Struggling Mitchell Johnson has found much needed support from teammate and stumper Brad Haddin, who reckons that the Australian paceman was still making an impact in their Ashes defence.

Troubled Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar's career is as good as over, bowling great Wasim Akram said on Monday.

Ian Bell will replace injured Kevin Pietersen at number four in the England batting order in this week's third Ashes Test against Australia, captain Andrew Strauss said on Monday.

Former England opener Geoffrey Boycott believes he was technically superior to Sunil Gavaskar even though his Yorkshire teammate Dicky Bird feels otherwise.

England captain Andrew expressed concern about his leading Test players suffering burn-out or pick up injuries playing in the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament.

Reader Anand Nanivadekar sent us this photograph from Mumbai.

PCB chairman Ijaz Butt confirmed on Tuesday that it would adjourn its legal proceedings to allow further discussions about the 2011 tournament which had originally included 14 matches to be staged in Pakistan.

Former Australian captain Allan Border on Tuesday advised struggling pacer Mitchell Johnson to take a break international cricket for a week to recapture his rhythm.

Andrew Flintoff, retiring from Test cricket after the series, has been resting the creaking body he hopes will carry him through three more matches in the Ashes series and captain Andrew Strauss knows he must handle his leading bowler carefully.

Bangladesh claimed their first one-day series success over a current Test-playing nation with a three-wicket victory over West Indies on Tuesday to secure a 2-0 lead with one match remaining. The triumph adds to the successful tour of the Caribbean

Shahid Afridi's dream of leading the Pakistan team came true as the flamboyant all-rounder was on Wednesday appointed captain for the one-off Twenty20 match against Sri Lanka next month.

An emergency meeting of the Cricket Board's all-powerful Working Committee has been convened here on August 2 but the agenda for the same is not yet known.

Legends Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Matthew Hayden will return to the field to launch the 2009-10 season in an All Star Twenty20 match at the Gabba in Brisbane, Cricket Australia and the Australia Cricketers' Association announced on Wednesday.

West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach and his team were dealt misery on top of their one-day series loss to Bangladesh after being fined for breach of the International Cricket Council code of conduct.

Newer faces, fresher talents may have displaced Rahul Dravid from his once eminent position in the cricket pantheon but he is still capable of starting a riot in his native city, Bengaluru. It started innocently enough, with Dravid appearing at

Australia have failed to guarantee struggling spearhead Mitchell Johnson a place in the third Test and counselled him about his poor body language.

Former Australia left-armer Tony Dell believes a decent coach such as fellow international Geoff Dymock would fix Mitchell Johnson's problems in 10 minutes.

Ben Hilfenhaus was six when Terry Alderman was running through England in 1989 with his clever mixture of swing and seam.

Edgbaston's curator may have solved Australia's pace bowling dilemma by claiming they should sack spinner Nathan Hauritz for a third Test pitch tipped to be a "traditional English seamer".

England batsman Ian Bell admits his poor record against Australia is in the back of his mind going into the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston.