I posted on the Cricinfo website in response to Dileep Premachandran's article.
Brad William, Nathan Hauritz, Martin Love, Simon Katich, Scott Muller, Matthew Nicholson, Colin Miller, Adam Dale, Gavin Robertson, Shaun Young, Simon Cook.
Any of these names ring a bell?
Comparing Hayden with Devang Gandhi proves what exactly?
Iqbal Siddiqui and Samir Dighe made their debuts well after they were past 25. Nilesh Kulkarni made a come back after a 4 year hiatus against Australia in 2001.
Sachin Tendulkar made his international debut at 16. Which Australian can boast of being blooded at that young an age?
India waited 9 tests before Rahul Dravid scored a Test century.
I understand where you are coming from Mr Premachandran, but the argument has to be more nuanced than the one presented in your article.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
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16 comments:
I have stopped reading DR's articles for the numerous grammatical errors he makes.
PS. Do something about the spam.
SixandOut/Dinsa,
Dunno what to do about the spam. I have been deleting this crap all day today and the more I do, the more the spam.
:(
Homer, are you asking for word verification from commenters?
Samir,
I used to once.. Not anymore.
Cheers
I've got to agree with your viewpoint. Australian selectors make more than their fair share of stupid decisions. Shane Watson anyone?
One of India's problems (as I see it) is the first class structure has too many teams. Australia has a limited number of states, and therefore performance are easier to measure as there are no really weak teams (except Victoria :) for jrod). The Australian selectors can be reasonably comfortable that a player who consistently succeeds at first class level will likewise do so at test level (like Mike Hussey for example).
Good points Homer. And let's not forget Murali I-have-made-more-comebacks-than-I-have-pairs-of-undies Kartik!
Stuart,
The number of teams should give the selectors a bigger pool to work with ; which is a huge leg up on Australia.
There is a laissez faire attitude to the game as a whole in the country.
Coaching is unregulated, too few coaches for too many youngsters, plenty of fly by night operators.
There are problems with the way the game is conducted and run in the country, problems that can be surmounted if people are ready to put in the effort. The problem is, no one wants to put in the effort.
Instant gratification is the name of the game and while that may give short terms results,in the long term the game takes a huge hit.
Thus, we are limited to rooting for the next genius that comes our way and when the next genius succeeds, the cult of hero worship grows.
Cheers
Thanks Mohan :)..
The problem with having so many teams is that the talent is diluted. I have exactly the same problem with English county cricket - there are too many easy runs and wickets that disguise how good players may actually be.
I understand your point about the talent pool, but you shouldn't be picking from more than 60 players for your test side anyway. Structure the comp. so that the top 60 odd players compete against each other, and the players underneath have to force their way into the top tier.
Just my thoughts.
stuart makes a very good point - we should have more of the challenger series type of contests where the best are pitted against each other. and yes, i agree with homer that india has had its fair share of comebacks, the most famous being those of mohinder amarnath and sourav ganguly. but i guess most systems are a little skewed against this because once a guy's branded a failure it's very hard to shake that off. so i think that should increase our respect for those who do make a comeback.
Brad Williams - should have been picked when he was young and fast.
nathan Hauritz - who knows why he was ever picked
martin love - one hell of a batsmen, should have moved to new zealand
simon katich - moved to nsw to get picked for the national team
scott muller - another queensland hack bowler
matthew nicholson - selectors on crack
funky miller - entertainment value
adam dale - still surprised he played for australia
gavin robertson - played for nsw and therefore was promised a test
shaun young - was a fill in on a tour
simon cook - greg campbell was retired
Like stats, comparisons can be made to suit a need.
Most of cricinfo's content these days is tripe. Their database is their saving grace. Their West Indian correspondent/section still makes sense...the rest are not worth a read.
CI is being left behind by the very forces it helped unleash; bloggers write so much and so well, who bothers about the CI staff?
I endorse that Samir.
I get a better sense of the current game from reading various blogs/discssion groups.
bloggers write when they have something to say. that makes a difference.
I write when i'm not getting action, hence why i write so much, and include so many lewd references.
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