Pandora's Box

The Australian government has ordered the country's cricket team not to tour Zimbabwe in September. John Howard, the prime minister, said it was not fair to leave the decision up to Cricket Australia and the players.

And with that, John Howard's government has opened a Pandora's box.

My personal distaste of this decision by the Government of Australia is premised on two factors

1.

"I hope the rest of the cricketing world understands that, and it would be a very good idea if the rest of the cricket world adopted the same attitude towards [Robert] Mugabe's regime. I'm not going to stand around and allow some kind of aid and comfort be given to him by the greatest cricketing team in the world visiting his country."

Australia continues to maintain diplomatic relations with Zimbabwe in spite of Robert Mugabe's excesses.

Australian trade with Zimbabwe continues in spite of the Zimbabwe governments excesses towards its people and the free fall of Zimbabwe's currency.

Australian companies continue to invest in gold, platinum and diamond mining in Zimbabwe. Australia's government has not issued any sanctions on Australian entities dealing with the Robert Mugabe government. Nor has it put a cap on the the investment volumes between Australian entities and Zimbabwe ( at least I did not come across any mention of this in my hours of searching the Internet).

Given all this, Mr Howard's "I'm not going to stand around and allow some kind of aid and comfort be given to him by the greatest cricketing team in the world visiting his country." comes across as a bit rich.

2. Where does one draw the line on when and where a government can intervene in sporting considerations?

If Australia is opposed to the Mugabe regime, how will it reconcile with its cricketers playing in Pakistan or Bangladesh, military regimes both?

Will Australia desist from sending its athletes to the Olympics next year on count of China's human rights record?

And what of this - the football governing body FIFA had given South Africa permission to allow visiting teams to base themselves in Zimbabwe during the 2010 World Cup ? Will Australia refuse to play those nations based in Zimbabwe as a matter of principle? And if Australia happens to be one of the nations to be based in Zimbabwe, will Australia boycott the 2010 Football World Cup?

And what of Australia's record itself?

Is it acceptable for countries to boycott sporting contacts with Australia on count of its presence in Iraq? Or its immigration policies? Or its continuing treatment of Aborigines?

Where does one draw the line?

An unhealthy precedent has been set by Mr Howard and it is going to get only worse from this point on.

Pandora's Box.

Today..

Shane Warne and Brian Lara have signed up for a breakaway Twenty20 competition taking place in India this October – and are joined by Inzamam-ul-Haq and Glenn McGrath with many more big names to follow, we can reveal.

Hello?

India could soon take a lead in cricketing innovation by employing two wicket-keepers instead of the traditional one in One-Day Internationals, with Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik being part of the move.

About time too... Our last meaningful contribution to world Cricket was the Mankad.

The information that the Indian team was not going to practice yesterday, was given to the Indian media not from the Indian team management but by the Bangladesh media manager.

Billion Dollar Board anyone?

Like the Islander, the Gandhinagar-based offie can send down flippers, faster ones, loop deliveries, turn the ball by yards, and can also bowl the doosra.

“He is a special kid. Very promising. He can turn the ball on any surface. He uses his wrist before releasing the ball from his fingers, thus making it difficult for batsmen to read him,” says B Arun, chief coach at the camp.

.........

But even before his career could take off, he had to deal with a setback. After the under-19 cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka, the International Cricket Council wrote to the Indian board to correct the action of the off-spinner. Shivlal Yadav and Erapalli Prasanna, among others, worked on Mohnish’s action at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, first for a week and then again after three months for 12 days.

“I had an open chest action, they asked me to bowl side on. I practised for three months and went back to them. There they said my action was okay. I used to have more problem while bowling the doosra. But now, it’s okay.

“I met Harbhajan Singh recently during a Twenty20 match between Gujarat and Punjab. He told me not to worry about my action and keep bowling,” said Mohnish.

An off spinner bowling flippers? Like since when?
An offie bringing his wrists into play, according to the chief coach? Educate me, but aren't offies by trade finger spinners?
A suspect action, encouraged by the premier off spinner in the country? Somebody please just shoot me.

Former India medium-pacer Abey Kuruvilla has emerged as a contender for the post of Bengal coach.

It has been learnt that the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) is keen on having a young candidate as Paras Mhambrey’s successor and Kuruvilla has a few backers among the powers-that-be.

Hello!!! It just so happens that Abey Kuruvilla is a selector for the MCA.

The night before the match, the inside word is that there is a “strong possibility” of Chawla playing in place of Sreesanth who has not completely recovered from Thursday’s gruelling outing — the Kochi pacer had returned to the dressing room for treatment after his first and only spell of five overs, before returning to the field in the fag end of the Bangladesh innings.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Indian team selection.

The prerequisite for India is to have attacking bowlers who make things happen; who intimidate the opposition; who introduce fear into their minds. India has not one bowler who can do that and until they can get one, things will remain the way they are.

says Ashish Magotra.I beg to differ. Any bowling attack can be made more potent by the fielding and smart captaincy.

They came into the room smiling broadly at the cameras, quite taken in by all the attention. But within minutes of announcing their team for the Afro-Asia Cup in India next month, the four Asian Cricket Council selectors and their chief executive were left wiping the egg off their faces.

Ajay Shankar in the Express.

More on the Asia XI from LP Sahi - here.

Does intuition have a place in Executive Intelligence?

Intuition is a mixture of Executive Intelligence and knowledge. But good intuition is always the skilful application of what one knows in order to identify the most sensible solution.

PS:- Another article that has nothing to do with cricket and everything to do with it.

lol..

Welcome, to the world of made-for-TV news.

PS:- This post has nothing to do with cricket. And everything to do with it.

Rahul Dravid effigy - check

Sachin Tendulkar effigy - check

Saurav Ganguly effigy - check

Ravi Shastri effigy - check

Ravi Shastri hai hai slogans - check

Roll camera, start sound... Action!!!

Today..

The concept of cricket managers or cricket coaches was born out of the compelling demands of modern cricket. The emphasis was on getting the best out of the players through professional man management. The size of the support staff kept increasing as the world of cricket realised the importance of specialised guidance.

writes Vijay Lokapally.

Coaches have been the real losers after the World Cup. No less than six Test playing nations will change their coaches, either because of poor performances in the Cup or pre-determined retirements such as those of John Buchanan (Australia) and Dav Whatmore (Bangladesh).

writes Bob Simpson

Mahendra Singh Dhoni may just have played the innings of his career, on one leg and, given the way Yuvraj Singh, his runner, and the non-striker Dinesh Karthik coordinated, on a prayer.

Sidharth Monga on Dhoni's innings.

India got out of jail today and for all those of us who thought we had finished drinking from the cup of sorrows, well, the hangover continues. India were ordinary, only rescued towards the end by a combination of grit and vitality, normally resident in one person but happily spread out over two fine cricketers today.

Harsha Bhogle on India's effort

There is no manner to justify this, as the tapes do not show anyone doing any wrong. The only thing they might achieve is to strip a few selectors of their job. Or maybe they’ll get away with a few show cause notices...

Vridul Gahlawaton the "sting".

For the cricket lover, a visit to the Bradman Collection housed in the State Library of South Australia is a dream come true.

TANUSHREE PODDER

Assuming both Rahul Dravid and Mahela Jayawardene are available, the Asia captaincy could be split for next month’s Afro-Asian Cup.

LOKENDRA PRATAP SAHI

Match Reports of the First ODI between Bangladesh and India - here, here, here, here and here.

Niranjan Shahspeak - here.

Atul Sondhi on India's bowling woes - here.

Adil Rashid, Yorkshire

What Adil needs to think about is what, when and why. What to bowl. When to bowl it. And why he should bowl it. Then it’s a matter of execution.

Shane Warne is pretty upbeat about Adil Rashid's prospects this summer.

I for one, am glad Warne wrote what he did.

There are a couple of things that stood out for me in the article.

1. Yorkshire, a county that can hardly be associated with spin bowling of any kind, actually unearthed a leg spinner and have nurtured him through the various age groups and grade levels and are now in the process of grooming him at county level.

2. The what, when and why that Shane Warne talks about.

From and Indian context, most of the kids who undergo coaching are taught the "What". So, we have a ton of kids who know how to play the cover drive with the high elbow and how to cock the wrist when bowling etc.

The "When" is something we expect to gain through "experience". Sometimes, and this is the exception rather than the rule, "senior" players will share experiences of the "when" - the thought associated with bowling - "leg break, leg break, leg break, get the batsman looking for the leg break, slip in the googly next ball."

The "Why" is non existent in the Indian cricketing vocabulary. Very rarely, if ever, is the focus on

How often does the conversation center around " flat wicket, slight turn, batsman looking settled, creamed a leg break on length through the covers, but in doing so, showed a tendency to play away from the body. Batsman showed a tendency to play with the open face of the bat.Next one, landed it slightly wider, saw the batsman drive again, bat going further away from the body. Seeing this, I moved cover wider to extra cover and brought a point in place - the thinking being that seeing the gap through the covers, the batsman will flail again, if there is a leading edge, the ball will go in the region of gully/point. After this field change, I tossed the ball wider still but at drivable length. the reason I tossed it wider was because I was banking on the batsman to drive".

If Paddy Shivalkar, while interacting with Iqbal Abdulla, walks him through a match situation, and how he worked a batsman and what was the setup and the thinking behind each wicket that Paddy got in that match, I believe it will go a long way in the development of Iqbal Abdulla, left arm orthodox.

And oh by the way, can we go easy on the hype?

Please read..

Thanks to Chandan, who put together the PIL filed by Rahul Mehra and Shantanu Sharma seeking to hold the BCCI accountable for its actions.

Here it is, in full - 1, 2, 3

Today..

Whether it is endorsements or women's cricket, the approach has not been conducive to cricket. Instead of taking measures to improve the level of Indian cricket, these ambitious members seem to be interested in cricket-politicking.

Another common sense article from Makarand Waingankar who is now the CEO of the Baroda Cricket Association.

Hard-nosed advertisers have hammered out a deal with broadcasters such as Neo Sports and ESPN under which they will have an option to change their ad rates depending up on the Indian cricket team’s performance.

Markets, Correction and all the Jazz.

For the first time in the country’s television sports broadcasting, the India-Bangladesh cricket series will have live commentary in vernacular, except in Hindi.

Did I mention Markets?

But to see it in these terms would be to lose sight of the larger question: should there be any cricket under such taxing circumstances? In which other sport are players made to stand, run, jump under a blazing sun and humidity touching 100 per cent, for close to eight hours?

Sreyashi Dastidar makes some pertinent points.

And the envelope keeps getting pushed..

vide this article in the Australian

The Australian-developed, Smart Cricket Bat, has been patented as the world's first bat with active vibration control, a system already in use in baseball bats and tennis racquets.

The Smart Cricket Bat's key to reducing the "zinging effect" felt by big-hitting batsmen is in its innovative handle.

This is, in my opinion, a wonderful development. The more technology we have in the game, the better for the game as a whole.

And who knows, these technological gains may actually level the playing field.

That said, more and more the focus is on batsmen friendly innovations. Smaller grounds, flat wickets, lighting fast outfields, squash balls in gloves, heavy bats, smart bats .. you get the idea.

But what of the bowler?

Given how lopsided the game has become, can we go back to the days of 6 bouncers an over to level the playing field? Lighter balls maybe? Bouncier balls? More pronounced seam perhaps? A ball change every 50 overs instead of 80?

Or must we rue the decline of the bowler?