County cricket

Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship competitions played at different levels: the County Championship, a first-class competition which currently involves eighteen first-class county clubs; and the Minor Counties Championship, which currently involves nineteen English county clubs and one club that is representative of several Welsh counties.

History
County cricket started in the eighteenth century, the earliest known inter-county match being played in 1709, though an official County Championship was not instituted until 1890. Having already been badly hit by the Seven Years' War, county cricket ceased altogether during the Napoleonic Wars and there was a period from 1797 to 1824 during which no inter-county matches took place.

Development of county cricket
Inter-county cricket was popular throughout the 18th century, although the best team, such as Kent in the 1740s or Hampshire in the days of the famous Hambledon Club, was usually acknowledged as such by being matched against All-England. The most successful county teams were Hampshire, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex. There was, however, often a crossover between town and county with some strong local clubs tending at times to represent a whole county. Examples are London, which often played against county teams and was in some respects almost a county club in itself; Slindon, which was for a few years in the 1740s effectively representative of Sussex as a county; Dartford, sometimes representative of Kent; and the Hambledon Club, certainly representative of Hampshire and also perhaps of Sussex. One of the best county teams in the late 18th century was Berkshire, which no longer has first-class status.

Virtually tainted Indian cricketer- Vinoo Mankad

Full name Mulvantrai Himmatlal Mankad was a batter who achieved recognition after setting opening partnership of 413 runs, with Pankaj Roy, in 1956, a record that stood for 52 years. Though, the record was shaken up by Neil McKenzie and Graeme Smith in 2008.

Brilliant Brathwaite powers Windies to second World T20 title

West Indies' Carlos Brathwaite smashed England's Ben Stokes for four successive sixes to snatch a sensational four-wicket win in Sunday's World Twenty20 final as the Caribbean side became the first team to win the title twice.

Australia rue middle over woes, fickle T20, Kohli genius

Australia captain Steve Smith, while tipping his hat to a brilliant innings from India's Virat Kohli, was left ruing his team's middle overs malaise after their sixth attempt to win the World Twenty20 came up short in Mohali.

Kohli's magnificent 82 not out from 51 balls helped India overhaul Australia's 160 with five balls to spare on Sunday, sending the hosts into the semi-finals as Group 2 runners-up and  Smith's men home.

Smith was quick to pay tribute to Kohli's "seriously unbelievable" knock but said Australia had contributed to their failure to sustain a challenge for the one major international trophy they have never won.

Dismissing criticism of Australia's preparations and the make-up of the squad, Smith said it had been in the execution of their skills that the players had fallen short.

"You have to try and find your best 15, particularly in these conditions, and I think we had the right 15, we just let ourselves down in key moments," he told reporters in his post-match news conference.

"Obviously we haven't done as well as we'd have liked in this format but hopefully we'll continue to improve."

The "conditions", slow pitches which favour spin bowling, were a recurring theme throughout Smith's postmortem of the campaign but it was the batting in the middle overs that he pinpointed.

"We probably let ourselves down in the middle overs again ... losing a few wickets in clumps, not being able to get that partnerships together to get the score above par to 170-odd, so that was a bit disappointing," Smith added.

"But I think the players will learn a lot from this tournament, playing in these conditions again, it's very valuable and hopefully we can continue to learn and get better."

Smith paid tribute to all-rounder Shane Watson, who took 2-23 and a stunning diving catch to dismiss Yuvraj Singh in his last match as an international cricketer before retirement.

"Obviously there's no real fairytales in sport very often," Smith said of his 34-year-old team mate.

"Shane gave his all as he did every game for Australia, I thought he bowled beautifully tonight and looked like he was 25 again taking that catch."

Smith was in mood to complain about his own dismissal despite television pictures indicating he had been unfortunate to be given out for two.

He said the foundations for Australia's demise had been laid in their opener against New Zealand.

"I think we let ourselves down against New Zealand, we probably should have won that game," Smith said.

"To lose that game by eight (runs) was quite shattering. And we were always chasing our tail from there.

"We had to win every game we played and in Twenty20 cricket that's quite hard. It's quite a fickle game and all it takes is one player going off, like tonight, to take the game away."

England reach semis after holding nerve in last over

England held their nerve to beat Sri Lanka by 10 runs in a thrilling World Twenty20 Group One match on Saturday, reaching the semi-finals and knocking the defending champions out of the tournament.

Jos Buttler struck a blistering unbeaten 66 to power England to a commanding 171 for four after they had made a slow start.

The 2010 winners then returned to blow away Sri Lanka's top order before Angelo Mathews fought off a hamstring injury to drag his team back into the match with a brilliant 73 not out.

Sri Lanka's defeat also dashed South Africa's hopes of qualifying for the last four.

"I think we adapted a lot better today than we did against Afghanistan," said England captain Eoin Morgan, referring to his team's mediocre batting display in their previous match.

"We showed we're capable of playing both smart cricket and aggressive cricket."

Put in to bat, England lost Alex Hales in the second over but Jason Roy (42) and Joe Root (25) added 61 runs in 8.3 overs to steady the innings.

Leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay dismissed both batsmen but Buttler capitalised on the foundation, hitting eight fours and two sixes in a 37-ball blitz.


Morgan made 22 before being run out and Ben Stokes smashed the last ball, the only delivery he faced, from Thisara Perera for six.

Sri Lanka made a dismal start to their reply as openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Dinesh Chandimal were dismissed inside the first eight deliveries.

Milinda Siriwardena and Lahiru Thirimanne also went as Mathews' side slumped to 15 for four.

Skipper Mathews and Chamara Kapugedera (30) revived their hopes, mixing caution with aggression and smashing three sixes off an Adil Rashid over that produced 21 runs.

Perera also scored 20 quick runs down the order but Mathews looked tired by the end and could only score four of the 15 runs required from the last over by Stokes.

"We had nothing to lose after we were 15 for four," said Mathews. "Myself and Kapugedera decided we'd target a few bowlers.

"It worked but unfortunately I didn't have a (frontline) batter with me in the last couple of overs. It was a really good wicket...if we had another batter we could have got over the line."

Buttler was named man-of-the-match for his typically belligerent knock.

West Indies reach semi-finals after last-over win

West Indies beat South Africa by three wickets in a low-scoring thriller in their World Twenty20 Super 10 match on Friday to join New Zealand in the semi-finals.

This day- Birth of Eknath Solkar in 1948

Birth of Eknath Solkar, the best short-leg fielder to ever grace the game.

India vs NZ

The day Test cricket began in 1877

The day Test cricket began. The match between Australia and England, at the MCG, was only subsequently awarded Test status, and was originally billed as "All England v A Combined New South Wales and Victoria XI". Neither side was at full strength: Australia, who were effectively a combined Melbourne and Sydney XI, had no Frederick Spofforth. England had no amateurs - which meant no Grace, for a start - and no wicketkeeper, after Surrey's Ted Pooley was arrested in New Zealand the day after a gambling scam. Australia's Charles Bannerman, who was born in Kent, faced the first ball from Alfred Shaw, scored the first run, off the next ball, and the first hundred as well. He went on to 165 - the only century of his first-class career - before retiring hurt when George Ulyett smashed one of his fingers. In all, he scored 67.3% of his team's total of 245, which is still a record, 130-odd years later. Australia eventually won by 45 runs: on the same ground 100 years later, they beat England by exactly the same margin in the Centenary Test, which was arranged to celebrate this inaugural match.

The "Crowe" takes a leave

Martin Crowe, a cricketer of prodigious talent who made batting appear effortless while secretly struggling with the burden of being a world-class player in otherwise modest New Zealand teams, died of cancer Thursday. He was 53.

Happy Birthday to flamboyant Afridi

A very happy birthday to a player who can be a nightmare for any bowling attack.

Pakistan vs UAE

The Long lived T20 player- Farokh Engineer

His active international career started in 1961 and continued to 1975, and he was India's first-choice wicket-keeper for most of that period, keeping wicket for the spin quartet of Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar and Venkataraghavan..

Brendon McCullum bids adieu to international cricket but not Test records

Brendon McCulum provided himself with a perfect farewell from international cricket. In the second Test the Kiwi skipper came to bat when New Zealand were struggling at 32/3.

On19 February, 1980, Ian Botham became the first cricketer to take 10 wickets & score a 100 in the same Test match. He took 14 for 106 & scored a brilliant 114 against India at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. Botham’s heroics helped England to win the Golden Jubilee Test by 10 wickets.

Happy Birthday AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers, the falmboyant batter from Proteas turned 32 on Wednesday. Nicknamed, Mr. 360. de :-

Villiers has turned the way of playing the game on its head. Some of the giants of the game had these to quote about ABD

AB de Villiers is changing the rules of the game- Rahul Dravid

Happy Birthday Michael Holding

Possibly one of deadliest bowlers of all time, Michael Holding turns 62.

He was nicknamed 'Whispering Death' as he never showed mercy to his opponent willow holders.

One of the instance of these came in Barbados when the West Indies were up against England.

Geoff Boycott was facing Michael Holding.

The first five balls of the over were 'used' to soften the batter and the sixth took his off stump for a toss.

Many more such spells were bowled by Michael Holding. 

IPL 2016 Auction

                                                             (Source: BCCI)

Kevin Pietersen sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 3.5 crores

Dwayne Smith sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs.2.3 crores

Ishant Sharma sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 3.8 crores

Shane Watson sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs.9.5 crores

Ashish Nehra sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs.5.5 crores

Yuvraj Singh sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs. 7 crores

Dale Steyn sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 2.3 crores

Sanju Samson sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs.4.2 crores

Jos Buttler sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs. 3.8 crores

Dinesh Karthik sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs.2.3 crores

Irfan Pathan sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 1 crore

Chris Morris sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 7 crores

Colin Munro sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs.30 lakhs

Stuart Binny sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs.2 crores

Mitchell Marsh sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs.4.8 crores

Dhawal Kulkarni sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 2 crores

John Hastings sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs.1.3 crores

Mohit Sharma sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs.6.50 crores

Praveen Kumar sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 3.50 crores

Tim Southee sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs.2.50 crores

Marcus Stoinis sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs. 5.50 crores

Kyle Abbott sold to kings XI Punjab for Rs. 2.10 crores

Jaydev Unadkat  sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs. 1.60 crores

Rudra Pratap Singh sold to Rising Oune Supergiants for Rs. 30 lakhs

Travis Head  sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 50 lakhs

Sachin Baby sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 10 Lakhs

 Mustafizur Rahman sold to Sun Risers Hyderabad for Rs. 1.40 crores

Barinder Singh Sran sold to Sun Risers Hyderabad for Rs.1.20 crores 

Abhimanyu Mithun sold to Sun Risers Hyderabad for Rs. 30 Lakhs

Carlos Brathwaite sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 4.20 crores

Karun Nair sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 4 crores

Paras Dogra sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 10Lakhs

Ishan Kishan sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 35 Lakhs

Rishabh Pant sold to Delhi daredevils for Rs. 1.90 crores

Eklavya Dwivedi sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 1 crore

Aditya Tare sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for 1.20 crores

Ankit Sharma sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs.10 Lakhs

Pawan Negi sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 8.50 crores 

Iqbal Abdullah sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 10 Lakhs

Rajat Bhatia sold to rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 60 Lakhs

Pradeep Sangwan sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 20 Lakhs

Deepak Hooda sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs. 4.2 crore

Ankit Singh Rajpoot sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs. 1.50 crores

Nathu Singh sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs. 3.20 crores

Praveen Tambe sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 20 Lakhs

Shivil Kaushik sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 10 Lakhs

Sarabjeet Ladda sold to Gujarat Lions for 10 Lakhs

M Ashwin sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for 4.50 crores

KC Cariappa sold to Kings XI Punjab for 80 Lakhs

Aaron Finch sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 1 crore

Sam Billings sold to Delhi Daredevills for Rs. 30 Lakhs

T Suman sold to Sun Risers Hyderabad for Rs. 10 Lakhs

Ankush Bains sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 10 Lakhs

Umang Sharma sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 10 Lakhs

Peter Handscomb sold to Rising Pune Supergiants Rs. 30 Lakhs

Jitesh Sharma sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs. 10 Lakhs

Armaan Jaffer sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs. 10 Lakhs

Jason Holder sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs. 70 Lakhs 

Thisara Perera sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 1 crore

Ben Cutting sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs. 50 Lakhs

Andrew Tye sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 50 Lakhs

Praveen Dubey sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 35 Lakhs

R. Satish sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs. 20 Lakhs

Vijay Shankar sold to SunRisers Hyderabad for Rs. 35 Lakhs

S. Jakati sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 20 Lakhs

Akshay Karnewar sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 10 lakhs

Aksh Deep Nath sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 10 Lakhs

Manan Sharma sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs. 10 Lakhs

Baba Aparajith sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 10 Lakhs

Deepak Chahar sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 10 Lakhs

KP Kamath sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs.1.40 crores

 Pradeep Sahu sold to Kings XI for Rs. 10 Lakhs

Krunal Pandya  sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs. 2 crores

Deepak Puniya sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs. 10 Lakhs

Swapnil Singh sold to Kings XI Punjab for 10 Lakhs

SK Ahmed sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 10 Lakhs

Jaydev Shah sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 20 Lakhs

Pratyush Singh sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 10 Lakhs

Ashok Dinda sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 50 Lakhs

Kane Richardson sold to Royal Challeneger Bangalore for Rs. 2 crores

Samuel Badree sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 50 lakhs

Joel Paris sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs.30 Lakhs

Scott Boland sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 50 Lakhs

Vikramjeet Malik sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 20 Lakhs

Pawan Suyal sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 10 Lakhs

Adam Zampa sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 30 Lakhs

Amit Mishra sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs. 10 Lakhs

Jaskaran Singh sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 10 Lakhs

CV Millind sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 10 Lakhs

Vikas Tokas sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 10 Lakhs

India's new thoughts about T20Is

The Indian team have taken a new turn when it comes down to the shortest format.

India concludes series with a whitewash

Indian team ferociously came as a nightmare for the Australian line up in the shortest format.

They took an unassailable lead of 2-0 at Melbourne in the three-match T20I series but what happened at Sydney was simply spectacular.

Australians were playing to save their pride where India were looking to cap off the tour with a whitewash.

On a batting paradise the Australian skipper Shane Watson decided to have bat first after wiining the toss.

The toss was though the only thing that went in Australia's favor.

India creates history at MCG

A mind boggling performance from team India helped them clinch another T20I win and 3rd on the
trot. After a roller-coaster ODI series and eventually losing the limited overs matches, the Men in Blue made certain changes with the side in the T20I seris.

New Zealand's best left-arm spinner

The birth of New Zealand's best left-arm spinner. His scruffy, studenty appearance suggested the

Brian Lara upset with "send off"

The veteran Caribbean batter Brian Lara has been disappointed with Shivnarine Chanderpaul's send

Shivnarine Chanderpaul bids adieu

The batsman with the unorthodox batting stance in World cricket Shivnarine Chanderpaul has called it a day from all forms of the game. The long handle holder has finished his cricketing innings as the second highest Test run-getter for West Indies. He is just behind  Brian Lara who has a lead of 86 runs when it comes to over all comparison. He scored 30 Test tons in his entire cricketing span and scored a massive 11,867 runs.

Hanif Mohammad's lazy save

Pakistan veteran willow holder played what was one of the most important and slow innings. He saved a match against West Indies in Barbados. Mohammad batted for 970 minutes (that's over 16 hours, or nearly 11 football matches). He scored a mammoth 337 to save the encounter. In Hanif's match, Pakistan had followed on, the small matter of 473 runs behind - they made 657 for 8 from a mere 319 overs.

Bhagwat Subramanya Chandrasekhar

Chandrasekhar was born in 1945 in Mysore, where he had his primary education. He developed an early interest in cricket watching the playing styles of Australian leg spinner Richie Benaud. An attack of polio at the age of six left his right arm withered. At the age of 10, his hand had recovered and Chandrasekhar started playing cricket.

Arthur Morris

An Invincible run-machine is born. At the age of 18 Arthur Morris was the first man to make a century in both innings of his first-class debut, and so it wasn't a great surprise that he made three hundreds in his first four Tests against England in 1946-47. He also hammered a glorious 182 when the Aussie Invincibles chased 404 for 3 to beat England at Headingley in 1948, adding 301 with Don Bradman. But he was vulnerable to Alec Bedser, who dismissed him 18 times, a Test record until Glenn McGrath went one better with Mike Atherton in 2001.