His partner has lost control of her current predicament partly by taking dismal advice in his absence. She needs him desperately.

It might have reached such a point that the relationship is on the brink of collapse. In something akin to these circumstances Michael Clarke left the tour of New Zealand to be with fiancee Lara Bingle.

This apparently makes him unfit to captain the Australian cricket team. Should dash his hopes immediately. His priorities are askew. He is in the spell of a notorious temptress.

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Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja has described all rounder Shahid Afridi as the 'best man to lead' the team in the forthcoming T20 World Championship in the Caribbean, and said the flamboyant cricketer should be appointed skipper for all the three forms of the game. "I'll go with Afridi as captain. In fact, I'll recommend Afridi for all three formats,"Raja said.

Sources inside the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) suggested that the board is hesitant to continue with Afridi as captain of the T20 team after he was punished for ball-tampering during the fifth and last one-day international against Australia at Perth . However, Raja backed Afridi, saying he has already been punished for his act.

"If that's the reason to overlook him as captain then I don't agree with it.He has been punished already. In any case, I think ball-tampering is no big deal. It's only that Afridi did it in a silly manner, probably in the pressure of the moment," The News quoted Raja, as saying. The PCB is considering giving the captaincy to Shoaib Malik or Abdul Razzaq but Raja said it won't be a wise move.

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Brett Lee says that he is disappointed that he will miss the excitement and the challenge of test cricket. The 33-year-old has been hampered by injuries throughout his career and this has prompted him to retire from Test cricket in order to prolong his ODI and Twenty20 career.

"I am satisfied with my Test career and longevity. All those years were really exciting and challenging for me and I will miss those things. It was a tough decision to retire from tests," Lee, who plays for Kings XI Punjab, said.

Lee felt that his body could not take any more Test cricket as it is more demanding and he retired because of his lifestyle. "I just want to prolong my career in ODIs and Twenty20. I want to play some more matches for Australia and that's the reason why I took the decision to continue playing in shorter formats," said Lee.

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Mitchell Johnson has avoided a suspension for his head-butt to the helmet of New Zealand batsman Scott Styris and now he needs to focus purely on cricket, Australia's "Mr Cricket" says.

Mike Hussey says while Johnson is a "passionate guy", the fiery pace bowler should be wary of the danger of getting too fired up to the detriment of the side as Australia face a mighty battle to retain the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.

The Kiwis claimed a two-wicket win in Wednesday's opening one-day international at McLean Park in Napier with Styris hitting a six from the second ball of the 50th over to finish on 49 not out, guiding the home side to 8-281 chasing Australia's 8-275.

Johnson, who appeared to thrust his head into the helmet of Styris when the pair had a mid-pitch confrontation at the end of the 46th over of the Kiwi innings, pleaded guilty late on Wednesday to a level-two breach of the ICC Code of Conduct.

The Australian was fined 60 per cent of his match fee by Sri Lankan match referee Ranjan Madugalle, although he could have been banned for up to two ODI games.

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Waqar Younis replaces Intikhab Alam as the new coach of the Pakistan cricket team. He now becomes the 4th coach of Pakistan in the last three years and is expected to be in charge until December 2011.

Waqar, who lives in Sydney these days, is expected to arrive in Pakistan in a week. His first assignment will be to defend the T20 crown in the ICC T20 World Cup at the Carribean.

"I've signed on and agreed to the contract," Waqar told Cricinfo. "I'll be arriving in Lahore next week to begin my work." PCB was considering a number of options for the top job but Waqar Younis emerged as the favorite among them.

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India is still celebrating the country's most loved batsman Sachin Tendulkar's date with history. The master blaster scored a mighty 200* at Gwalior on Feb 24 to become the only man in history to scale the height of 200 runs in a International ODI.Lurking underneath this great historical event for India, is a dingy underbelly of the plight of other sports in the country.

The pitch on which Sachin won himself a page in the history was actually a Hockey stadium, set up to honour Captain Roop Singh, an Olympic hockey gold medalist.

However, due to the increasing and rather overpowering popularity of cricket and fueled by the cricket love-lobby nurtured by the scions of Gwalior, the stadium was turned into a Cricket stadium in 1980s.It was on this turf that the lady luck smiled on Sachin Tendulkar and he rode into record books.

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Sachin Tendulkar's stupendous feat of becoming the first cricketer to score a double century in one-dayer was on Thursday hailed by the British media, which described the little master as the "finest batsman" ever.

"Tendulkar underlined his sensational class with a double century in Gwalior. To have reached such a landmark, with a single in the final over, only serves to underline his class and add to the legacy that already surrounds arguably the finest batsman to have played the game," BBC Sports said.

"His innings, the 46th one-day century of his career, was typified by wristy strokes, trademark boundary shots and, above all, stamina as he batted through the entire innings,"

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Australian fast bowler Brett Lee, retired from test cricket on Wednesday in a bid to prolong his international limited-overs cricket career. Lee, 33, was one of the games fastest ever bowlers at his peak, with deliveries recorded at speeds up to 161 kph (100 mph).

His career has been hampered by injuries which have restricted him to 76 tests since his debut in the 1999—2000 season, and he has not played a test since January 2009. “I am extremely proud to have played test cricket for Australia. My reason for retiring from this form of the game is so that I can preserve my body and continue to represent my country,” Lee said in a statement.

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Australia’s ‘perfect’ summer is just one win away and despite attempts by West Indies players to convince everyone, including themselves, that they are in with a chance in the final match of their disastrous tour Down Under, no one believes them.

The record books show Australia has not lost a match in the 18 played this summer although they did draw the second Test with the West Indies while rain washed out the Sydney one-dayer. That stat in itself is enough of a reason not to believe captain Chris Gayle and company.

The bookmakers haven’t listened and the cricket lines point to an Australian victory (-300) while the West Indies are outsiders at +220.A lot of the Aussie success this summer though has been through undermanned opponents as opposed to their own invincibility.

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The South Australian speedster bowled the Windies captain through the gate for 5 as the tourists were restricted to 8 for 141 in reply to the home side's 8 for 179.

The result extended Australia's unbeaten streak this summer while ensuring the Windies have not won a game in any format since August last year.

David Warner's 49 off 32 balls inspired Australia's total before the bowlers knuckled down to ensure the tourists were never in the hunt, Tait finishing with 3 for 30 and Dirk Nannes 3 for 21.

Tait was on a hat-trick after dismissing Gayle and Narsingh Deonarine (0), but Kieron Pollard saw off the third delivery.

"The first couple of years it was a batsman's game, now it's turned sort of opposite and up the front if you can get a couple of early wickets, it ends up being a bowler's game," Tait said.

"It's worked out well for us." Australian captain Michael Clarke said his team's outstanding fielding also made a big difference. "The standard in the field is very important for us," he said.

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