Bond considers quitting Test cricket

Suffering from yet another injury, a frustrated Shane Bond contemplates quitting Test cricket.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, Bond said, "Everything races through your mind when you get an injury like this. And it has in this situation. You think about giving up and you ask yourself whether it's worth all the effort."

"I suppose what I want to do is take a couple of weeks away from cricket and wait until the disappointment and emotion from this latest setback - which is something I've always done - subsides before I make any decision. From there, I'll sit down and look at things. You can't take a decision like this lightly so I will wait until I'm feeling better first. I can't rush this."

"I'm injury-prone. I'm the first to admit that. What I want to do and what my body allows me to do are two different things," said Bond.

"The fact that people say I'm injury-prone and that I get injured a lot, well that's true. But it's that other stuff like I'm soft or that I don't want to play for New Zealand that frustrates me," added the pacer.

Bond, who severed ties with the ICL to return to international cricket, has been confined to watching the 2nd Test which New Zealand lost, on television.

"It's deflating because the season so far - the three or four months I've been back - has gone so well. But that's the thing, when you least expect something to happen it always does."

"To have done all that work and get to the point where I've reached the high of my season only to be cut off at the knees is a bummer," he said.

"I've taken this one particularly hard. To have everything go as well as it had and also to feel like I was reaching my best form only for this to happen is a real disappointment. I almost felt like I had beaten the back of these injuries."

Umpire Benson set to retire

Miffed after the ICC's Decision Review System overruling one of his decisions during the Australia-West Indies Test series, English umpire Mark Benson is reportedly planning to retire.

Benson is returning to England after deciding to step down from the second Australia-West Indies Test in Adelaide after the first day's play.

The ICC maintains that the umpire has been forced out due to ill health but 'The Sunday Times' today reported that Benson is actually miffed at being over-ruled during the Test.

Benson had ruled West Indian batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul not out twice in the match but his decision was overturned by the third umpire in the second instance despite little video evidence to suggest that the batsman nicked the ball.

Match referee Chris Broad, however, dismissed the reports saying that "There is absolutely no truth in that at all."

Speaking to Cricinfo, Broad said, "The review system is new to everyone and you've got to get used to it. He was an advocate of the review system to help umpires out."

"We spoke on the second morning and he said that he was feeling unwell. I was in India with him as well where he was unwell. We thought this might well be another situation like that we were in in India."

"We chatted about it and he said he didn't feel as though he could go on the field again. We decided to leave him back in the hotel. I phoned Dubai and they decided that if it was a recurrence of high blood pressure or stomach problems he had in India he needed to get it sorted out. That was the reason that I was aware he went home," Broad said

Kumble says he enjoys post retirement life

Former India captain and spin legend Anil Kumble has said that he enjoyed his post retirement life from cricket as he had enough time to concentrate on his other passion - clicking "nature and wildlife".

"I never thought that I would get an opportunity to speak about my other passion - photography," Kumble said after formally unveiling Canon EOS 7D camera here last night.

Kumble said that he started taking pictures right from the age of 15 and since then, never forgot to carry camera with him wherever he goes.

"I went to the National camp to Sri Nagar when I was 15 years. From then on, wherever I go, whether it is South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka or Australia, my camera found its place in my baggage."

"Capturing candid moments of players was one of my stress busters," the Padmashri awardee said.

Kumble, who retired from international cricket in November last year, said for an amateur photographer like him, light plays an important role in taking pictures.

"The light plays a major role while taking pictures. Thanks to the technology, pictures can be taken without hassle even at 6.30 in the evening", he said.

He also announced the names of the winners of "City Life in Chennai" contest conducted by Canon India for photo journalists here. Suresh and Shantanu of the "Times of India" bagged the top two honours

This Indian team is one of the best: Sachin

Mumbai: Ecstatic at India's rise to the top of the Test rankings, senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar on Sunday said the current side led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one of the best ever to have represented the country.

After the innings and 24-run triumph over Sri Lanka took India to the top of the ICC table, Tendulkar was asked if this was one of the best Indian teams ever, to which he replied, "Yes. Right from number 1 to 7, we have a solid batting line-up."

India beat Sri Lanka 2-0 in the three-match series on Sunday and the 36-year-old Tendulkar credited the entire coahing team, including the now sacked duo of bowling coach Venkatesh Prasadand fielding coach Robin Singh, for the tiumph

Tendulkar said along with coach Gary Kirsten, credit goes to Prasad and Robin who were part of the support staff till October.

"All credit goes to Gary (Kirsten) and (mental conditioning coach) Paddy (Upton), along with Robin Singh and Venkatesh Prasad. They handled the team brilliantly. Also all the players have worked very hard in the last 18 months," he said.

Both Prasad and Singh were sacked in October after the team's dismal show in the Twenty20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy.

Tendulkar said the entire country had been waiting for team to become world number one.

"It's fantastic to be at this position. I have been waiting a long time to get to this position. In fact just not me, the entire nation waited for it," Tendulkar said after India beat Sri Lanka to win the three-match series 2-0.

Tendulkar was also happy with the track at Brabourne Stadium which hosted a Test match after a 36-year gap.

"This pitch was brilliant. There was some turn in the first day and I knew one roll would settle it down and it did," he said.

This was yet another milestone in the illustrious two-decade old career of Tendulkar, whom team-mate Yuvraj Singh calls "Grandpa".

Tendulkar, meanwhile, took the occasion to warn Yuvraj against calling him 'Grandpa', saying he too can reveal his nickname which would be enough to embarrass the left-hander.

"I have told Yuvraj Singh not to call me Grandpa. We have got a lot of names for him too. He better stop calling me Grandpa or I will expose him," Tendulkar quipped.

The veteran batsman once again rubbished retirement talks and said, "People keep asking about it but I'm enjoying my game and not thinking about that at all.