FLINTOFF says 'Bye' to Cricket

Andrew Flintoff, usually called as Freddie by all with love, a great asset to England Cricket team in all formats has announced his retirement after suffering with injuries. In the international cricketing career, he has played 79 Tests for England, with five centuries on his way to 3,845 runs at an average of 31.77 and 226 wickets at an average of 32.78. He has taken 52 catches of which most of them in the slips. In his 141 ODI matches, he scored 3394 at an average of 32.01 at a strike rate of 88.82. he had his test debut against South Africa on 1998 and ODI debut against Pakistan on 1999. He was one of those loveable rogues and an iconic figure within the game and his reputation was gained as much off the pitch as on it. He was voted BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year in 2005 for his role in England's famous Ashes victory. Unfortunately, he had been plagued with injuries for much of his career, most of them affecting his back and knees. The latest of his injuries though, which required yet another operation on his knees, proved one too many and after consulting with medical advisers he decided to quit his career in cricket. In his final note, he said “My body has told me it's time to stop.I would like to thank my family, Lancashire, England, all my sponsors, friends and advisers for all the help and support they have given me throughout my career." Australian Captain Ricky Ponting was surprised to hear his retirement adding that he's been a great figure in the game. The way he's gone about his cricket, the way he's played the game and how much he's enjoyed the battle - probably particular in Ashes cricket - is something that's been very fun to be a part of for me. Freddie was the higher paid cricketer next to Kevin Pieterson in IPL. He was a fierce competitor till the end. His innings with Pietersen against Australia in Ashes, 2005 is an unmemorable moment. Let us wish him good luck for all his steps in the rest of his life.

Dune Kossatz is IPL miss Bollywood

South African Model Dune Kossatz has been crowned Miss IPL Bollywood South Africa 2009 on Sunday morning. The 34 year old Kossatz beat 15 other finalists for the Miss Bollywood title at an impressive ceremony held at the Monte casino entertainment complex in Johannesburg.She won Rs.50, 000 cash, a business class trip to India and other prizes. 24 year old Johannesburg Business Marketing graduate Genna Cloud first princess and Dunay Nortje was crowned Second Princess. All three winners were white South Africans who beat several Indian contestants.

She was crowned by former Miss Universe Michelle McLean of South Africa. She received a specially made crown from Gitanjali Jewelers containing gold, silver, diamonds and other precious stones. The 34 year old Kossatz represented the Chennai Super Kings in the competition.Miss Bollywood IPL South Africa was a search to discover a DLF IPL fan with star feature, someone that stood out in a crowd. There were also two live performances one was Grammy award winner Akon sang his hit ‘I wanna make love’ and second was Eddy Grant got the audience to their feet when he girdled out his smash singles with them Electric Avenue.

The Ceremony judges were Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, Michelle Mclean, Michel Adam, Dr. Precious Moloi, Joanne Strauss, Bandana Tiwari, Editor Vogue India and Francios Pienaar. Kossatz had gathered the most Internet votes of 48 finalists selected from each of the IPL games held at several South African venues. She was delighted at the chance to do screen tests for a movie with Shah Rukh Khan as part of her prize package.Kossatz has acted in the popular HBO TV show ‘Entourage‘. She also acted in some movies including The Mind of the Married Man, Las Vegas and Venus & Vegas.