England win Test series in India after 28 years

Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell save the day for England on final day

By Ashley Williams

LONDON, England (TheSportsNEXT) December 17, 2012: England have done it, and they have done it in great fashion as they played out the whole fifth day in Nagpur against Indian spinners on a spinners-friendly pitch which for some unknown reasons stopped helping spinners.

The Nagpur Test ended in a draw but victories in Mumbai and Kolkata after losing in Ahmedabad made sure England won the series by 2-1 to break the 28-year drought of winning a Test series on Indian soil.

When both skippers called it stumps on final day of the Nagpur Test, England had scored 352 for four in their second innings with Ian Bell (116*) and Joe Root (20*) at the crease.

Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell were the last England players to shine on Indian soil and they came good exactly when their country needed them the most to fire as the two batsmen constructed the biggest partnership of the whole Test series, i.e. 208 runs.

Jonathan Trott scored 143 runs from 310 balls in an innings that lasted for 405 minutes as the stylish batsman hit 18 boundaries to save the day for England who needed to survive Indian spinners to keep their 2-1 advantage in the series.

Trott was equally matched in performance by Ian Bell who resurrected his Test career and silenced his critics by scoring his first Test century in sub-continent as he remained unbeaten at 116 runs from 306 balls hitting 16 boundaries and a six during 403 minutes long innings.

England skipper Alastair Cook was declared Man of the Series for his mammoth stockpile of runs while James Anderson was named Man of the Match for his heroics with the reverse swinging cherry.

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England dominate day one of Kolkata Test

By Abhishek Manroa

KOLKATA, India (TheSportsNEXT) December 5, 2012: A disciplined bowling display by England bowlers helped the visiting side to dominate the first day of the third Test match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday.

James Anderson took three wickets while Monty Panesar captured two wickets as India limped to 273 for seven stumps on day one despite of brilliant half centuries by Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir.

The day belonged to Sachin Tendulkar who achieved yet another milestone in his illustrious cricket career as he became the first ever batsman to score over 34,000 runs in international cricket.

However, James Anderson had the last laugh as he captured the little master’s scalp for eighth time, the most by any bowler, along with Sri Lankan magician spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. Australian fast bowlers Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie dismissed Sachin on six times each.

The match looked evenly poised at tea break with India at 172 for four, but Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh took the offensive right after the break and tried to take the game away from the England bowlers during 79 runs partnership for the fifth wicket.

However, a loose shot by Yuvraj Singh gave England the chance to come back into the proceedings and when James Anderson removed Sachin Tendulkar, India looked in all sorts of problems.

India could have been dented even harder had England skipper Alastair Cook picked up the ball cleanly to run Ravichandran Ashwin but Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the tail-ender managed to survive the scare and added 38 valuable runs for the seventh wicket before James Anderson used the new ball to great effect to dismantle furniture behind Ashwin.

Earlier in the day, Gautam Gambhir scored 60 runs to laid the foundation of a strong Indian innings but other than Sachin Tendulkar none of the other batsmen could live up to the expectations and stand to the challenge as England have an edge going in to second day of the crucial Test match.

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James Anderson to direct documentary film to support HIV cause

ICC Media Release

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (TheSportsNEXT) December 2, 2012: The Producers of the documentary film "Warriors" are delighted to announce that England cricketer James Anderson has agreed to become involved as our first Executive Producer.

"Warriors" is a unique and fascinating documentary following a group of Maasai who have dropped their spears for cricket bats and formed a cricket team. Shot mainly in Kenya, with unprecedented access to the Maasai community in Il Polei, Laikipia North, it follows the team on their pilgrimage to play in a tournament in England - the home of cricket.

The team is also trying to use this new found unity to combat AIDS, fight for gender equality, and bring an end to traditional practices such as childhood marriage and FGM (female genital mutilation). Sport has given them a status, a way of educating and inspiring young people, and also a way of involving girls and empowering them. But the elders of the community feel it threatens their Maasai heritage.

James Anderson said: "I'm delighted to be involved. It's a new venture for me, but still with a connection to cricket. When I watched some of the footage, and heard more about the story, I was immediately excited to help in any way I could. I'll be using my contacts in the sport, and helping with some of the cricket sequences, and really just doing my best to help the film get made. It shows the global reach of the game of cricket and the positive impact it can still have on young people."

Barney Douglas, Director & Producer of "Warriors", said: “Jimmy and I became good friends after the Ashes Diaries, and he's long been interested in creative projects outside of his cricket career. We are delighted to have a sportsman of his profile, appeal, and contacts to help us complete and promote a successful film. Jimmy is a top man who is at the top of his game - his excitement and desire to be involved is massive for us and hopefully we'll have a film which can first and foremost go back into the education system in Kenya, but also inspire young people around the world to play cricket and use sport positively."

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