When ignorance is bliss,

He is part of a caste system in a country whose tiered society benefits only those at its pinnacle. The Indian spinner definitely does not sit at the bottom of such a system.

it is folly to be wise Ms Wilson!

Goodbye Dizzy

Prem Panicker, in a different context, on Jason Gillespie-

Hold off on the celebrations for just a second -- and with everything you've got, applaud a man with a brittle body and a heart bigger than the stadium he performed prodigies in today.

Jason Gillespie was incredible -- and you use that word only because you can't find a stronger one. India needing 155 to win, 70 overs to get it in, and a batting lineup that had, in its two previous innings, batted over five sessions and scored at speed.

Glen McGrath, the more visible face of Australian fast bowling, was good in his first spell, but never threatening. Colin Miller at first change seemed to be bowling his off spin on a different pitch from the one on which Harbhajan, yet again, performed brilliantly. Shane Warne -- the spearhead, the man expected to flatten India with the backing of two quality seamers -- was smashed out of the attack. And despite two wickets against the run of play, India was running away with the game.

Or would have, except for one man who just did not know how to give up.

Long after everything else about this series is forgotten, one image will remain evergreen -- a tall, lanky young man, walking back as slowly as possible to the top of his bowling mark, trying to use every extra second to give his body some rest, talking to himself every step of the way. Turning. Facing the batsman. Pausing -- and visibly gathering himself for yet another supreme effort, then bursting out of the blocks to send down yet another sizzling delivery.

Jason Gillespie single-handedly lifted his team. The other ten seemed to realise, suddenly, that there was something special happening in their midst, got a second wind, and lifted their own game.

An Australian reader, in mail day before yesterday, said: "This Test is looking for a hero." Today, it found one -- and as so often happens, that hero happened to be part of the team that lost.

A hero indeed!

Blasphemous

This article, highlighted below, in today's The Australian..

Warning shot no answer to hand grenade

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Patrick Smith | February 29, 2008

MATTHEW HAYDEN made a glib response to the finding of the Cricket Australia's code of conduct hearing. He said by calling Harbhajan Singh "an obnoxious little weed" he did not denigrate anybody.

He did, of course. Himself and Harbhajan for starters. And Australian cricket. That the code of conduct commissioner Ron Beazley only handed the opening batsman a reprimand is astonishing. Cricket has utterly lost its way.

This has been a summer of bullying, compromise and timid management. It began with the decision not to find Yuvraj Singh guilty of dissent when he stood his ground after being dismissed in the first Test.

Match referee Mike Procter inexplicably accepted Yuvraj's defence that the batsman was merely shocked with the decision. Procter also cited "cultural differences". Dissent is dissent in Melbourne or Timbuktu.

Then there was the diluted reaction to Andrew Symonds' claim that he was racially vilified by Harbhajan when he called him "a monkey". Initially banned for three Tests, the racial vilification charge was downgraded on appeal to one of using abusive language. Harbhajan was fined and talk of the tour being abandoned put on hold.

Since then the crossfire between the Indian and Australian cricketers has been regular and spiteful. But it has mostly been kept to the field with one side accusing the other of inappropriate behaviour. It seems both sides are prepared to chip away but resent it when the retaliation comes flying back.

Australia has ruled the word both mentally and physically for decades. It stands atop the Test and one-day tables because it plays tough but inventive cricket. Part of its strategy is to intimidate the opposition. The players sledge even though they say they adhere to their spirit of cricket code.

Australians prickle when somebody does not put up with their insults. There are slurs and allegations but nothing is heard clearly. Did he say mad boy or bad boy? Did he say monkey or some other word? Each side has a different story and version, making adjudication almost impossible. One sledger's word against another.

The Australians are angry because they believe Cricket Australia has been meek when it should have been strong. Symonds and Ricky Ponting are still seething that Harbhajan's charge was downgraded. They fancy CA cut a deal. Symonds' frustration bubbles over with Ishant Sharma and the India fast bowler sends him on his way.

If Harbhajan has a reputation then so does Hayden. It is just that Hayden has decided to go on record. His interview on Brisbane radio was mean-spirited and ill-timed. India has every right to feel perplexed. Just as the tour crawls to its end, Hayden throws a hand grenade.

The solution to Hayden's problem should have been clear cut for there were finally no allegations, no "he said this" and "he said that". Not one man's word against another. Hayden went public. Went on the record.

"It's been a bit of a long road with Harbhajan, the first time I met him he was the same obnoxious little weed that he is now," he told Brisbane radio.

There was no need for any second guessing by commissioner Beazley. There was a spiteful comment about an opposition player. It was on radio and in print. Hayden's penalty should have been swift and harsh. He had to be suspended for one match.

Cricket will soon become unplayable if players are free to sledge their opponents so rudely and so vigorously in public.

Harbhajan has already responded, saying: "I don't want it to be a slanging match but you only need to speak to international cricketers and international teams to know in what opinion they hold Hayden."

This is hardly about free speech or being playful in an interview - it is provocative and bad-mannered. Hayden cannot be punished for what we don't hear on the field, but he should have been suspended for what we heard him say off it.

India is playing with a new aggression and confidence. It knows that its board controls world cricket. That new and powerful status is reflected in the way the players no longer take a backward step.

Australia has long been the bully boy of world cricket. Just because opponents are no longer in awe of the Australians does not mean opposition players don't respect them. They just won't lick their boots like they used to. Now that some of Ricky Ponting's men have been challenged they have failed to respond with any dignity at all.

As always, Australia likes to bowl bouncers and is offended when the opposition doesn't bowl half-volleys in return.

Only God can now save us from the wrath of the Conn .. And what will Peter Lalor do??

Hell hath no fury...

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Garry

Here, here, here and here

The obnoxious little "Cricinfo staff"

Matthew Hayden has stirred already troubled waters by calling Harbhajan Singh an "obnoxious weed", a comment that will only serve to further deepen the animosity between the two sides which has surfaced during India's current tour.

Speaking on a Brisbane radio station, Hayden said: "It's been a bit of a long battle with Harbhajan, the first time I ever met him he was the same little obnoxious weed that he is now. His record speaks for itself in cricket.

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MATTHEW Hayden labelled Harbhajan Singh an "obnoxious little weed" yesterday and India were told to shut up and stop whingeing as cricket's hostile summer erupted again.

Hayden unleashed his stinging verbal attack on Harbhajan on the same day that former Test firebrand Rodney Hogg demanded that India stop moaning about trivial on-field clashes.

The "Cricinfo staff" strike - again!

Munaf

Watching Munaf Patel bowl in his first Test match at Mohali was a bit like reading the first page of a novel that hinted at greatness. It wasn't that India hadn't produced fast bowlers before him, but here was a young man taking his first steps on the big stage as though he belonged there.
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“I’m very happy that I’m playing international cricket again. There was never an issue about my bowling, it was my fitness, and now that I am fit everything else is sorted out. I’m happy with the way I am going and hitting the seam and have been hitting consistently in the late 130kmphs,” Munaf said.

His utmost priority is to a go through an injury-free season and for that, he said, he's bowling well within himself.
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In a chat with The Indian Express after practice at the SCG nets, the lanky Maharashtra seamer said he was feeling better than ever with his international comeback and said his bowling gave him greater confidence to once again get into reckoning with the speed gun. “I’ve just made a comeback into the team after battling from injuries previously and I am steadily getting there. For me to bowl fast again is not a problem, I can again crack the 140s easily. Woh to mera natural cheez hai, who kaise chhutega? Tez toh mein waapas dalunga. I don’t want to rush into the speed race straightaway,” he says.
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So what is the truth then ?

Are we dealing with a man who, after battling injuries, fitness issues and lost telephone numbers, is finding his feet back into International cricket and is bowling well within himself or a bowler who Mr Premachandran describes as

Watch him bowl less than two years on, and you find it hard to believe you're not watching an impostor. The pace is gone, the yorkers are nowhere to be seen, and the only movement on view is the swing of the batsman's bat before the ball disappears. Apart from one over where he had Kumar Sangakkara edging over slip and then inside-edging just short of the 'keeper, Munaf's spell was an exercise in listlessness.