http://www.rediff.com/cricket/index.html India's largest news and entertainment service online. en-us Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:24:11 GMT Copyright: (C) 2008 Rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved. http://www.rediff.com/uim/red_log.gif http://www.rediff.com/ 144 28 Visit rediff.com http://www.rediff.com/rss/redirect.php?url=http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/jul/18eng.htm South Africa's Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn each claimed four wickets as England were dismissed for 203 at tea on the first day of the second Test at Headingley on Friday. Morkel claimed four for 52 and his fellow paceman Steyn four for 76 to vindicate their captain's decision to bowl first in favourable dull and humid conditions. http://www.rediff.com/rss/redirect.php?url=http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/jul/18india.htm The Indians dismissed Sri Lanka Board XI for a modest 224 on a rain-truncated first day of the three-day warm-up match in Colombo. In reply, the tourists were 4 for the loss of Gautam Gambhir's wicket. http://www.rediff.com/rss/redirect.php?url=http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/jul/18sho.htm Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has been left out of a Champions Trophy training camp after the Pakistan Cricket Board blocked his attendance over an unpaid fine. Chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed said the board had not cleared Shoaib to be among the 24-man party despite being named in the initial preliminary squad for the Sept 11-28 tournament. http://www.rediff.com/rss/redirect.php?url=http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/jul/18star.htm Reader Sharad Mehrotra sent us this picture from Switzerland. http://www.rediff.com/rss/redirect.php?url=http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/jul/18dan.htm Tired of being overlooked by the selectors, Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria is toying with the idea of switching sides and playing for England. The 27-year-old leg-spinner said he has enough cricket left in him and would not hesitate to switch sides if Pakistan continues to ignore him. http://www.rediff.com/rss/redirect.php?url=http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/jul/18icl.htm Test batsman Vangipurappu Laxman was set to join Nottinghamshire after a three-Test series against Sri Lanka, while leg-spinner Piyush Chawla was to sign up with Hampshire. Both players have been told to avoid teams with links to the ICL. http://www.rediff.com/rss/redirect.php?url=http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/jul/17celeb.htm Reader Sandeep sent us this picture from Singapore. http://www.rediff.com/rss/redirect.php?url=http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/jul/17mendis.htm Having bamboozled batsmen in the recent Asia Cup, Sri Lanka's 'mystery' spinner Ajantha Mendis sought to put Indian batsmen on the backfoot ahead of the Test series by Thursday disclosing that he was working on a new delivery to add more variety to his armoury. http://www.rediff.com/rss/redirect.php?url=http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/jul/17arjuna.htm In an apparent reference to Indian ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga on Thursday came down heavily on players dodging Test cricket to play in cash-rich Twenty20 leagues. http://www.rediff.com/rss/redirect.php?url=http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/jul/17john.htm Former India coach John Wright has been touted as the first choice to replace John Bracewell as New Zealand coach after the New Zealand Cricket Board openly invited the former Kiwi batsman to take the reins of the senior side.