3 out of 3

Talking to a friend yesterday, I had made the following calls

BRC over KPXI
RR over DC
CSK over DDD

for purely selfish reasons. Because, with these results and Mumbai beating BRC tomorrow, guess who will be at the top of the table?

Yeah.. Its time for Mumbai to take its rightful place in the standings.

Shane Harwood?

Per the Cricinfo staff

Both were playing their first games of the tournament, and both came through with big performances when it mattered. Despite another horrendous start with the bat, Rajasthan stole this game because they had the players that made sensible decisions when the going got tough. It was no coincidence that Harwood was in the middle to help complete the recovery job that Carseldine had started.

Now, here is the Cricinfo ball by ball commentary

19.4	Edwards to Raut, 1 run, pushes back to the bowler, Edwards gets some hand to it, deflects to mid-off, shy at the stumps from Smith misses the stumps, another run out chance missed and Rajasthan Royals win.
19.3	Edwards to Harwood, 1 bye, good short delivery and Harwood misses the ball and through to Gilchrist, they are running for a bye, Gilchrist throws the ball along the track and Edwards gets in between the ball and the stumps and drops the ball, misses a good run out chance.
Tension building up, 2 from 4 now.
19.2	Edwards to Harwood, no run, cuts and gets the edge outside the off stump and Gilchrist does well to stop it.
2 from 5 now
19.1	Edwards to Harwood, no run, a tight line on the off and middle, pushes to cover and looking for the single, not there.
2 runs required from 6 balls. A wonderful chase by the Royals. Edwards in to bowl. Six men in the ring.

18.5	Smith to Harwood, 1 run, full toss, gets an edge to the off side.
18.4	Smith to Harwood, no run, good ball right in the block-hole, can only dig it out back to the bowler.
18.3	Smith to Harwood, 2 runs, full ball driven down the ground to long on.
There is some confusion whether it is a two or a single, as it was an overthrow, the umpire had actually signalled for the third umpire. Umpire checking with the third umpire, it is a single. 9 runs from 10 balls.
18.2	Smith to Raut, 1 run, full ball driven to mid-off, Edward throws the ball and Smith does something with his hand, referred to the third umpire, NOT OUT comes up on the screen as the bails had been dislodged by Smith's hand.
18.1	Smith to Harwood, 1 leg bye, off the pad to short fine leg.
Harwood is the new batsman, 11 required from 12 balls. Smith is back.

Clutch performance indeed!

And to think they get paid to watch and write about the game!!

Chokers no more...

The Kardiac Kids win.. By 9 runs... After being behind the 8 ball for most of the game.

10 matches to go. 10 matches to win.

Easy doozy!

Not on Cricinfo

Pretoria , May 1 Rajasthan Royals pacer Kamran Khan has been reported for suspect bowling action and the issue has been referred to the team management and the Technical Committee of the Indian Premier League. After the Rajasthan Royals match against Chennai Super Kings yesterday, on-field umpires Rudi Koertzen and Gary Baxter felt Kamran had a suspect illegal bowling action on certain deliveries. After the match was over, footage was obtained and examined by all the three umpires, including TV umpire Amish Saheba, and they felt further action was necessary under the MCC&aposs Laws of Cricket section 24/3 that governs the game. The matter has now been referred to the Rajasthan Royals management and the IPL Technical Committee as per the MCC&aposs Laws of Cricket."I have officially received a copy of the match umpires report duly signed by all the three umpires and the video footage for the game at the Centurion,"IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi said.

My comment on the Ajay Shankar article

Does the term "slander" resonate at all in the hallways of Cricinfo? You make a categorical statement that "Cash-rich BCCI couldn't afford ICC's anti-corruption price tag " and all you have by way of evidence are statements by unnamed state officials who attended the BCCI meeting.

There is no corroboration whatsoever from either the Secretary/Treasure of the BCCI or the President of the BCCI or the Chairperson of the IPL and yet we should believe that this is, in fact, a true version of the events.

You may have an axe to grind with the BCCI, and more power to you for that.. But must you insult your reader's intelligence so in the quest of a few more eyeballs?

How different are you then from the IPL commentators you so constantly berate?

Cheers,

Hatchet on....

Cash-rich BCCI couldn't afford ICC's anti-corruption price tag

stunning headline.

The Indian board's commitment to fight corruption in cricket has come under the scanner after it has emerged that it stayed silent for months on an ICC offer to provide full anti-corruption cover for the IPL this year, mainly because of the fee involved. The issue was raised at the BCCI's working committee on Wednesday, when members were informed that the fee quoted then by the ICC - US$1.2 million - was too high.

great opening paragraph.. Sets the scene for some serious BCCI bashing.

But wait...

• Officially, the BCCI is well within its rights to organise its own anti-corruption measures for the IPL, which is deemed a domestic event.
• The IPL's anti-corruption protocol last year was handled by a team of around 10 officials, including retired police and military officials, recruited independently by the league. The team was guided by ACSU officials, who played a supporting role.
• The ICC had first offered full ACSU coverage for the second IPL edition a few months after the hugely successful inaugural event got over last May, based on independent observations and inputs collated during the tournament. The IPL agreed and were then sent a quote on the fee this would involve. The IPL, however, indicated that the fee was too high and said they would revert on the offer, which they didn't till the ICC board meeting 12 days ago.
• The ACSU's pre-event spadework involves staging reconnaissances in the host cities and gathering intelligence from local sources to identify potential corruptors. Against this background, the effectiveness of the IPL's anti-corruption procedures this year is open to question after the tournament - involving 59 matches over 37 days, at eight venues - was shifted to South Africa just three weeks before its scheduled start in India.

Juxtapose this information with the second paragraph of Ajay Shankar's "exclusive"

The BCCI, which runs the IPL, finally agreed to the offer this month when reminded about it during the ICC's executive board meeting in Dubai. That was on April 17, the day before the IPL began, and it was too late for the ICC's Anti Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) - which starts work on an event at least two months in advance - to provide a credible level of preventive cover.

I agree with the BCCI - given the logistics involved and given that Paul Condon was of the view point that

"the IPL brings with it the biggest threat in terms of corruption in the game since the days of cricket in Sharjah."

despite having the ACSU involved with the first edition of the IPL, the cost-benefit of recruiting the ACSU for the second edition of the IPL was just not worth it.

Getting it right.. somewhat

The Soopher Kinks seem to have done a few good things today. For starters, Sudeep Tyagi gets a look in. For the best domestic bowler in 2008 to be warming the Kinks benches for so long while Gony and Joginder got an extended run is beyond unfair.

Then, Subramanian Badrinath given another opportunity to fail at the top of the order instead of languishing at 6/7/8/9. Badri readily obliged, but thats another post for another day.

Now, if Dhoni comes in at the fall or Rain ( or Oram), it would be perfect.

Bloody hell...

Wilkin Mota and Romesh Pawar can play for bloody Maharashtra next season. Or Punjab.Or whoever else.

Great game... Bad loss... Kick in the teeth for Mumbai.

Crap!

PS: Gavaskar not a happy chappie at the post match presentation... Ditto SRT...

Amnesty

The Indian board has announced an "amnesty" for all Indian players associated with the ICL, who can return to official cricket provided they cut all ties with the unofficial league by May 31. The players who choose to return to the official fold will be eligible to play international cricket after a one-year 'cooling period' but can play domestic cricket from June 1, when the ICC's new rules on official and unofficial cricket come into force.

Bloody masterstroke, that!

1. It boosts the Indian talent available to the various franchises. Imagine Stuart Binny playing for the BRC and an Ambati Rayadu for the Deccan Chargers!

2. It undermines the ICL in a manner that no "negotiations" ( regular and underhand) could have.

3. Imagine how interesting the Ranji will be now that teams can actually call upon their best talent instead of having to make up with the best of the rest.

4. The BCCI is no longer beholden to the whims and fancies of different cricketing boards. Pakistan can no longer shadow box on offering amnesty to the ICL players in lieu of conessions from the BCCI, CA is welcome to withdraw its players after committing them to the IPL etc etc.

5. No more having to listen to the carping from the sidelines - from British journos and disgruntled Kiwi supporters.

And if the offer for "amnesty" is not accepted by the ICL players, the BCCI can always turn around and say, "We tried".

New moniker

From this day forth, in honor of the mad acting skills ( operative word being mad) of Ben Affleck,the Dilli Daredevils will be called the

D _ _ F _ E C K S.

or _ _ F_ E C K S (for short)!

The bloody dabbawallas win...

....and I am a happy chappie coz, who the be the we? We the be the Mumbai, yaaar!!

Is Cricinfo dead?

Or am I the only one unable to access the website, irrespective of browser, machine or IP?

Is left right?

MS Dhoni seems to think so. Vide the batting order today

Parthiv Patel
Matthew Hayden
Suresh Raina
MS Dhoni
Jacob Oram
Albie Morkel

5 of the top 6 - left handers.

And seriously, why is Parthiv being persisted with? He wont keep and he definitely cannot open - so what is he doing in the team, especially when you have Sudeep Tyagi, S Vidyut and Murali Vijay warming the bench?

The Kinks need to address their team balance. And fast.