Panesar Forces South Africa To Follow On

Monty Panesar exposed South Africa's historic fallibility against spin bowling on Saturday with four wickets for seventy four. Panesar's effort has put England in a very commanding position on the 3rd day of the Npower Series First Test Match. Brief Scores : England 1st Innings 593/8 dec. South Africa 1st innings 247 all out (93.3 overs), Prince 101, Villiers 42, McKenzie 40. Bowling, Panesar 4/74, Sidebottom, 2/41, Broad 2/88. South Africa 2nd innings (following on) 13 for no loss in 4 overs.

Ian Bell Falls On 199 On 2nd Day Of The Lord's Test

Ian Bell came of age as an England batsman on friday as a monumental 199 on the Day II of the First Test Match between Engln and South Africa at Lord's. Ian Bell found an ideal lieutenant in the increasingly impressive Stuart Broad, who scored 76 at number eight as England reached a mamoth total when Michael Vaughan declared. Brief Scores : England 593/8 (declared in 156.2 overs), Bell 199, Pieterson 152, Broad 76. Bowling Morkel 4/121, Harris 3/129.

South Africa 7 without loss (3.2 overs), Smith 2 n.o., McKenzie 5 n.o.

Andrew Symonds : Pakistan Unsafe For The Champions Trophy

Australian world class all rounder Andrew Symonds feels unsafe to travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy this September. Symonds said he was yet to be convinced that Pakistan has become a safe place to go and play cricket after the recent suicide blasts in Pakistan. Symonds also added that it is only a game of cricket at the end of the day, and putting yourself in a position where you're not safe is ridiculous. Well, Mr. Symonds if you happen to go there please dont get involved in another case. Thats only an advice.

England v South Africa, First Test, Day 1

On the first day of the first test match between England and South Africa, the former team were in a commanding position with over 300 runs on the board. Kevin Pieterson scored a brilliant century to to make his team reach this mark at Lords. The only South African bowler to make an impression was Makhaya Ntini. Brief Scores : England 1st Innings - 309/3 (90 overs). Pieterson 104 n.o., Bell 75 n.o., Cook 60, Strauss 44. Bowling Steyn 1/68 , Morkel 2/66.

Sourav Ganguly Dropped in ODIs Again

Despite of being left out from the list of 30 probables for the Champions Trophy Sourav Ganguly is not retiring from One Day Cricket. Sourav denied having retirement plans but said he was not sure which way his one day career was going. "I've been out of the one day side for the last 3 months and I am not going to play the same for the next 3. So I'm not thinking about the ODIs now and concentrating on the Tests and the upcoming Sri Lanka series", he added.

On the selectors Sourav also said " I can't tolerate this anymore. If they continue to do this I won't represent Bengal. For the moment however I'm available.

India Slip To 3rd Place In ICC Test Rankings

Mentioned below are the ICC Test Rankings for teams.

1. Autralia

2. South Africa

3. India

4. England

5. Sri Lanka

6. Pakistan

7. New Zealand

8. West Indies

9. Bangladesh

Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif May Play In Champions Trophy

Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have been included in the list of 35 members out of which 30 members will be approved for the Champions Trophy. The selectors said "If available they should play for Pakistan and strengthen the bowling attack." However there is still uncertainty about the duo's participation in the tournament.

Shoaib is available for selection as the Lahore high court has suspended his 18 months ban last week. As far as Mohammad Asif is concerned he was cleared by the public prosecutor in Dubai but the Board is facing a problem because his incident allegedly involves drugs and the ICC follows a zero tolerance in this regard.

India Lose To Sri Lanka In The Asia Cup Finals

Sri Lanka were put into bat after India won the toss. The start for India was very good as they bagged four quick wickets to put breaks on Jayasuria who was throwing his bat everywhere to the boundary rope. It was sheer batting performance by Jayasuria and bowling by Mendis that led the SriLankan team to win the title. Brief Scores : Sri Lanka - 273 all out (49.5 overs). Jayasuria 125, Dilshan 56, Kulasekara 29 n.o. Bowling : Ishant 3/52, RP Singh 3/67, Irfan 2/71.

India - 173 all out (37.3 overs). Sehwag 60, Dhoni 49 n.o. Utthapa 20. Bowling : Mendis 6/13, Vaas 2/55.