St.Johns, Antigua
Second Test played to a draw at Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.
After Australia set West Indies 372 to win on the last day of the second test at Antigua the W.I. team
went on to finish at 266-5 finishing the Second Test in a draw.
Australia first innings : 479-7 declared. Katich 113, Clarke 110, Ponting 65 and Brett Lee 63 not out.
Jerome Taylor took 3-95
Second innings : 244-6 declared Jaques 76, Symonds 43 not out, Hussey 40 and Ponting 38
Fidel Edwards 2-28 and Taylor 2-33
West Indies first innings : 352 Chanderpaul 107 not out, Serwan 65, Marshall 53 Bravo and Taylor 20
Brett Lee 5-59, Clarke 2-20 and Johnson 2-72.
Second innings 266-5 : Sarwan 128, Chanderpaul 77 not out, brett Lee 3-51
The Third test will played at Kensington Oval starting 12 June 2008

Image via Wikipedia

Second Test, Antigua (close day four)
West Indies vs Australia
Australian fast bowler Brett Lee tore the West Indies batting line up apart, taking 5 wickets for five runs off 18 balls. Lee was helped by some very questionable umpiring decisions, but the damage was done. The West Indies were dismissed for 352, still 127 runs behind.
Ponting’s Australians now have a chance to push for victory on the fifth day, something that had seemed impossible just hors before.

Now that the inaugural IPL series is over and the victorious Rajasthan Royals, led by their Captain and Coach, Shane Warne, are still celebrating. The least expensive team in the series ( $3 million) showed all others how to play the game. A great victory.
What next ? There is a lot of talk around about who will be starting 2020 teams and who will be playing where, but it seems that nothing is settled. The West Indies, backed by billionaire,Allen Stanford, is well on it’s way to get 2020 up and running. It has been reported that he has proposed a competition between West Indies and a side from Great Britain.
Is the future 2020WI or 2020GB ? Whatever happens this form of cricket is here to stay. With great cricketers like Shane Warne leading the way, it looks like a long and profitable future.

Michael Clarke’s ton in the second Test in the West Indies was for his fiancee, Lara Bingle,
after the loss of her father. A tearful Clarke looked to the heavens and dedicated his century to
Graham Bingle, who died three weeks ago.
With the Second Test in the balance , Australia declared at 7-479, as Clarke again contributed with his
left arm spin bowling taking 2-7 off seven overs. West Indies reached 3-125 at stumps.
It was a great effort from the “Captain in Waiting”.

Mathew Hayden vows to be fit enough to return to all forms of cricket.
Stating on his arrival ” I am here to play for as long as I can”
Returning to Brisbane after being ruled out of the West Indies tour and will be seeing a specialist in Melbourne to assess the damage to his achilles tendon. Hayden, 36, believes the injury could be the result of how long he has been in the game at the highest level and his strenuous training routine. Until he receives the results he will continue to believe he will be returning and will plan accordingly.
Hayden will be attempting to make his fourth Ashes tour next year.

Ricky Ponting has joined the 10,000 run club after reaching the goal just after the tea break
in the second Test in Antigua against the West Indies. It was Pontings 118 th. Test. Only Brian Lara reached this goal in less matches, he required 111.Ponting’s achievement has been somewhat overshadowed by the fighting century by Simon Katich. The left-hander combined with Ponting for a 146 run second wicket combination.Once again Phil Jaques went cheaply. This is leaving the Test selectors with a problem to find an opening combination. Will Mathew Hayden be fit enough to return to Test Cricket or do they have to look elsewhere ?
After the first Test victory, Australia is once again on their way to another win.

It would seem that the bad boy of cricket, Shane Warne, has at last settled down.

Everyone remembers his infamous exploits of a few years back when he was either sending lewd text messages, having sex on the bonnet of a car or helping out bookmakers , not to mention his mum’s tablets. These exploits were hard to miss as they were on the front page of every newspaper and on every tv channel. Where are all these women now, have they found a new world famous celebrity to sleep with, or have they vanished into a mundane home life and not spending their time on car bonnets ? His bad boy life style has led to his break-up from his wife Simone and his kids, Brooke, Summer and Jackson. A reconciliation was on the cards, but a text message or two ended that. I hope those beautiful young “Bollywood” stars are not receiving too many text messages !!! Are there any BMW’s in India ?

During his Captaincy of English Team Hampshire he was described by his neighbours at “Ocean Village”, a Southampton waterfront condos and townhouse complex , where Shane paid $930,000 for a four bedroom three story attached townhouse, as quiet and private and a “bit of a hunk” by others. You can probably work out which comments were by the local ladies. He was also described as having a 52 inch plasma tv, the only one around. Before settling down in the old dart he had received some bad press in Australia and was probably looking to a not so high profile life.

Now that Shane , it would seem, has settled down to a new life as an Indian celebrity as captain-coach of the Rajasthan Royals in the Twenty 20 I.P.L. competition, where he has had a very positive affect on the young players under his guidance. The competition seems to have so far been a great success and now destined for a long term form of cricket. Shane has been engaged to coach young up and coming Indian players, so his involvement in cricket will continue well into the future. He has now signed up for the new competition of “isixes World Series” ( see www.isixesworldseries.com ) which is due to start in July 2008 in Singapore. This new form of cricket has signed some of the world’s big names such asAnil Kumble,Heath Streak and New Zealander Craig McMillan and is sure to make an impact. Isixes is a six a side game that is sure to be a fast and dynamic tournament.

American billionaire Allen Stanford has also been in the cricket news, wanting to finance a new twenty20 competition between the West Indies and UK teams, with a winner take all prize of $20 million. All good for the world of cricket, as it will gain more and more popularity in more and more countries.

Always in the headlines, Shane Warne, is a great cricketer, one of the best the world has ever seen and maybe the best the world will ever see. His off field antics have created a notoriety that takes away from his on field brilliance. The former International “king of spin” is a genius of spin bowling as many of his victims will tell you.

I wish him all the best in his future adventures.

A new twenty20 competition worldwide proposed by Texan philanthropist.
Allen Stanford a sponsor of professional sports is pushing ahead with the idea of making the Twenty20 competition the most popular sport in the world. With the concept of a 20-20-20 winner take all version of the game the first step in that direction. This is Twenty20 cricket with a 20 million dollar reward to the winner. Stamford is an American billionaire now living in the West Indies where he is a very generous benefactor to the much loved game. According to news reports he has already had talks with the England and Wales Cricket Board and these talks have been very well received.