ICC awards nominations

Cricketer of the year: Hashim Amla, Doug Bollinger, Michael Clarke, MS Dhoni, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Johnson, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara, Virender Sehwag, Dale Steyn, Graeme Swann, Sachin Tendulkar, Daniel Vettori, AB de Villiers and Shane Watson

Test player of the year: Hashim Amla, James Anderson, Mohammad Asif, Doug Bollinger, MS Dhoni, Tamim Iqbal, Mahela Jayawardena, Jacques Kallis, Simon Katich, Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera, Virender Sehwag, Dale Steyn, Graeme Swann, Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Watson

ODI player of the year: Hashim Amla, Doug Bollinger, MS Dhoni, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Ryan Harris, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, AB de Villiers, Daniel Vettori, Shane Watson and Cameron White

Emerging player of the year: Mohammad Amir, Umar Akmal, Tim Bresnan, Steven Finn, Shafiul Islam, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Angelo Mathews, Eoin Morgan, Pragyan Ojha, Tim Paine, Wayne Parnell, Kemar Roac, Steven Smith, Paul Stirling and David Warner

Associate and Affiliate player of the year: Ashish Bagai, Richie Berrington, Muddassar Bukhari, Tom Cooper, Ryan ten Doeschate, Trent Johnston, Kevin O'Brien, Mohammad Shahzad, Samiullah Shenwari and Paul Stirling

Twenty20 international performance of the year: Suleiman Benn 4 for 6 v Zimbabwe, Deandra Dottin 112*v South Africa Women, Chris Gayle 98 v India, Michael Hussey 60*v Pakistan, Mahela Jayawardena 100 v Zimbabwe, Mahela Jayawardena 98* v West Indies, Nuwan Kulasekera 3 for 4 v New Zealand, Ryan McLaren 5 for 19 v West Indies, Brendon McMcllum 116* v Australia, Eoin Morgan 85* v South Africa, Nehemiah Odhiambo 5 for 20 v Scotland, Ellyse Perry 3 for 18 v New Zealand Women, Suresh Raina 101 v South Africa and Darren Sammy 5 for 26 v Zimbabwe

Women's Cricketer of the Year: Suzie Bates, Nicola Browne, Katherine Brunt, Sophie Devine, Jhulan Goswami, Lydia Greenway, Sarah McGlashan, Shelley Nitschke, Ellyse Perry, Laura Poulton, Mithali Raj, Gouher Sultana and Stafanie Taylor

Umpire of the Year: Billy Bowden, Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Asoke de Silva, Billy Doctrove, Marais Erasmus, Ian Gould, Tony Hill, Daryl Harper, Rudi Koertzen, Asad Rauf, Simon Taufel and Rod Tucker

source: Cricinfo

Fielding positions

'Gaind Balla' brings for you, the fielding guide :) enjoy...

Picture of the day: This is how you ball a 'Doosra'

Veteran off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq shares bowling tips with Saeed Ajmal.

The smiling assassin: Murali's name engraved forever

The day of 22 July 10’ will be etched in every cricketing mind. Sri Lanka brilliantly trapped the Indian team in follow-on and in the second innings. India was 338 for 9 wickets but that wasn’t the focus anyhow. The spotlight was at Muttiah Muralitharan, the legendary off-spinner, who was left with just one wicket to complete his 800 wickets, more importantly in his last match. And he did it, India’s last batsman was dismissed by the ‘smiling assassin’ Muralitharan where the team celebrated Indian team’s collapse as well as Murali’s 800 wickets. The legend was carried on shoulders, what a farewell!!!

Muttiah Muralitharan, one of the greatest bowlers of all time, made his debut against Australia in 1992. With his best of 9 for 51, Murali has caught 800 victims in just 133 test matches maintaining the average of 22.72. Next to him are Shane Warne (708 wickets) and Anil Kumble (619 wickets).

Murali’s cut-throat ‘doosra’ and magical spin troubled any batsman who dared to face him. Former Pakistani wicket-keeper Moen Khan calls him a ‘dangerous’ bowler that he never liked to face. The living legend, the deadly swinger and former Pakistani captain Wasim Akram said that it’s difficult to surpass Murali’s record. 'Despite being a fierce competitor, he is a great human being and a happy person. His greatest contribution to Sri Lankan cricket has been the fact that he brought crowds to the ground because of his persona. I have never seen a bowler like him before and don't think I will ever see another in the future as well,' he said.

Before that, Muralitharan announced retirement from Test cricket when he was short of 8 wickets to reach the milestone. The humble and smiling Murali proved himself a furious hunter to achieve the target. He will be remembered.

The spin-machine will remain as a great inspiration for the forthcoming spinners, his retirement is a big loss not only for the Lankans but for everyone who believed in watching quality cricket and thrilling spin. Jibran

Picture of the week

Akhter back, Hasan and Amin join

Asia Cup is expected to be a thrilling competition as three strongest teams of ODI will combat. As a positive change, aggressive Shoaib Akhter and all-rounder Shoaib Malik have returned to strengthen the squad. Unfortunately, the full-time spinner Saeed Ajmal has been dropped. The bowling line-up comprises of Akhter, Aamir, Asif, Malik, Razzaq and Afridi.

On the other hand, the dangerous Muralitharan and Malinga are back to frighten the green shirts.

Can Pakistan really win?

Pakistan will be meeting Australia in the T20 world cup semi-final at St. Lucia. Hopes high after the last victory against South Africa but is it possible for Pakistan to win against a strong team? Let’s have a look at some facts:

Throughout the tournament, Australia is WWWWW while Pakistan is WLLLW.

Batting performance of expert Pakistani batsmen:
Misbah-ul-Haq – 5 matches 68 runs (ave.17)
Abdur Razzaq – 5 matches 57 runs (avg.19)
Shahid Afridi – 5 matches 83 runs (avg.16.60)
Mohammad Hafeez- 4 innings 39 runs (avg 9.75)
Fawad Alam – 2 innings 17 runs (avg 8.50)

Do we really need to keep Misbah, Fawad and Hafeez in the squad? Isn’t it the time to try giving the fresher Hammad Azam a chance?

In the semi-final, where Australia will step in with 3 pacers Tait, Johnson and Nannes, Pakistan will have only Aamir. Razzaq’s pace has dropped to a worst extent. Dirk Nannes has been outstanding throughout the tournament with 13 wickets making him highest wicket-taker. Johnson and Tait are 8,8.

Average comparison: Australia’s top 4 averages are 55.50 (Hussey), 53.50 (White), 29.60 (Warner) and 29.00 (Watson). On the other hand, 47.75 (Butt), 26.00 (Kamran), 24.75 (Umer Akmal) and 19.00 (Razzaq).

Australia’s highest total 191. Pakistan: 172/3

Let’s sit and watch J Good luck Pakistan!!!

Jibran T. Siddiqui