Dhaka fetes its cricketing ‘tigers’

September 30th, 2009 BRISBANE - Andrew Symonds is loving life outside the cricketing establishment, and believes that he stands on the cusp of cricket's new freelance frontier. Since being sacked from the Australian team on disciplinary grounds, Symonds has immersed himself in training and strapping duties with the Queensland Broncos, running training drills so many times he could have replaced Peter Wallace.

September 26th, 2009 SYDNEY - Former Australian spin legend Shane Warne's cousin Michael Warne is all set to enter the Australian cricketing world and carry forward the legendary Warne dynasty. The 22-year-old, who is also a leg spinner like his famous cousin, will likely appear at the upper end of Melbourne club cricket this summer, playing most likely second grade for St Kilda, News.com.au reports.

September 24th, 2009 LONDON - Pakistan will play their 2010 two-Test home series against Australia in England in the summer. The series was to be played in Pakistan, but security concerns forced the matches to be moved to England.

September 20th, 2009 LONDON - South African skipper Graeme Smith has defended Andrew Flintoff decision to become a freelancer, and said like all professional sportsmen he wants to earn the best money he can. The decision of Flintoff to not sign a new contract with the ECB has sparked a massive club vs country clash of interests across in every major cricketing nation.

September 12th, 2009 MUMBAI - Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has paid glowing tributes to its former president Raj Singh Dungarpur, who died here Saturday after a prolonged illness. He was 74. "It is a great loss to Indian cricket.

September 6th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Sunday there were indications that the Tamil Tigers were involved in the March 3 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan. Gilani told reporters that investigators have got indications to suggest that the Tamil Tigers had financed the attack in which a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers was fired at by gunmen near the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

August 19th, 2009 DHAKA - Figures suggest that around 17,000 children drown in Bangladesh every year, a figure that is proportionately more than anywhere else in the world. Now, according to The Independent, aid workers are battling to reduce the toll by teaching children to swim.

August 5th, 2009 KARACHI - Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ijaz Butt is under immense pressure to quit following a series of setbacks during his turbulent ten-month stint. The national media is rife with reports that Butt's days as PCB chairman are numbered as the top authorities are not very pleased with his performance.

August 3rd, 2009 EDGBASTON - England cricketer Andrew Flintoff has expressed confidence that the cricketing relations between England and Australia would not turn sour following the verbal exchanges between both sides during the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston. The 31 year-old all rounder reckoned that the exchange is a part of the competitive nature of the prestigious Ashes cricket, and said, that neither side had over-stepped boundaries of acceptable behaviour.

July 31st, 2009 KOLKATA - Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly Friday made his debut in cricket administration - questioning several decisions of the Jagmohan Dalmiya regime during a nearly hour-long address at the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) Annual General Meeting (AGM) here. Dalmiya, as expected, was elected uncontested for another term of the cash-rich body.

July 23rd, 2009 NORTHAMPTON - A newspaper reporter has been asked to leave the Australian Ashes camp after being struck down with swine flu. According to The Sun, Ben Dorries, who writes for News Limited, started feeling the symptoms during the recent Lord's Test match before being diagnosed by a doctor over the telephone.

June 23rd, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh Tuesday named fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza as captain of the national team, replacing Mohammad Ashraful, for the cricket tours of West Indies and Zimbabwe. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said the move was aimed at relieving the burden on Ashraful and allow him to focus on his batting.

June 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India may have paused talks with Pakistan after 26/11 Mumbai attacks. But the two cricket-crazy nations have decided not to let their diplomatic standoff get in the way of a good cricket match.

June 3rd, 2009 KOLKATA - Retired Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly Wednesday named Aussies Richie Benaud and Bill Lawry as his favourite television commentators. "They were really special whom I want to hear again and again.

June 2nd, 2009 KOLKATA - Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar Tuesday described the maiden edition of the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) as better than the second in terms of public enthusiasm and said given a choice he would always want the event to be staged in India. "The first year of the IPL was definitely better.