ICC Test & ODI Team of the year 2014

ICC has announced its Test and one day international team of the year 2014, as chosen by a specially appointed selection panel chaired by the ICC's cricket committee chairman and former India captain Anil kumble who announced the two team, comprising 12 players each.

# ICC Test Team of the year (in batting order)


1] David Warner (AUS)

2] Kane Williamson (NZ)

3] Kumar Sangakara (SL)

4] AB de Villiars (SA)

5] Joe Root (ENG)

6] Angelo Mathews (SL) {captain}

7] Mitchell Johnson (AUS)

8] Stuart Broad (ENG)

9] Dale Steyn (SA)

10] Rangana Herath (SL)

11] Tim Southee (NZ)

12] Ross Taylor (NZ) (12th man)

* Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews has been named as the captain of the side.
* This is the seventh time since 2006 that Sangakara has been selected in the ICC Test team of the year.
* Dale Steyn has also been selected for a record seventh succesive year.
* While his team-mate AB de Villers has been selected for the fifth time (2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014).
* Stuart Broad (2009, 2011 & 2012) & Mitchell Johnson are the other players who have previously been selected in the ICC test team of the year.

 [ see also : top 7 controversial autobiography of cricketers ]


# ICC ODI Team of the year (in batting order)


1] Mohammad Hafeez (PAK)

2] Quinton de kock (SA)

3] Virat Kohli (IND)

4] George Bailey (AUS)

5] AB de Villars (SA)

6] MS Dhoni (IND) {captain}

7] Dwayne Bravo (WI)

8] James Faulkner (AUS)

9] Dale Steyn (SA)

10] Mohammad Shami (IND)

11] Ajantha Mendis (SL)

12] Rohit Sharma (IND) (12th man)

* India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been selected in the ICC ODI team of the year for the eight time (7th year in a row), while it is the fifth year that he has been appointed captain.
* Players to be previously selected in the ICC ODI team of the year are de Villers (2010, 2011 & 2013) ,Virat Kohli (2012) & Ajantha Mendis (2009).
* The 12-member ODI team comprises 4 Indian players, 3 South Africans, 2 Australians, a Pakistani & Sri Lankan.


The chairman of the LG ICC Awards selection panel, Anil Kumble, said : "I would like to congratulate all the players for their selection in the teams of the year. It is an achievement to be proud of & a recognition in the qualifying period".
"Team selection is one of the toughest jobs & when you have a large pool of outstanding players to select from a 12-month period between 26 August 2013 to 17 September 2014, then it becomes even more difficult".
Statistics were available as a guide but were not necessarily the overwhelming factor in the choices made.

7 Shortest basketball players of all time

Basketball !!! What comes to your mind when you think about this sport? about players? any guesses..

Yes, its Height !! The biggest X-factor required for the excellence in the court of basketball. Ofcourse a player need skills and talent to acheive the glory but height plays its part as well. Over the period of time, we have seen players like Gheorge Muresan and Manute Bol who were 7 ft 7inch tall (tallest players in NBA history). But their had been players (only 24) in NBA history with listed height of 5 ft, 9 inches or shorter (among which 2 are still active on the court).

Listed below are the shortest players of the game of all time:

1] Muggsy Bogues » 5 ft 3 inch (1.60m)

2] Earl Boykins » 5 ft 5 inch (1.65m)

3] Mel Hirsch » 5 ft 6 inch (1.68m)

4] Greg Grant » 5 ft 7 inch (1.70m)

5] Keith Jennings » 5 ft 7 inch

6] Hern klotz » 5 ft 7 inch

7] Watarn Misaka » 5 ft 7 inch

* all players listed above are from U.S.A.
* 2 more players are also of 5 ft 7 inch height » Moute Towe and Spud Webb.

Top 7 controversial autobiography of cricketers

Cricket is popularly known as the "Gentelmen's Game". Over the period of time, many gentelmen of the game have wrote about their life inside and outside the cricketing field. But few stormed the world with controversies.

Let us take a look at top 7 autobiographies that began as a personal account of a cricketer's life but ended up as manuscript of controversy :

1) Kevin Petersen

The latest book to hit the cricketing headlines - "KP : The Autobiography". Kevin Pitersen's autobiography exposed the dark side of the England cricket.
England' most prolific, equally controversial and egostic batsman spared none - right from coach Andy Flower to his teammates. From the apparent culture of bulling in the dressing room to Jonathan Trott's depression, Flower's coaching regime to Matt Prior's backstabbing tactics. His citing a number of Australian and Indian oppents who could endrose his opinions, and the continous media interviews preceding the release of the book intensified the hype and ensured a grand opening.

2) Adam Gilchrist

Best wicketkeeper batsman in the cricket history Adam Gilchrist authored "True colors" in 2008. An excellent book and one that is largely not controversial.
However the famous monkey-gate scandal generates a fair deal of controversy. Gilchrist rekindled the controversy in his 2008 book questioning Tendulkar's honesty during the tribunal concerning that affair. He also banged on the officials from both countries,condemning the BCCI of "playing politics" and Cricket Australia and the ICC of "caving in" when the Harbhajan Singh's orignal deferment was annihilated. This aussie cricketer later apologised to Tendulkar under intense media pressure.

3) Shoaib Akhtar
The Rawalpindi express from Pakistan was again on news despite retiring from international cricket for his autobiography "Controversially Yours".
Commenting on Sachin Tendulkar, he had mentioned "I bowled a particularly fast ball which he, to my amazement didn't even touch. He walked away!". That drew some attention in cricketing world & strong reaction across India. He also raised few eyebrows with his comments on Wasim Akram & Javed Miandad & his candid confessions about ball tempering were indeed too casual for comfort.

[ see also : ICC TEST & ODI TEAM OF THE YEAR 2014 ]

4) Herschelle Gibbs

Most gifted yet most indisciplined South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs penned his book "To the point". In the age of modern media, this was probably one of the most controversial autobiographies released.
His book talks about drink, drugs sexual orgies & match fixing during his year with the South Africa team. After reading his book some people still love him and are happy that he has uncovered the dark side of cricket while other's have lost total respect & absolute disgusted. It was reported to have sold in just 2 days.

5) Ian Botham

Botham continued his relationship with controversy with the publication of his book "Head On". Not unexpectedly Ian Botham's autobiography was explosive.
His book is admittance to drug misuse and playing entirely different sort of cricket in the field. Accusing the Pakistan team of ball tampering and ofcourse his admittance that he smoked marijuana also ensured that the book would be a best seller.

6) Sunil Gavaskar

World-class opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar penned his autobiography "Sunny Days".
India's greatest batsman in his time, had been a controversial cricketer on and off the field. Although "Sunny Days" was mostly benign and no notorious accounts that could trouble critics, it was labelled as pretty courageous for its time because of Gavaskar's straightforward attitude and opinionated remarks. He ensured that his autobiography would fly off the shelves.

7) Jim Laker

The great off-spinner from England who is better known for his record 19/90 at Old Traffard during his golden summer of 1956 had authored his autobiography "Over To Me" released in 1960 beget.
He certainly had a better time in the game (193 wickets in 46 Tests) than the book suggested. The book launched into Indian cricket & India in general, revealing a bitter & sensationalist side to Laker's character. The book also got him in trouble with MCC and Surrey. The tone of the book was distinctly sharp & it also convey a grave story of Laker never really enjoying his time in the game.
Nonetheless, the book sold well.


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