Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne shocked at axing

Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne has expressed his dismay at the news that his team has been axed from the Indian Premier League next season.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Sunday it would terminate the contracts of the inaugural IPL champions and Kings XI Punjab after reported financial irregularities.

Both sides were founding members of the popular Twenty20 tournament and Warne's sadness was obvious after he posted several messages on his Twitter account on Sunday evening.

"It's a big shock," the legendary leg-spinner posted.

Shane Warne has also been a key part of the Rajasthan story, which began with an upset victory in the first edition of the IPL, while Aaron Finch, Shaun Tait, Adam Voges were the other Australians who played for the team in 2010.

Brett Lee and Shaun Marsh were on the books of Punjab.

Watson's continued success for both Rajasthan and Australia has been due in large part to the
careful management of his body by the Queensland-based Victor Popov and also John Gloster, the Royals' Australian physio.

Rajasthan were believed to have set aside the maximum figure of $A2 million to retain Watson and so keep him out of the forthcoming IPL auction, but all that has been thrown out by the BCCI's verdict.

"I've been lucky enough to be able to come over here to India for a number of years now," Watson said. "I've been able to feel a lot more comfortable coming over here and understanding the different grounds and the different conditions here."


SHANE Warne and Shane Watson need a new cash cow after their Rajasthan Royals were kicked out of the IPL last night.

Hodge, Finch on fire for Victoria crush WA

Hodge cracked 13 fours and four sixes in his unbeaten knock of 134 off 125 balls as the Bushrangers compiled 4-319 from their 45 overs.

Brad Hodge smashed a ruthless century as Victoria crushed Western Australia by 113 runs in the National One-Day Cup clash at the WACA Ground on Friday.

In reply, the Warriors were bowled out for 206 in the 35th over after making just 4-88 in their first 20-over allotment.

Victoria secured the bonus point after posting 1-131 from their first bracket, bettering WA's score by 43 runs.

Bushrangers paceman Shane Harwood (6-46) starred with the ball, while John Hastings (3-49) also proved too hot to handle.

Hodge was ably assisted by opener Aaron Finch (81 off 75 balls), skipper Cameron White (34 off 34) and Andrew McDonald (30 not out off 20).

WA needed 232 runs from their final 25 overs but were never in the hunt as Hastings and Harwood combined to kill the contest.

Luke Ronchi (28) and Luke Pomersbach (16) tried to blast WA out of trouble in the second bracket but were both brought undone by Hastings.

"I think I said before the game they (Victoria) were probably the benchmark and they played very well today and we were pretty poor," Voges said.

"They batted better, they bowled better and we were found pretty shor