What is it about the radio

that makes Australian cricketers go nuts?

David Warner

Shahid Afridi, minus the legspin.

"If you dont get Warner out, you lose" - Ian Healy. When supposedly neutral commentators get so carried by the hype that they lose all objectivity and with that,clarity, what chance do poor selectors have?

"You have had enough chances to fail"

and you succeeded.

Here is the list of the top scorers (aggregate) in first class cricket in India this season. And here is the list of top scores ( in an innings) in first class cricket in India this season. And the most hundreds.

You are not even the top scorer for your side in the Ranji Trophy ( either in terms of runs or in terms of top scores).

Heck, Virat Kohli ranks above you in all the national categories.

You wanted an opportunity to fail. You got plenty. And you have made the most of your opportunities.

So its back to the end of the line Subramanian Badrinath. And hopefully, the next time, your mouth wont write checks your batting cant cash.

Wasim Jaffer on depth.

The Mumbai captain has this to say about the talent in the ranks

"We won the Under-19 and were the finalists in the Under-22. We reached the semifinals in the Under-16 tourney too. But I didn't see or hear about any big batting talent emerging from there," Jaffer told the Times of India. "In fact, in the finals of the Under-22 tournament against Punjab, we were bowled out for 80 odd which is a worrying sign. We need youngsters to challenge the Ranji Trophy players for their places."

Reality check time

Vinit Indulkar, age 24 squad of 2005/06 now plays for HP
Omkar Khanvilkar, age 26 squad of 2005/06 - not been selected for the past 3 seasons
Aavishkar Salvi, age 27 squad of 2005/06 - not selected for the past 3 seasons
Abhijit Shetye, age 27 squad of 2005/06 - not selected for the past 3 seasons
Swapnil Hazare, age 28, squad of 2006/07 - not selected for the past 2 seasons
Bhavin Thakkar, age 28 squad of 2006/07 now plays for HP
Parag Mohan Madkaikar, age 22, squad of 2005/06 - not selected for the past 3 seasons
Sushant Marathe, age 23, squad of 2006/07 - not selected for the past 2 seasons
Iqbal Abdulla, age 19, squad of 2007/08 - dropped for this Ranji season
Prashant Naik, age 22, squad of 2006/07 - not selected for the past 2 seasons
Rajesh Verma, age 27, squad of 2006/07 - not selected for the past 2 seasons
Kshemal Waingankar, age 23, squad of 2006/07 - not selected for the past 2 seasons
Bhavesh Patel, age 21, squad of 2006/07 - not selected for the past 2 seasons
Anup Revandkar, age 21, squad of 2006/07 - not selected for the past 2 seasons

Mumbaikars plying their trade for other teams in the current Ranji season
Rajesh Powar - age 29
Munaf Patel - age 25
Amit Pagnis - age 30
HD Rawle - age 24
Santosh Shinde - age 29
Manoj Joglekar
Nishit Shetty

And then there are Dhawal Kulkarni (19), Rohan Raje (22) and Ankeet Chavan (22), all part of the 2008/09 squad, out of whom only Kulkarni got an extended run with the team.

So, if the Mumbai captain is so worried about the talent, this will be a good time to introspect as to why Mumbai is doing such a poor job with keeping and nurturing the talent the great city has on offer!

The IPL effect

In course of an exchange of views with The Pav, I had written

Here is the thing though - Australia had the best feeder system in world cricket for the longest time. But now, countries like India and England have caught on - India's feeder system does not depend on Mumbai and Delhi anymore.

And the population spread makes a difference when you consider that, all things being the same, England and India have a distinct advantage over Australia in terms of numbers.

About the cricket itself, I dont think there are going to be any easy answers for Australia in the near and medium tersm. While the IPL will slow down the exodus to the AFL and Rugby codes, how many of the players will remain exclusive to thier states and country?

Let me elaborate - suppose the Champions League is due in 2 weeks time and Victoria are playing South Australia on an Adelaide featherbed. How many marquee players do you think Victoria will feature given that there is more to gain in the Champions League than the outing against SA?

Also, consider this scenario - a Hobart Test against BD or a Brisbane Test against the West Indies with the IPL due to start in 2 weeks. How many players do you think will willingly sign up to play the test given that they stand to lose more by not playing the IPL? Also, consider the above situation with the Champions League - will Victoria release Peter Siddle or David Hussey to play the test and risk injury when they stand to lose on the million dollars the Champions League guarantees?

Also, because of these leagues, there will be pressure on the selectors to play certain players over certain others...Its going to be a long, hard, bumpy ride..

It is happening sooner than I expected

QUEENSLAND and Victoria should know today if their international stars will be released for what is potentially a multi-million-dollar play-off in this Wednesday's domestic Twenty20 preliminary final at Brisbane's Gabba.

PS:- More grist to the mill

Here

In an unprecedented case, The Courier-Mail can reveal Hayden had his lucrative Cricket Australia retainer slashed after being sent home from Australia's tour of the West Indies last May with an achilles tendon injury.

CA officials believed Hayden had sustained or exacerbated the injury while playing for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League last April.

CA enacted a clause in its Overseas Club Playing Agreement to deny Hayden a portion of his retainer and any compensation or insurance for missing the Caribbean tour.

It is believed Hayden claimed he should not have his pay docked because he sustained his chronic tendon injury throughout his distinguished 16-year international career.

Hayden, who retired last week, did not end up out of pocket because the Australian Cricketers' Association stepped in to compensate the Test legend out of its own player insurance pool.

But the case sends a warning to other Australian stars that they could be left out on a limb by their employers if they are injured in the IPL.

and here

Dodemaide said the Bushrangers' request was based on the fact that the next one-day match against South Africa was not until Friday, and that White and Hussey did not play in any of the Test matches.

"Given that there was a clear gap between yesterday's match in Hobart and Friday's match in Sydney, which is only an hour away from Brisbane in any case, with a full day-and-a-half in between the matches, we thought it was a very reasonable case," he said yesterday.

"We thought there was certainly a case for discretion here considering the players involved … If it was a Ricky Ponting or Brad Haddin, someone that had been involved in all formats, then certainly you could understand it, but we thought [there was] an opportunity there to enhance the promotion of the competition. It was really a free kick for state cricket, and we think the opportunity's been missed hugely.

I don't believe this will be limited to Australia alone - loyalty is a virtue that is going to be under severe strain in the near future across the cricketing world.

And this will be exacerbated by the fact that there is really no leadership in sight - the ICC is weak, vacillating and riven with factions, the different Cricket Boards rarely see eye to eye, rifts are evident with the "Asian" and "Project Snow" blocs, player power is unprecedented.

And no, a split in world cricket wont alleviate this problem, it may in fact have the opposite effect.