Results tagged “cricket”

“THERE’S too much international cricket. The administrators are only interested in money.”

Cricket legend Geoffrey Boycott was typically bullish when he came to Canary Wharf this week.

England might be riding high under new skipper Kevin Pietersen but the blunt Yorkshireman pulled no punches on how the game is at risk of being ruined by money.

ENGLAND cricket star Alastair Cook is backing his new international captain and wants to know who writes Kevin Pietersen's scripts.

Pietersen, who was handed the England captaincy just three weeks ago following the resignation of Michael Vaughan, has enjoyed a fairytale start with a test victory and two one-day wins over South Africa.

Cook was full of praise for the way Pietersen has taken to the task.

He said: "I think it's very hard to turn down the England captaincy. It's the biggest honour in the sport.

The Wizard is on holiday this week but he’s waved his wand and conjured up a standby. Michael Sharp, the Sorcerer of Stakes, gives us his magic tips.

IT’S all change at the top for the England cricket team, with Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood standing down as skippers of the Test and one day sides respectively.

Star batsman Kevin Pietersen will now lead our boys into the fourth test against South Africa, the country of his birth.

Pietersen is a class player, there is no doubt about it, and all we can do is hope it does not affect his batting.

Nigel offers this week's top betting tips

Sometimes in life you just have to put your hands up and admit you got it well and truly wrong.

Last week was one of those occasions, when we opted for Kimi Raikkonen at 13/8 to win the British Grand Prix and dismissed the chances of our very own Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton gave the drive of his life to win an enthralling GP by more than a minute.

IT’S NOT every day you get to bowl at a former England cricket captain but one group of Isle of Dogs children had exactly that this week.

Children from Seven Mills primary school, in Millwall, tested the skills of Mike Gatting when he visited the school on Tuesday as part of the first Chance To Shine national cricket day. The focus was on The Big Run Chase and Gatting, 50, was delighted to do his bit.

He said: “We’re trying to encourage children all over the country, from around 500 schools, to join in and see how many singles they can run to see if we can get a million runs.

SHANE Warne’s threat to come out of international retirement for next year’s Ashes series should be taken with a pinch of salt, according to ex-England skipper Mike Gatting.

Warne, currently playing in the Indian Premier League, famously took Gatting’s wicket with the “ball of the century” on his Ashes debut in 1993 and was reported to want a return to the Australian team.

“He’s being very mischievous,” said Gatting. “I thought he’d got enough on his plate in India. For him to slip out a little mischievous comment like that, it’s typical Shane.”

But would Gatting be tempted to try to regain his England place to get revenge for “that” ball?

He said: “No, no, no. I shan’t be coming back anywhere near, and I don’t think Shane will either.”