Cricket News

After contrasting fortunes all year, England and West Indies have reached the final of the Champions Trophy

Our Punter's Point article on the problems experienced by spectators at the Rose Bowl produced a level of feedback not seen since the Denness affair in 2001

England and West Indies have played each other almost non-stop over the last seven months, but neither captain was prepared to read much into those results as they prepared for a final fling this season

India-Pakistan and Australia-England might well be the big draw cards at the moment, but those who forget the history and ethos of West Indies-England matches do so at their own peril

Hampshire may have attracted a raft of criticism for their handling of the spectators during the Champions League matches at the Rose Bowl, but that has not deterred their ambitions

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After the West Indies' remarkable victory in the final of the Champions Trophy at The Oval - their first in the finals of an international tournament for 25 years - the English and West Indian press was full of praise for Brian Lara's underdogs

Inzamam-ul-Haq's curious move to bat first in Pakistan's Champions Trophy semi-final game against West Indies has attracted plenty of adverse comment, and most of the team management are already trying to distance themselves from the decision

Brian Lara has said that the hurricanes that lashed the Caribbean islands recently inspired his team to play to their potential in the ICC Champions Trophy recently, where they pulled off a surprise win

South Africa's shellshocked cricket team arrived back home on Tuesday night, with their captain, Graeme Smith, brushing aside the relevance of his side's slump into the bottom four of the recently-updated one-day international rankings

If left to their own devices, one imagines that both England and Pakistan - two of the three teams still remaining in the Champions Trophy - would quite happily pack up their bags and walk away now

West Indies romped to a seven-wicket victory, with 22 overs to spare, against Pakistan in the semi-final at the Rose Bowl, and will now face England in the final at The Oval on Saturday

Roving Reporter by S Rajesh at the Rose Bowl

After a rather one-sided semi-final at the Rose Bowl, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Ramnaresh Sarwan (standing in for the injured Brian Lara) were in predictably contrasting moods in the post-match press conference

Australia's coach, John Buchanan, has scotched suggestions that today's match between Australia and England would give an insight into the teams' prospects for next summer's Ashes series

Australia's left-arm spinner, Brad Hogg, has been ruled out of the remaining matches of the Champions Trophy, after sustaining a tear to his left hamstring

England ended their 14-match losing streak in one-dayers against Australia, thrashing them by six wickets at Edgbaston to enter the finals of the Champions Trophy

On a cold day at Edgbaston, when an ICC Champions Trophy semi-final transformed into an Ashes clash, the crowds stayed away

A West Indies-Pakistan encounter may not quite have the zing of an Australia-England clash, but there are enough entertainers in both sides to make the game a cracker

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