Vaughan creates ‘batting art works’

LONDON - Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan has demonstrated the art of batting off the pitch with a series of paintings created with cricket balls. he “Artballing” series of paintings involved the batsman hitting paint covered balls at a stencil over a canvas to create a unique set of 60 images.

Ponting fires salvo at ECB

SYDNEY - Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has accused the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) of stopping Australian Ashes hopefuls from joining the county teams.

Geological evidence sheds new light on ancient climate of Mars

PARIS - Mars Express has uncovered geological evidence suggesting that some depositional process, revealed by erosion, has been at work on large scales in the equatorial regions of the Red Planet, which would shed new light on the past climate of Mars.

Cape Town Test: McGain could use bare patches to his advantage

CAPE TOWN - Australian debutant leg spinner Bryce McGain could use the bare patches on the Newlands strip here to his advantage, and deliver some telling blows for his team in their third and final Test match against the South Africans.

Desperate South Africans seek out Desmond Tutu for reinvigoration

CAPE TOWN - South African cricket coach Mickey Arthur is using “the spirit of ubuntu”, whose chief proponent is Archbishop Desmond Tutu, to reinvigorate the Proteas ahead of the third Test to be played here against Australia.

Battler Lee is fighting a lost cause, says Roebuck

SYDNEY - Australian fast bowler Brett Lee may be taking all the required steps to get in shape for the forthcoming Ashes series against England, but according to cricket columnist Peter Roebuck, he is fighting a lost cause, given the extraordinary performances of the current crop of bowlers doing duty in South Africa.

Vaughan tipped to be pushing hard for England team recall

LONDON - Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan appears to be quite serious about making a comeback to the national squad, if Yorkshire team mate and former England fast bowler Mathew Hoggard is to be believed.

Jayalalitha warns Karunanidhi not to underestimate Third Front

CHENNAI - Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha has warned state Chief Minister Karunanidhi not to underestimate the strength of the newly launched ‘Third Front’.

Lee should get his place back in the team, Oz coach Nielsen

CAPE TOWN - Australian cricket coach Tim Nielsen has said that Brett Lee would be included in the squad once he is declared fully fit to take the field.

Stuart Clark signs six-week deal with Kent

BRISBANE - Injured Australian fast bowler Stuart Clark has signed a six-week deal to play English county cricket with Kent in the hope of making it back to the national squad for the Ashes this year.

Oz spinner McGain ready to bide his time

CAPE TOWN - After having his path blocked to Test cricket by part-time spinners, many believe the time has arrived for Bryce McGain to try out his leggies on the big stage.

At 32, Oz pacer Lee aims to be faster than ever

SYDNEY - Australia’s Brett Lee has revealed that he intends to return to international cricket by bowling faster than ever.

Brett Lee to use IPL stint to earn Oz recall for Ashes

MELBOURNE - Out of reckoning pacer Brett Lee has said that the short spells he will bowl in the Indian Premier League will be ideal preparation for what he hopes will be his third Ashes cricket tour of England.

Victorian opener Chris Rogers backed to be an Ashes team player

MELBOURNE - After scoring over 1000 first class runs in the 2008-09 season and being recognized as Australia’s One Day Player of the Year, Victoria’s Chris Rogers is being rated as a possibility for the upcoming Ashes tour in England.

Brett Lee’s return to Oz squad under serious threat

MELBOURNE - Injured fast bowler Brett Lee’s place in the Ashes 2009 squad is under serious threat after the unexpected success of Australia’s pace attack against South Africa.

England should be ashamed of its so-called ‘heroic’ test effort: Botham

TRINIDAD - Former England all rounder Ian Botham has said that he is burning with frustration and anger over a lost series, which they should have won.

Australia include rookie Laughlin for one-day series

MELBOURNE - Australia Thursday included uncapped Queensland pacer Ben Laughlin for the one-day series and the two Twenty20 matches in South Africa.

Coach Flower hopes to lead England to Ashes triumph

TRINIDAD - Coach Andy Flower wants to lead England to an Ashes triumph this year, even as the side battles to remove the tag of rank outsiders in which they have rapidly descended into.ngland has failed to win any of its twelve matches this winter, while the Aussies are on an amazing upward turn having won their last three Tests against South Africa, reports The Sun.lower knows England have little chance of regaining cricket’s most fabled prize this summer unless their performances improve dramatically. ut it has not stopped the former Zimbabwe captain wanting to take on the role of head coach - officially England cricket director - vacated when Peter Moores was sacked.

New kids in Oz team drive Ponting to cricketing nirvana

DURBAN - Ricky Ponting is as happy as he has ever been in his long and successful cricket life, and he credits the new kids on the block for it.

Ex-Oz skipper Taylor believes Punter’s team is favourite to win Ashes

SYDNEY - Australia’s series defeat of South Africa on the latter’s home turf, has convinced former skipper Mark Taylor that Ponting’s boys will start as favourites for this year’s Ashes series.

Symonds has to score in Sheffield Shield final to ensure Ashes berth

MELBOURNE - Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds will have one last chance to stake his Ashes claim when Queensland take on Victoria in this year’s Sheffield Shield final.

Counselling brought Symonds’ life back on track

SYDNEY - Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds Monday said his counselling sessions have brought him once again closer to girlfriend Katie Johnson and cricket besides helping him to battle depression.

Last-minute efforts on to stop Gandhi memorabilia auction

NEW YORK/NEW DELHI - With the clock ticking away ahead of an auction in New York of several items used by Mahatma Gandhi, Indian officials held talks with the seller while the government said it will ‘make all efforts possible’ to acquire these memorabilia.

Indian diplomats make last-minute bid to stop Gandhi items’ auction

NEW YORK - Hours before several of Mahatma Gandhi’s belongings were set to go under the hammer here Thursday, Indian officials were in talks with James Otis, a collector of Gandhi memorabilia, in a last minute bid to stop the auction.

Otis offers to loan Gandhi’s blood sample, ashes to India

NEW YORK - The US collector of Gandhi memorabilia has offered to loan India a sample of Mahatma Gandhi’s blood from his assassination site and ashes from his cremation if New Delhi agrees to sponsor a world travelling exhibition.

US collector asks India to spread Gandhi’s message of non-violence

WASHINGTON - Saying that Mahatma Gandhi’s message was needed more than ever at this crucial point in human history, a US collector of Gandhi items has formally offered to not only withdraw his possessions from sale, but also loan additional items from his collection if India agrees to promote Gandhian non-violent resistance.

Time for special South Africa-Australia trophy: Ponting

JOHANNESBURG - Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting feels that the time has arrived for a special trophy whenever they clash with South Africa, just like when they play against England for the Ashes or meet India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Johnson’s batting ability no surprise to old club mates

SYDNEY - Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson’s batting prowess might have surprised the cricket world but his former club mates from the Northern Suburbs District Cricket Club in Brisbane always knew of his potential to be an all-rounder.

Not playing McGain a blunder, says Warne

SYDNEY - Spin wizard Shane Warne said Australia should have taken a specialist spinner in Bryce McGain for the Test series in South Africa.

Flintoff should not play in the IPL: Warne

LONDON - Spin wizard Shane Warne feels injured England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff should not play in the billion-dollar Indian Premier League (IPL) to make sure he is there for the Ashes in June.