Beau Casson, the left-arm wrist spinner, has been chosen in Australia’s third Test team for Thursday’s final match of the series against West Indies in Barbados. Stuart MacGill’s retirement in Antigua opened a spot for Casson while Brad Haddin will play despite carrying a broken ring finger on his right hand. “Beau’s been named in the eleven … it’s exciting for him,” Ricky Ponting told AAP. “He’s fitted in extremely well. He’s worked hard and now he’s got an opportunity to play in a Test, which is great.”

Casson had a strong end to the Pura Cup season to prove to the selectors he was Australia’s best option behind MacGill, but he was not expected to play on the tour. He will be the country’s 401st Test representative and will be able to operate safe in the knowledge the team, which leads the series 1-0, has already recaptured the Frank Worrell Trophy. Luke Ronchi was called into the squad as a shadow player for Haddin, who hurt his hand in the opening Test. However, Haddin refused to succumb to the injury and will battle through the pain in Barbados.

Australia 1 Phil Jaques, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 Michael Clarke, 6 Andrew Symonds, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Brett Lee, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Beau Casson, 11 Stuart Clark.

The third test match starts on Sunday the 15th of june and will be telecast live on Ten Sports. Match starts at 19.30 IST.

India’s performance at the Trination ODI match against Pakistan was nothing short of stellar. Top scorers Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh and the rest put up a formidable score of 330 runs for Pakistan to catch up to. And Pakistan’s hopes of getting close to that target were ruined by Praveen Kumar’s opening spell claiming 4 four wickets of the innings within just 81 runs of the innings.

Teenage leg-spinner Piyush Chawla then took over claiming four wickets of his own to wrap up the Pakistan innings for 190 in just 35.4 overs.

India’s victory prevented Pakistan from confirming their place in Saturday’s final after they defeated tournament hosts Bangladesh on Sunday.

Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi set about retrieving the situation with a 44-run stand, but Chawla brought their resistance to an end when he had Afridi (23) stumped by Dhoni. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals as the Pakistan batsman continued to look for quick runs, which fell into the hands of Chawla who claimed figures of four for 40. Kumar finished with four for 53 while Malik was Pakistan’s top scorer contributing 53.

Earlier, an impressive opening partnership of 155 runs between Gambhir and Sehwag laid the foundations for an impressive total. Both players were dropped early in their innings, and Pakistan were made to pay for their mistakes as first Sehwag and then Gambhir notched up quick fifties.

Dhoni then arrived in the middle and set about his innings in his usual belligerent fashion hitting a quick fire 24 off 23 balls, including four boundaries before being trapped lbw by Sohail Tanvir.

All in all a very eventful match, one which should not have been missed by any cricket fan. If you did miss it, catch the rerun of the entire game today (11th May) at 11:00 p.m. on Neo Sports. If you just want the highlights, watch them today at 9:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.

ESPN: Pakistan eased to a 70-run victory over Bangladesh in a rain-affected opening match of the tri-series on Sunday.

Mohammad Ashraful won a good toss for Bangladesh, but his bowlers failed to exploit damp conditions, with Salman Butt and Mohammad Yousuf both cracking half-centuries as Pakistan were bowled out for 233 in 39.3 overs.

With play reduced to 40 overs a side, Bangladesh needed to score at nearly six an over but never came close, only Ashraful (56 not out) making a meaningful contribution in his side’s 163 for eight.

Next up is a big one, India vs Pakistan on 10th June, 2:30 p.m. onwards on Neo Cricket. Don’t miss it. (Trination Series complete schedule)

Pakistan selectors have replaced beleaguered pacer Mohammad Asif with young fast bowler Sohail Khan in the squad for the ODI tri-series in Bangladesh starting June 8.

A board official said due to the delay in Asif’s release from detention in Dubai, for allegedly possessing contraband drugs, the selectors consulted the Pakistan Cricket Board, captain Shoaib Malik and coach Geoff Lawson before deciding to call up Sohail for the tri-series, also featuring India and Bangladesh.

“We really don’t know when the Asif issue would be resolved and he doesn’t even have a visa for Bangladesh. Because of these logistical issues it has been decided to replace him with Sohail,” one official said.

The tri-series starts from June 8 with Pakistan squad leaving on Friday. Check out our Trination page for timings and other news.

So the IPL is over and Indian men have been left stranded with no cricket to watch. Even the Australia vs West Indies 2nd Test match has almost ended with the third one more than 10 days away. Euro 2008 is nearing, with just a few more days to go, but that’s not cricket now is it! So I’ve tried to find some cricket to watch, but to ease out the IPL void little by little.

While this is not a Live event, Neo Cricket will be putting up a presentation of the greatest Indian run chases. Looks to be pretty interesting, with Sachin and others doing their thing with the bat. The programme will air on Neo Cricket at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday with a rerun at 11:00 p.m. on the same day. 

Star Cricket on the other hand will be broadcasting a Live match of The Friends Provident Trophy, a quarter final between England’s Kent Vs Somerset. The first session will begin at 4:28 p.m. while the second session begins at 8:30 p.m. 

Third, there is the England vs New Zealand N-Power Test series. The New Zealand international series consists of three npower Test matches, one NatWest International Twenty20 and five NatWest one-day internationals. This one is the final test match. Now up to the 3rd test, the Day 1 first session will begin on 5th June at 3:28 p.m. on Star Cricket. Days 2-5 will follow on the consecutive days at the same time.  

 Of course, the India-Bangladesh-Pakistan Trination ODI series is set to begin on the 8th. That should definitely be something to look forward to. 

So is there any cricketing event that you think would be interesting on TV? Or have you also taken up to something like weaving during these dry days? 

The Rajasthan Royals, in a nailbiting edge-of-the-seat finish, beat the Chennai Superkings target of 164 runs. It was a 1 ball-1 run finish and Sohail Tanvir partnering with Shane Warne ran their way to victory. 

Chennai Super Kings made 163 for the loss of five wickets against Rajasthan Royals in the final of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the D.Y. Patil Sports Academy Stadium here Sunday. Suresh Raina was the top scorer with 43 while Parthiv Patel made 38. Yusuf Pathan was the most successful bowler for Royals with his three for 22 from four overs.

The Royals came off with an average start but looked inclined towards a win. However, some early wickets of Patel (2), Asnodkar (28), Kamran (6) put the Royals under a lot of pressure. It was left upto Shane Watson and Yusuf Pathan to take on the climbing run rate of 9 per over. Watson ducked out at 28 and from then on the game was in Pathan’s hands. After a fabulous 56 off 36 balls, Pathan was finally run out. The match was then on shaky grounds with only Shane Warne left to bring some hope for the Royals. And the captain did not depart from the field right upto the last over. Needing 8 off 6 balls, Warne and Tanvir were in a fix. However, after some good running, a costly wide, the final delivery from Balaji was batted by Tanvir and sealed the victory for the Royals with the last 1 run. 

Did you watch this match? If you did I’m sure those nails wont need any cutting for at least a year!

The wise men of Indian cricket today announced the squad for the upcoming trination series in Bangladesh and the Asia cup in Pakistan. Uncapped Yusuf Pathan and Pragyan Ojha have been rewarded for their super performances in the IPL with a place in the 15-member Indian squad. The squad that was selected in Mumbai this afternoon, will be led by MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh will be his deputy. Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan requested not to be considered for selection. Former captains Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly failed to make it to the one-day side once again, while Dinesh Karthik and Munaf Patel, who were part of the side that won the CB series in Australia, were also excluded from the team.

Pathan has scored 334 runs at an average of 27.83 from 13 innings with three fifties in the Twenty20 tournament. He also recorded the fastest half-century off 21 balls against the Hyderbad team. The handy all-rounder, who is turning out from the Shane Warne-led Rajasthan team, has also taken five wickets with his off-spin. Ojha, who played for the Hyderabad team that has finished at the bottom of the league, has been selected for his standout performance. The spinner has claimed 11 wickets at an average of 25.81 in the tournament.

Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt and wk), Yuvraj Singh (vice captain), Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha.

With the number of IPL matches that have been shown in the past month, a lot of us have got a little sick of the quick form of the game. One can hardly remember any of the matches if at all. To bring some sanity to the cricket world, there is a Trination ODI series, between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

A mini series with just four matches spread over 4 days, three very powerful teams compete for the title. India of course is a strong contender. All the players are in full form and are ready to strike. Pakistan also has a strong lineup including Afridi and Misbah. And while Bangladesh isn’t strong on paper, they did show their might at the World Cup last year. 

Neo Cricket will be covering these matches Live for Indian viewers. All matches start at 2:30 p.m. IST. 

1st ODI: 2.30 PM on 8th June – Bangladesh vs Pakistan
2nd ODI: 2.30 PM on 10th June – India vs Pakistan
3rd ODI: 2.30 PM on 12th June – Bangladesh vs India
Final: 2.30 PM on 14th June 2008.

PTI - New Delhi: The April 25 slap-gate involving Harbhajan Singh and S Sreesanth threatened to turn uglier before teammates and security guards separated the volatile cricketers from a fisticuff.

After Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth, said a news channel, the standoff prolonged for a few minutes which saw the off-spinner, banned for the rest of the Indian Premier League, having another go at the pacer, nudging and abusing him.

According to the channel, which claimed to have had a look at the video footage, Harbhajan had another go at Sreesanth after he had slapped him while shaking hands with rival players after the match.

Sreesanth, on his part, was not ready to take it lying down and he too lunged at Harbhajan before teammates held him back.

The slapping cost Harbhajan nearly Rs three crore in fine and saw him being banned from the remainder of the ongoing IPL while Sreesanth was let off with a warning by Match Referee Farokh Engineer.

Harbhajan faces further punishement from BCCI which has appointed Advocate Sudhir Nanavati as Commissioner to probe the incident and submit his report to Cricket Board chief Sharad Pawar.

Australia have named a revamped Test squad for the upcoming tour of the West Indies, recalling batsman Simon Katich and including two spin bowlers. Veteran leg spinner Stuart MacGill and left-arm spinner Beau Casson are among 15 players selected in the squad for the three-Test series. All-rounder Ashley Noffke and fast-to-medium bowler Ben Hilfenhaus, both yet to play at Test level, were also named to the squad in which Michael Clarke was named vice-captain after the retirement of Adam Gilchrist. However Clarke, who recently rejected the opportunity to play in the lucrative Indian Premier League to spend more time with his fiancés ill father, will join the team on a later date after asking permission to stay behind. Michael Hussey will be the stand in vice captain until Clarke joins the team.

Cricket Australia also named a 14-man squad for the five one-day internationals against the West Indies, which includes batsman Michael Hussey’s younger brother David for the first time along with 24 year old Shaun Marsh son of former cricketer Geoff Marsh.

Test team: Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke (vice-captain), Beau Casson, Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin, Matthew Hayden, Ben Hilfenhaus, Michael Hussey, Phil Jaques, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Brett Lee, Stuart MacGill, Ashley Noffke, Andrew Symonds.

One-day squad: Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke (vice-captain), Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin, Matthew Hayden, James Hopes, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Shaun Marsh, Andrew Symonds, Cameron White

Australia begin their tour of the West Indies with the first Test in Jamaica on May 22, moving to Antigua for the second from May 30 and the final Test in Barbados on June 12. The one-day internationals, which will follow a one-off Twenty20 match on June 20, begin in St Vincent on June 24 and conclude on July 6 in St Kitts.

You can catch the first Test Match live from Jamaica on ten sports at 20:30 IST on 22nd May, 2008.

The Great Khali, standing 7 feet 3 inches (220 centimeters) and weighing 420 pounds (190 kilograms), has earned prizes, movie roles and piles of money for his prowess on the wrestling mat.

But officials said Thursday that the Indian-born World Wrestling Entertainment star had earned a new reward for his body slams and headlocks — a promotion in Punjab’s police force.

The entertainer, whose real name is Dilip Singh Rana, kept his day job as a police officer in the northern state of Punjab when he moved to the United States to wrestle.Police officials granted him extended sick leave in 2006 and were happy he used that time to become a star.

“He has brought the force international fame and has made us all very proud with his many achievements as a wrestler,” said senior police official Rajan Gupta.”It was the Punjab Police that first nurtured and promoted The Great Khali as a bodybuilder and wrestler,” Gupta said.

Still with the WWE, Rana is expected to return for a stint of police work next week. It’s unclear how long he’ll be with the force.Rana, previously an assistant sub inspector, is now a sub inspector. It wasn’t known if the promotion would raise Rana’s salary from its current 15,000 rupees (US$375; €243) a month.

In addition to wrestling, Rana also acts, playing alongside Adam’s Sandler in “The Longest Yard” in 2005. He has said he would like to continue wrestling and pursue a career in Bollywood. Rana, who made his wrestling debut in April 2006, took his moniker after Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction who wears a necklace of human heads. His biography on the WWE Web site says: “This enormous monster has walked the jungles of India unafraid of pythons and wrestled White Bengal tigers.”

Sharukh to rope in Khali to support the Kolkata Knight Riders!

Bollywood ActorShahrukh Khan seems to have turned desperate. He was on pins and needles when the Indian Premier League (IPL) started a few of weeks ago with his team Kolkata Knight Riders winning two consecutive matches. However, King Khan seems to have sensed the danger following four consecutive defeats later. Now, the news is doing the rounds that he is roping in the one-time WWE Champion the Great Khali to support his team.

It is said that King Khan is doing all he could to lift his team to a safe position. And so, he is said to have offered Rs.3 crore to the Great Khali to cheer for his team. Will the Punjabi giant lift King Khan’s team from the stands? Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Catch the kolkata Knight riders Vs Deccan Chargers live on may 11th May at 20.00 IST on Sony Max.

In body, if not in spirit, New Zealand’s cricketers arrived in England for the start of their three-Test series. Ordinarily, such a tour would represent one of the biggest challenges that any of these players could hope to face but times they are a-changing. Till a week back New Zealand’s five finest players were scattered to four corners of the subcontinent, earning life-changing sums of money in the Indian Premier League. We will have to wait and watch if the New Zealand team can lower gear quickly enough and play a brand of cricket where 4 runs an over is considered exciting and living on the edge. The New Zealanders who are keen to do well in England have a few injury worries with Daniel Vettori nursing a finger injury and wicket keeper Brendon McCullum who is nursing an injury that he picked up while playing in the IPL.

England on the other hand come into this test series relatively better prepared and more focused on the job on hand. With none of their players from the test squad taking part in the IPL and with the probable return on inspirational player Andrew Flintoff, The English squad will be tough to beat Specially given the fact that they will be playing at home. The series will consist of three test matches, five one day internationals and one Twenty20 international.

You can catch New Zealand’s tour to England on Star Cricket. First test match is from the 15th to the 19th may. Match starts at 15.30 IST.