Ashes series loss to England. Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland said sacking Ponting from the captaincy would be "completely unfair", and added that his leadership and performance during the series was top class.

August 24th, 2009 COLOMBO - New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has been included in the cricket selection panel, which has underwent few alterations in the past week. From the previous panel, convener Glenn Turner is the only person to remain, while, Dion Nash has stepped down citing business and family commitments and John Wright has stepped aside to concentrate on the development area.

August 22nd, 2009 KOLKATA - The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) Saturday nominated former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly as the chairman of its cricket development committee. Making the announcement after a working committee meeting, which Ganguly attended for the first time, CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya said the panel will draw up a master plan for developing and improving the game in the state.

July 22nd, 2009 SYDNEY - Former Australian cricket captain Allan Border has defended Ricky Ponting's captaincy in the face of criticism following Australia's dismal performances in both the Test matches of the Ashes series. "When Ricky took over with the likes of Warne and McGrath, the team wasn't all that different and he kept the ball rolling after Steve Waugh.

July 15th, 2009 LONDON - Australian cricketers haven't received the guidelines set by Cricket Australia (CA) to uphold the spirit of the game during the Ashes. Last month, CA commissioned a survey among fans, who asked Ricky Pontings team not to sledge, swear, cheat and spit during the ongoing Ashes Test series.

July 14th, 2009 LONDON - Former England captain Nasser Hussain has slammed the home team's time-wasting tactics during the first Ashes Test against Australia, calling it "amateur and embarrassing to watch". England were on the brink of defeat on the final day of the first Test but the last-wicket duo of James Anderson and Monty Panesar held out for the final 40 minutes to salvage an unlikely draw.

July 14th, 2009 CARDIFF - International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Jeff Crowe said last night that England and captain Andrew Strauss were not reported by umpires Aleem Dar or Billy Doctrove for alleged time wasting tactics, and therefore, no action would be taken in the matter. "I can only act if a breach is reported to me by the umpires or management from one of the teams, and I've had nothing at this stage," The Age quoted Crowe, as saying.

July 13th, 2009 LONDON - Englands batting hero Jimmy Anderson said Australian captain Ricky Ponting got it wrong by bowling part-time spinner Marcus North in the dramatic final overs of the drawn Cardiff Test, but the Australian captain defended his decision saying he used the off-spinner to squeeze in as many overs as possible. As England held out for a nail-biting draw, Ponting bowled North for two of the final four overs at a time when Australia's pacemen had been far more threatening to the last batting pair of Anderson and Monty Panesar.

June 30th, 2009 KARACHI - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Tuesday disbanded the national senior and junior selection committees with immediate effect. The move was on the cards after former chief selector Abdul Qadir resigned midway during the World Twenty20 earlier this month citing differences with the PCB.

June 27th, 2009 LAHORE - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has awarded mid-term central contracts to all rounder Abdul Razzaq and middle order batsman Mohammed Yousuf, both of whom had terminated their respective contracts with the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) earlier. While, Razzaq made a dream come back in the Pakistan team through his balanced all round performance in the ICC Twenty20 Championship, Yousuf still has to prove a point.

June 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Former India cricket skipper Anil Kumble, like his team mate Sourav Ganguly, will start a new innings as a commentator and will make his debut with the Twenty20 World Cup. Both Kumble and Ganguly will be part of ESPN STAR Sports commentary team as expert analysts for the tournament.

May 31st, 2009 LONDON - Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting is cleared to play the Twenty20 warm up game against Bangladesh Monday as the hit he took on his wrist at the nets Saturday was not as serious as feared initially. A Cricket Australia (CA) spokesman said Ponting was never in doubt for the game against Bangladesh at Nottingham as the hit was only a whack.