MUMBAI: Left arm seamer Irfan Pathan Tuesday admitted that he is set to marry his girlfriend Shivangi Dev soon.

Irfan's family members have approved his yet-to-be-scheduled marriage to Shivangi, a Canberra-based chartered accountant.

The wedding ceremony would be held in Vadodara.

Shivangi is the daughter of Virendra Dev, a diplomat working with Indian High Commission in Australia.

The love birds met for the first time during India's tour of Australia in 2003.



Left arm seamer Irfan Pathan made his international cricket debut in 2003 against Australia.

Irfan has played 29 tests for India so far and clinched 100 wickets. In the 107 ODI matches he has appeared in, Irfan has dismissed 152 batsmen.

Irfan, who can also bat well, has 1,105 runs under his belt in tests with 102 being his top score.

In 50-over games, he has 1,368 runs to his credit.

Irfan was the Man of the Match in the 2007 ICC T20 World Cup final in which India defeated Pakistan to clinch the inaugural tournament.

Vaughan announces retirement from international cricket

BIRMINGHAM: Former England captain Michael Vaughan announced his retirement from all professional cricket with immediate effect here at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old Yorkshire batsman said the time was right for him to step aside and allow a new generation of players their chance to shine.

Vaughan, England's most successful Test captain, has not played for his country since tearfully resigning the captaincy in August during the home series loss to South Africa.

His career has been blighted in recent years by a knee injury and speculation about Vaughan's future intensified after Vaughan failed to win a place in England's squad for the Ashes series against Australia which starts next week in Cardiff.

Vaughan, who stressed he'd made no plans yet about his future, said he was encouraged by the way in which England under coach Andy Flower and captain Andrew Strauss were developing as a team.

Vaughan's record as captain during his five year spell in charge from 2003-2008 of 26 victories, 11 defeats and 14 draws, make him England's most successful skipper in terms of overall wins.

England's 2005 Ashes series win - which included a nailbiting two-run win at Edgbaston - was the crowning achievement of Vaughan's time as captain with his knee problem leaving him sidelined for months at a time.

Unsurprisingly, his form as a batsman - which had seen him touch the realms of greatness during the 2002/03 tour of Australia when he made three hundreds - also began to decline.

Desperate for one last series against Australia, Vaughan vowed to regain his place through sheer weight of runs but so far this season he has managed just 147 runs in seven County Championship innings for Yorkshire.

Meanwhile the emergence of Bopara, who this year has made hundreds in three successive Tests against the West Indies, at No 3, also dented Vaughan's hopes of a recall.

Vaughan scored 5,719 Test runs in 82 matches at an average of 41.44 with 18 hundreds and a best of 197 against India at Trent Bridge in 2002.

Fit Flintoff desperate for the Ashes.

Andrew Flintoff's last Ashes experience was the lowest point of his career, but he insists memories of those dark days in Australia have long since been banished as he prepares for another crack at the urn. The pain of the 5-0 whitewash during 2006-07 was in stark contrast to the heady highs of victory in 2005, but as the 2009 campaign draws closer Flintoff wants to start afresh.

He is desperate to make the most of the next two months of Ashes action after winning his latest fitness battle following knee surgery. For a while it looked as though it would be a close race to be fit, but he has had three weeks with Lancashire and is now looking forward to facing Australia again, eager to grab every opportunity that comes his way.

"The last Ashes was the low point of my career. Probably the last series emotionally was the stronger of the two," he said. "But all that is behind us. We have got a very new team and, rather than dining out on 2005 or dwelling on 2006-2007, it is all about what happens over the next six weeks. It is the biggest thing for an Englishman to play in. I don't need any extra incentive. I just want to perform."

"As for any mental scars, I wouldn't say there are a great deal there. There are a lot of things that have happened in my life since then. I am just looking forward to playing. The one thing for me is when you play, have confidence, but more importantly enjoying it. Going into this series, I am going to enjoy playing."

The timing of Flintoff's injury early in the IPL caused plenty of controversy with an Ashes summer looming, but the allrounder is grateful it happened when it did.

Andrew Flintoff's last Ashes experience was the lowest point of his career, but he insists memories of those dark days in Australia have long since been banished as he prepares for another crack at the urn. The pain of the 5-0 whitewash during 2006-07 was in stark contrast to the heady highs of victory in 2005, but as the 2009 campaign draws closer Flintoff wants to start afresh.

He is desperate to make the most of the next two months of Ashes action after winning his latest fitness battle following knee surgery. For a while it looked as though it would be a close race to be fit, but he has had three weeks with Lancashire and is now looking forward to facing Australia again, eager to grab every opportunity that comes his way.

"The last Ashes was the low point of my career. Probably the last series emotionally was the stronger of the two," he said. "But all that is behind us. We have got a very new team and, rather than dining out on 2005 or dwelling on 2006-2007, it is all about what happens over the next six weeks. It is the biggest thing for an Englishman to play in. I don't need any extra incentive. I just want to perform."

"As for any mental scars, I wouldn't say there are a great deal there. There are a lot of things that have happened in my life since then. I am just looking forward to playing. The one thing for me is when you play, have confidence, but more importantly enjoying it. Going into this series, I am going to enjoy playing."

The timing of Flintoff's injury early in the IPL caused plenty of controversy with an Ashes summer looming, but the allrounder is grateful it happened when it did.

Murray, Federer and Serena into semis of Wimbledon Tennis.

LONDON: Andy Murray of Britain finally finished off a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 victory over No. 19 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland to reach the quarterfinals of Wimbledon Tennis.

Five-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer won easily, as did two-time runner-up Andy Roddick and No. 4 Novak Djokovic.

Venus Williams, like Federer chasing a sixth title at the All England Club, was way ahead when her opponent, former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, quit with a thigh injury. Williams’ younger sister, Serena, herself a two-time Wimbledon champion, and No. 4 Elena Dementieva were never challenged in their straight-set victories.

One surprising run ended in the fourth round. Melanie Oudin, a 17-year-old qualifier from Marietta, Ga., who never won a Grand Slam match before last week, lost to No. 11 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-4, 7-5.

Tuesday’s other matches are No. 2 Serena Williams against No. 8 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, Dementieva against unseeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy, and Safina against unseeded Sabine Lisicki of Germany.

The men get a day off before their quarterfinals Wednesday, when the match ups will be No. 2 Federer vs. No. 22 Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, Murray vs. 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, Djokovic vs. No. 24 Tommy Haas, and Roddick vs. 2002

Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt, who lost the first two sets but came back to beat No. 23 Radek Stepanek 4-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.

Younis says team need performance, not big names.

COLOMBO: Pakistani skipper Younis Khan said he believes on performance rather than big names and optimistic that his team will produce positive results during Sri Lanka tour.

"The Sri Lanka tour will be a big challenge," Younis said. " We will have to leave our World Cup win behind and focus on what is a very tough assignment against Sri Lanka," said Younis while addressing a press conference here after a launching ceremony of the trophy.

Younis admitted there was more pressure on Pakistan after their success in England but said his squad had the potential to take whatever came their way.

"In Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka have a wise captain and their team is balanced with quality players, so we will have to be at our best to get positive results," he said.

"It will be double pressure on us because our people want wins in every match and after the Twenty20 success they want more success and that can put pressure on us, but we are ready for it.

"Twenty20 cricket was different and now Test cricket is different, it seriously tests the abilities of a player whereas I don't think the abilities of a player can be gauged in a Twenty20 match."

"Kaneria gives us variety and along with Saeed Ajmal supplements our spin bowling," said Younis, "so it will be a keen contest between two balanced teams and I hope it will be a great series."

Pakistan will play three Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20. The tour begins with a three-day warm-up match in Colombo on June 29.

Swine flu fears hit All England Club.

LONDON: Some staff members at the Wimbledon tennis championships have reported “flu-like” symptoms but the competition will continue “as normal”, organisers said on Monday.

Ian Ritchie, the chief executive of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, which runs the annual grand slam in southwest London, sent a message to staff to inform them of the situation.

Club sources told AFP that a handful of ball boys and ball girls were affected but nobody had been confirmed as having contracted the A(H1N1) virus. More than 4,300 swine flu cases have been diagnosed in Britain.

Sri Lanka name squad for first Test with Pakistan.

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene will miss the first Test against Pakistan in Galle on Saturday after fracturing his finger, skipper Kumar Sangakkara said Monday.

Jayawardene, 29, who picked up the injury during a practice match, will need about two weeks to recover.

"With Jayawardene out of action, we have a vacancy at the moment. We are not looking at a specialist wicketkeeper, but one who can also score and put some runs on the board," Sangakkara told reporters as the 15-man squad was named.

With Sangakkara himself able to keep wicket, the selectors are looking at playing either Angelo Mathews, Kaushal Silva or Chamara Kapugedera, with the latter most likely to get the nod as an extra batsman.

The squad:
Kumar Sangakkara (Captain), Muttiah Muralitharan, Malintha Warnapura, Tharanga Paranavithana, Mahela Jayawardena, Thilan Samaraweera, Tilakaratne Dilshan, Angelo Mathews, Chamara Kapugedera, Ajantha Mendis, Thilina Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Dhammika Prasad, Kaushal Silva and Suranga Lakmal.

Coach: Trevor Bayliss (ENG)