LIST OF ASHES SERIES AND MATCHES

Series and matches

The quest to "recover those ashes"

Later in 1882, following the famous Australian victory at The Oval, Bligh led an England team to Australia, as he said, to "recover those ashes". Publicity surrounding the series was intense, and it was at some time during this series that the Ashes urn was crafted. Australia won the First Test by nine wickets, but in the next two England were victorious. At the end of the Third Test, England were generally considered to have "won back the Ashes" 2–1. A fourth match was played, against a "United Australian XI", which was arguably stronger than the Australian sides that had competed in the previous three matches; this game, however, is not generally considered part of the 1882–83 series. It is counted as a Test, but as a standalone. 1884 to 1896
After Bligh's victory, there was an extended period of English dominance. The tours generally had fewer Tests in the 1880s and 1890s than people have grown accustomed to in more recent years, the first five-Test series taking place only in 1894–95. England lost only four Ashes Tests in the 1880s out of 23 played, and they won all the seven series contested.
There was more chopping and changing in the teams, given that there was no official board of selectors for each country (in 1887–88, two separate English teams were on tour in Australia) and popularity with the fans varied. The 1890s games were more closely fought, Australia taking their first series win since 1882 with a 2–1 victory in 1891–92. But England dominated, winning the next three series to 1896 despite continuing player disputes.
The 1894–95 series began in sensational fashion when England won the First Test at Sydney by just 10 runs having followed on. Australia had scored a massive 586 (Syd Gregory 201, George Giffen 161) and then dismissed England for 325. But England responded with 437 and then dramatically dismissed Australia for 166 with Bobby Peel taking 6 for 67. At the close of the second last day's play, Australia were 113–2, needing only 64 more runs. But heavy rain fell overnight and next morning the two slow left-arm bowlers, Peel and Johnny Briggs, were all but unplayable. England went on to win the series 3–2 after it had been all square before the Final Test, which England won by 6 wickets. The English heroes were Peel, with 27 wickets in the series at an average of 26.70, and Tom Richardson, with 32 at 26.53.
In 1896 England under the captaincy of W G Grace won the series 2–1, and this marked the end of England's longest period of Ashes dominance. 1897 to 1902
Australia resoundingly won the 1897–98 series by 4–1 under the captaincy of Harry Trott. His successor Joe Darling won the next three series in 1899, 1901–02 and the classic 1902 series, which became one of the most famous in the history of Test cricket.
Five matches were played in 1902 but the first two were drawn after being hit by bad weather. In the First Test (the first played at Edgbaston), after scoring 376 England bowled out Australia for 36 (Wilfred Rhodes 7/17) and reduced them to 46–2 when they followed on. Australia won the Third and Fourth Tests at Bramall Lane and Old Trafford respectively. At Old Trafford, Australia won by just 3 runs after Victor Trumper had scored 104 on a "bad wicket", reaching his hundred before lunch on the first day. England won the last Test at The Oval by one wicket. Chasing 263 to win, they slumped to 48–5 before Jessop's 104 gave them a chance. He reached his hundred in just 75 minutes. The last wicket pair of George Hirst and Rhodes were left with 15 runs to get, and duly got them. When Rhodes joined him, Hirst is famously supposed to have said: "We'll get them in singles, Wilfred." The story appears to be apocryphal and they are believed to have scored at least one two among the singles.
The period of Darling's captaincy saw the emergence of outstanding Australian players such as Trumper, Warwick Armstrong, James Kelly, Monty Noble, Clem Hill, Hugh Trumble and Ernie Jones.
Reviving the Ashes legend
After what the MCC saw as the problems of the earlier professional and amateur series they decided to take control of organising tours themselves, and this led to the first MCC tour of Australia in 1903–04. England won it against the odds, and Plum Warner, the England captain, wrote up his version of the tour in his book How We Recovered The Ashes.[13] The title of this book revived the Ashes legend and it was after this that England v Australia series were customarily referred to as "The Ashes". 1905 to 1912
England and Australia were evenly matched until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Five more series took place between 1905 and 1912. In 1905 England's captain Stanley Jackson not only won the series 2–0, but also won the toss in all five matches and headed both the batting and the bowling averages. Monty Noble led Australia to victory in both 1907–08 and 1909. Then England won in 1911–12 by four matches to one. Jack Hobbs establishing himself as England's first-choice opening batsman with three centuries, while Frank Foster (32 wickets at 21.62) and Sydney Barnes (34 wickets at 22.88) formed a formidable bowling partnership.
England retained the Ashes when they won the 1912 Triangular Tournament, which also featured South Africa. The Australian touring party had been severely weakened by a dispute between the board and players that caused Clem Hill, Victor Trumper, Warwick Armstrong, Tibby Cotter, Sammy Carter and Vernon Ransford to be omitted.[14]
1920 to 1933
After the war, Australia took firm control of both the Ashes and world cricket. For the first time, the tactic of using two express bowlers in tandem paid off as Jack Gregory and Ted McDonald regularly destroyed the England batting. Australia recorded thumping victories both in England and on home soil. They won the first eight matches in succession and England won only one Test out of 15 from the end of the war until 1925. England suffered a 5–0 whitewash in 1920–1921 at the hands of Warwick Armstrong's team.[15]
In a rain-hit series in 1926, England managed to eke out a 1–0 victory with a win in the final Test at The Oval. Because the series was at stake, the match was to be "timeless", i.e., played to a finish. Australia had a narrow first innings lead of 22. Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe took the score to 49–0 at the end of the second day, a lead of 27. Heavy rain fell overnight, and next day the pitch soon developed into a traditional sticky wicket. England seemed doomed to be bowled out cheaply and to lose the match. In spite of the very difficult batting conditions, however, Hobbs and Sutcliffe took their partnership to 172 before Hobbs was out for exactly 100. Sutcliffe went on to make 161 and England won the game comfortably.[16]
Despite the debut of Donald Bradman, Australia could not win the next series in 1928–29, losing 4–1.[17] England had a very strong batting side, with Wally Hammond contributing 905 runs at an average of 113.12, and Hobbs, Sutcliffe and Patsy Hendren all scoring heavily; the bowling was more than adequate, without being outstanding.
But Bradman fulfilled his promise in the 1930 series when he scored a remarkable 974 runs at 139.14. In the Headingley Test, he made 334, reaching 309* at the end of the first day, including a century before lunch. Bradman himself thought that his 254 in the preceding match, at Lord's, was a better innings. England managed to stay in contention until the deciding final Test at The Oval, but yet another double hundred by Bradman, and 7–92 by Percy Hornibrook in England's second innings, enabled Australia to win by an innings and take the series 2–1. Clarrie Grimmett's 29 wickets at 31.89 for Australia in this high-scoring series were also important.
Australia had one of the best batting line-ups ever in the early 1930s with Bradman, Archie Jackson, Stan McCabe, Bill Woodfull and Bill Ponsford. It was the prospect of bowling at this line-up that caused England's 1932–33 captain Douglas Jardine to adopt the tactic of fast leg theory, also known as bodyline.


Bill Woodfull evades a ball from Harold Larwood with Bodyline field settings.
Jardine instructed his fast bowlers to bowl at the bodies of the Australian batsmen, with the goal of forcing them to defend their bodies with their bats, thus providing easy catches to a stacked leg-side field. Jardine insisted that the tactic was legitimate and called it "leg theory" but it was widely disparaged by its opponents, who dubbed it "bodyline" (from "on the line of the body"). Although England won the Ashes, bodyline caused such a furore in Australia that diplomats had to intervene to prevent serious harm to Anglo-Australian relations, and the MCC eventually changed the Laws of cricket to prevent anyone from using the tactic again.
Jardine's comment was: "I've not travelled 6,000 miles to make friends. I'm here to win the Ashes".[18]
Although some of Woodfull's men asked him to use the same tactic against the England team, he declined. He famously told England manager Pelham Warner, "There are two teams out there. One is playing cricket; the other is making no attempt to do so".[19]
1934 to 1953
On the batting-friendly wickets that prevailed in the late 1930s, most Tests up to the Second World War still gave results. It should be borne in mind that Tests in Australia prior to the war were all played to a finish. Many batting records were set in this period.
The 1934 Ashes series began with the notable absence of the English players Harold Larwood, Bill Voce and Douglas Jardine. The MCC had made it clear, in light of the revelations of the bodyline series, that these players would not face Australia. It should be noted that the MCC, although it had earlier condoned and encouraged[citation needed] bodyline tactics in the 1932–33 series, laid the blame on Harold Larwood when relations turned sour. Larwood was forced by the MCC either to apologise for using bodyline or be removed from the Test side. He went for the latter.
Australia recovered the Ashes in 1934 and held them until 1953, although no international cricket was possible during the Second World War.
As in 1930, the 1934 series was decided in the final Test at The Oval. Australia, batting first, posted a massive 701 in the first innings. Bradman (244) and Ponsford (266) were in record-breaking form with a partnership of 451 for the second wicket. England eventually faced a massive 707 run target for victory and failed, Australia winning the series 2–1.[20]
In 1936–37 Bradman succeeded Woodfull as Australian captain. He won his first series in charge 3–2. The 1938 series was drawn 1–1, Australia retaining the Ashes. The highlight was Len Hutton's then world record score of 364 at The Oval. After the war, England toured in 1946–47 and, as in 1920–21, found that Australia had made the best post-war recovery. Still captained by Bradman and now featuring the potent new ball partnership of Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller, Australia were convincing 3–0 winners.
In 1948 Australia created new standards, completely outplaying England to win 4–0 with one draw. This Australian team, led by the now 39-year-old Bradman on his final tour of England, has gone down in cricketing legend as The Invincibles. Playing 36 first-class matches on tour, including the five Tests, they remained unbeaten by winning 27 and drawing only 9.
The 1948 series ended with one of the most poignant moments in cricket history, as Bradman played his final innings for Australia in the Fifth Test at The Oval, needing to score only 4 runs to maintain a career batting average of 100. Eric Hollies bowled him second ball for a duck with a googly, sending him into retirement with a career average of 99.94.
Bradman was succeeded as Australian captain by Lindsay Hassett, who led the team to another resounding victory in 1950–51, when they defeated England 4–1.
But the tide finally turned in 1953 when England won the final Test at The Oval to take the series 1–0. This was the beginning of a great period in English cricket history with players like captain Len Hutton, Fred Trueman, Brian Statham, Alec Bedser, Jim Laker, Peter May, Tom Graveney, Godfrey Evans and Colin Cowdrey.
1954 to 1971
In 1954–55, Australia's batsmen had no answer to the pace of Frank Tyson and Brian Statham. After winning the First Test, Australia lost its way and England took a hat-trick of victories to win the series 3–1.[21]
A see-sawing series in 1956 saw a record that will probably never be beaten: off-spinner Jim Laker's monumental effort at Old Trafford when he bowled 68 of 191 overs to take nineteen out of twenty possible Australian wickets.[22] Never has the phrase "he won the match single-handedly" been more appropriate.
England's dominance was not to last. Australia won 4–0 in 1958–59, having found a good bowler of their own in new skipper Richie Benaud, who took 31 wickets in the five-Test series.
England failed to win any series during the 1960s, a period dominated by draws as teams found it more prudent to save face than risk losing. Of a total of 25 Ashes Tests playing during this decade, Australia won seven and England three. It was in the 1960s that the predominance of England and Australia in world cricket was seriously challenged for the first time. West Indies defeated England twice in the mid-sixties and South Africa, in its last series before it was banned, completely outplayed Australia.
In 1970–71, Ray Illingworth led England to a 2–0 win in Australia, mainly because of John Snow's fast bowling, while Geoffrey Boycott and John Edrich scored the runs. It was not until the last session of what was the 7th Test (one match having been abandoned without a ball bowled) that England's success was secured. The Australian captain Bill Lawry was sacked in the middle of the series after the selectors lost patience with Australia's lack of success and dour strategy. Lawry was not informed of the decision privately and heard his fate over the radio,[23] a medium in which he later made another successful career.
1972 to 1987
The 1972 series finished 2–2, with England under Illingworth retaining the Ashes.[24]
In the 1974–75 series, with the England team breaking up and their best batsman Geoff Boycott refusing to play, Australian pace bowlers Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee wreaked havoc. A 4–1 result was a fair reflection as England were left shell shocked.[25] England then lost the 1975 series 0–1, but at least restored some pride under new captain Tony Greig.[26]
Australia won the 1977 Centenary Test[27] which was not an Ashes contest, but then a storm broke as Kerry Packer announced his intention to form World Series Cricket.[28] WSC affected all Test playing nations but it weakened Australia especially as the bulk of its players had signed up with Packer; the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) would not select WSC-contracted players and an almost completely new Test team had to be formed. WSC coincided with the decline of both the Australian and English teams; the Ashes had long been seen as a cricket world championship but the rise of the West Indies in the late 1970s challenged that view. The West Indies would go on to record resounding Test series wins over Australia and England and dominated world cricket until the 1990s.
With Greig having joined WSC, England appointed Mike Brearley as their captain and he enjoyed great success against Australia. Largely assisted by the return of Geoff Boycott, Brearley's England team won the 1977 series 3–0 and then completed an overwhelming 5–1 series win against an Australian side missing its WSC players in 1978–79. Allan Border made his Test debut for Australia in 1978–79.
Brearley retired from Test cricket in 1979 and was succeeded by Ian Botham, who started the 1981 series as England captain. After Australia took a 1–0 lead in the first two Tests, Botham was forced to resign or was sacked (depending on the source). Brearley surprisingly agreed to be reappointed before the Third Test at Headingley. This was a remarkable match in which Australia looked certain to take a 2–0 series lead after they had forced England to follow-on 227 runs behind. England, despite being 135 for 7, produced a second innings total of 356 with ex-skipper Botham scoring 149*. Chasing just 130, Australia were sensationally dismissed for 111, Bob Willis taking 8/43. It was the first time since 1894–95 that a team following on had won a Test match. Under Brearley's leadership, England went on to win the next two matches before a drawn final match at The Oval.[29]
In 1982–83 Australia had Greg Chappell back from WSC as captain, while the England team was weakened by the enforced omission of their South African tour rebels, particularly Graham Gooch and John Emburey. Australia went 2–0 up after three Tests, but England won the Fourth Test by 3 runs (after a 70-run last wicket stand) to set up the final decider, which was drawn.[30]
In 1985 David Gower's England team was strengthened by the return of Gooch and Emburey as well as the emergence at international level of Tim Robinson and Mike Gatting. Australia, now captained by Allan Border, had themselves been weakened by a rebel South African tour, the loss of Terry Alderman being a particular factor. England won 3–1.
Despite suffering heavy defeats against the West Indies during the 1980s, England continued to do well in the Ashes. Mike Gatting was the captain in 1986–87 but his team started badly and attracted some criticism.[31] Then Chris Broad scored three hundreds in successive Tests and bowling successes from Graham Dilley and Gladstone Small meant England won the series 2-1.[32] At the time, few would have predicted that England would have to wait until 2005 to win the Ashes again.
1989 to 2003
The Australian team of 1989 was comparable to the great Australian teams of the past, and resoundingly defeated England 4–0.[33] Well led by Allan Border, the team included the young cricketers Mark Taylor, Merv Hughes, David Boon, Ian Healy and Steve Waugh, who were all to prove long-serving and successful Ashes competitors. England, now led once again by David Gower, suffered from injuries and poor form. During the Fourth Test news broke that prominent England players had agreed to take part in a "rebel tour" of South Africa the following winter; three of them (Tim Robinson, Neil Foster and John Emburey) were playing in the match, and were subsequently dropped from the England side.[34]
Australia reached a cricketing peak in the 1990s and early 2000s, coupled with a general decline in England's fortunes. After re-establishing its credibility in 1989, Australia underlined its superiority with victories in the 1990–91, 1993, 1994–95, 1997, 1998–99, 2001 and 2002–03 series, all by convincing margins.
Great Australian players in the early years included batsmen Allan Border, David Boon and Mark Taylor. The captaincy passed from Border to Taylor in the mid-1990s and then to Steve Waugh before the 2001 series. In the latter part of the 1990s Waugh himself, along with his twin brother Mark, scored heavily for Australia and fast bowler Glenn McGrath made a serious impact. The wicketkeeper-batsman position was held by Ian Healy for most of the 1990s and by Adam Gilchrist from 2001 to 2006–07. In the 2000s, batsmen Justin Langer, Damien Martyn and Matthew Hayden became noted players for Australia. But the most dominant Australian player was legspinner Shane Warne, whose first delivery in Ashes cricket in 1993 became known as the ball of the century.
Australia's record between 1989 and 2005 had a significant impact on the statistics between the two sides. Before the 1989 series began, the win-loss ratio was almost even, with 87 wins for Australia to England's 86, 74 having been drawn.[35] By the 2005 series Australia's wins had increased to 115 whereas England's had increased to only 93 (and a further 82 draws).[36] In the period between 1989 and the beginning of the 2005 series, the two sides had played 43 times; Australia winning 28 times, England 7 times, with 8 draws. Only a single England victory had come in a match in which the Ashes were still at stake, namely the First Test of the 1997 series. All others were consolation victories when the Ashes had been secured by Australia.[37]
2005 to present
England began to recover in the early 2000s and were undefeated in Test matches through the 2004 calendar year. This elevated them to second in the ICC Test Championship. Hopes that the 2005 Ashes series would be closely fought proved well founded, as the series was more competitive than anyone had predicted and was still undecided as the closing session of the final Test began. Experienced journalists including Richie Benaud rated the series as the most exciting in living memory. It has been compared with the great series of the distant past, such as 1894–95 and 1902.
The First Test at Lord's was convincingly won by Australia, but in the remaining four matches the teams were evenly matched and England fought back to win the Second Test by 2 runs, the smallest victory by a runs margin in Ashes history, and the second-closest such victory in all Tests. The rain-affected Third Test ended with the last two Australian batsmen holding out for a draw and England won the Fourth Test by three wickets after forcing Australia to follow-on for the first time in 191 Tests. A draw in the final Test gave England victory in an Ashes series for the first time in 18 years and their first Ashes victory at home since 1985.
Australia regained The Ashes in the 2006–07 series with a convincing 5–0 victory, the second time an Ashes series has been won by that margin. Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Justin Langer retired from Test cricket after the series, having been the backbone of the Australian team for almost a decade. Damien Martyn also retired during the series.[38]
The current series is being played in England & Wales in 2009, where England have taken a 1–0 series lead after the 2nd Test at Lord's, England´s first Ashes win at Lord's for 75 years.

LIST OF ASHES SERIES

List of Ashes series



The Ashes urn, which is held by the most recent team to win an Ashes series
This is a list of Ashes cricket series played between Australia and England. Most Ashes series have consisted of five Test matches between the two countries. The Ashes series with the fewest Test matches was 1887–88, consisting of only one Test. The seven-Test 1970–71 series was the one with the most matches.[1] The first Ashes series was held in Australia and since then the duty of hosting has been shared between Australia and England.
The Ashes is a fiercely contested competition. England won the first eight series in a row and only lost one in the first twelve. Australia then won four series in a row, before England reclaimed the Ashes in the 1926 series. The contest after 1934 has been dominated by Australia who have held the Ashes for long periods of time, including from 1934 to 1953, from 1959 to 1971 and from 1989 to 2005. The longest period of time that England has held the Ashes after 1934 was from 1953 to 1959.
Australia currently holds the Ashes after regaining them on 18 December 2006, when it took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five Test 2006–07 Ashes series. England had previously disrupted Australia's 16 year reign by defeating them in the 2005 series. Overall, the Australians have won 31 series, England have won 28 and there have been 5 drawn series. A total of 64 Ashes series have been played; the next will be played in England in 2009.


List of Ashes series
Series Season Played in First match Tests
played (sched) Tests won
by Australia Tests won
by England Tests
drawn Series
result Holder at
series end
1 1882–83[2]
Australia 30 December 1882 3 1 2 0 England England
2 1884
England 11 July 1884 3 0 1 2 England England
3 1884–85
Australia 12 December 1884 5 2 3 0 England England
4 1886
England 5 July 1886 3 0 3 0 England England
5 1886–87
Australia 28 January 1887 2 0 2 0 England England
6 1887–88
Australia 10 February 1888 1 0 1 0 England England
7 1888
England 16 July 1888 3 1 2 0 England England
8 1890[3]
England 21 July 1890 2 (3) 0 2 0 England England
9 1891–92
Australia 1 January 1892 3 2 1 0 Australia Australia
10 1893
England 17 July 1893 3 0 1 2 England England
11 1894–95
Australia 14 December 1894 5 2 3 0 England England
12 1896
England 22 June 1896 3 1 2 0 England England
13 1897–98
Australia 13 December 1897 5 4 1 0 Australia Australia
14 1899
England 1 June 1899 5 1 0 4 Australia Australia
15 1901–02
Australia 13 December 1901 5 4 1 0 Australia Australia
16 1902
England 29 May 1902 5 2 1 2 Australia Australia
17 1903–04
Australia 11 December 1903 5 2 3 0 England England
18 1905
England 29 May 1905 5 0 2 3 England England
19 1907–08
Australia 13 December 1907 5 4 1 0 Australia Australia
20 1909
England 27 May 1909 5 2 1 2 Australia Australia
21 1911–12
Australia 15 December 1911 5 1 4 0 England England
22 1912[4]
England 27 May 1912 3 0 1 2 England England
23 1920–21
Australia 17 December 1920 5 5 0 0 Australia Australia
24 1921
England 28 May 1921 5 3 0 2 Australia Australia
25 1924–25
Australia 19 December 1924 5 4 1 0 Australia Australia
26 1926
England 12 June 1926 5 0 1 4 England England
27 1928–29
Australia 30 November 1928 5 1 4 0 England England
28 1930
England 13 June 1930 5 2 1 2 Australia Australia
29 1932–33[5]
Australia 2 December 1932 5 1 4 0 England England
30 1934
England 8 June 1934 5 2 1 2 Australia Australia
31 1936–37
Australia 4 December 1936 5 3 2 0 Australia Australia
32 1938[6]
England 10 June 1938 4 (5) 1 1 2 Drawn Australia
1945[7]
Australia
33 1946–47
Australia 29 November 1946 5 3 0 2 Australia Australia
34 1948[8]
England 10 June 1948 5 4 0 1 Australia Australia
35 1950–51
Australia 1 December 1950 5 4 1 0 Australia Australia
36 1953
England 11 June 1953 5 0 1 4 England England
37 1954–55
Australia 26 November 1954 5 1 3 1 England England
38 1956
England 7 June 1956 5 1 2 2 England England
39 1958–59
Australia 5 December 1958 5 4 0 1 Australia Australia
40 1961
England 8 June 1961 5 2 1 2 Australia Australia
41 1962–63
Australia 30 November 1962 5 1 1 3 Drawn Australia
42 1964
England 4 April 1964 5 1 0 4 Australia Australia
43 1965–66
Australia 10 December 1965 5 1 1 3 Drawn Australia
44 1968
England 6 June 1968 5 1 1 3 Drawn Australia
45 1970–71[9]
Australia 27 November 1970 6 (7) 0 2 4 England England
46 1972
England 8 June 1972 5 2 2 1 Drawn England
47 1974–75
Australia 29 November 1974 6 4 1 1 Australia Australia
48 1975
England 10 July 1975 4 1 0 3 Australia Australia
1976–77[10]
Australia
49 1977
England 16 June 1977 5 0 3 2 England England
50 1978–79
Australia 1 December 1978 6 1 5 0 England England
1979–80[11]
England
1980[12]
England
51 1981
England 18 June 1981 6 1 3 2 England England
52 1982–83
Australia 12 November 1982 5 2 1 2 Australia Australia
53 1985
England 13 June 1985 6 1 3 2 England England
54 1986–87
Australia 14 November 1986 5 1 2 2 England England
1987–88[13]
England
55 1989
England 8 June 1989 6 4 0 2 Australia Australia
56 1990–91
Australia 23 November 1990 5 3 0 2 Australia Australia
57 1993
England 3 June 1993 6 4 1 1 Australia Australia
58 1994–95
Australia 25 November 1994 5 3 1 1 Australia Australia
59 1997
England 5 June 1997 6 3 2 1 Australia Australia
60 1998–99
Australia 20 November 1998 5 3 1 1 Australia Australia
61 2001
England 5 July 2001 5 4 1 0 Australia Australia
62 2002–03
Australia 7 November 2002 5 4 1 0 Australia Australia
63 2005
England 21 July 2005 5 1 2 2 England England
64 2006–07
Australia 23 November 2006 5 5 0 0 Australia Australia
65 2009
England & Wales 8 July 2009 5 0 1 1

1. ^ Note that one Test was abandoned without a ball bowled and the "seventh" Test was a late addition to the series so that six matches were played.
2. ^ Matches played prior to the 1882–83 series, including the 1882 Oval match are not considered to be part of The Ashes series. A fourth match in the 1882–83 series played against a "United Australian XI" was also not considered to be an Ashes Test.
3. ^ The scheduled 3rd Test at Manchester in 1890 was abandoned without a ball being bowled, due to rain. This was the first Test match where this occurred.
4. ^ The "1912 Triangular Tournament" including Australia, England and South Africa. Only Australia v England results shown.
5. ^ "Bodyline" series
6. ^ In an exact repeat of 1890, the scheduled 3rd Test at Manchester in 1938 was abandoned without a ball being bowled, due to rain.
7. ^ Just after the Second World War had ended in Europe, Lindsay Hassett captained an Australian Services team in five "Victory Tests" in England against England. The "Victory Tests" have not, however, been granted full Test status.
8. ^ "Invincibles" series
9. ^ The scheduled third Test at Melbourne in 1970–71 was abandoned without a ball being bowled, due to rain washing out the first three days. The ICC does not recognise this as a Test match, however the match is statistically recognised by Cricket Australia, as a coin toss took place. (The abandoned match is not included in these statistics). As a sidenote, in order to satisfy a disappointed audience, a limited over, one-day match was hastily arranged for 5 Jan 1971. This is now recognised as the first One Day International cricket match.
10. ^ The 1976–77 MCC tour of Australia for the first Centenary Test, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is not considered an Ashes Test.
11. ^ The 1979–80 three-Test England tour of Australia series was the outcome of a deal between the ACB and World Series Cricket to bring WSC to an end. England agreed to the tour on condition the matches did not have Ashes status. Accordingly they are excluded from the results above.
12. ^ The 1980 Australian tour of England for the second Centenary Test, at Lord's is not considered an Ashes Test.
13. ^ The 1987–88 England tour of Australia for a single Test celebrating the Australian Bicentenary at the Sydney Cricket Ground is not considered an Ashes Test.
[edit] Summary of wins and draws
Totals up to and including the 5th Test of the 2006–07 series in Australia.
Played Won by
Australia Won by
England Drawn
All Tests 300 121 (40.3%) 95 (31.7%) 84 (28.1%)
Tests in Australia 152 76 (50%) 53 (34.8%) 23 (15.2%)
Tests in England 148 45 (30.4%) 42 (28.4%) 61 (41.2%)
All series 64 31 (48.4%) 28 (43.8%) 5 (7.8%)
Series in Australia 32 17 (53.1%) 13 (40.6%) 2 (6.3%)
Series in England 32 14 (43.8%) 15 (46.9%) 3 (9.4%)

THE ASHES URN

The Ashes urn

As it took many years for the name "The Ashes" to be given to the ongoing series between England and Australia, there was no concept of there being a representation of the ashes being presented to the winners. As late as 1925 the following verse appeared in The Cricketers Annual:

So here’s to Chapman, Hendren and Hobbs,
Gilligan, Woolley and Hearne:
May they bring back to the Motherland,
The ashes which have no urn!

Nevertheless, several attempts had been made to embody The Ashes in a physical memorial. Examples include one presented to Warner in 1904, another to Australian Captain M.A. Noble in 1909, and another to Australian Captain W.M. Woodfull in 1934.

The oldest, and the one to enjoy enduring fame, was the one presented to Bligh, later Lord Darnley, during the 1882–83 tour. The precise nature of the origin of this urn is matter of dispute. Based on a statement by Darnley made in 1894, it was believed that a group of Victorian ladies, including Darnley's later wife Florence Morphy, made the presentation after the victory in the Third Test in 1883. More recent researchers, in particular Ronald Willis[9] and Joy Munns[10] have studied the tour in detail and concluded that the presentation was made after a private cricket match played over Christmas 1882 when the English team were guests of Sir William Clarke, at his property "Rupertswood", in Sunbury, Victoria. This was before the matches had started. The prime evidence for this theory was provided by a descendant of Clarke.

The contents of the Darnley urn are also problematic; they were variously reported to be the remains of a stump, bail or the outer casing of a ball, but in 1998 Darnley’s 82-year-old daughter-in-law said they were the remains of her mother-in-law’s veil, casting a further layer of doubt on the matter. However, during the tour of Australia in 2006/7, the MCC official accompanying the urn said the veil legend had been discounted, and it was now "95% certain" that the urn contains the ashes of a cricket bail. Speaking on Channel Nine TV on 25 November 2006, he said x-rays of the urn had shown the pedestal and handles were cracked, and repair work had to be carried out. The urn is made of terracotta and is about six inches (150 mm) tall and may originally have been a perfume jar.

A label containing a six line verse is pasted on the urn. It is not known who wrote the verse, though plausible conjecture gives the authorship to Florence Morphy.[11] The verse reads:

When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn;
Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return;
The welkin will ring loud,
The great crowd will feel proud,
Seeing Barlow and Bates with the urn, the urn;
And the rest coming home with the urn.[12]

In February 1883, just before the disputed Fourth Test, a velvet bag made by Mrs Ann Fletcher, the daughter of Joseph Hines Clarke and Marion Wright, both of Dublin, was given to Bligh to contain the urn.

During Darnley’s lifetime there was little public knowledge of the urn, and no record of a published photograph exists before 1924. However, when Darnley died in 1927 his widow presented the urn to the Marylebone Cricket Club and that was the key event in establishing the urn as the physical embodiment of the legendary ashes. MCC first displayed the urn in the Long Room at Lord's Cricket Ground and since 1953 in the MCC Cricket Museum at the ground. MCC’s wish for it to be seen by as wide a range of cricket enthusiasts as possible has led to its being mistaken for an official trophy.

It is in fact a private memento, and for this reason it is never awarded to either England or Australia, but is kept permanently in the MCC Cricket Museum where it can be seen together with the specially-made red and gold velvet bag and the scorecard of the 1882 match.

Because the urn itself is so delicate, it has been allowed to travel to Australia only twice. The first occasion was in 1988 for a museum tour as part of the Australian Bicentenary celebrations; the second was for the 2006/7 Ashes series. The urn arrived on 17 October 2006, going on display at the Museum of Sydney. It then toured to other states, with the final appearance at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery on 21 January 2007.

In the 1990s, given Australia's long dominance of the Ashes and the popular acceptance of the Darnley urn as ‘The Ashes’, the idea was mooted that the victorious team should be awarded the urn as a trophy and allowed to retain it until the next series. As its condition is fragile and it is a prized exhibit at the MCC Cricket Museum, the MCC were reluctant to agree. Furthermore, in 2002, Bligh's great-great-grandson Lord Clifton, the heir-apparent to the Earldom of Darnley, argued that the Ashes urn should not be returned to Australia because it belonged to his family and was given to the MCC only for safe keeping.

As a compromise, the MCC commissioned a trophy in the form of a larger replica of the urn in Waterford Crystal to award to the winning team of each series from 1998–99. This did little to diminish the status of the Darnley urn as most important icon in cricket, the symbol of this old and keenly fought of contest.

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE

THE ASHES

LEGEND OF ASHES

The first Test match between England and Australia was played in 1877, though the Ashes legend started later, after the ninth Test, played in 1882.
On their tour that year the Australians played just one Test, at The Oval in London. It was a low-scoring affair on a difficult wicket. Australia made a mere 63 runs in its first innings, and England, led by "Monkey" Hornby, took a 38-run lead with a total of 101. In their second innings, the Australians, boosted by a spectacular run-a-minute 55 from Hugh Massie, managed 122, which left England only 85 runs to win.
The Australians were greatly demoralised by the manner of their second-innings collapse, but fast bowler Spofforth, spurred on by W. G. Grace who ran out Sammy Jones in a piece of his typical poor sportsmanship[5] , refused to give in. "This thing can be done," he declared. Spofforth went on to devastate the English batting, taking his final four wickets for only two runs to leave England just seven runs short of victory in one of the closest and most nail-biting finishes in the history of cricket.
When Ted Peate, England's last batsman, came to the crease, his side needed just ten runs to win, but Peate managed only two before he was bowled by Harry Boyle. An astonished Oval crowd fell silent, struggling to believe that England could possibly have lost to a colony. When it finally sank in, the crowd swarmed onto the field, cheering loudly and chairing Boyle and Spofforth to the pavilion.
When Peate returned to the pavilion he was reprimanded by his captain for not allowing his partner, Charles Studd (one of the best batsman in England, having already hit two centuries that season against the colonists) to get the runs. Peate humorously replied, "I had no confidence in Mr Studd, sir, so thought I had better do my best."[6]
The momentous defeat was widely recorded in the British press, which praised the Australians for their plentiful "pluck" and berated the Englishmen for their lack thereof. A celebrated poem appeared in Punch on Saturday, 9 September. The first verse, quoted most frequently, reads:
Well done, Cornstalks! Whipt us
Fair and square,
Was it luck that tript us?
Was it scare?
Kangaroo Land's 'Demon'[7], or our own
Want of 'devil', coolness, nerve, backbone?
On 31 August, in the great Charles Alcock-edited magazine Cricket: A Weekly Record of The Game, there appeared a mock obituary:
SACRED TO THE MEMORY
OF
ENGLAND'S SUPREMACY IN THE
CRICKET-FIELD
WHICH EXPIRED
ON THE 29TH DAY OF AUGUST, AT THE OVAL
----
"ITS END WAS PEATE"
----
On 2 September a more celebrated mock obituary, written by Reginald Brooks under the pseudonym "Bloobs", appeared in The Sporting Times. It read:
In Affectionate Remembrance
of
ENGLISH CRICKET,
which died at the Oval
on
29th AUGUST, 1882,
Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing
friends and acquaintances
----
R.I.P.
----
N.B.—The body will be cremated and the
ashes taken to Australia.
Bligh promised that on the tour to Australia in 1882–83, which he was to captain, he would regain "the ashes". He spoke of them several times over the course of the tour, and the Australian media quickly caught on. The three-match series resulted in a 2–1 win to England, notwithstanding a fourth match, won by the Australians, whose status remains a matter of ardent dispute.
In the 20 years following Bligh's campaign the term "The Ashes" largely disappeared from public use. There is no indication that this was the accepted name for the series, at least not in England. The term became popular again in Australia first, when George Giffen, in his memoirs (With Bat and Ball, 1899), used the term as if it were well known.[8]
The true and global revitalisation of interest in the concept dates from 1903, when Pelham Warner took a team to Australia with the promise that he would regain "the ashes". As had been the case on Bligh's tour 20 years before, the Australian media latched fervently onto the term, and, this time it stuck. Having fulfilled his promise, Warner published a book entitled How We Recovered The Ashes. Although the origins of the term are not referred to in the text, the title served (along with the general hype created in Australia) to revive public interest in the legend. The first mention of "The Ashes" in Wisden Cricketers' Almanack occurs in 1905, while Wisden's first account of the legend is in the 1922 edition.

TWENTY-TWENTY CRICKET RECORDS

Records
These statistics are correct as of 27 June 2008 and include all major cricket level Twenty20 matches.
Most Twenty20 runs
Player Runs Career span
Brad Hodge
1,923 2003-2009
David Hussey
1,657 2004-2009
Hylton Ackerman
1,599 2004-2009
Darren Maddy
1,418 2003-2008
Graeme Smith
1,265 2004-2008
Full table on Cricinfo
Most Twenty20 wickets
Player Wickets Career span
Tyron Henderson
74 2004-2008
Yasir Arafat
63 2006-2008
Tim Murtagh
62 2003-2008
Nayan Doshi
61 2004-2008
Umar Gul
58 2005-2009
Full table on Cricinfo

Other records
• Highest individual score - Brendon McCullum (Kolkata) 158* (73) (2008 IPL)
• Highest team total - by Sri Lanka 260/6 (20 overs) vs Kenya 88/10 (19.3 overs) (2007 ICC World Twenty20)
• Most sixes in an innings - Graham Napier (Essex) 16 (2008 Twenty20 Cup)
• Most sixes in career - David Hussey 63
• Fastest hundred - Andrew Symonds (Kent) 34 balls (2004 Twenty20 Cup)
• Fastest fifty - Yuvraj Singh 12 balls (2007 ICC World Twenty20) against England
• Most hundreds - Ian Harvey (Gloucestershire and Yorkshire) 3
• Best innings bowling figures (International)- Umer Gul (Pakistan) 5/6 (2009 T20)
• Best innings bowling figures (Domestic)- Sohail Tanvir (Rajasthan Royals) 6/14 (2008 IPL)
• Most runs in one over - Yuvraj Singh 36, 6 balls 6 sixes (2007 ICC World Twenty20) against England

CHAMPIONS TWENTY-TWENTY LEAGUE

Champions Twenty20 League
On 1 September 2007 the Board of Control for Cricket in Indiaannounced it would host a Champions Twenty20 Cricket tournament in December 2008. The tournament would consist of the top two domestic Twenty20 sides from India, England, Australia, Pakistan (although Pakistan will only send one team, their Twenty20 champions Sialkot Stallions for the competition) and South Africa. The prize fund was to be £2.5 million with £1 million for the winning team.[ and later cancelled, with the first tournament now scheduled for October 2009.

DOMESTIC TWENTY TWENTY COMPETITION

21st of June, 2009.
Domestic
This is a list of the main Twenty20 domestic competitions in each cricketing country.
Country Domestic Competitions
Australia
KFC Twenty20 Big Bash

Canada
Scotiabank National T20 Championship

England
Twenty20 Cup

India
DLF Indian Premier League , Indian Inter-State T20 Championship and Indian Cricket League

Kenya
National Elite League Twenty20

New Zealand
State Twenty20

Pakistan
Pakistan Super League and RBS Twenty-20 Cup

South Africa
Standard Bank Pro 20 Series

Sri Lanka
Inter-Provincial Twenty20

U.S.A.
Pro Cricket, American Premier League and NYPD Cricket League

West Indies
Stanford 20/20

Bangladesh
Port City Cricket League

Zimbabwe
Metropolitan Bank Twenty20

ICC WORLD TWENTY TWENTY EVENTS

ICC World Twenty20 tournament

Every two years an ICC World Twenty20 tournament is to take place. The first tournament was in 2007 in South Africa where India defeated Pakistan in the final. The second tournament was won by Pakistan who beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in England on 21st of June, 2009.

TIE DECIDERS OF TWENTY -TWENTY CRICKET

Tie deciders
If the match ends with the scores tied and there must be a winner, the tie is broken with a one over per side "Eliminator" or "Super Over":
• Each team nominates three batsmen and one bowler to play a one-over per side "mini-match", referred to as a "One In turn, each side bats one over bowled by the one nominated opposition bowler, with their innings over if they lose two wickets before the over is completed. The side with the higher score from their over wins:

The 26 December 2008 Twenty20 match between New Zealand and the West Indies was tied after each sides' 20 overs.
- Daniel Vettori was the "nominated bowler" for New Zealand.
- Chris Gayle and Xavier Marshall opened the "mini-innings".
- Marshall was run out without facing a ball, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul similarly remained at the non-striker's end.
- Gayle hit 25 runs off the 6 balls he faced.
The Windies' "Super Over" score was 25 for 1 from six balls.[22]

- Sulieman Benn was the nominated bowler for the West Indies.
- NZ opener Jacob Oram was caught on Benn's third "super over" delivery. The batsmen "crossed" before the catch was taken.
- Third man in Ross Taylor was clean bowled on the fifth ball. Oram's "super over" opening partner Brendon McCullum didn't face a delivery.
The Black Caps' Super Over score was 15 for 2 from five balls.[22]

The West Indies thus won the Super Over, and the match.
(This particular match was a trial of the Super Over concept, and the official result was a tie.[19]
• If the teams finish tied on runs scored in that one over, the side with the higher number of sixes in its full innings and in the one-over eliminator will be declared the winner. If the teams are still tied, the one with the higher number of fours in both innings will win.
• Tied Twenty20 matches were previously decided by a "Bowl-out".

twenty -twenty cricket rules

Match format and rules
Format
Twenty20 match format is similar to limited overs cricket in that it involves two teams, each with a single innings, the key difference being each team bats for a maximum of 20 overs. In terms of visual format, the batting team members do not arrive from and depart to traditional dressing rooms, but come and go from a "bench" (typically a row of chairs) visible in the playing arena, analogous to Association Football's "Technical area" or a
General rules
The Laws of cricket apply to Twenty20, with some exceptions:
• Each bowler may bowl a maximum of only one-fifth of the total overs per innings (generally four, for a full, uninterrupted game). i.e., 4 in the 20 overs
• Should a bowler deliver a no ball by overstepping the popping crease, it costs 1 run and his next delivery is designated a "free-hit", from which the batsman can only be dismissed through a run out, as is the case for the original "no ball". (Strictly speaking, the very rare methods of dismissal from a "no ball" – for hitting the ball twice, obstructing the field or handling the ball – also apply to the "free-hit" delivery.)
• Umpires may award five-run penalty runs at their discretion if they believe either team is wasting time.
• The following fielding restrictions apply:
o No more than five fielders can be on the leg side at any time.
o During the first six overs, a maximum of two fielders can be outside the 30-yard circle.
o After the first six overs, a maximum of five fielders can be outside the fielding circle.
• If the fielding team doesn't start to bowl their 20th over within 75 minutes, the batting side is credited an extra six runs for every whole over bowled after the 75 minute mark; the umpire may add more time to this if they believe the batting team is wasting time.

twenty cricket between australia and newzealand

Twenty20 Internationals
On 17 February 2005 Australia defeated New Zealand in the first men's full international Twenty20 match, played at Eden Park in Auckland. The game was played in a light-hearted manner - both sides turned out in kit similar to that worn in the 1980s, the New Zealand team's a direct copy of that worn by the Beige Brigade. Some of the players also sported moustaches/beards and hair styles popular in the 1980s taking part in a competition amongst themselves for best retro look, at the request of the Beige Brigade. Australia won the game comprehensively, and as the result became obvious towards the end of the NZ innings, the players and umpires took things less seriously - Glenn McGrath jokingly replayed the Trevor Chappell underarm incident from a 1981 ODI between the two sides, and Billy Bowden showed him a mock red card (red cards are not normally used in cricket) in response.
The first Twenty20 international in England was played between England and Australia at the Rose Bowl in Hampshire on the 13 June 2005, which England won by a record margin of 100 runs.
On 9 January 2006 Australia and South Africa met in the first international Twenty20 game in Australia. In a first, each player's nickname appeared on the back of his uniform, rather than his surname. The international match drew a crowd of 38,894 people at the The Gabba. Australia convincingly won the match with man of the match Damien Martyn scoring 96 runs.
On 16 February 2006 New Zealand defeated West Indies in a tie-breaking bowl-out 3-0; 126 runs were scored apiece in the game proper. The game was the last international match played by Chris Cairns - NZC handed out life-size cardboard masks of his face to patrons as they entered the ground.

twenty-twenty worldcup

THE 2nd edition of the twenty-twenty worldcup has been won by pakistian

england cricket

Twenty20

Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in the United Kingdom for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs

srk

Shahrukh Khan (Hindi: शाहरुख़ ख़ान, Urdu: شاہ رخ خان) born November 2, 1965, sometimes credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian actor, who has been a prominent Bollywood figure, as well as a film producer and television host.

Khan began his career appearing in several television serials in the late 1980s. He made his film debut in Deewana (1992). Since then, he has been part of numerous commercially successful films and has earned critical acclaim for many of his performances. During his years in the Indian film industry, Khan has won thirteen Filmfare Awards, seven of which are in the Best Actor category.

Khan's films such as Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Chak De India (2007), Om Shanti Om (2007) and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008) remain some of Bollywood's biggest hits, while films like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), Veer-Zaara (2004) and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) have been top-grossing Indian productions in the overseas markets, making him one of the most successful actors of India. Since 2000, Khan branched out into film production and television presenting as well. He is the founder/owner of two production companies, Dreamz Unlimited and Red Chillies Entertainment. In 2008, Newsweek named him one of the 50 most powerful people in the worl

SALMAN KHAN

Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (Hindi: सलमान ख़ान, Urdu: سلمان خان, pronounced [səlˈmɑːn ˈxɑːn]; born December 27, 1965) is an Indian film actor who appears in Bollywood films.

Khan, who made his acting debut with the film Biwi Ho To Aisi (1988), had his first commercial success with the blockbuster Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), and won a Filmfare Best Male Debut Award for his performance. He went on to star in some of Bollywood's most successful films, such as Saajan (1991), Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (1994), Biwi No.1 (1999), having appeared in the highest earning films of five separate years during his career.

In 1999, Khan won a Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his extended appearance in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), and since then has starred in several critical and commercial successes, including Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Tere Naam (2003), No Entry (2005) and Partner (2007). Khan has thus established himself as one of the most prominent leading actors of Hindi cinema.[1][2]

SURYA

Aaravanan "Surya" Sivakumar (Tamil: சரவணன் "சூர்யா" சிவகுமார்) (born July 23, 1975) is a Tamil film actor. Son of actor Sivakumar,[1] he starred in several films, such as Nandha, Kaakha Kaakha, Ghajini, Perazhagan, Pithamagan and Vaaranam Aayiram. As of 2009,[2] he has won three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards. He became a film distributor after opening Studio Green, which distributed several of his earlier films. He married actress Jyothika Saravanan in 2006, after being engaged for several years. In 2008, he began Agaram Foundations, which funds for preventing early childhood drop-outs

anna university

Anna University (Tamil: அண்ணா ப‌ல்கலைக்கழகம் ISO 15919:aṇṇā palkalaikkaḻakam) is one of India's premier engineering universities. Established in 1978, it offers higher education in Engineering, Technology and Allied Sciences.

Anna University was formed on September 4, 1978 as a unitary type of university. It integrated 4 well-known technical institutions in the city of Chennai (previously known as Madras), the oldest of which was the College of Engineering, Guindy, started in 1794. Perarignar Anna University of Technology (PAUT) was the original name used in 1978. In 1982 the current name of Anna University was coined removing the words "Perarignar" and "Technology". In December 2001, it was converted into an affiliating university, with almost all engineering colleges in the state of Tamil Nadu under its fold and also absorbing all the 6 government engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu as its constituent colleges.

It is also ranked tenth (10) by the Outlook India magazine for the year 2007 in the top 50 government engineering colleges in India. Anna University, one of the premier technical institutions in the country, is committed to ensuring transfer of knowledge of the highest order from teachers to students. The transformation of classroom technology from hardware into software related tools for teaching and learning depends on knowledgeable and dedicated teachers who have core-technology competencies and skills. Anna University can proudly boast of such teachers who are very knowledgeable and who serve in the cause of education with great sincerity and dedication.

The University with its infrastructure facilities existed has started growing and raised to the standards of Higher Education and has worldwide recognition in the field of Engineering, Technology and Applied Sciences.

Considering the excellent growth of Anna University, the Government of Tamil Nadu, during December 2001, have upgraded the University from unitary typo to affiliating type of University by bringing together about 250 Engineering Colleges in the State of Tamil Nadu. Since 13 Feb, 2007 only the colleges situated in the districts of Chennai, Thiruvallur, Vellore, Kanchipuram, Thiruvannamalai and Vilupuram in Tamil Nadu State have been affiliated to Anna University. Anna University has under its fold four campuses (CEG, ACT and SAP in the Main Campus and MIT in Chromepet) having departments of Engineering, Technology and Applied sciences, and, under affiliation, about 108 self financing colleges and 1 Government College located in the above districts of Tamil Nadu

sourav ganguly

Sourav Chandidas Ganguly (Bengali: সৌরভ গাঙ্গুলী) (Sourav_Ganguly.ogg pronunciation (help·info)) (born 8 July 1972) is a former Indian test cricketer, and captain of the Indian national team. As of October 2008, he was India's most successful Test captain to date, winning 21 tests out of 49 tests he captained[1] and leading India into the 2003 World Cup finals.[2] An aggressive captain, Ganguly is credited with having nurtured the careers of many young players who played under him.[3][4]

The left-handed Ganguly was a prolific One Day International batsman, with over 11,000 ODI runs to his credit.[5] Despite ODI success, his Test place was often lost to younger players towards the later stages of his career. On October 7 2008, Ganguly announced that the Test series against Australia starting that month would be his last.[6][7] Ganguly played his last first-class match on 21 December 2008.[8]

INTERNATIONAL TWENTY -TWENTY CRICKET TEAM

International
Twenty20 Internationals have been played since 2005. To date, 16 nations have played the format, including all test playing nations.
1. New Zealand (17 February 2005)ª
2. Australia (17 February 2005)
3. England (13 June 2005)
4. South Africa (21 October 2005)
5. West Indies (16 February 2006)
6. Sri Lanka (15 June 2006)
7. Pakistan (28 August 2006)
8. Bangladesh (28 November 2006)
9. Zimbabwe (28 November 2006)
10. India (1 December 2006)
11. Kenya (1 September 2007)
12. Scotland (12 September 2007)
13. Netherlands (2 August 2008)
14. Ireland (2 August 2008)
15. Canada (2 August 2008)
16. Bermuda (3 August 2008)

m s dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, sometimes abbreviated as MS Dhoni Mahendra Singh Dhoni.ogg pronunciation (help·info) (Hindi: महेन्द्र सिंह धोनी) (born 7 July 1981 in Ranchi, Bihar) is an Indian cricketer and the current captain of the Indian team. Initially recognized as an extravagantly flamboyant and destructive batsman, Dhoni has come to be regarded as one of the coolest heads to captain the Indian ODI side. Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, CB Series of 2007-08 and the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2008 in which they beat Australia 2-0. He also lead the team to their first ever bilateral ODI series wins in Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Dhoni has also been the recipient of many awards including the ICC ODI Player of the Year award in 2008 (the first Indian player to achieve this feat), the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour in 2009. Currently, Dhoni is the highest ranked ODI batsmen on the ICC Rankings List. Also Dhoni named as Skipper of Wisden's first-ever Dream Test XI Team in 2009.

yuvraj singh

Yuvraj Singh Yuvraj_Singh.ogg pronunciation (help·info) (Punjabi: ਯੁਵਰਾਜ ਸਿੰਘ, born 12 December 1981 in Chandigarh, India) is a cricketer from India, and the son of former Indian fast bowler and Punjabi movie star Yograj Singh.[1] He has been a member of the Indian cricket team since 2000 (ODIs) and played his first Test match in 2003. He was the vice captain of the ODI team from late-2007 to late-2008. At the 2007 World Twenty20 he hit six sixes in an over against England's Stuart Broad - a feat only performed three times previously in any form of senior cricket, and never previously in an international match between two Test cricket nations.

london

This article is about the city in the United Kingdom. For other uses, see London (disambiguation).
London
Top: City of London skyline, Middle: Houses of Parliament, Bottom left: Tower Bridge, Bottom right: Tower of London.
London region shown within the United Kingdom.
Coordinates: 51°30′28″N 00°07′41″W / 51.50778°N 0.12806°W / 51.50778; -0.12806Coordinates: 51°30′28″N 00°07′41″W / 51.50778°N 0.12806°W / 51.50778; -0.12806
Sovereign state Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Constituent country England
Region London
Districts City and 32 boroughs
Settled by Romans as Londinium c. AD 43
Government
- Regional authority Greater London Authority
- Regional assembly London Assembly
- Mayor of London Boris Johnson
- Headquarters City Hall
- UK Parliament
- London Assembly
- European Parliament 74 constituencies
14 constituencies
London constituency
Area
- London 1,706.8 km2 (659 sq mi)
Elevation [1] 24 m (79 ft)
Population (July 2007 est.)[2][3][4]
- London 7,556,900
- Density 4,761/km2 (12,331/sq mi)
- Urban 8,278,251
- Metro 12,300,000 to 13,945,000
- Demonym Londoner
- Ethnicity
(2001 Estimates)[5]
Ethnic groups
63% White
58% White British
3% White Irish
8.9% White Other

5% Mixed
1% Black Caribbean & White
0.5% Black African & White
1% South Asian & White
1% Other & White

15% South Asian
6.5% Indian
2.3% Pakistani
2.3% Bangladeshi
2% Other South Asian

13% Black
5.5% Black African
4.3% Black Caribbean
0.8% Other Black

4% East Asian or Other
1.5% Chinese
1.9% Other
Time zone GMT (UTC0)
- Summer (DST) BST (UTC+1)
Post code Various
Area code(s) 020
Website http://www.london.gov.uk/

London (pronounced /ˈlʌndən/) is the capital of the United Kingdom and England. It has been an influential city for two millennia and its history goes back to its founding by the Romans.[6] The city's core, the ancient City of London, still retains its limited medieval boundaries. However, since at least the nineteenth century, the name "London" has also referred to the whole metropolis that has developed around it.[7] Today the bulk of this conurbation forms the London region[8] and the Greater London administrative area,[9] with its own elected mayor and assembly.[10]

London is one of the world's foremost global cities[11][12] and the largest financial centre alongside New York City.[13][14][15][16] Central London is home to the headquarters of more than half of the UK's top 100 listed companies (the FTSE 100) and more than 100 of Europe's 500 largest. The city's influence in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, the arts and culture in general contributes to its global position. It is a major tourist destination for both domestic and overseas visitors. London hosted the 1908 and 1948 Summer Olympics and will host the 2012 Summer Olympics.

London contains four World Heritage Sites: the Tower of London; the historic settlement of Greenwich; the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; and the site comprising the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's Church.[17]

London has a wide range of peoples, cultures, and religions, and more than 300 languages are spoken within the city.[18] In July 2007, it had an official population of 7,556,900 within the boundaries of Greater London[19] making it the most populous municipality in the European Union.[20] The Greater London Urban Area (the second largest in the EU) has a population of 8,278,251.[2] while the metropolitan area (the largest in the EU) has an estimated total population of between 12 million[3] and 14 million.[4] The public transport network, administered by Transport for London, is the most extensive in the world,[21] London Heathrow Airport is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers[22] and the airspace is the busiest of any city in the world.[23] London was named by New York Magazine as the capital of the world for the 21st century.[24]

virendar sehwag

Virender Sehwag Virender_Sehwag.ogg pronunciation (help·info) (Hindi: वीरेंद्र सेहवाग) (born 20 October 1978, in Delhi, India), affectionately known as Viru, is one of the leading batsmen in the Indian cricket team. Sehwag is an aggressive right-handed opening batsman and an occasional right-arm off-spin bowler. He played his first One Day International in 1999 and joined the Indian Test cricket team in 2001. In April 2009, Sehwag became the only Indian to be honored as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for his performance in 2008.[1]

Sehwag holds multiple records including the highest score made by an Indian in Test cricket (319), which was also the fastest triple century in the history of international cricket (reached 300 off only 278 balls). Sehwag also holds the distinction of being one of three batsmen in the world to have ever surpassed 300 twice in Test cricket, and the only one to score two triple centuries and take a five-wicket innings haul.[2] In March 2009, Sehwag smashed the fastest century ever scored by an Indian in ODI cricket, from 60 balls.[3]

Sehwag was appointed as vice-captain of the Indian team under Rahul Dravid in October 2005 but due to poor form, he was later replaced by V. V. S. Laxman in December 2006 as Test vice-captain. In January 2007, Sehwag was dropped from the ODI team and later from the Test team as well.[4] During his term as vice-captain, Sehwag skippered the team in place of injured Dravid in 2 ODIs and 1 Test. Following his return to form in 2008 and the retirement of Anil Kumble, Sehwag has been reappointed as the vice-captain for both Tests and ODIs. By early 2009, Sehwag had reestablished himself as one of the best performing batsmen in ODI cricket.[5]

google

Google Inc. is an American public corporation, earning revenue from advertising related to its Internet search, e-mail, online mapping, office productivity, social networking, and video sharing services as well as selling advertising-free versions of the same technologies. Google has also developed an open source web browser and a mobile operating system. The Google headquarters, the Googleplex, is located in Mountain View, California. As of 31 March 2009 (2009 -03-31)[update], the company has 19,786 full-time employees. The company is running millions of servers worldwide, which process about 1 petabyte of user-generated data every hour. Google conducts hundreds of millions of search requests every day.[4]

Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were students at Stanford University and the company was first incorporated as a privately held company on September 4, 1998. The initial public offering took place on August 19, 2004, raising $1.67 billion, implying a value for the entire corporation of $23 billion. Google has continued its growth through a series of new product developments, acquisitions, and partnerships. Environmentalism, philanthropy and positive employee relations have been important tenets during the growth of Google. The company has been identified multiple times as Fortune Magazine's #1 Best Place to Work,[5] and as the most powerful brand in the world[6] (according to the Millward Brown Group).

Google's mission is "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful".[7] The unofficial company slogan, coined by former employee and Gmail's first engineer[8] Paul Buchheit, is "Don't be evil".[9][10][11] Criticism of Google includes concerns regarding the privacy of personal information, copyright, and censorship.

yahoo

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) is an American public corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, (in Silicon Valley), that provides Internet services worldwide. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine (Yahoo! Search), Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, advertising, online mapping (Yahoo! Maps), office productivity, video sharing (Yahoo! Video), and social media websites and services.

Yahoo! was founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo in January 1994 and was incorporated on March 1, 1995.

On January 13, 2009, Yahoo! appointed Carol Bartz, former executive chairperson of Autodesk, as its new chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors.[4]

According to Web traffic analysis companies (including Compete.com, comScore,[5] Alexa Internet,[6] Netcraft,[7] and Nielsen Ratings[8]), the domain yahoo.com attracted at least 1.575 billion visitors annually by 2008.[9] The global network of Yahoo! websites receives 3.4 billion page views per day on average as of October 2007[update]. It is the second most visited website in the U.S., and in the world.[6

microsoft

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKEX: 4338) is a United States-based multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices.[8] Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA, its most profitable products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software.

The company was founded to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800. Microsoft rose to dominate the home computer operating system market with MS-DOS in the mid-1980s, followed by the Windows line of operating systems. Its products have all achieved near-ubiquity in the desktop computer market. One commentator notes that Microsoft's original mission was "a computer on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software."[9] Microsoft possesses footholds in other markets, with assets such as the MSNBC cable television network, the MSN Internet portal, and the Microsoft Encarta multimedia encyclopedia. The company also markets both computer hardware products such as the Microsoft mouse as well as home entertainment products such as the Xbox, Xbox 360, Zune and MSN TV.[8] The company's initial public stock offering (IPO) was in 1986; the ensuing rise of the company's stock price has made four billionaires and an estimated 12,000 millionaires from Microsoft employees.[10][11][12]

Throughout its history the company has been the target of criticism, including monopolistic business practices and anti-competitive strategies including refusal to deal and tying. The U.S. Justice Department and the European Commission, among others, have ruled against Microsoft for various antitru

paris

Paris (pronounced /ˈpærɪs/ or /ˈpɛrəs/ in English; Paris1.ogg [paʁi] (help·info) in French) is the capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region (also known as the "Paris Region"; French: Région parisienne). The city of Paris, within its limits largely unchanged since 1860, has an estimated population of 2,167,994 (January 2006),[5] but the Paris aire urbaine (or metropolitan area) has a population of over 11 million,[6] and is the most populated metropolitan area in the Eurozone.[7][not in citation given]

An important settlement for more than two millennia, Paris is today one of the world's leading business and cultural centres, and its influence in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities.[8] According to 2005 estimates, the Paris urban area is Europe's biggest city economy,[9] and is fifth in the world's list of cities by GDP.[10]

Paris and the Paris Region, with €533.6 billion (US$731.3 billion) in 2007, produces more than a quarter of the gross domestic product (GDP) of France.[11] The Paris Region hosts 37 of the Fortune Global 500 companies[12] in several business districts, notably La Défense, the largest purpose-built business district in Europe.[13] Paris also hosts many international organizations such as UNESCO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the informal Paris Club.

Paris is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, with 45 million tourists every year in the Paris Region, 60% of whom are foreign visitors.[14] There are numerous iconic landmarks among its many attractions, along with world-famous institutions and popular parks.

ibm

nternational Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue" (for its official corporate color), is a multinational computer technology and IT consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. The company is one of the few information technology companies with a continuous history dating back to the 19th century. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software (with a focus on the latter), and offers infrastructure services, hosting services, and consulting services in areas ranging from mainframe computers to nanotechnology.[2]

IBM has been well known through most of its recent history as the world's largest computer company and systems integrator.[3] With over 388,000 employees worldwide, IBM is the largest and most profitable information technology employer in the world. IBM holds more patents than any other U.S. based technology company and has eight research laboratories worldwide.[4] The company has scientists, engineers, consultants, and sales professionals in over 170 countries.[5] IBM employees have earned three Nobel Prizes, four Turing Awards, five National Medals of Technology, and five National Medals of Science.[6] As a chip maker, IBM has been among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders in past years