Sachin Tendulkar (pictured) has a very modest record at Lord's, the home of cricket.

Sachin Tendulkar is on the verge of making history - more history that is. The Indian batsman is tantalizingly close to scoring his 100th century in international cricket.

Tendulkar is already head and shoulders above his rivals when it comes to scoring centuries. His nearest challenger, Australia’s Ricky Ponting, is some distance behind with a "mere" 69 tons to his name.

The Mumbai-born legend is playing at Lord's - the home of cricket - in the 100th Test match between his native India and hosts England. It is also the 2,000th Test match of all time.
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN writer, Jonathan Stayton
Filed under: Cricket

Scenes like these, after minnows Ireland beat England in the 2011 Cricket World Cup, may not be seen in the event again.

Every major tournament has its memorable moment, an occasion when the plucky underdog pulls off an unexpected victory against a giant of the game. It is all part of the unforgettable drama that only an international sporting event can produce.

The football game that goes into extra time and penalties, the fifth set in a gladiatorial tennis encounter, or the cricket match that comes down to the last ball.

It’s what makes sport unpredictable, exciting and addictive. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Executive Producer, Geoff Hill, Newsgathering
Filed under: Cricket

Indian fans celebrate after winning the Cricket World Cup on April 2.

India’s island city of Mumbai is all about noise: a constant car-honking stream of vehicles and people. It was silenced for eight hours Saturday as the 2011 Cricket World Cup final was played, but then burst back into life to signal India’s victory. Colorful explosions lit up the skyline as an astonishing number of fireworks were let off, continuing for an hour after the match.

Even after the fireworks had run out, ear-splitting firecrackers kept punctuating the gap between vehicles beeping and drums beating. We went out on to the streets to film near our hotel in Worli, south Mumbai. We saw mopeds buzzing around, mainly ridden by young men, bare-chested and faces painted, with the pillion passenger waving an India flag.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Alex Thomas, CNN World Sport Anchor
Filed under: Cricket

Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar drives his team forward against rivals Pakistan.

Sometimes a sporting event is more than just a game. Sometimes the arena for competition is emblematic and symbolic of a greater reality, in which the twists and turns of a match carry a wider significance.

And so it was for the titanic clash between India and Pakistan in the semifinal of the cricket World Cup; a tie that needed no artificially created hype. Giants of the sport going head-to-head for a place in the final as two nations, both equally obsessed with the game, saw millions become engrossed with the drama unfolding on a circle of grass in Mohali. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Alex Thomas, CNN Sports Anchor
Filed under: Cricket

The Netherlands tested England before losing their opening match of the 2011 Cricket World Cup. (Getty Images)

The International Cricket Council has decided that the 2015 World Cup will involve just 10 teams – four fewer than this year.

It’s a decision which has been endorsed by Australia captain Ricky Ponting, who believes the so-called "minnows" of the game just aren’t competitive enough and that one-sided matches compromise the tournament.

Cricket is a massive sport, but its popularity is restricted to certain pockets in the world. For many people outside these areas, the game is like a foreign language – very difficult to understand. So shouldn’t organizers be trying to encourage cricket's global growth rather than discourage it? It is called the "World" Cup, after all! Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Candy Reid, CNN World Sport Anchor
Filed under: Cricket

Bangladesh will host eight matches at the 2011 Cricket World Cup. (AFP/Getty Images)

It's hard to travel around Dhaka this week without running into Stumpy, mascot to the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup. The city is dotted with posters of the upbeat, cartoonish blue elephant. In each one, he's holding a cricket bat-shaped clock, counting down to the second the World Cup begins.

As if anyone in cricket-mad Bangladesh could forget. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN Producer, Pamela Boykoff
Filed under: Cricket

England's cricketers will be seeking to win the 50-over World Cup for the first time next year.

CNN's World Sport will be broadcasting its predictions for 2011 in upcoming shows between December 31-January 2. In the third of a series of preview blogs, Terry Baddoo takes a look at the contenders for next year's Cricket World Cup.

On present form, I wouldn’t put much money on Australia claiming their fourth consecutive World Cup title next year. In fact, in their current state of mind it’s going to take a Herculean effort for the Aussies to even make a fist of it on the Indian sub-continent when the four-yearly event starts in late February.

At the time of writing, not only do they trail England in the Ashes series, but there seems to be a massive loss of confidence in their leadership, with serious questions being asked about skipper Ricky Ponting for the first time I can remember. But the one-day game is not Test cricket, and if it becomes a question of guts, you cannot rule the Aussies out - especially as they are still the top-ranked team in the 50-over format.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN World Sport Anchor, Terry Baddoo
Filed under: Cricket

Opposing captains Andrew Strauss, left, and Ricky Ponting will be hoping their team lifts the Ashes urn.

Having reported from Australia on every day of every Test match during England’s 5-0 whitewash in the last Ashes contest there, I believe Andrew Strauss and his men face a mammoth task to win this series.

Yes, England’s team is more settled than Australia’s and, yes, they have shown better recent form and a more coherent and consistent selection policy. However, no Ashes series was ever won with superior rhetoric before the action got under way.

If that sounds obvious, it’s worth transporting you back to November 2006, just 14 months after England won back the famous little Ashes urn in a scintillating contest on home soil -– and they had high hopes of winning “Down Under” for the first time in 20 years.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Alex Thomas, CNN Sports Anchor
Filed under: Cricket

Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider caused a furor by leaving the team hotel and flying to London on Monday.

Forget Benjamin Button. The curious case of Zulqarnain Haider is far stranger – and his plight has piled the pressure on cricket’s governing body to stamp out corruption as quickly as possible.

Here is a young cricketer who appears to have given up his dreams of an international career because he became fearful for his safety and that of his family.

The big, unanswered question, on a day of confused and conflicting reports, is ... why?

If you take the story at face value, Zulqarnain claims to have been approached by men in Dubai, speaking in Urdu but not with Pakistani accents, who tried to get the player to fake his performance during matches in return for money.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Alex Thomas, CNN World Sport Anchor
Filed under: Cricket

Pakistan's cricketers have come under the media microscope after a series of tabloid investigations

Some years ago there was a footballer in the top flight of the English game called Vinnie Jones.

A committed hard man, for sure, but also a player who only had to breathe on an opponent to get the referee reaching for his card and the football authorities up in arms in righteous indignation.

It was a monkey see monkey do situation, a self-fulfilling prophecy which played right into the hands of the tabloid media whose stock in trade is negativity.

We see it off the sports field too, with wayward celebrities singled out by the tabloids as the “It” girls or boys.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: Terry Baddoo, World Sport Anchor
Filed under: Cricket