In the Name of Cricket

12/08/2008

ICC Test Rankings Sri Lanka snapping at India heels

Not satisfied with knocking India of its high perch, Sri Lanka is all set to take over India's mantle as the third ranked team in the ICC Test rankings.

They are now placed one step ahead of the fourth placed England team and one ranking point behind third placed India.

It appears that Sri Lanka is well on its way to be the leader among the sub-continental cricket teams.

Australia can be beaten says Pietersen

The obituary notice that appeared in The Sport...

Image via WikipediaThe familiar Aussie fixation is back. A consolation Test match victory in a dead rubber has given enough confidence for the new England Captain, Kevin Pietersen to talk of beating the Aussies.

"It was not far away from the perfect start and from the way I want to play cricket in the future," he said. "If we play like this, we will beat Australia. This is a starting stage. The key is to turn up to every single Test like we have this week."

Conveniently forgotten is the fact that the Australian series is one year away. In the meanwhile, England play India in India and then take on the West Indies.

When will England realise that it is premature to talk of reclaiming the Ashes and this false bravado serves to turn them into a laughing stock of the cricketing world.

Do the deed and then we will applaud.

11/08/2008

India lose series decider

Sri Lanka wins the third and final test and wins series 2-1.

Unfortunately, there was neither a miracle nor rain to save us.

The Indian innings folded on expected lines. Dravid and Laxman fought the good fight, before Mendis got the breakthrough. Surprisingly it was the more assured looking Dravid who departed first. Laxman who was batting with Gambhir as his runner led a charmed life, nicking to non-existent slips and squirting catches before settling down to carry his bat.

This is the second time in this series Laxman is running out of partners. Doubtless, this will reflect in healthy averages, but his refusal to take charge when tail-enders was batting is frustrating. He neither farms the strike nor plays his shots, but plays regardless of the impending doom. One certainly wishes for some more leadership when he plays with the tail-enders in particular.

Harbhajan played some extravagant shots that fetched him boundaries. However, his contribution was too little to make a difference.

It is simplistic to conclude that India lost because its golden oldies failed. That is certainly one reason. Other than Harbhajan, not one Indian bowler took five wickets in a Test. Contrast it with the Sri Lankan bowlers, you will know it is the main reason we lost.

In addition to these two, the abject fielding contributed significantly to our failure. Both Robin Singh and Venkatesh Prasad have a lot to answer for the falling standards of their wards.

Then there is the much maligned review system. The attitude of the Indian players was that of injured innocence. Tendulkar padding up only to fall lbw to Mendis showed that the Indian batsmen are still relaying on the umpires to judge based on their reputation. Unfortunately, they failed to realize that the technology is beyond influence.

Does this mean that Sri Lanka had no part to play in our defeat? They certainly had a decisive hand and if one notices closely, you can see the wily hand of Ranatunga behind it. Sehwag’s unpredictable brilliance undid their plans to some extent; save for that innings, Sri Lanka would have won 3-0.

Badrinath replaces Tendulkar in the ODI squad

The injury sustained by Tendulkar during the second day of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka is severe enough to rule him out of the following ODI series.

However, his unavailability brings a cheer to many Badrinath fans as he replaces Tendulkar in the ODI squad.

As Tendulkar opens for India in the ODI’s it is doubtful that Badrinath a middle order batsmen, will ever play. Tendulkar’s absence means Gambhir – Sehwag partnership continues unbroken.

Coming back to Tendulkar’s injury, wonder why I am unsurprised.

10/08/2008

Only an ‘M’ can save India.

Photo courtesy marklarson

India vs. Sri Lanka 3 rd Test, 3 rd Day:

As I write, Sehwag, Gambhir, Ganguly, Parthiv and Tendulkar are out. Dravid is waging a battle with a rather sick looking Laxman for company.

Though they say hope springs eternal, the situation is dire.

Only an ‘M’ - miracle can save India.

Why not Test Cricket for the Olympics?

Amrith Lal provides compelling reasons why Test cricket and not Twenty20 should feature in the Olympics.Among other telling points I found these undebatable.
Test cricket, has a long sporting history. It is played only by a handful of nations, but in those cricketing countries the game is taken seriously as a sport. It is played for the pure pleasure of playing.
Twenty20 is a game invented by television. It is more visual entertainment than sport. The rules and traditions of cricket have been subverted to suit the requirements of TV entertainment.
The propagators of the Twenty20 for Olympics cite the long drawn nature of Tests matches as its drawback.
To these questioners Amrith riposte is equivocal, If that is long and boring, don’t watch. It's not cricket's loss.

Having nothing much to add I stop by asking you,which one would you prefer and why?

Technorati Tags cricket,Olympics

Ishant’s recovery is important

The Indian physio was busy on the second day of the Third Test. VVS Laxman turned his ankle, Tendulkar jarred his elbow and a rearing Kumble delivery, messed up Parthiv’s pretty face.

However, in the context of day three of the Test, Ishant injury may prove dear. If India is looking to price out early wickets in the morning, a fit Ishant is crucial. Or else, India is looking at a lead of a minimum 100 runs.

A lead as large as 100 runs may prove a daunting task for the Indian batsmen and the pressure could make them wilt.

For India, a vigorous Ishant is indispensable to impose itself in the game.

Photo courtesy: dario(head)

09/08/2008

Vaas misses a rare double by 2 runs.

When Vaas got out driving Harbhajan straight to Virendar Sehwag at covers, he missed out on a rare double by 2 runs. If he had scored the 2 runs he would have completed a deserved double of scoring 3000 runs and 300 wickets.

His aggregate now stands at 2998 runs and 347 wickets in 107 Tests.

Curtains for Asif?

PCB’s three – man committee appointed to investigate Asif’s confinement at the Dubai Airport for possession of drugs have reportedly submitted their finding’s to the PCB Chairman Nasim Ashraf.
The evidence is damning. The committee reportedly has unequivocally evidence to suggest that Asif, to employ a colloquial term, is doing drugs.
Now it is left to PCB’s Chairman Nasim Ashraf to decide on the quantum of punishment.
However, this ‘evidence’ along with the report of his ‘positive’ test during IPL may well see Asif career end.

How to get rid of Tendulkar and the other oldies

The issue which occupies any thinking Indian, an issue more important than the nuclear deal or much more worrying than rampant poverty is how to get rid of the seniors from the cricket team.

The fab-four, regardless to broad hints, refuse to make a graceful exist.Compounding their refusal is the reluctance of the grateful BCCI to wield the axe.

This leaves the onerous task of flushing the seniors out of the team to the fans. Fortunately for the Indian cricket fans, corporate India provides them a solution.

Corporate India, for the matter the corporate world has devised a sensitive way of getting rid of redundant employees. For instance, an indebted organisation creates a fresh Vice-President post and appoints these men to the post. By doing so, they achieve two objectives, one, getting rid of the employee and two, freeing the position for influx of fresh blood.

The Indian cricket fans should force the BCCI to adopt similar measures.

For example as recent as yesterday, Kohli a new inductee into the Indian team was voluble on the subject of sharing the dressing room with Tendulkar. This suggests a way to farm Tendulkar.

Make Tendulkar the coach of the Under-19 team. This will give the youngsters an opportunity to share the dressing room and gain from his experience.

BTW, we welcome similar suggestions for Laxman, Ganguly and Dravid.

08/08/2008

Jesus – did he play cricket?

An Armenian scholar says he did:

Dr Abraham Terian, lately a visiting professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as Fulbright Distinguished Chair in the Humanities, points to an extraordinary manuscript as his source.

He notes that in the Armenian Gospel of the Infancy, translated into Armenian in the 6th century from a much older lost Syriac original, a passage tells of Jesus playing what may well be the precursor of cricket, with a club and ball.

Dr. Terian says there is good rationale to suppose that games comparable to cricket were played in the Middle East long before it was played in England. For this reason, he says Jesus did play cricket.

India relinquish advantage

Sri Lanka Vs India 3rd Test Day 1:

India won the toss and swiftly ceded the advantage to the Sri Lankan’s by their inept batting. The debutant Prasad took three early wickets and India was 102 for 3 by the 23 rd over. Dravid after suffering and making others endure his painstaking batting succumbed for 10 and Tendulkar following suit with just 6 runs. Both the batsmen were lbw playing across the line.

Since then on, wickets fell at regular intervals with Laxman and Ganguly flattering to deceive. However, Gambhir held the innings together with a fine 72. He along with Sehwag put on a 51 runs partnership before the wheels came apart.

The last wicket partnership of 50 odd runs involving Ishant and Zaheer brought an appearance of respectability and India folded at 249 in the 80 th over.

Champions Trophy: Thumbs down to Rawalpindi

Image via Wikipedia
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.

07/08/2008

Did the national selectors do a good job?

The term of the current selection committee is coming to a close. In fact it will perform its last act by selecting the ODI team for Sri Lanka.
Surprisingly for an committee known for its regionalism and quota system, they have done a good job. They have unearthed new talent and given back confidence to quiet a few seniors.
However, one area where they have failed is in providing an exit plan to the seniors. The commonly held perception is despite good intentions the seniors refuse to let go and this selection panel with Vengsarkar at its head appear too eager to maintain the status quo.
One other area where they lacked clarity or did they deliberately confuse is the Rahul Dravid episode. From the high of winning the English series, Dravid relinquished his Captaincy and also suffer poor form and it appears the handiwork of the selection committee's Chairman.
Do you think the selection committee did a good job?

ICC meeting deadlocked – Is it curtains for the Champions League?

The International Cricket Council and the organizers of Championship were unable to arrive at an agreement over the scheduling the Champions League.
Reports indicate that both parties are conscious of the others predicament, however, the packed International schedule provides few alternatives. Nevertheless, they are considering two alternative windows, one just in advance of the Australia’s tour to India and one more between March and April next year.
The unavailability of the players may well nix the first option leaving them only the March – April slot. If the Champions League were to be deferred to March next year, it will very well mean its abandonment as Australia and South Africa will have new Twenty20 Champions by then.
The next 48 hours will decide the destiny of the inaugural Champions League.

Technorati Tags Twenty20,Champions,League

06/08/2008

BCCI retaliates - Ranatunga gets his due

Regulars may remember this blogger's rightful anger against Ranatunga for back stabbing us and also for daring to talk ill about our cricket team.

Though delayed, a speculative report suggests that the BCCI has retaliated and hit Ranatunga where it hurts.

The Central Organising Committee meeting for World Cup 2011 has been postponed indefinitely following BCCI chief Sharad Pawar's inability to attend the meet. Although Sri Lankan Cricket cites official engagements as the reason for Pawar's unavailability, there is more than what meets the eye.

Yipe! This is sure to bring him back to his senses.

Can the ICC stop the Champions League?

Following an interlude, the ICC is making tough noises about the scheduling of the Champions League.

An ICC press release reveals, “The International Cricket Council (ICC) president David Morgan has called a meeting of the ICC Board for Wednesday, August 6, to discuss implications of the timing of the Champions League T20 tournament. The meeting will take place by telephone hook-up.”

The agenda ostensibly is to punish the organizers of the Champions League for scheduling the Champions League a day after the Champions Trophy.

One doubts whether the ICC will do anything drastic. It appears that the organizers of the Champions League are holding out to negotiate better with ICC or one of its constituents.

What do you think will happen?

05/08/2008

Cut this crying shit

Over at Cricket365, they have done up an article called ‘The Crying Game’.

Yes you guessed right, it takes off from Vaughan’s tearful press conference and recounts other emotional ones.

On reading it, I felt relief that there is no Indian cricketer listed there.

Another that encapsulated in the phrase ‘cut this crying shit’ followed that emotion.

O. K. Let me explain.

I do not remember the name of the movie but this is one directed by Clint Eastwood. He acts as a rickety old sheriff.

In that movie he runs after a thug and brings him down and utters a typical Clint Eastwood one- liner, ‘cut this running shit’.

Now that I have explained, I hope you get what I am driving at.

Is Lalit Modi turning IPL into his grandfather’s property?

The Modi clan as such seems to be gambling on IPL. Actually, it would not be frivolous to conclude that the Modi business group per se perceives it as their most bankable option to develop their business.

Observe how they are noiselessly buying up all IPL associated properties.

A $320m-$350m (£163m-£178m) deal agreed by the Canada-based billionaire BK Modi to buy a 32.2% stake in Multi Screen Media from minority shareholders has been followed only by the business press in India. But when MSM is identified by its pre-name-change moniker of Sony Entertainment Television, which is a partner in a 10-year, $1bn (£509m) deal to broadcast the Indian Premier League, it is clear that the deal might have some impact on world cricket. And when BK Modi is identified as the uncle of Lalit Modi, the IPL's commissioner and vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, it would seem he is betting on the success of his nephew's brainchild. So if a report in India's Economic Times is to be believed, it is all the more intriguing that BK Modi has allowed the exclusivity period of the negotiation to lapse, allowing a joint bid from Disney and UTV to enter the running. Has he been let in on a family secret about the viability of the IPL, or indeed perhaps the lack of it?

Along with their stake in the Rajasthan Royals, this new acquisition would guarantee that atleast one industrial house profits from IPL. Lalit Modi is going all out to ensure that.

Twenty20 for 2020 Olympics

Back when this blog was relatively unknown, news broke out about the possible inclusion of cricket in the Olympics.

I posted it on my blog along with my opinion on which format was apt for the Olympics.

This set of a series of comments and Soulberry, the father figure to most Indian cricket bloggers generously posted it in the BBC very own 606.

The majority felt that the ODI’s was the apt format. However, some insisted that Test matches were the way to go. Interestingly, the Twenty20 was never in the picture.

We are all familiar with the eventual turn of the events. Twenty20 took the world cricket by storm and even a traditionalist like the former Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist has pushed for the inclusion of Twenty20 cricket in the Olympics from 2020.

This gives me a pause to wonder how we ignored the aptness of the Twenty20 format. If there is one format of the game that appears to suit the Olympics to a T, it is undoubtedly Twenty20.

Are there any naysayers?

04/08/2008

Does Harbhajan merit a place in the Indian Cricket team?

There is no denying that Harbhajan Singh was the chief architect of the Indian triumph at Galle even though it was Sehwag who posted the runs. Without his 10-wicket haul, not all the runs in the world would have helped India. For that reason, it is unsurprising to see him feted.

Notwithstanding his stellar performance, a feeling persists that we are going overboard in our praise. Is he truly praiseworthy?

Mull over this:
His previous 10-wicket haul was again against the Sri Lankans in Ahmedabad in the year 2005.
In essence, he has been a non-performer for the last three years and yet we extol him for a once in three-year feat. Should our expectations be so low? Will we tolerate a batsman who has not scored a century in three years?
Ask your self, does he deserve to be in the squad?

Why Indian’s are unhappy with Rahul Dravid’s dismissal?

The Indian team’s unhappiness with Dravid’s dismissal in the second innings at Galle is well known. For the record, originally given not out, Mahela after a lengthy dialogue with Doctrove went for the referral and got the decision overturned.

Initially, it was assumed that Indians were unhappy with Mahela’s protracted conversation with the umpire. It was reasoned that the prolonged chat gave Mahela an advantage and a chance to plant a seed of doubt in the umpires mind.

However, the exact reason behind India’s dissatisfaction is now out. The Indian’s believe that Mahela’s long-drawn-out discussion was a premeditated attempt to buy time for his teammates, either in the dressing room or on the ground to look at the replays and decide whether a referral will be in their favor.

This explains why, a normally restrained Dravid, smote his bat on the ground.

03/08/2008

A ’perfect Test match’ at Galle?

Can someone tell me whether the Galle Test qualifies as a perfect Test match for Sri Lanka?

What's more, let me take this opportunity to remind the Right Honorable Ranatunga the Chairman of SC that you had your day.

Take it away folks!

Mahela Jayawardene explains Dravid's controversial dismissal

The decision to over turn the on-filed umpire’s decision and give Dravid out LBW is a correct one. However, the time taken and the persistent querying of the umpires have created a controversy over Dravid's dismissal.

According to the commentators, Mahela was clarifying why Dravid was not out. The commentators were saying that the umpire told Mahela that Dravid had hit the ball on to his pad. Mahela standing in the slips was sure that it had not and hence went for the referral. While the commentators were explaining away the prolonged questioning of the umpires thus, their explanation is in sharp contrast to Mahela's own explanation:

The reason behind these referrals is to see whether the umpire has made a mistake. The space of time we have been given, I should be able to ask why he said not out. I needed to clarify why he said not out. I needed to know whether he had made a mistake. I was just clarifying. He said it pitched outside the off-stump. He gave the reason and then only I thought to go for the referral.

This has justly planted a seed of doubt on the very process of referrals. Until now, it was a commonly held belief that a Captain should go for the referral as soon as he feels the decision was incorrect. In addition, the decision to go for the referrals was independent of the on-field umpire and the players had to go for the referrals based on their own judgment.

That is not the case here. Another factor that contributes to the ill feeling among the Indian’s is that a Sri-Lankan umpire was substituting as the third umpire and he took an inordinate amount of time to come to his conclusion. Clearly, it indicates he was not sure and needed quiet a few replays to convince him. This flouts the fondly cherished tenet in cricket that doubts should always favour the batsman.

It is to be added that there are no two opinions that the referral is a good innovation and does help in getting the correct decision. The ICC, which is trialing the referrals in this series should ensure that there are no anomaly's and everything is transparent. If not, this welcome innovation will sink under the weight of what could very well be false conjectures.

02/08/2008

ECB trying to sink Twenty20 Champions League.

It is common knowledge that ECB tried to stand- up to the BCCI and tried to bamboozle it into agreeing to its terms. The fact that BCCI called its bluff leaving ECB holding its nether member in its hands has not stopped them from trying to scuttle the tournament.

Consider this:

Middlesex are now waiting for confirmation the tournament, which is due to be staged in India from September 29 to October 8, is an officially-sanctioned tournament by the International Cricket Council.

The ICC, the world’s governing body, have ruled no official events can be staged a week before or a week after a global event, but the Champions League is due to start only a day after the end of the Champions Trophy.

Read the highlighted statement carefully. What it is trying to say is Middlesex will play only if the Twenty20 Champions League is sanctioned by the ICC. The statement is also trying to equate it with the ICL, by calling it unauthorized.

The statement cleverly pits ICC and the Twenty20 Champions League organisers against each other in the fond hope that ICC will say that the League is unauthorized. However, the ECB has forgotten that a inter-club/domestic tournament is beyond ICC's jurisdiction.

Surely, the ECB will leave no stone unturned to scuttle the Twenty20 Champions League.

(Pic courtesy: DanielJames)

Technorati Tags Twenty20,ICC,Champions,ECB,League

County cricketers house wrecked over suspected affair

We all know how fans reacts to a cricketers performance in India. They either compose bhajan's in his praise or when he fails, they reduce his newly constructed house to rubble.

However, in the much more sane and mature land of the old country, things a re slightly different. There, they are unemotional when it comes to their performance in the field, but if they perform elsewhere, they suffer worse fate.

Believing his wife had been having an affair with Neil Edwards, a county cricket player half his age, John Matthews sawed his supposed rival's bed in half, poured creosote on the furniture, scratched his plasma TV and poured expandable foam down the lavatories and bath. The apartment has been uninhabitable since.

It also happens in South Africa

If you assumed that misappropriation of funds meant for cricket was Zimbabwe's prerogative, then you assumed wrongly.

The former financial manager of the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA, now Cricket South Africa), Diteko Modise was charged in February this year with nine counts of fraud, money laundering and theft after 7.4 million rands (approx $1 million) disappeared from the coffers of the UCBSA during the time that he was responsible for the cricket authority's internal audit processes.

Granted Modise did it to line his pockets, nevertheless, this incident points to a peculiar trait prevalent in the region - funds meant for cricket seems to tantalize dictators and common men alike and siphoning them is one of the popular past- times.

31/07/2008

Mendis- a damp squib on a wet pitch?

The first day of the Second Test between India and Sri Lanka at Galle revealed that on wicket which offers him no purchase, Mendis is bowler who has five or is it six different grips. Not one ball turned.

If at all he beat the batsmen, it was either due to the batsmen playing for the spin and the ball going straight through or because the batsmen closed the face of the bat too early.

Mendis first spell of 6 overs cost him 37 runs is further evidence to his ineffectiveness on a wet pitch.However, one has to admit, with Sehwag on a song it is foolish to be dismissive of any bowler.

Lets see how he fares in the coming days.

Having sounded the caution , this blogger still stands by his opinion that unlike his fellow countrymen Murali, Mendis bowling is spiteful only on a dry or dusty track.

The Twenty20 Champions League format

The inaugural Twenty20 Champions League tournament will be played from September 20 to October 8. However, the location is still in suspense. Lalit Modi, the Chief Organiser of the Twenty20 Champion league had mentioned venues in India, but an IS Bindra suggestion that England would be a better venue as it provides the multi-racial mix this format demands has put the decision on hold.

The calls to stage the Twenty20 Champions League in England may be a deliberate attempt to leave a door open for ECB.As widely reported, the ECB had fallen out with the Twenty20 Champions League organisers and had even mooted a rival Twenty20 'Dubai Desert Classic'Champions League. Unfortunately, with Cricket Australia and South Africa Cricket backing BCCI,the ECB find themselves isolated. If the ECB accepts,it is only a short-step for a complete reconciliation.

As things stand, these are the facts:

8 teams will play for a prize of $ 6 million.

A total of 15 matches
Teams will be divided into 2 pools
4 teams in each pool.
The teams are:
The Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Super Kings from the IPL
The Victoria Bushrangers and the Western Warriors from Australia
The South African sides the Titans and the Dolphins.
The Sialkot team - winners of PCB's Twenty 20 Championship
The 8 th team in all probability could be Middlesex. However, if ECB puts a spoke in the works, they would be replaced the Central Stags from New Zealand or one from the West Indies.

BTW: The 2009 edition may well see 12 teams playing 23 matches.

30/07/2008

Jagmohan Dalmiya Wins- Is it good for Indian Cricket?

Former BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya who was ousted from the post of BCCI President in 2005 and subsequently expelled from it on charges of corruption has on Tuesday after an 18 month hiatus returned to power at the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).

Often described as the Machiavelli of Indian Cricket, Jagmohan Dalmiya's return to power is sure to unsettle quiet a few BCCI satraps.By becoming the President of CAB, Dalmiya in all probability will be nominated to the BCCI and will have a huge say in the appointment of BCCI officials and in the running of the BCCI.

In essence it means he has more than a toe- hold in the BCCI and the ruling faction will find their ambitions stymied in more ways than one.Typically from now on we will hear BCCI speaking in different tongues and quiet a few spciy BCCI meetings and press briefings.

However, we will have to wait and see how Jagmohan Dalmiya's return affect Indian Cricket.

At the micro level, we will soon see the side-lining of Ganguly from Bengal cricket. It may result in Ganguly migrating to play for some other state cricket team.

At the ~~macro level~~ (BCCI), either the embezzlement charges will be dropped or we may witness more dirty linen washed in public.

From the Indian Cricket perspective, Dalmia's presence will act as a check and balace to BCCI's domineering attitudes. Apart from this positive aspect, Dalmiya's return may well see the BCCI and Indian cricket stunted by divisivness.

Do you believe Dalmiya's return augur's well for Indian Cricket?

29/07/2008

An Indian to play in the Stanford Super Series.

When last heard, Murali Kartik was nursing an injury. However, he has r ecovered and since then helped Middlesex clinch the Twenty20
Cup, and is now looking forward to the Stanford Super Series, where his
side will take on an England XI, the Stanford Super Stars, and West
Indies' domestic Twenty20 champions Trinidad in a series of matches.

"Well, I am definitely going to be a part of the Middlesex team that
will play in Antigua this year and am enormously excited about it," he
said.

Lets hope the BCCI does not get too excited and ban him for playing in a rival Twenty20 league.

A bomb blast is still a bomb blast

Whether it occurs in Pakistan,India or Sri Lanka, a bomb blast is still a bomb blast.
May be one can differentiate by their intensity and the number of people it harmed.
Every bomb is threat to life and limb so how can Cricket Australia say, Nothing hypocritical about touring India.

There is no way one can say a bomb blast in India or elsewhere is not a security threat.The very statement is hypocritical.

What happened to Mandira Bedi?

She looks positively anemic.
Prefer to see her earlier version.

Champions Trophy – Will Cricket Australia and South Africa Cricket back India?

England is to go ahead with its own plans for a rival Champions League and most probably will not be a part of the IPL backed Champions League.
At the same time, IPL has announced its plans to host the Champions League in India.
However, to be successful, both have to have the support of Cricket Australia and South Africa Cricket.
IPL has an edge as they already have most South African and Australian cricketers signed on for 3 years. This does not mean that the BCCI can take their support for granted.
It is common knowledge that they, particularly Cricket Australia, are chaffing under the ignominy of being sidelined by the BCCI.
Now with ECB projecting itself as the one to take on the might of BCCI, the BCCI should be wary, as both Cricket Australia and South Africa Cricket are natural allies of the ECB.
So the question is will they continue to support India?

28/07/2008

IPL - Three more teams in 2011?

According to the BCCI President the 2011 edition of IPL may well feature 3 more teams.
Pune is virtually assured of a team. The other two could be from Ahmedabad/Vadodra (Gujarat) and possibly a team from Noida/Kanpur/Lucknow(U.P.)

This rises a big question. What happens if the present set of teams signs up all available foreign players? How will these new teams compete against the older ones?

27/07/2008

Who is Ranatunga?

Is he the Chairman of the Sri Lankan Cricket or the BCCI?

It is high time our media stops asking others to opine on our cricketers.

BTW, Mr. Ranatunga, there is an old saying, "every dog has its day".

Yesterday it was yours.

Mind it.

Colombo Test : BCCI disappointed with senior batsmen performance

In typical BCCI fashion or should we say Niranjan Shah fashion, the BCCI reacts to India's humiliating defeat against Sri Lanka:

“It is disturbing that we lost despite having senior players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman in the team. We need to look into the matter,” said Shah, reacting to India’s humiliating innings and 239-run defeat.

Atta Boy! Niranjan Shah take a look and sack the whole lot.

What do you say?

Stanford ECB ties strengthen

Here is yet another example of how ECB and Stanford are setting about creating another cricketing power center.

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Chief Executive David Collier announced Friday that English cricket's Twenty20 Cup winners will play in Stanford Super Series in the Caribbean.

26/07/2008

Indian team is full of whimpering,indulged, underperforming adolocents

James Lawton is one hell of an unhappy English man and his disenchantment is so complete that his indictment of the English team is scathing.

Certainly it would be a huge step forward from the demeanour of
whimpering, indulged, underperforming victims of arrested adolescent
development which was displayed with such a colossal lack of
self-examination at Headingley when the South Africans swatted them
aside with ill-concealed contempt earlier this week.

Considering India's poor performance in Sri Lanka, his name calling bears repetition.

A compromise on ICL Players in the offing?

A compromise to salvage the under-threat Twenty20 Champions League
involving the best club sides in the world could see English counties
agreeing to leave out their so-called rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL)
players when the eight-team tournament takes place later this year.

However, will Modi agree?

IPL - Does ICC want match-fixing?

ICC's General Manager Dave Richardson's remarks that the IPL poses a serious corruption threat has enraged the BCCI. In fact they have sent off an angry email protesting that such a statement was 'unnecessary'.

BCCI certainly has a point.

Any big event with a lot of money riding on it is going to attract the punters. Obviously, there are unscrupulous elements lurking to take advantage of the punters interest. From there on it just a small step to try and lure players to reveal inside information in order to hedge their bets. Players who reveal inside information can surely induced into throwing games.

So this begs the question, what was the need for the ICC or its officials to reiterate something so obvious in public?

Ideally, ICC should sanitize the players to these threats. Or if that had failed, then they would have kept an eye on those who are susceptible to the lure of easy money. Is 'nt prevention better than a cure?

These public reiterations draw unwelcome attention on the IPL and may serve as a beacon for the match-fixers. Surely, that is what ICC is hoping to avoid.

Or wait, is the ICC hoping that IPL will be tarnished by match fixing allegations?

25/07/2008

Champions Trophy Stays in Pakistan

Now that the suspense is over, it will be interesting to observe how CA and ECB deals with its players.
If we take the ECB first, you can be sure that the Pietersen's and the Flintoff's will refuse to travel to Pakistan. They will be excused with the ECB coming out with pompous statements to justify their action. However, how about the fringe players, say for example, Collingwood, Cook and Prior. Collingwood will play because, he is the Captain and probably to regain his Test place. The Cooks and the Prior's will also play as they will be keen to establish themselves as ODI players.(After all, this will give them an opportunity to catch the eye of IPL owners.)
Coming to CA, it is an interesting mix. You cannot deny one thing about Pointing, he does not shrike his responsibilities. He will lead the pack, with Hayden sure to join him.(Remember, Hayden initially made statements expressing his desire to play in Pakistan.However, he back tracked later, saying that player safety is a concern, which is obviously the official line to toe). Another player who is certain to play will be Brett Lee.Now that brings us to Symonds. Vociferous in his concern, he is a question mark and will certainly have to be arm-twisted to participate.
If you are wondering why we examined the availability of only a few players, it is because others are interchangeable, particularly those from the England team. Whereas any replacement from Australia is as good as the original.

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Technorati Tags CA,Pakistan,Champions,Trophy,ECB

24/07/2008

Is Cricket reeling under technological innovations?

The upcoming India-Sri Lanka ODI series may see another technological innovation.
A Chennai-based tech company, Frontier Technologies India Pvt Ltd, has proposed using the giant digital screen on the ground to show the strong and not so strong points of a batsman on real time basis so that the bowling team can chalk out appropriate on-the- ground strategies.
With the introduction of umpire referral's and ICC's announcement yesterday that they plan to broadcast conversations between umpires, there is well founded fear that too many innovations are happening too soon.
Rather than Twenty20 and its attendent money, cricket as we know it may soon collapse under the weight of all these innovations.

Do you think these innovations are wholesome?

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(Pic uploaded from emotionaltoothpaste)

Technorati Tags technology,innovations,Cricket

First cricket gaming portal launched

www.CricContest.com claiming itself to be the world's first cricket gaming portal was launched yesterday.
As I have virtually little experience in gaming portals I leave you readers to decide how good it is.
I would be grateful to those who tired the gaming portal to leave their pinions in the comments section.

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Technorati Tags portal,gaming,Cricket

Test Cricket and Positive Mental attitude

Boycott had this to say after South Africa defeated England at Headingley.

By having such a positive mental attitude, England self-destruct toooften. The second innings was even more culpable than the first,because a number of batsmen — notably Tim Ambrose and Andrew Flintoff —managed to get themselves in and show patience for an hour or so butthen threw their wickets away.

This statement is significant because we too have a couple of batsmen who seem hell bent on playing the game in their own style regardless of the match situation.

Also. though Dhoni is not playing in the series, one thing attributed to him nowadays is his missing ability to take the bowlers by the scruff of their neck and dump them beyond the boundary. Personally, I do not hold it against Dhoni. I would consider his plodding as playing according to match situation.

So would you say, positive mental attitude be damned, a player should play according to the situation or should he play regardless of the situation.

23/07/2008

On-field and third umpire conversations to be telecast in the future.

ICC is going the whole hog.

They have become a totally with it organisation.

Consider their latest contemplation:

And if the umpires, referral system works to satisfaction, the International Cricket Council (ICC) will allow the live telecast of the communication between the on-field and the third umpire in future, the official added.

WTF! Just imagine being privy to all the scintillating conversations between the black-coats.

This is indeed a momentous occasion.

22/07/2008

Sri Lankan series - Should India go with 7/4 combination?

Interesting speculation on the composition of the Indian team.
Former cricketers think the ideal combination is 7 batsmen and 4 bowlers.
On flat Sri Lankan pitches, it is better to pack the team with batsmen.
However, in India's case the 7/4 combination will work only if Sachin and Ganguly take up the load.

What are your thoughts?

India-Sri Lanka Test series- A preview

While everyone is talking about the mystique of Mendis, I dare to talk about Patience.
Yes, the only way to outplay Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka is to play the waiting game. Both the Indian bowlers and the batsmen will have to have unlimited patience because the pitches will be flat. Common wisdom says on flat pitches runs will be aplenty and wickets will be at a premium.
So the Indian batsmen will have to have the patience to out bat the Sri Lankan batsmen.
Similarly, our bowlers should not be bothered by failure to get quick wickets.Instead, they should plough on and in due course wicklets will come.
This is a war of attrition and let the Indian team remember that the goal is to be come the number 2 Test playing nation in the world.
Go India! Go!

[Patience]

Champions Trophy - Pakistan alleges racial divide.

Once again the Asian block in the ICC is convinced that the 'white' boards are ganging up against them.

Sources said that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is of the view that these countries are pushing for the tournament to be held in South Africa as they have categorically told the ICC that their players will not be safe in Pakistan. The Champions Trophy is slated for Sept 11-28.

A PCB official told IANS on condition of anonymity that the general feeling prevailing at the moment is that the board from 'white countries' are out to deprive Pakistan of the Champions Trophy on security grounds.
Whatever be the truth, ICC would do well to remember that "People only see what they are prepared to see"(Ralph Waldo Emerson) and it behooves them to dispel or remedy it.

Technorati Tags PCB,ICC,Champions,Trophy

21/07/2008

Cricket: Settling theological differences.

The Bishop of Colombo has asked two warring factions to settle their dispute over a game of cricket.
The Right Rev Duleep de Chickera, Bishop of Colombo, has suggested to his colleagues at the Lambeth Conference today that they should take the afternoon off to settle their theological differences over a game of cricket.
You can be sure God will be the third umpire.