McCullum stripped of vice-captaincy

October 21st, 2009 KARACHI - Former Pakistan fast bowler Sarfaraz Nawaz has lambasted captain Younis Khan for raking up a controversy by resigning from his post, and said that he (Khan) should concentrate more on his batting rather than holding onto the captaincy. "He is losing his form and a non-performing captain can't lead a team properly.

October 17th, 2009 KARACHI - With the stalemate between the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and captain Younis Khan, who had resigned from the post earlier this week, continuing, sources privy to the board have revealed that it may ask vice captain Shahid Afridi to take charge of the national squad. Sources inside the PCB said Afridi might be handed over the captaincy ahead of the one-day series against New Zealand, which would be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next month.

October 11th, 2009 KARACHI - Pakistan cricket captain Younis Khan is uncertain about playing in the series against New Zealand starting next month in Abu Dhabi. Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) Chief Operating Officer (COO) Wasim Bari told mediapersons that Khan would soon meet board chairman Ijaz Butt and brief him about his finger injury that he sustained just before the ICC Champions Trophy.

October 7th, 2009 AUCKLAND - New Zealand wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum believes that the injury curse, which fell upon the Black Caps during the Champions Trophy, has given way to some fresh talent. New Zealand lost crucial players like all-rounder Jacob Oram, batsman Jesse Ryder, pacer Daryl Tuffey and skipper Daniel Vettori to injuries during different stages of the tournament.

October 6th, 2009 JOHANNESBURG - Stand-in New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum has said that the loss of inspirational captain Daniel Vettori just hours before New Zealand's cricket Champions Trophy final against Australia in South Africa was a huge blow. Australia beat New Zealand by six wickets in the final at SuperSport Park in Centurion after the Black Caps struggled to make just 200 for nine off their 50 overs.

September 16th, 2009 MELBOURNE - New Zealand wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum has inadvertently jeopardised England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff's future in the Indian Premier League. An amendment to the tournament laws was made just two weeks ago in order to prevent players from trying to become free agents by rejecting contracts from their national boards in order to play in the more lucrative IPL, reports The Age.

September 12th, 2009 LAHORE - : Pakistan cricket captain Younis Khan feels that leading the national squad is not an easy task especially in a cricket crazy region. In an interview with an Urdu daily, Khan said captaincy was not a 'bed of roses' as the skipper of a national cricket team tends to make more enemies than friends in the sub-continent.

September 11th, 2009 KARACHI - Pakistan skipper Younis Khan believes that captaincy is much of a burden for cricketers in the sub-continent. In an interview with Urdu daily Jang, Younis said that a captain makes more enemies than friends in the sub-continent.

September 8th, 2009 COLOMBO - New Zealand cricketers have expressed relief that swashbuckling Indian opening bat Virender Sehwag will not feature in the tri-series in Sri Lanka and in the upcoming Champions Trophy in South Africa because of a shoulder injury. A shoulder injury means New Zealand avoid one of the most devastating strikers of a cricket ball.

August 21st, 2009 GALLE - Following a spell of food poisoning sweeping through the New Zealand cricket team, Auckland wicketkeeper Reece Young is up for a Test cricket cameo. A stomach bug has hit regular wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum and reserve keeper Jesse Ryder, while up to seven other squad members have also been affected.

July 25th, 2009 KOLKATA - Former India cricket coach John Wright has emerged a strong contender for the coach's job in the Indian Premier League (IPL) side Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for the coming season. Sources in the team said KKRs icon player Sourav Ganguly, who has been entrusted with the task of finding a replacement for sacked coach John Buchanan, is favouring the New Zealander for the key post.

July 1st, 2009 MELBOURNE - Former Australian fast bowler Jeff Thomson has described current Australian cricket skipper Ricky Ponting as a "crap captain". Thomson is of the view that Ponting should never have been given the Australian captaincy five years ago and believes England has the advantage going into this year's Ashes series.

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 2nd, 2009 LONDON - A depleted India lost by nine wickets to a disciplined New Zealand in the opening warm-up tie of the ICC Twenty20 tournament at Lords cricket ground here Monday. India, without the services of Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh, who was down with food poisoning, managed to score only 161 for six despite a good start given by Rohit Sharma.

May 27th, 2009 SYDNEY - New Zealand opener Brendon McCullum would not dump his home side Otago for Australian side New South Wales (NSW) in the Twenty20 Champions League scheduled for October in India. Both the teams qualified for the Champions League and the Sydney Morning Herald reported that McCullum will not ditch his home state despite pleas from NSW.