Test cricket returns to Sharjah

The Legendary cricket stadium very well known as "Sharjah" will host its first test match in nine years this November. Sri Lanka and Pakistan have reached an agreement to play last of their three tests in the UAE at Sharjah. The Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium has hosted more ODIs than any other ground but has not had any international cricket between top teams since 2003. Since we have huge cricket grounds being built in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, it looked extremely difficult for the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium to make a comeback in International Cricket. However the Emirates Cricket Board announced that there will be a test match played on this ground starting November 3rd. The other two venues for the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Test series are the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi and the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, which hosted their debut Tests during the Pakistan-South Africa series in November 2010. Sharjah was a very popular stadium at its time. It was a well-known venue for neutral ODI's and tri-series. It has hosted 200 One Day Internationals, 24 of those being Pakistan vs India. It was a huge blow for the Sharjah Stadium when India, who had played 72 ODIs in Sharjah, stopped playing there. This ground hosted its debut test match in 2002, but since 2003 it has not held any International Cricket, until this ground was called Afghanistan's home ground in 2010. I believe, International Cricket returning to this legendary stadium will bring back many memories to cricket fans, especially Pakistani fans, since Pakistan hold the record of winning most Sharjah Cups. Lastly Sri Lanka will play three Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20 international against Pakistan from October 18 onwards in the UAE.

England Clinch a 2-0 Lead in the Series

England have defeated India by 319 runs in the Second NPower Test Match. India bowled out England for 221 in the first innings of the match. India went on to start their innings trailing by 221. They were hoping for the bats to show its magic and get a high scoring total to put the English team in some pressure, but the Indian team only managed to put a total of 288, with an awesome knock of 117 by opening batsman Rahul Dravid. India brought their innings to a close with a lead of 67 runs. England went onto start their second innings trailing by a score of 67. The Indian team expected their bowlers to finish off the work quickly like in the first innings, but things did not really go as planned for the Indian team. The English team put on a huge total of 544, with big help from some of their experienced players e.g. Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, and Matt Prior. England brought their second innings to a close with a lead 477 runs, setting India a target of 478 runs to win. With 2 days still left in the test match, the English team were planning to close out the Indian team quickly and take a 2-0 Lead in the test series. They were successful in their plan when they bowled out India for a very low score of 158, winning the test match by 319 runs and clinching a 2-0 lead in the NPower test series. In my opinion, Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan, both put on a match winning performance. Stuart Broad scored 104 runs and took 8 wickets in the whole match, while Tim Bresnan scored 101 runs and took 7 wickets. Honestly the Indian team, even with such a strong batting line up, failed epicly to show that they are the World Champions. England really out-classed this team who has just won the 2011 Cricket World Cup in the Subcontinent 4 months ago. The English team have truly shown that they are not an easy to defeat and will continue to do so in the upcoming Natwest ODI Series.