Sambit's point.

http://blogs.cricinfo.com/fromeditor/archives/2009/08/how_good_is_samaraweera.php

Sambit Bal questions inflating averages of Thilana Samarweera and the SL readers pounce upon him. Fair enough.

They also leach Indian batsmen. Not fair.

Problem is well known. Less tests abroad, more home. More against weaker teams. An Indian series happens in 7 yrs, an Australian series in 6 years and South African series in 4 years. In Sri Lanka.

They tour England, India, Australia rarely. They toured India in 1982, 1987, 1990 and 1994. And then in 1997 and finally in 2005. Australia -- 1995, 2004, 2007. Look at the gaps. And in 1995.

Contrast that with Pakistan. 2003, 2006 and 2009. Pakistan isnt a Test force it was when it had Ws and Inzys.

Or Bangladesh. Frequent tours from BD and to BD. And for that matter check SL record in India. 8 losses in 14 Tests and 9 wins, 21 losses in ODIs in India :)

How would this batsmen get a chance to prove their worth in all conditions.

You cant compare a Samarweera, Jaywardhena, Sangakara to a Ponting, Lara, Inzy, Tendulkar or Dravid.

Last lot of batsmen got runs in all conditions. Didnt they ?

Michael Vaughan to retire per cricinfo ?

Having lost out on a place in the pre-Ashes squad, Michael Vaughan is expected to announce his retirement from international cricket next week, according to reports in the English media. In January, Vaughan withdrew from the IPL auction to concentrate on getting back into the Test side in time for the Ashes.

Vaughan, 34, who led England to regain the Ashes in 2005, has made only 159 runs at 19.88 for Yorkshire this season. He hasn't played international cricket since stepping down from captaincy during the home series against South Africa last year. The last time he scored a century in a competitive match was for Yorkshire in a 50-over game against Surrey in Abu Dhabi this March. He has also struggled with injuries to his knee which had kept him out of cricket for over a year between November 2005 and May 2007.

Disecting KKR

http://http://content.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/402641.html

lays out the disaster called Kolkata Knight Riders very well. Good stuff by Cricinfo.

Cricinfo obsessed with English cricket

Out of the 11 players highlighted below most of them are domestic English T20 stars yet the English team is a dud in T20s on the global arena.

 http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/386457.html

 Wonder why cricinfo.com is so obsessed with English cricket ?

 As expectedly every list on cricinfo.com contains most of English cricketers, perhaps they need to understand that English don’t longer rule the world…….Colonial hangover still persists!!

Bangalore Test - Day 1, session 1

So that is lunch on day one of this Test series. It will go Australia's way because Ponting and Katich have smoothed over the loss of Hayden (who has incorrectly given out) for a duck rather well. It has not always been pretty, but it has been a crucial partnership. Ponting has moved along to 41, his second highest score in India, and Katich has offered solid support with 28. This is a batting pitch, make no mistake. Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma bowled well with the new ball but there has been little on offer for India's spinners. Not a lot of runs in the first session, but a good one to watch.

Incorrectly given out ? How many times has that been said for an Indian batsmen dismissed due to umpire mistake. Countless times we suffered, be it Australia or the SL series where refferals mostly went Lankans way.....Grow up cricinfo, stop being biased...

A session to Australia, but a mental block scored over Hayden by Zaheer Khan who continues his supremacy over lefties...A couple of wkts should do the trick for India. And full marks to Ponting, he is really determined to make amends to his patchy record in India...

Australia 1 India 0. Pressure mounts on Kumble :))))))))))))))))))))))))