Buchanan calls for a major overhaul.

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeIf anyone knew the Australian team intimately, then it has to be its former coach John Buchanan.

However, when asked to identify what caused Australia’s fall from grace, he had only this to say:

“There are broader issues there. They've been overlooked for a long period of time and now we're starting to see the outcomes of those. It's systemic and that's been the case for some period of time but while things were going well people chose to ignore them,”

Buchanan’s opaque answer casts serious doubts on Australia’s ability to regain its pomp. His rather neither here nor there answer makes one wonder whether it was contractual obligations or hopes of another stint as the coach of Australia that stopped him from being more forthcoming.

All said and done it appears that the Australian team is set to slide further before it stabilises.

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Champions Trophy: Thumbs down to Rawalpindi

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The ICC and the PCB have decided to drop Rawalpindi as one of the venues for the Champions Trophy. The dawdling pace of construction - the Rawalpindi stadium is undergoing a facelift, is cited as the official raison d'être.

However, rumors are afoot that Rawalpindi lost out in order to assuage safety concerns. As things stand, Lucknow will hold 7 matches and Karachi will hold 8 matches counting the championship.

Unhappily, yesterday’s reports that Pakistani political parties possibly will impeach Mushraff is bad news for the Champions Trophy. Mushraff is certain to counteract it and this may lead to additional unrest, which regrettably will put a finish to all attempts by the PCB to host the competition.

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India- a worthy No.2?

Being a true sportsman,Ponting rained wholesome praise on India:

"It was an enjoyable series, a hard-fought contest over the last one month. India played some very good cricket and proved that they are the number two team in the world," Ponting said.

I feel it is a bit premature, India has to beat South Africa comprehensively to be a worthy No.2.

Do you agree?

 

Technorati Tags: ICC rankings,Cricket,India,Ponting,SA,Australia

A Way Out

It is unlikely that Harbhajan will escape unscathed. For one it will reflect adversely on all parties concerned.

If it were to happen, India and its cricketing body will stand accused of ‘flexing their financial muscles’. The Australian players will be pilloried for employing dirty tricks, in this case racism, to subjugate their opponents and the ICC will be slammed yet again for being weak- kneed.

Normally this sort of situation an acceptable political compromise is the norm. However, there is one uncompromising element in this mix, the Indian players. They are adamant that Harbhajan is innocent and unwilling to compromise. This adds a complexity to the situation as they have taken the high moral ground by excusing Brad Hogg.

How do you think they will resolve the situation?

 

Technorati Tags: Harbhajan,Symonds,racism,hearing,ICC,BCCI,Australia,India

The End Game

The Test series is winding down and Harbhajans ban coming up for review. The BCCI has started cranking up the pressure and as a first step; Procter’s ruling been made public and now the second step

IN AN ominous sign that Bollyline is about to turn toxic, Indian cricket powerbroker Lalit Modi has warned there will be Australian "casualties" from the Sydney Test.

It is an obvious attempt to remind the CAB and the players particularly the 'accusers' that they have a lot to lose. Undoubtedly, the ban will be overturned citing lack of corroborative evidence.

The End game is on.

IceRocket Tags: Racial abuse,Harbhajan,Symonds,CAB,BCCI,Ban,hearing,IPL

Rethinking Azharuddin’s Captaincy

One off field event summed up my impression of Azharruddin’s captaincy. I remember a press conference, Azharuddin when asked about the Warne threat; replied that he has four people (batsmen) who can take care of him. This led me to consider him a Captain who largely relied on his players to come through or to be more exact expected his players to pull their weight.

However, Mark Taylor lists Azharuddin as one his favourite captains because, “The fields he set for spinners would be very good. He’d been captaining for some years before I did and I found those field settings imaginative and effective.”

I would have never associated the word imaginative with Azharuddin or his captaincy. (Despite his apparent lack of imagination, his taste (Sangeeta Bijlani) was impeccable). Maybe, I should revisit my opinion on Azharuddin

Would you rate Azharuddin’s captaincy as ‘imaginative’?

Technorati Tags: Captain,Cricket,captaincy,Azharuddin,Mark Taylor

Pardon me Mr.Lalor, your racism is showing.

In ‘Baiting Harbhajan the headstrong’, Peter Lalor says:


That was in 2000 and it was only the insistence of a number of wiser heads, including captain Sourav Ganguly, that brought him back into the side for the 2001 series. It was reported at the time that Harbhajan was planning to move to Canada to drive trucks but decided to stay and play.

Driving trucks for a living! If this is not racial stereotyping then what is it?

It is beyond the little minds of Lalor and his ilk to conceive that unlike the Australian cricketers; most Indian cricketers are well educated and hold well-paying jobs.

Dravid may not open

In all probability, the Aussies have freezed on a 4 prong pace attack. This can be made out from the fact that the Indians have junked the idea of Dravid partnering Jaffer.
Instead it will be Sehwag.

It appears that Virender Sehwag, the nowhere
man in Indian cricket till a week back, has been put on alert and he wasted
little time in rushing to the MCG indoor nets this afternoon to give himself
some serious workout against bowling machines.

I would say that it is a sound move. India is better served with Dravid at No.3.

What do you say?

Indians are ready - Gilchrist

From the cacophany of voices coming out from Australia, I always considered Gilly as a voice of reason.

"And he has warned Australia's fast bowlers not to
assume bowling short will bring about the downfall of one of the world's best
batting line-ups."

Glad to hear it Gilly- was getting worried over the mixed messages coming out of Australia.Be assured, you have one Indian as your fan.

Do you believe India can win the series?

The way the series is structured, we haven’t given ourselves a fair chance.

India will have just the one full day to acclimatise before beginning their lone
warm-up clash from Thursday - a three-day affair against Victoria at the
Junction Oval - ahead of the Boxing Day Test.

Traditionally, it has been our batsmen who have taken time to adjust and more often than not we have lost the series on account of their sheepish batting. However this time, my hope rests on our batting. Our middle – order is a phalanx of experienced players who have a point to prove. The likes of Yuvraj snapping at their heels will provide them sufficient motivation to be at their best from day one.

However our bowling is a different story. Our main man is coming back from injury without any match practice. The rest of the supporting casts are raw and most probably naive. They could be easily seduced by the relatively fast Australian pitches and spray the ball around.

Our only functioning weapon is Kumble. His elevation as a Captain and his grit should see him perform well. Bhajji unfortunately has lost the ability to bamboozle the batsmen and take wickets in a heap. His occasional ‘wickets’ is in no way helping India’s cause.

Adding to my self-doubts has been our past performances in Australia.

India have never clinched a Test series in Australia since their maiden visit
there in 1947-48. They have won just four of their 32 Tests Down Under.

Now that you know why I am pessimistic, what is your take; does India have a fair chance?

Sehwag- is he a gamble worth taking?

Sehwag’s savagery and Jaffer’s finesse would have been enough to drive the Aussies up a wall and if the two were to tango together, the other Indian batsmen could swim in their slipstream. Any day they would have been my first choice as openers.

Unfortunately, Sehwag’s current form has been patchy and the fact that he has not been given an opportunity to re-establish himself in Test cricket has added to my confusion. However, with the Aussie tour escalating into a defining moment for India, I think it is a gamble.

The question is, is it a gamble worth taking?

Symonds-Sreesanth title fight postponed.

An injured Sreesanth has deflated the anticipation of a good skirmish down under.

Former Australian firebrand Rodney Hogg spoke
for most when he described theloss of Sreesanth as a major blow for India - and
Australian spectators.

Hogg, one of the game's more colourful
characters, joked the spatbetween Symonds and Sreesanth could have been
cricket's equivalent of a titlefight.

Personally, the anticipation of watching Laxman and Sachin take the Australian bowling apart and Sreesanth’s theatrics had me salivating and now the thrill is there but the edge is missing.

Has Sreesanth’s injury spoiled your appetite?

A Golden era for the Proteas ?

Mike Wills writes:

South African cricket is experiencing a
Dickensian moment, simultaneously the best of times and the worst of times and
adds that a potentially golden era for the Proteas is in the
offing.

It is amazing how virtually all teams are suffused with optimism at the start of a season. Unerringly the season ends in shambles for most of them, with Australia being the exception as always.

Are we aiming high enough?

The team should learn to take the toss, pitch and
weather out of the equation, writes Anil Kumble and goes on to add that we have to remember the importance of
planning, setting goals and working towards them.

However there is a real danger of being seduced by small victories and setting too small a goal.

As Edward Everett Hale says, “If you have accomplished all that you have planned for yourself, you have not planned enough.”

Which leads me to ask,Mr.Kumble, what are your plans for taming Australia?

Photograph of the Sydney high-rise buildings at Circular Quay courtesy Photographer: Roy Tennant

A change in the offing?

Hitherto, it has always been the Australians, who had the temerity to comment on their opponents. Now others have started usurping their space.

Here is Murali on MacGill:

Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan believes Stuart MacGill is "not the
bowler he used to be" and Australian selectors should look to the future when
choosing a test cricket spinner.

Way to go Murali!

The vultures are circling. Down below is a bleeding limping beast feigning life.

The worry for Cricket Australia

Cricket Australia is worried about the dwindling attendances during the recent Sri Lanka series. Plus, they see no reason to hope for a revival in their fortunes.

“the position won’t improve in the coming weeks. Before Christmas, Australia
will meet New Zealand in three one day matches and a Twenty20 match. New Zealand
is currently ranked fifth on the One Day International ratings table so another
lopsided series looms.


Then Australia and India will
player three Tests, the first starting on Boxing Day in Melbourne. While India
ranks third on the Test ratings table, England ranks second! If Australia scored
an easy clean sweep against the Poms last summer, what will it do to India this
summer?”

Our expatriates will be at the stadium in full force so that is the least of their worries.

However about what Australia will do to India, anyone willing to hazard a guess?

Expletives welcomed. :)

Sour grapes – again

Australia’s preoccupation with India’s Twenty20 win continues.

FORMER Australia captain Kim Hughes says:

"That's why they like to play Twenty20 cricket because it reduces the game to a
slogathon.

"It helps hide their inadequacies, which are cruelly
exposed by Australia at Test level."

Why are they hell bent on diminishing India’s Twenty20 World Cup win?

Or are they indirectly acknowledging that India is snapping at their heels?

Malcolm Marshall and David Boon

Is this one true? I have never heard it before.

Malcolm Marshall was bowling to David Boon who had played and missed a couple of times. Marshall “Now, David, are you going to get out now or am I going to have to bowl around the wicket and kill you?”

The English are obsessed

With winning the Ashes:

There are two objectives: 1) To regain the Ashes. 2) To win an ICC global event. We have won the Ashes once in 18 years. Never in 32 years have we won an ICC global event.




Sad. Will navel gazing do?

Allan Donald and the white mans burden

At times you feel surreal. The inability of the English to see beyond their nose is well known and now the affliction seems to have spread to South Africa.

SOUTH African legend Allan Donald has warned Australia its domination of cricket
will not last as other national teams undergo change and plot retribution.

I have no issues with this statement. However the one which follows makes my stomach churn.

Donald has moved to ease fears from fans and rival players that Ricky Ponting's
team will never be caught by declaring South Africa and England are going
through a renewal period and will be two nations that will seriously challenge
for supremacy.

England has been resoundingly beaten by Australia and South Africa’s record against Australia is laughable.

There is no basis to his assumptions; nevertheless, Donald feels these are the two teams which can pose a challenge to Australia.

Poor Donald, he is laboring under a mistaken notion that only a ‘white team’ can beat Australia.

Is that the case? Isn’t he carrying the ‘white mans burden’?