My two cents...

The last post

2009-08-23T15:24:00.001-04:00

It should have been this, and shown up here, but didn't. So here goes.

2-1 England and a prediction, revisited!

2009-08-23T13:22:00.002-04:00

On why England will win the Ashes

1. Ricky Ponting's reverse reverse psycho-babble

Starting from questioning the schedule pre Cardiff through to questioning Jonathan Trott's place before the Oval Test, the Prick had an opinion on everything.

2. Fast Bowling depth

3. Spin Bowling depth

Two stats

Number of 5+ wickets in an innings

England - 4
Australia - 2

Number of times the side took 20 wickets

England - 2
Australia - 1

So, despite taking 84 wickets to 71, Australia's inability to take 20 wickets in a game cost them. And while England could call on Harmison and Onions from the bench, Australia had no fall back. And Australia's inability to get thier bowling order right ( except for Headingley) cost them.

4. Lee and Clark will be coming of injuries

Lee never played a test. Nuff said!

5. Match practice -

England were outplayed. Just look at the stats. And yet, when the big moments came, it was England that was able to put one over the Australians. There is merit in playing the West Indies in Tests, however weak the opposition. And there is virtue in lasting beyond the first week in the World T20 competition. England were pushed in the T20 Cup, and thus tested. Australia werent.

Therein lies the difference.

6. Home field advantage - Ask Malcolm Conn!

7. Because it is the Ashes

And it showed!

Truth be told, I am glad its over.. A dull series enlivened by the propensity of both teams to out do each other in the ineptness stakes.. So unlike 2005.

The problem with WADA

2009-08-19T10:48:00.002-04:00

Many South African officials are still wary of speaking on the issue, given that it involves the powerful IPL, but the belief that Steyn was shabbily treated is clearly widespread. "He took a common headache medicine - Myprodol - containing codeine, which is not a prohibited substance. In certain people codeine can cause a high concentration of morphine in the urine. Anyone who has laboratory experience in analysing this situation knows that a slightly higher presence of morphine than otherwise permitted is totally acceptable where there is also this level of codeine," one CSA official said.

( A few days ago, I had an debate with Raja Bharadwaj on BCC! - here)

The ACSU makes its case

2009-08-18T10:42:00.002-04:00

The Australian team management has filed a report with the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit after a player was approached by a man suspected of links to illegal bookmaking. Cricinfo has learned the approach was made in the bar of the team's London hotel, the Royal Kensington Garden, following Australia's Ashes defeat at Lord's in July.

So let me understand this

There is a lot od chatter and rumor about the integrity of the IPL hosted in South Africa. Sufficient enough for the ACSU and, in turn the ICC, to be concerned.
Logic would dictate that more stringent measures would be put in place given the ICC concerns and the fact that it is a World Cup. But no, there is a report of players being approached by bookmakers during the World Twenty20 held in England.
Such things happen, but surely there is now a water tight case for the ACSU to put together measures to "provide a professional, permanent and secure infrastructure to act as a long term deterrent to conduct of a corrupt nature prejudicial to the interests of the game of cricket."
And yet, after the Lords Test, there is the report that an Australia player was approached by a bookie. In the team hotel no less.

Has there ever been a stronger case for organizational incompetence? And doesn't the BCCI stand vindicated in that it did not invest the $1.2 million in paying an organization that is incapable of executing even the role it was tasked for in the first place?

How effective is the ACSU?

2009-08-17T10:49:00.003-04:00

"We are aware of a number of approaches that were made to key players during the tournament, and they were reported to the Anti Corruption and Security Unit. We were provided with very helpful information," said the source, who added that none of the ICC Twenty20 matches had been fixed.

writes Scyld Berry.

"We didn't cover it [the second IPL] but, in terms of intelligence, the volume of rumours and noises raised concerns about its integrity. One of the most significant rumours was that a bookmaker seemed to have a surprising access to the players," the source said. "The second IPL should have been covered properly, and cricket has paid a price. It was a wake-up call that the game has taken too long to respond to."

So lets understand this

The ICC deems the IPL a domestic event and therefore cannot be granted a window, so what is the jurisdiction of any of the ICC affiliated bodies over a "domestic event" ?

As regards the coverage by the ACSU of the IPL2, the argument I had made was

I recruit an organization to implement a certain project. They provide consultants for the job, requiring me to hire a whole new set of people to implement the project. So far so good.

Then those consultants, and the people hired for the implementation, are a bit too over zealous with their tasks. ( Shahrukh not allowed in the KKR dug out!)Again, so far so good.

Then the head of the consulting firm bad mouths the project after the implementation despite me ceding control to his organization to oversee the said project.

Then, when I have to implement the same project all over again this year, the consulting firm quotes an exorbitant price for its services.

So much for cricket paying the price. Anywho, the point of of creating the ACSU, per the ICC website is

ANTI-CORRUPTION

To assist the ICC Code of Conduct Commission ('the Commission') and the Members of ICC in the eradication of conduct of a corrupt nature prejudicial to the interests of the game of cricket; and to provide a professional, permanent and secure infrastructure to act as a long term deterrent to conduct of a corrupt nature prejudicial to the interests of the game of cricket.

SAFETY & SECURITY

To evaluate safety and security assessments and intelligence in order to provide advice to the ICC Chief Executive and/or the Executive Board of the ICC ('the Executive Board') in relation to: (a) any event or competition organised by the ICC; and (b) the provision of match officials for FTP commitments

Given that 9 years after it came into existence, players are still being approached by bookmakers speaks volumes of the efficacy of the ACSU to providing "a professional, permanent and secure infrastructure to act as a long term deterrent to conduct of a corrupt nature prejudicial to the interests of the game of cricket."

And given that the IPL is deemed a "domestic event" by the ICC, what is the locus standi of the ACSU given that its brief is "To evaluate safety and security assessments and intelligence in order to provide advice to the ICC Chief Executive and/or the Executive Board of the ICC ('the Executive Board') in relation to: (a) any event or competition organised by the ICC; and (b) the provision of match officials for FTP commitments "?

Isn't the "senior source at the International Cricket Council." protesting too much?And what is the ICC doing about such unsolicited leaks?

And what about the ACSU itself - other than being another level of bureaucracy in an already over crowded bureaucracy that is the ICC, how effective is it exactly ( other than arriving at the scene of the supposed crime after the fact, in true police fashion)?

PS:- "In keeping with ACSU protocols, no specifics will be discussed in relation to the investigation and no further comment will be made." - which begs the question - What action is the ICC going to take against the "senior source at the International Cricket Council."?

And the beat goes on... flip flop flip....

2009-08-14T13:30:00.002-04:00

Yesterday it was

And the thorny issue of whether Pakistan will be able to travel to India and play World Cup games there is yet to be resolved.
Butt said the final decision on whether Pakistani cricketers will be allowed to go to India will be taken by the government.
''It's for our government to decide about it,'' he said.
Last year, India refused to send its team to Pakistan after a terrorist attack in Mumbai in November.
Since then, both countries have suspended sporting ties though there have been a couple of minor breakthroughs with Pakistan sending its squash and table tennis colts across the border for international events earlier this summer.
When asked whether there are any contingency plans in case political situation in 2011 prevents his team to play on Indian soil, Butt said there will be no World Cup without Pakistan.
''Off course, there are contingency plans,'' Butt said.
''If there are security problems then the World Cup will go to Australia and New Zealand. But if by any chance Pakistan cannot take part in it, then there will be no World Cup,'' stressed Butt, a former Test cricketer.

Today it is

Well-placed sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board told PTI that ICC President David Morgan, during his talks with PCB chairman Ejaz Butt, had assured that he would try to convince the BCCI to play a series in England.
"Morgan has made no promises but has assured Pakistan he would use his good offices to try to organise such a series next year," a source said.
India have suspended bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan since last November's the Mumbai terror attacks.
"The proposal is for three Tests, three One-dayers and a couple of Twenty20 matches," the source said.
He said Morgan had assured Pakistan he would try to do everything to help them overcome the financial loss caused due to the sifting of the World Cup matches from here due to security reasons.
Pakistan is due to play Australia next year in England apart from a separate series against Andrew Strauss' men.
"If India agrees the series could be squeezed in at a time when both teams are free of international commitments," the source said.
The source said Butt told Morgan that the PCB would lose nearly $70 million from television rights deal with Dubai based Ten Sports network if India didn't play a bilateral series in Pakistan.

Based on his utterences, Ijaz Butt makes a solid case for administrators to be included in the WADA regime!

The last post

2009-08-14T12:49:00.010-04:00

Because I cannot be bothered anymore.

What point pontificating about the game when the outcome of a marquee series can be predicted so far in advance?

What point talking about the nuances and the vagaries of the game when the only nuance is the pitch being rolled twice instead of thrice and the only vagary is the wicket having four blades of grass instead of one?

Test Cricket is a joke, with anodyne wickets rolled out and semi skilled batsmen piling on runs like there is no tomorrow. And while it may provide enjoyment to some, I want no part of it.

"It's a fact of life that cricket can only survive and grow through finance, and much of that finance comes from revenue generated by broadcast and sponsorship revenue and attendances. So if matches don't run the distance, that ca n hit clubs and boards in the pocket."

"The ICC has not issued any such directive since my involvement with it began in 1999. It is also incorrect to say that the ICC wants to standardise pitches worldwide. Nothing is further from the truth. The preparation of pitches for all Test matches and ODIs is a matter entirely for each individual home board to manage when they are staging a match or a series under their control. "

When the ICC pitches manager makes the above comments with a straight face, no amount of pink balls and day night cricket and other fancy gimmicks is going to revive the game.

And thats fine by me.

I am content watching ODIs. Or Twenty 20 cricket. Because atleast then the expectations are clear - flat wicket, bowler's graveyard, batsmen swinging across the line. And the monotony lasts a few hours, not a few days.

When I first started analyzing Test series, it was in early 2003. India was to tour Australia and the Willow package cost $149.99. And conventional wisdom was that India would repeat its 1999 showing, if not a 4-0 mauling. With 150 bucks on the line, a cost benefit exercise was necessary. And I went ahead and bought the package, hoping against hope that India would turn out a credible performance and not get humiliated. They did better that expected.

By the time the South Africa series came around, it was much easier. It was simply a question of juxtaposing the strength of schedule, quality wins and player match ups. Because player match ups mattered then.

Shiraz prices led to an assessment of how India would fare in Australia but by the time the return series happened, the assessment was not even a challenge.

Ditto the South Africa tour to Australia. And now, the Ashes.

The one that got away was the return series in South Africa. But that was more to do with not factoring the South Africans not playing competitive cricket than an assessment of strengths and weaknesses.

So, what point assessing a series when the outcome of marquee series can be predicted based on who has the greater number of bowlers and the more variety in their bowling stocks and the stamina to bowl on dead, unresponsive wickets?

The joy of analysis for me is to be proven wrong in the analysis. Because that helps me re-evaluate and come up with more robust analyses. But given the way Test cricket is shaping up, its good bye to all that.

I would much rather focus on the domestic scene, where new and exiting talent is on display all the time. And where the expectations are lower and correspondingly, the disappointments.

And if that ceases to excite me, I will be content just watching him play-

With an unorthodox batting stance and the right team colors and with a seam position like this, whats not to like?

And in conclusion, I want to that each and every one of you who took time off their busy schedules to indulge me on the blog. Your readership was a huge motivation for sustaining the blog for over 2 and a half years. And to all of you who commented, a big thank you. Your insights have helped broaden my horizons and have helped me have a better understanding of the various facets and nuances of the game. But for you, my understanding of the game would have been limited.You have helped me stretch the boundaries of my limitations.

The tamasha will go on, but the dopaisekatamasha ends here.

Cheers.

Steps in the right direction

2009-08-14T12:45:00.000-04:00

The BCCI has already disbursed Rs. 4 crore to each of the 25 State units as advance against TV subsidy
The BCCI increased the 2009-10 Ranji Trophy winner’s prize from Rs. 60 lakh to Rs. 2 crore

Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India at the working committee meeting here on Thursday said that its 25 State units would receive around Rs. 20 crore each for fiscal year 2008-09 as their share from the annual television subsidy and money earmarked from the IPL-II held in South Africa.

They were also informed that should all the international engagements be held in the 2009-10 fiscal year, the associations were likely to receive between Rs. 24 and Rs. 28 crore.

The BCCI has already disbursed Rs. 100 crore (Rs. 4 crore to each of the 25 State units) as advance against TV subsidy. In the coming months and after its 80th AGM there in the last week of September, the BCCI will remit the balance amount of around Rs. 500 crore.

“The sum would have been much more, but there was a revenue shortfall of Rs.59 crore because of the cancellation of the Pakistan tour and the curtailment of the England tour,” said Rajiv Shukla, Chairman of the Finance Committee, BCCI. The Champions League T20 was also cancelled after the terrorist attack in Mumbai.

Last year the 25-member units received a sum between Rs. 14 and 18 crore from the TV subsidy alone, with Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) receiving a maximum of Rs. 18.60 crore. In addition they received around. Rs.8 crore each from the IPL-I revenue.

First class players

The BCCI did not disappoint the first class players in the country. At its Working Committee meeting the BCCI increased the 2009-10 Ranji Trophy winner’s prize from Rs. 60 lakh to Rs. 2 crore.

It also earmarked Rs. 1 crore for the runner-up and Rs. 50 lakh each for the losing semifinalists.

With the increase in prize money for the national championship winner, an Elite Group cricketer who would play 11 or 10 matches league and knock out matches and goes on to be part of the Ranji Trophy winning team would take home around Rs. 19 lakh or Rs. 18 lakh.

And a Plate League cricketer who would play a maximum of eight league and knock out matches would take home around Rs. 13 lakh. In addition a cricketer who plays an additional 25 days of senior tournaments in the Duleep Trophy, Irani Cup and the inter-State one-day tournaments will take another Rs. 10 lakh, even should the BCCI maintain Rs. 40,000 match fee per day.

There was good news for women cricketers too, but they may be somewhat disappointed with the Rs. one lakh fee per player for each tour the national team undertakes. But they receive the same daily allowance of around $70, which is what the men receive.

The BCCI also announced a bonus of Rs. one lakh to each player and support staff of the Emerging Players’ team that won a limited overs tournament in Brisbane recently.

The BCCI also revised the domestic match-fee (IPL not included) of the umpires from the 2009-10 season. An umpire will receive Rs. 7,500 per match day out of which Rs. 3,750 per match-day will go towards the Benevolent Fund. The umpires and Match Referees (IPL excepted) will receive Rs. 10,000 per match-day.

Other decisions taken at the Working Committee were (1) to make the former ICL players eligible for the IPL-III with a franchise asked pay a minimum fee of Rs. 8 lakh and a maximum of Rs. 20 lakh (2) to retain Amish Saheba and nominate Shavir Tarapore in the ICC International Panel and Sanjay Hazare as the ICC International TV panel (3) to establish specialised coaching centres at Mumbai (batting), Mohali (bowling) and Chennai (spinners and wicketkeepers), (4) to appoint specialist coaches on an annual retainership (5) to establish an Umpire’s Academy (6) reject KSCA’s request to hire outstation players in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL).

The BCCI President Shashank Manohar released the NCA coaching manual at the meeting. Present at the release function was Dav Whatmore, Direct Operations, National Cricket Academy.

East v West

2009-08-13T16:12:00.000-04:00

or when "magical wrists" meet "sweaty brows"!

The case for isolation

2009-08-10T11:57:00.005-04:00

Does India need International Cricket?

I say that the costs outweigh the benefits and that channeling our attention and energies towards domestic cricket will do India a world of good.

Ideally, I would like the Indian domestic scene to be structured like the NFL. And like the NFL, the game will be played on our terms, devoid of any outside interference, including the ICC.

As the two editions of the IPL showed, the BCCI has the capacity to organize and to market the game like no one else does.

And given the narrative of the Ranji Trophy over the last 4 seasons, there is a ready product available for the BCCI to exploit if they can only get themselves interested.

No more having to kow tow to all and sundry within the ICC, no more being held hostage to the whims and fancies or Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia or anyone else who wants to take a pot shot at us for the heck of it, no more of having to comply with rules and officials despite our reservations.

No more trying to shore up the ICC by contributing up to 70% of its monies while having to incur all the opprobrium for its inadequacies.

We have the talent, and the visible talent is but the tip of the iceberg. We have the fan base, we have the infrastructure. More can be done and should be done, but on our terms alone.

Our game, our terms, our way.That's all.

Faster is better

2009-08-10T11:40:00.001-04:00

Batsmen’s strike rates were once not collected; now they are an integral part of the game. Cricket’s attitudes towards its fielding statistics needs rethinking, especially since fielding, in every sensible cricket fan’s mind, has changed dramatically, and for the better, in the course of the last twenty years.

Test 4 Day 2

2009-08-08T13:25:00.002-04:00

Signed in about half an hour ago, saw England collapse from 58/0 to 78/5 and the question is - can my local league team play England? We have been on a bit of a skid recently and beating an international team will do our morale a world of good!

On a wicket on which Australia managed 445, it takes a special level of skill to first score 102 and then to lose 5 wickets for 20 runs.

Brilliant!

Test 4 Day 1

2009-08-07T13:39:00.002-04:00

One thing differentiated the two sides on Day 1 of the Headingley Test - Discipline. Australia displayed oodles of discipline while England were all over the shop floor.

Like Edgbaston, England were slow on sussing up the bowling conditions. And when they did, they reaped immediate rewards.

Like Peter Siddle. And Stuart Clark. Whose lines were immaculate.

There is a special thrill that comes with seeing a bowler make a batsman look like an idiot. Doesn't happen all the time, and is much rarer these days with dead wickets, but when it happens, the joy! Oh the joy!!

And both Siddle and Clark delivered. It was exemplary bowling, marrying discipline with immaculate lengths. And it was brave. Having lost the toss, the Australian bowlers could just as easily have lost the plot by bowling too full or too short. That they did not is a tribute to the bowling.

England batted sloppily and bowled equally badly.

And yet, at the end of the day, England are still in with a chance if they can restrict Australia's lead to 150 or less.

If it seams, it will spin. And Australia have to bat last. With time no longer a factor in the game, England will have to emulate the Australians tomorrow by bowling much tighter. And then bat, remembering that this is a test match and not some charity match. Do that and we have a contest. A real contest.

Finally, the Ashes seems to be delivering on the hype!

Test 4 Prelude

2009-08-06T18:31:00.002-04:00

England's mantra going into this test should be - bat first.For a multitude of reasons, some of which are listed below

It will force Australia to take 20 English wickets to win the test, something they have not done in the previous 3 tests.
Batsmen get offered the light - if atmospherics on the first 3 days transpire as the Met Office predicts, there will be opportunities for bad light. And England will be in control.
If batting conditions are hostile, it may seem a gamble but it is still upto Australia to get the right bowling combination and then to exploit the conditions. If conditions are not hostile, then Australia should be made to toil.
If England falter in the first innings, Australia will have to set the pace. And factor in time as they would not want a repeat of Cardiff. That in turn can lead to mis steps.
Australia have to bat last. With the Ashes on the line, pressure can do strange things to the best of them.

Bowling wise, England needs to think about what bowling combination gives them the best opportunity to take 20 Australian wickets.That should be the basis of naming their XI. If 5 bowlers is the way to go, Flintoff or Bopara must give way for Broad. If 4 bowlers is the norm, Broad must make way.

So, my line ups will be

With 5 bowlers

Strauss
Cook
Bopara
Bell
Collingwood
Prior
Broad
Swann
Sidebottom
Anderson
Harmison

And with 4 bowlers

Strauss
Cook
Bopara
Bell
Collingwood
Prior
Flintoff
Swann
Sidebottom
Anderson
Harmison

England has to do what India did in 2002 - play to their strengths and weather be damned.

An alternate view

2009-08-05T12:52:00.002-04:00

Cricket journalism is dying if not dead and buried already. The new generation of cricket writers are not a patch on Harsha Bhogle and Rohit Brijnath. And they cannot hold a candle to Raju Bharatan and Rajan Bala.

Who amongst the new crop can marry music, anecdotes and cricket as beautifully as Bharatan did?

And who amongst the new crop can intoxicate the senses with words and transport you to a happy place the way Brijnath does?

Heck, they cannot even put a proper sentence together. All this generation does is blog and Twitter.

Condensing a thought to 140 characters or less, can there be anything more preposterous than twittering? No form, no rhythm, no narrative - even the grammar leaves a lot to be desired.

Imagine that!

Whatever happened to mellifluous prose, the gentle narrative of bat hitting ball, of building up the narrative till it reached a crescendo, of art and form?

And when they are not twittering, you can find them preening around like peacocks on Facebook. So much for the legacy of Cardus and James!

Sounds familiar? It is.

How practical?

2009-08-04T11:02:00.003-04:00

From the WADA Athletes Whereabouts Guidelines

3.3 The overriding principle is that it is the responsibility of the Athlete to make him/herself available for Testing. In particular, if the Athlete specifies a location for the 60-minute time-slot where it is not easy to find him/her, and/or he/she does not remain at that location for the full 60-minute time-slot, he/she risks a Missed Test.

3.4 Residence: The Athlete must provide, for each day in the following quarter, the full address of the place where he/she will be residing (i.e., sleeping overnight). (See IST clause 11.3.1(d)). Usually, that address would be expected to be in the same vicinity as the location specified for the 60-minute time-slot for that day, unless the Athlete will be travelling to another city or town during the day and wishes to specify a location at his/her destination for the 60-minute time-slot. If circumstances change so that the Athlete will be residing at a different place on one or more nights, he/she should update his/her Whereabouts Filing

3.5.2 If the Athlete’s regular schedule changes during the quarter, he/she should update his/her Whereabouts Filing to reflect the change. For example, if he/she changes schedule so that instead of going to the gym every morning from 10 am to noon, he/she goes every afternoon from 2pm to 4pm, then he/she should update his/her Whereabouts Filing to reflect that change.

3.5.3 On the other hand, if the Athlete simply departs from his/her regular schedule on a one-off basis, he/she does not need to update his/her Whereabouts Filing to reflect that. For example, if he/she usually goes to the gym every morning from 10 am to noon, but on one particular day in the quarter he/she goes to the gym not between 10 am and noon but instead between 3 pm and 4 pm, no update is necessary to reflect that.

3.6 60 minute timeslot: The Athlete must provide, for each day during the following quarter, one specific 60-minute time-slot between 6 am and 11 pm each day where the Athlete will be available and accessible for Testing at a specific location. (See IST clause 11.3.2). If circumstances change so that the Athlete will no longer be at that location at that time, he/she should update his/her Whereabouts Filing

3.7 As the comment to IST 11.3.3 states, if an Athlete does not know, at the beginning of the quarter, precisely what his/her whereabouts will be for each day in the quarter, he/she must provide his/her best information, based on where he/she expects to be at the relevant time(s), and then update that information as necessary in accordance with IST clause 11.4.2.

3.8 The Responsible ADO should monitor Whereabouts Filings for patterns of behaviour that may indicate an attempt to evade Sample collection or otherwise to undermine or hinder the Doping Control process. For example, if an Athlete is constantly updating his/her Whereabouts Filings to change the time and/or location for his/her 60-minute time-slot at the last minute, the Responsible ADOshould consider whether this may reflect a concerted effort to undermine attempts to locate him/her for Testing. Such a pattern of last-minute updates should be investigated as a possible anti-doping rule violation under Code Article 2.5 (Tampering or Attempted Tampering) or 2.3 (evasion of Sample collection).

Now, all of us travel. By planes, trains and by road. And we all have had to deal with missed flights, delayed departures and arrivals, traffic jams, fender benders and such like. And we all know that all of these take time to sort out.

Most, if not all, of us have encountered cell phone dead zones. And the odd flaky internet connection.

Now, imagine athlete A. A signatory to the Athlete whereabouts program. Now it is not outside of the realm of imagination that the said athlete will be better placed to detail his/her exact whereabouts ( including the 60 minute slot that is mandatorily required) on a day to day basis as compared to a week to week and month to month basis. Say the athlete makes a commitment to be available at a particular place at a particular time.Say too that the athlete has to drive from point A to point B to be at the particular place at the particular time. Given that the athlete in question is diligent, say that he/she provides enough buffer time to be at the said place at the said time. And then a fender bender occurs.

Now, per the provisions of the WADA ruling, if the athlete is not at the required location in the required time slot, he/she stands in violation of the program. And if the athlete reschedules the Whereabouts Filing, that too is a red flag. Strike 1.

Now assume that our athlete is vacationing abroad, and traveling the local train system. And assume that his/her wallet/purse get stolen at a station that is some distance from his/her place of residence. And he/she does not speak the local language. Happens to the best of us, so why should athletes be exempt. But our athlete has diligently filled out the location and the time when he/she will be available for testing on the Whereabouts form. And his her cellphone is stolen/ he/she does not have a calling plan for the country in question/the battery on the phone is dead. Strike 2.

So finally, our athlete in question is flying from Mumbai to New York. And the flight is delayed at Mumbai because of "technical reasons". So our athlete updates the Whereabouts form following proper procedure. Excepts that he/she goofs up when calculating the correct time difference by not accounting for daylight savings. For the athlete, all is well with the world... Except it is not. And if there is a problem getting a gate at New York because the slot was taken by some other airline ( because of the delayed take off) which adds to the overall delay, what then? As it is our athlete is in hot water because of the mis calculation of time and is therefore not present at the location he/she is supposed to be at the appointed time. Strike 3 and that's a two year ban for our athlete.

Shit happens. All the time.

The whole IRTP is a code put together by bureaucrats. And one thing that is true of bureaucrats is that they lack imagination. As the provisions show. And the other thing about bureaucrats is that they are rigid.If someone can come up with a set of rules that demand an athlete present his/her itinerary for a full quarter in advance, what is to prevent the said entity from flagging the slightest deviation from the norm as a strike?

And then there is the ICC.

10.1 Disqualification of Individual Results in an ICC Event During Which an Anti-Doping Rule Violation occurs Subject to Article 10.1.1, where a Cricketer is found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation during or in connection with an International Match in an ICC Event where the Cricketer also participated in other International Matches (for example, the anti-doping rule violation was committed during or in connection with the final of an ICC Event and the Cricketer had participated in earlier rounds of the ICC Event), then in addition to the consequences set out at Article 9 (in relation to the Disqualification of results obtained in the particular International Match during or in connection with which the anti-doping rule violation was committed), the anti-doping rule violation will also lead to Disqualification of all of the individual results and performance statistics obtained by the Cricketer in the other International Matches that he/she participated in
during the ICC Event in question with all resulting consequences, including forfeiture of any individual medals, individual ranking points, individual prizes obtained in those International Matches and the non-inclusion of his/her performance statistics in those International Matches towards any official individual averages and/or records, except as provided in Article 10.1.1.
10.1.1 If the Cricketer establishes that he/she bears No Fault or Negligence for the
violation, the Cricketer’s individual results in the International Matches other than
the International Match during or in connection with which the anti-doping rule
violation occurred shall not be Disqualified unless the ICC establishes that the
Cricketer’s results in the other International Matches were likely to have been
affected by his/her anti-doping rule violation.

So if I understand this correctly, I can dope myself up, carry my team to the finals of an ICC tournament, and if I get caught, my records will be disqualified but my team will still legitimately contest the finals?

And then there is this

10.2 Imposition of a Period of Ineligibility for the Presence, Use or Attempted Use, or
Possession of Prohibited Substances and Prohibited Methods
The period of Ineligibility imposed for a violation of Article 2.1 (presence of Prohibited Substance or its Metabolites or Markers in a Sample), Article 2.2 (Use or Attempted Use of Prohibited Substance or Prohibited Method) or Article 2.6 (Possession of Prohibited Substances and Methods) that is the Cricketer or Cricketer Support Personnel’s first offence shall be two years, unless the conditions for eliminating or reducing the period of Ineligibility (as provided in Articles 10.4 and 10.5) or the conditions for increasing the period of Ineligibility (as provided in Article 10.6) are met.

and this

10.3.2 For a violation of Article 2.4 (Filing Failures and/or Missed Tests) that is the Cricketer’s first offence, the period of Ineligibility imposed shall be at a minimum one year and at a maximum two years, depending upon the Cricketer’s degree of fault.

So, if I understand this correctly,if I do drugs and get caught the first time, I stand to lose two years. But if I am lax in filling in my forms, but don't do any drugs, I still stand to lose an year?

And people have actually signed up to this nonsense? Oh and there is more - in the case of filing failures or missed tests, the burden of proof lies with the athlete while in the case of an actual dope test, the burden of proof lies with the ICC. how fair is that?

England's problem

2009-08-04T08:03:00.002-04:00

is not Andrew Flintoff's dodgy knee. But Stuart Broad's bowling form. And Ravi Bopara's batting form.

If Ravi Bopara had shown any semblance of grinding it out there in the three tests thus far, Flintoff the batsman would not be needed to add teeth to the batting line up.

And if Stuart Broad had bowled half as well as he is capable of, Flintoff the bowler would not be needed as cover.

Instead, now England are faced with the dilemma of a weakened batting and bowling line up in Flintoff's absence.

Like for like, Sidebottom or Harmison could do the job of Flintoff the bowler and probably with better results. But playing either weakens the batting line up. And England love to bat deep. And with the middle order not showing any signs of solidity ( bar Collingwood at Cardiff), playing 5 bowlers is a high risk strategy for a team that finds itself in the lead in the series.

The problem England have with Flintoff playing is that he can barely get through one day with his knee being dodgy. And with Broad not bowling well, England are effectively a 3 bowler team - which is exactly what Australia want, with thier superior batting.

Had Broad shown some semblance of form at Edgbaston, this would have been a non issue. But no team can afford to carry one, let alone three passengers with the series still open. And had Bopara scored a 50 in all of his outings thus far, again England could have carried Broad and drafted in Harmison or Sidebottom.

Left to me, I would play Flintoff as a pure batsman and go in with Sidebottom for Broad. 7 batsmen, 4 bowlers with the added variety of a left arm swing bowler. And I will bring in Harmison for Onions. Harsh, I know, but I would rather have atleast one hit the deck bowler for the variety that gives me.

Test 3 Day 5

2009-08-03T12:59:00.002-04:00

In the end, Australia did what was required of them. They played time and more importantly, they played for runs. 84 overs and 287 runs for the loss of 3 wickets is a fair return for a team that found itself under the hammer.

It showed intent and I believe the Australian dressing room will be the happier one going into Headingley on Friday.

About the Test match itself, what should have been an engrossing Test match despite the rain turned out to be another of those dead Tests that are going to kill Test Cricket.

5 sessions were lost to the weather. 25 wickets fell in the remaining 9 odd sessions. Of which 7 fell in one sensational session on Day 2.

More proof that T20 is killing Test cricket! Now we can all go home happy.

Test 3 Day 4

2009-08-02T19:48:00.004-04:00

So far so good. The test has panned out the way I expected it to thus far.Starting with the toss until England's surprising counter attack in the middle session of the day, the Test was playing along expected lines.

But what the England counterattack and the two Australian wickets ( including probably the over of the day, by Swann to Ponting) have achieved is to put Australia firmly on the back foot.

Conventional wisdom will hold that Australia play for time tomorrow. Prolong the innings long enough to eke out a draw and regroup for Headingley.

It may work, but it is a move fraught with risks.Playing for time generally translates to not searching for runs. And with the early start and the atmospherics forecast, there is always the chance that the batsmen will offer one, earlier in their innings than later. And as the second day showed, it does not take too long for the team to unravel, especially when England have bowlers who can get more from the wicket than the Australians could.

88/2 in 28 overs is indicative of that mindset.

If ever there was a time now for Australia to rediscover what made them the most dominant force in world cricket for well over 15 years, it will be tomorrow.

I am not advocating recklessness, but I am definitely not advocating a 300 ball century for Mike Hussey. Australia have to look for runs and they have to show intent that they are looking for runs.And runs dont mean boundaries. Whatever happened to tip and run and those sharply run singles that used to make the fielding look ragged and would make the bowlers potty?

It is imperative that Australia maintain a scoring rate of atleast 3.5 in the first session of play. As the runs pile up, the lead will grow. And as the lead grows, English shoulders will sag ( think back to Lords on Day 4). And as the lead grows, time becomes of essence.

And if it is England that offers the draw, thats a huge morale boost for the Australian camp that is desperately looking for some good news.

Now, what I think wil happen is that there will be more of the same from the Australians. Hussey and Watson will see off the initial hour before the ball starts doing something ( as evidenced in both innings). And as when things start happening, England will attack- with Swann getting purchase, Strauss can actually rotate his fast bowlers from one end while giving Swann an extended spell from the other.

Which in turn will leave Australia in a rather awkward position of whether to attack or to defend. And as is the case most times of trying to straddle two stools, bad things will happen!

Slow news day? Definately India's fault

2009-08-02T12:01:00.001-04:00

India, cricket's money magnet, only cares about umpiring when it thinks it has been dudded.
It's always someone else's fault, like in Sydney 18 months ago, and the umpires are an easy target.
Just ask Steve Bucknor about the support, or lack of it, that umpires receive when India spits the dummy.
Bucknor, who like Koertzen stayed in the game about a decade too long, failed to give Andrew Symonds out caught behind in Sydney during the New Year's Test in 2007. India lost, India whinged, moaned and complained, Bucknor got sacked and the ICC and Cricket Australia let the caravan roll on. Who cares about principles when there's millions at stake?
It comes as no surprise then that India, which has more resources than the rest of the cricket world combined, is the only major Test nation without an umpire on the dozen-strong international panel.

Test 3 Day 2

2009-07-31T13:43:00.002-04:00

The day panned as expected.

England bowled better lines and lengths, Australia capitulated. England then worked themselves into a fairly decent position before taking the light ( a move that I have never quite endorsed but in the context of the game, pardonable).

Day 3 beckons with Australia having to do all the running. An early start and a ball that is 36 overs old means that Australia are more or less in the same position England were in at the end of Day 1. But while England were guilty of bad bowling, the same cannot be said of Australia. Australia has to think wickets, not containment , if they have to stay in the game. And they have to do this despite Rudi Koetzen.

Which brings me to this - should 100 tests be the cut off for the life of a Test umpire? Steve Bucknor was one who went over a 100 tests and the less said about his umpiring, the better. Ditto Koetzen. And with technology becoming more integral in the game today, is it time for the ICC to expand its Elite panel by compulsorily forcing each test playing nation to volunteer atleast two Test umpires?

On Cricinfo

2009-07-31T00:04:00.001-04:00

my comment in response to Sambit Bal's article

Make Test cricket more elitist and still Test cricket will wither and die if they continue to play the game on the roads that masquerade as wickets these days.

If I have to watch a game on a road, I would rather waste 3 hours of my life watching a game with a definite result instead of spending 30 hours watching a bore fest.

And that is what Test cricket these days is.. Administrators want to maximize revenues ( gate, TV etc) and so would much rather the Test go the distance. Heck, the administrators at Cardiff did not even try to hide this fact when talking of the type of wicket that would be rolled.

And then there is the ICC with its own "blue print" for what is a good wicket. The Kanpur wicket gets called for having "excessive turn" when what we witnessed was a tight 3 day contest.

Deny people a contest and they will divert thier attention to something else.

T20 gives them a contest in an abbreviated time span. Test Cricket doesnt.

Good luck then saving Test cricket!

Brilliant!

2009-07-30T20:20:00.000-04:00

"If I get hit out there, make sure you stop mum from jumping over the fence."

Test 3 Day 1

2009-07-30T14:39:00.002-04:00

In my previous post, I had alluded to Ponting's decision to bat first a mistake. 126/1 in 30 overs later, I see no reason to change my opinion on that call.

the reasons I would have bowled first are fairly simple

1. The pitch has been under the covers and sweating.

2. The outfield was impacted by the rain and therefore, slow.

3. A shortened session meant that the bowlers could always regroup if things went wrong for them while the batsmen would have to start from scratch.

Also, this gave Australia the opportunity to get Johnson back in the swing of things. With Watson coming as cover, Australia have more depth in their bowling resources. This would then have allowed Ponting to attack from the get go.

Also, if I were captain, I would look at the England team sheet and see Bopara and Bell at numbers 3 and 4. If my bowlers got the early break through, I had two batsmen, both low on confidence, to contend with. And if I did not make the early break through, I still could control the tempo of the game by shutting shop and along with it, the flow of runs. And I could always come back tomorrow and rethink the game plan.

Also, with a make shift opening pair, the odds of the shoe being on the other foot are high. Had two marginal LBW calls ( one each against Watson and Katich) gone the other way, it would be I who would have to play the waiting game.

And finally this - Australia have to take 20 England wickets to win the match. With rain becoming a factor, time is of paramount importance. So, by batting first, Australia have to set themselves to batting only once, batting big and batting fast to give themselves enough time to force a result. But with the weather forecast being what it is, it is the Australian batsmen who will have to face the start stop start situation - not ideal when you are trying to bat fast.

Having said all that, England looked at Ponting's gift and decided to up the charity stakes. If Australia could be charitable to let the England bowlers first under helpful conditions, England would repay in full by bowling too short or too full. Thereby squandering all advantage accrued.

Plus with Strauss unwilling to stem the flow of runs and England unable to take wickets, the end result was that Australia ended with 126/1 with Watson scoring a 50 at the top of the order.

For England now, the priority is to slow the run flow. If they can choke off the free flow of runs, Australia will be compelled to play outside of their comfort zone because they will have to force the pace. And when that happens, the risk increases. And with increased risk comes the opportunity to take wickets. However, if England continue to play they have on the first day, they can forget competing in this test.

For Australia, more of the same please. Coupled with not losing wickets. The longer each partnership plays at a fair clip, the more pressure Strauss will face because he will have to contend with time no longer being an ally. And if England have to play 2 innings on the back foot, odds that they will fold under the pressure increase.

Now, if I were the batting captain, I would write this match off. Instead I would set stall to bat all 5 days. The reason is simple really - with back to back tests, it is in my interest that England's bowlers bowl for as long as possible. And with Flintoff nursing a bad knee, it is definitely in my interest to render him hors de combat before Headingley. And what better way to achieve that than by having him bowl in excess of 50 overs for the match!

A mistake

2009-07-30T11:59:00.002-04:00

A new opening pair, a truncated session,a ground soaked by rain, a heavy outfield, the pitch under covers and therefore sweating, and Ricky Ponting elects to bat first.

Nice!

On Selection

2009-07-27T09:50:00.004-04:00

Over the weekend, I read more news paper columns and blog posts highlighting England's selection travails in the post KP setup than is healthy.

Yet, for all of England's tribulations with selection, there is atleast no ambiguity on who the replacements are. Ian Bell, whatever his shortcomings, was the man identified almost immediately the moment KP went under the knife.

Harmison is the go to guy if Flintoff is not available.

Yes, the caliber of the players is not the same and yes, the England game plan will have to change to account for the two high profile players, but England have had 9 days between the tests to come up with alternatives ( In fact, Andy Flower went on record as soon as the Lords test was over about England's prospects in the sans KP, sans Freddie scenario).

Contrast that with the travails the Australians face.

Their one 95 mph bowler is hors de combat, the other one has let his mother's sledging get to him.

And given that Johnson is the sensitive sort ( highlighted ad infinitum in newspapers), how exactly will he take to being dropped from the squad?

And with back to back tests, the odds of Lee, with no match fitness to speak of, making an Headingley appearance is an idea fraught with risk.

Then there is the opener, who makes runs by the ton against second Division county sides but has not been able to match those performances when it really counts.

Then, there is the spinner, dealing with the after effects of a dislocated middle finger on his bowling hand. While he has gone about his job manfully, how much long term damage will he do to his finger if his work load keeps going up ( as it is expected to).

Then there is the all rounder - blond, athletic and currently making a persuasive case for inclusion. But he is known to break down mid test, and there are back to back tests to be played.

And then there is Ginger.

Point is, Australia have as many, if not more, selection issues compared to England.

And unlike, Ricky Ponting, I dont believe Australia has enough time to turn the series on its head. If England win at Edgbaston, Australia will have to win both Headingley and the Oval to retain the Ahes. Which, with the current resources on hand, is a bridge too far.

Goodbye WPUJC Vaas

2009-07-24T12:24:00.001-04:00

Plan B

2009-07-22T11:15:00.002-04:00

Now that Kevin Pieterson is no longergoing to be a part of the Ashes, what are the odds that we will see wickets similar to Cardiff and Lords at Edgbaston, Headingley and the Oval? And what are the odds that England will strengthen its batting and bat Australia out of the series?

While it is a move fraught with risk ( one slip and the Ashes will be gone), I think that is exactly what England will do.

Test 2 Wrap

2009-07-20T20:05:00.002-04:00

Given that the weather in this neck of the woods held as firm as over in England, I found myself unable to watch Days 3,4 and 5 of the Test (lets just say that life took precedence and leave it at that).

England won, Freddie was magnificent, Johnson scored about the runs as the number of overs he bowled, Ponting was gracious in defeat, a 75 year streak was broken, England are 1-0 ahead in the Ashes and all is well with the world.

Except that it is not.

Bad umpiring, a spineless batting display and the strength of character of one man were the only reasons why we have a result in this match. Again, we find that the Lord's pitch, the one that promised bounce and carry for the bowlers, was nothing but another of those factory manufactured, dull,lifeless pieces of dirt that is all too common these days.

What point a Test match if the tail swats the ball as merrily on the first day as the last? What point a Test match where the team batting last reaches 406 despite being 5 down for 128? What point a Test match if making in excess of 500 on the final two days is considered on par?

And what point crowing about the primacy of Test Cricket and the dangers posed by T20 when the body making those statements roll out a deck that, on Day 5, is not dis-similar to an ideal T20 deck?

Test 2 Day 2 Lords

2009-07-17T13:50:00.002-04:00

What to make of this?

Day 1 - 364 runs. 6 wickets.90 overs.

Day 2 - 217 runs. 12 wickets. 59.4 overs.

Yesterday's play was the first time in a long time that left me confused. Generally the end of the first day gives enough hints on how the match will pan out.

Yesterday was different.

196 runs without losing a wicket. 168 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. Bad bowling? Bad batting? And what about the England rune rate, well over 4 rpo. It just did not add up.

And at the end of today;'s play, I remain confused.

Yes, 156/8 represents England on the ascendancy but, is that really true? If the pitch continues to behave the way it has on Day 2, can England honestly put their hands on their hearts and say that they have the werewithal to perform better than the Australians did today?

Then there is the case for not enforcing the follow on.

Australia have a problem with their bowling. Hauritz is hurt, Siddle has a niggle, Johnson's radar
is all over the place. That leaves Hilfenhaus as the lone uninjured bowler in the ranks. Coupled with North, Katich, Clarke, Hussey and Ponting. If England bat more than 100 overs, how much will the injuries come to bite Australia?

Then there is the case for enforcing the follow on.

6 of the last 7 tests at Lords have ended in a draw. Teams batting last have scored 537, 214, 89, 282. 269 and 393 in the 6 drawn games. And with the wicket expected to behave as is or get slightly quicker tomorrow, England does not want to give Australia the advantage of a) getting back into the game by exploiting whatever little the wicket has to offer before easing up and b) let Australia bat last on a wicket with little or no assistance for the bowlers on Days 4 and 5.

Then there is the question of time.

270 overs and a bit remain in the game.If England bat long, it will impact Australia's bowling resources but will give the Australians enough time to eke out a draw. If England don't bat long enough, Australia get the benefit of time.

But long long is long? Strauss was extremely conservative with his declarations in the West Indies. If the same pattern follows, he will shut the game completely before inviting the Australians to bat. And even in that case - if 150 overs enough to get the Australians out a second time? 100? 170? And what about the score - 500?450? South Africa chased 413 to win in 119 overs at Perth. And the West Indies drew twice with their last pair at the crease against England at home.

So many permutations. So much to think. Who wants to be a captain.

A modest proposal

2009-07-15T10:54:00.002-04:00

Now that the MCC World Cricket committee has spoken, with recommendations ranging from a World Test Championship to day/night tests and pink balls, here are my two cents..

There is one and only one reason why Test Cricket is losing out to the other forms of the game - the draw.

In an era where attention spans are diminishing by the second, where the middle overs of an ODI are now considered tedium, a five day test that ends in a stalemate is hardly going to grab the attention ( or the eyeballs).

For those who consider me a heretic, let me say this - Cardiff may be the poster child for what a good test should be , but the only redeeming thing about Cardiff was the post tea session on the final day. T20 provides the same or more excitement in about the same period of time, maybe a tad longer. So why would I waste my time through 28 hours of tedium for the two hours of excitement that I can get anyway watching T20. And T20 assures me of a result, however contrived. 30 hours of play for nothing - how does that resonate in today's world view?

Better bats, better athletes, more sophisticated technologies, greater insight, intense analyses, all of which amount to nothing if after 30 hours and 450 overs of play, the landscape remains the same.

It is all fine and dandy to innovate Test Cricket so as to deliver a more pleasing product but, at the end of the day, all of that will come to naught if two basic concerns are not addressed

1. Over rates
2. Standardization of wickets

Plenty has been said about the over rates, I don't have much to add except to say that the monetary penalties imposed by the ICC ( on an ad hoc basis) haven't really arrested the problem. And that is because, as I read somewhere, most of the money that is paid in penalties comes from the sponsors, so the players are not directly affected anyway.

The second problem is a favorite bug bear of mine - the notion that the wise men in Dubai can conjure up the perfect Test wicket.

There exists "standards", if one may call them that, that determine whether the wicket is "good" or "bad". There are plenty of things a good wicket must be, and a lot more for the wicket to be bad, but there is no provision in the existing framework that regulates against roads.

Which is because roads are what the administrators want.

A test lasting the distance means 450 ad spots ( at a minimum) for the TV broadcaster. 5 days of gate money for the home board. Plus 5 days of sold out corporate boxes etc etc.

Roads are also a vindication for the ICC. Because roads represent the ultimate standard wickets. Every wicket, just like the other one. Geography be damned.

Welcome to standardized wickets, but are we doing anything to improve the quality of cricket?

T20 is being blamed for the "plonk your front foot forward and hit thru the line of the ball", but if the same is possible in a Test match, on the first day, where lies the difference between a batathon that is the T20 and the batathon that is Test Cricket?

What if ( and here is my proposal), Cricket Boards, before signing on to the new FTP, identify the venues that will be hosting Test Cricket in their respective countries. And also identify the nature of the wicket at each of the venues for the duration of the FTP.

That way, if Dilli is identified as a raging turner, then it is incumbent on the the BCCI to maintain that characteristic withing a prescribed delta ( The delta being for changes due to weather patterns). If the wicket deviates outside of the prescribed delta, the host Board faces a stiff penalty, including but not limited to, a ban for a duration previously agreed upon by all Host nations. Add a deduction of points from the Test Championship leaderboard and not only do host countries face a loss of revenue, but a loss in the rankings as well.

The side effect of this is that players will not only know the nature of the wickets beforehand, they will therefore have to adjust their games to suit and thus become more all surface players.

And if the Boards unanimously decide that all wickets, the world over, are roads, then pink balls or not, we can kiss Test Cricket good bye.

The Spirit of Cricket

2009-07-13T17:41:00.004-04:00

Per the ICC rules, there were a minimum of 98 overs to be bowled in the stipulated period of time on the fifth day of the Cardiff Test ( to make up for time lost to rain).

So it is incumbent on the bowling side to get atleast those many overs in in the stipulated period to avoid penalties.

There is no binding on the batsmen to play any more than the stipulated overs.

That is the way it is.

The Physio and the 12th man made their appearance in the 102nd over of the innings ( the 94th over of the day). Australia bowled 3 more overs after which there were 10 minutes remaining in the days play.

No one defaulted on the overs - they were completed within the stipulated time. Which is exactly what the law ( as it stands today) stipulates.

Now here are the laws on time wasting -

9. Time wasting by the fielding side
It is unfair for any member of the fielding side to waste time.
(a) If the captain of the fielding side wastes time, or allows any member of his side to waste time, or if the progress of an over is unnecessarily slow, at the first instance the umpire shall call and signal Dead ball if necessary and
(i) warn the captain, and indicate that this is a first and final warning.
(ii) inform the other umpire and the batsmen of what has occurred.

(b) If there is any further waste of time in that innings, by any member of the fielding side, the umpire shall
either (i) if the waste of time is not during the course of an over, award 5 penalty runs to the batting side. See 17 below.
or (ii) if the waste of time is during the course of an over, when the ball is dead, direct the captain to take the bowler off forthwith. If applicable, the over shall be completed by another bowler, who shall neither have bowled the previous over nor be allowed to bowl the next over.
The bowler thus taken off shall not be allowed to bowl again in that innings.
(iii) inform the other umpire, the batsmen and, as soon as practicable, the captain of the batting side of what has occurred.
(iv) report the occurrence, with the other umpire, as soon as possible to the Executive of the fielding side and to any Governing Body responsible for the match, who shall take such action as is considered appropriate against the captain and team concerned.

10. Batsman wasting time
It is unfair for a batsman to waste time. In normal circumstances the striker should always be ready to take strike when the bowler is ready to start his run up.
(a) Should either batsman waste time by failing to meet this requirement, or in any other way, the following procedure shall be adopted. At the first instance, either before the bowler starts his run up or when the ball is dead, as appropriate, the umpire shall
(i) warn the batsman and indicate that this is a first and final warning. This warning shall continue to apply throughout the innings. The umpire shall so inform each incoming batsman.
(ii) inform the other umpire, the other batsman and the captain of the fielding side of what has occurred.
(iii) inform the captain of the batting side as soon as practicable.

(b) if there is any further time wasting by any batsman in that innings, the umpire shall, at the appropriate time while the ball is dead
(i) award 5 penalty runs to the fielding side. See 17 below.
(ii) inform the other umpire, the other batsman, the captain of the fielding side and, as soon as practicable, the captain of the batting side of what has occurred.
(iii) report the occurrence, with the other umpire, as soon as possible to the Executive of the batting side and to any Governing Body responsible for the match, who shall take such action as is considered appropriate against the captain and player or players and, if appropriate, the team concerned.

Now, if the bowler was not ready to bowl at the end of the over, how does what the batsmen ( or the substitutes did) amount to time wasting or contravening the laws of the game?

And speaking of laws, here is one

2.4 Public criticism of, or inappropriate comment on a match related incident or match official

And here is the Ponting quote

"It was pretty ordinary," he said of England's tactics . "They can play whatever way they want to play. We will do everything we can to play by the rules and the spirit of the game. I don't think it was required. They had changed gloves before, so I'm not sure they were going to be too sweaty after one over. I am not sure what the physio was doing out there. I think a few guys were questioning the umpires. I think a few guys were also questioning the 12th man. I am sure others will be taking it up with the England hierarchy as they should."

Furthermore, on Day 3, with Australia in the lead and with 5 wickets in the hutch, Australia were offered the light ( or rain) which they promptly took. England wanted to play on and yet play was suspended.

There were people in the ground and outside who had paid good money to watch a full day's contest. Who were denied because Australia did not choose to play on.

Wonder what happened to the spirit of cricket then?

Aww look..

2009-07-12T17:15:00.002-04:00

Ricky Ponting delivered a stinging critique of England's gamesmanship after a contentious final session in which the hosts' 12th man and physiotherapist made multiple visits to the centre. The Australian captain's comments were tantamount to an accusation of time-wasting by an England side attempting to save the first Test, and will do little to defuse tensions between the two sides following a fractious day's play at Sophia Gardens.

Ponting of course is right.. The right spirit in which the game is played is this

88.6

Hauritz to Collingwood, no run, beautiful ball! Wonderful drift away then turns back into Collingwood who's rapped on the pads, but it hits him outside the line. The ball rebounds to Ponting at silly point who takes a blinder to his left, then appeals for the catch - charging the umpire, imploring him! Aleem Dar says no, and it's the correct decision

And lets not also forget the many bump ball catches claimed and Haddin gate. Yes indeed... Rebuke away Ponting, you are the right person to be admonishing all and sundry!

Test 1 Day 5 Cardiff

2009-07-12T16:22:00.002-04:00

Given that Ricky Ponting is such a perfect gentleman with impeccable manners ( vide him spitting on his palms all match and then shaking hands with those very same hands), I will refrain from commenting about the Third day and that walk off for bad light when Australia were in the lead and in a commanding position.

That said, I wouldn't have dreamt of the day when I would say this - Ricky Ponting comfortably out captained Andrew Strauss. Couple that with some abject lack of discipline with the bat in the England second innings and a test that should have been, by rights, dead and buried on Day 4, was given a new lease of life on Day 5 with the artificial excitement of the possibility of a result thrown in for good measure.

Finally this - a lot of people will hold up this test as an example of why Test cricket is all that it is made out to be. I beg to differ. Cardiff is a prime example of why Test Cricket will die out in the next ten years unless the administrators seriously look at the wickets on display.

A Test match where even getting 3 completed innings over 5 days is a stretch is a blot on Test Cricket.

And a ground where 1361 runs are scored for the loss of 25 wickets despite rain truncating play, is a poor advertisement for Test Cricket.

If the Test lasting the distance is the primary concern of the administrators versus a contest ( and a result), then R.I.P Test Cricket.

I wont be shedding tears over the loss!

Test 1 Day 3 Cardiff

2009-07-10T13:49:00.002-04:00

6.43pm They're off. The umpires have offered the rain - it can't be the light - and they've taken it. Strauss is verging on apoplexy but that's stumps on day three. And another great one for Australia, for Clarke, for North. They now lead by 44 runs and are firmly in charge. With a less than bright forecast for tomorrow, England are in a very slippery position and need early wickets tomorrow morning before the rain comes tumbling down. We'll be back at 10.30am tomorrow, so do join us then.

That then, is the story of the day. A team that has lost 5 wickets and has a lead of 44 walks off the ground on the offer of light.

Light rain tonight. Heavy rain tomorrow. Light rain on Sunday.

History beckons!

Test 1 Day 2 Cardiff

2009-07-09T13:07:00.002-04:00

Australia 249/1 Ponting 100*, Katich 103* trail by 186 runs.

348 runs scored in the day for the loss of 4 wickets. This on the back of 336 runs for the loss of 7 wickets on Day 1.

Attritional cricket all the way through and I expect the trend to continue. 9 overs before the new ball is available, so England wont be too displeased despite being batted out by Katich and the Prick on Day 2.

Australia's run rate is 3.5. Extrapolating this, it will take them 54 overs to over haul the England total. Then to build up a lead and give themselves enough time to bowl England out a second time.

There are 270 overs left in the test, weather permitting. Two innings changes, two opportunities to use the heavy or light rollers, 4 new balls, all 4 results a possibility.

For England, the new ball is going to be of paramount importance. They cannot let Australia get away by attacking the new ball - that will kill the Test for them right there. And in the 9 overs leading up to the new ball, it is imperative that they make run scoring as difficult as possible for the two set Australian batsmen.

Cut off the runs and attack with the new ball. And if the Australians can tide that, set in out fields to limit run making. There is another new ball available at the fag end of the day, so there is that additional opportunity right there.

If the Australians can be made to get the remaining 186 runs in 70 overs instead of 54, time will again be of essence. If the wicket has not deteriorated significantly, Australia will want enough time to bowl England out ( and leave themselves a window to get the remaining runs, if any).

Day 3 cant come soon enough!

PS:- The one thing that I will be keeping a look out for is the distribution of overs amongst the Aussie bowlers, when it is their turn to bowl. Given that there are 5 tests in 7 weeks, longevity is going to be important in deciding the fortunes of the teams. And given that the Aussie pacers have bowled 76 of the 107 overs in the England first innings, it will be interesting to see how the Prick handles the workload.

Of Cartels and such like...

2009-07-09T11:05:00.003-04:00

However, board officials believe a "cartel" of the big four countries - Australia, South Africa, India and England - is building up, which will marginalise Pakistan and other, less profitable countries, raising concerns of a two-tiered cricket world of the haves and have-nots. This is one of the main objections that has been raised and is likely to now cause delays before the FTP is ratified.

"We have raised the issue with the ICC and said to them that there is a cartel building up of four countries and no cartel is ever a good thing," an official present at the meetings told Cricinfo. "They [the group of four] wanted to reduce the number of ICC events to two in four years also. The ICC is abdicating its responsibility here but they are realising it now at least."

It has also been learnt that there are no scheduled series between India and Pakistan in the FTP post-2012, indicating that relations between the BCCI and the PCB have yet to improve. The two boards have been close in recent years, but a change in administration within the PCB and a change in the political atmosphere between the two governments has changed that. The PCB's legal case against the ICC over the 2011 World Cup - set to continue now in the disputes resolution committee under Michael Beloff - has further fractured the relationship. The BCCI, say officials, has pointed to the uncertain political ties between the two countries as a reason for not scheduling any tours.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s cricket officials fear ‘substantial’ losses in the coming years in case their team doesn’t play against old rivals India but are hopeful that such a scenario will be averted with the help of the international cricket community.

A senior Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official told ‘The News’ on Wednesday that bilateral cricket exchanges with the neighbouring nation will be revived ‘sooner than later’ in spite of the fact that the Indians have been sending all the wrong signals about a possible resumption of cricketing ties.

“It is a case of ebb and flow when it comes to Indo-Pak relations,” said Saleem Altaf, PCB’s chief operating officer. “In 2004, India came here after 15 years. But I personally don’t expect it to be that long this time,” added the former Pakistan Test pacer.

In spite of what is a gloomy backdrop, Altaf is hopeful that India could tour Pakistan as early as next year.“It is certainly possible,” he said. “Efforts are on to find a solution for this issue and Iím quite hopeful.”

Pakistan are certainly desperate for a solution. According to an estimate, Pakistan suffered losses of more US$42 million when India refused to come here for a full series early this year in the wake of last November’s terrorist attack in Mumbai.

This led to a suspension of cricketing ties between the two nations, who had previously worked out a bilateral agreement of playing against each other on a regular basis.

If that bilateral understanding is reached again, then Pakistan will host India at least three times in the next six years and will earn an estimated US$135 million.

---

So why not in domestic cricket?

2009-07-09T10:33:00.001-04:00

One thing which you would like to see changed immediately in cricket?
I would like to see leg byes abolished from the game. Also, I would like to see overthrows after a direct hit not given. The restriction of bouncers should be stopped too.

As Chairman of the BCCI Technical Committee, how about atleast making the recommendation?

Day 1 Test 1 Cardiff

2009-07-08T21:13:00.003-04:00

MG Johnson	18	2	68	2	3.77
	19.6 to Strauss, and the bouncer does the trick! It's a quick one and right on line, Strauss can't get out of the way and the ball clearly takes his gloves and flies up in the air, Clarke runs back from the cordon to take a simple chance 67/2 24.4 to Bopara, and the slower ball does the trick! Johnson runs the fingers over this one and Bopara is committed to the drive, he mistimes it horribly and lobs it up for a simple catch to Hughes at point 90/3
	BW Hilfenhaus	23	5	61	2	2.65	(4nb, 1w)
	7.6 to Cook, GOT HIM! That's a catch and a half from Hussey at gully, as Cook felt for this wide delivery and Hussey flings himself to his right to snaffle a corker! 21/1 65.3 to Collingwood, got him - what a catch by Haddin diving to his right! Just outside the off stump, Collingwood edged it and Haddin moved a little late, but clung on with both hands 228/4
	PM Siddle	23	3	93	2	4.04

It was an interesting day at Cardiff, not because it was the Ashes, but because England showed a lot more enterprise when they batted while Australia played to type.

After all the pre series build up, it was England, and Peter Siddle, who showed up to play.

The ball swung all day ( except for the first hour) and there was enough spin at a fair pace to keep the spinners interested.

Unlike David Lloyd, I think 350 is more than enough on this wicket for a first innings score. England played 90 overs today and if they can survive for the first hour tomorrow, time becomes of essence.

If Australia want to avoid batting last, they will have to score at a fair clip and get to atleast 100 ahead to have a good chance of going 1-0 up.

Having said that, England have two spinners, both tall. And with bounce on offer, Panesar and Swann will be able to get more than Hauritz managed on the first day. Along with Anderson, a genuine swing bowler, with Flintoff and Broad being hit the deck type bowlers, England have the bowling bases covered.

Strauss can attack or defend as required. And if the English can extend their innings to beyond the first hour, it is going to be very interesting to see the Aussie game plan.

Also, it is interesting to note the number of overs the Aussie pacers bowled on Day 1. With the English innings still incomplete and another innings to follow, it will be interesting to see how the Prick manages their workloads ( given that their premier fast bowler is hors de combat before the Ashes started).

Given the way the game has unfolded, the middle session of the first day may yet come back to bite Ricky Ponting in the ass!

A little conspiracy theory!

2009-07-07T11:49:00.002-04:00

Remember this

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today expressed “disgust” over “leaks” from closed-door selection

committee meetings but stopped short of denying reports of differences with the national selectors.
Dhoni had strongly opposed, in the selection meeting on Thursday, the decision to drop left-arm paceman RP Singh for the final four one-dayers of the series against England, to make room for Irfan Pathan. Confirming this, a national selector told The Sunday Express: “Dhoni was quite upset and angry when we decided to drop RP. There was a heated exchange on this issue during the meeting. Some things were said but this happens.”

Then there was this bit on the Fake IPL Player's blog

Apparently, Captain Kakdi wanted to play this tournament as a specialist batsman. His fingers are sore, swollen, all bruised and patched up due to all the cricket he's played over the last 2 years. And he believes that he commands a place in the side purely as a batsman as well. To my mind, that's a very reasonable demand from a guy who's taken Blues' cricket to heights never seen before. But not quite so for the Big Asses who run the game. He's been told that he doesn't get in if he doesn't keep wickets. Somewhere deep down they probably resent the fact that Captain Kakdi has become bigger than them in the eyes of the public. In their strange drug-induced reasoning, they believe that people stay up late nights to see these good-for-nothings in their pot bellies and ill-fitting safari suits at prize distribution ceremonies. I think someone needs to show them the mirror. Although finding a mirror to fit in their bloated egos will not be easy.

Then there was this

In a bizarre turn of events, the entire Indian team turned up at the pre-match press conference at Trent Bridge on Friday in a "show of unity" following media reports of a rift between senior players.

Once the team had assembled, captain MS Dhoni read out a statement to "the people of India and Indian cricket fans worldwide". The team, he said, was unified, "as good as it has ever been with each individual supporting each other on and off the field". He called the reports, published in the Indian media on Friday, of a rift between himself and Virender Sehwag "false and irresponsible behaviour".

Then, here are the teams selected between Nov 23, 2008 and today

India in Sri Lanka ODI Series, 2008/09
Only T20I: Sri Lanka v India at Colombo (RPS), Feb 10, 2009
India in New Zealand T20I Series, 2008/09
India in New Zealand ODI Series, 2008/09
India in New Zealand Test Series, 2008/09
ICC World Twenty20, 2009
India tour of West Indies, 2009

And now, the 30 probables for the Champions Trophy.

Is there a case that the selectors have been biding their time to get even with Dhoni for his remarks and, post the T20 debacle, they have the carte blanche to do exactly that? I believe there is.

Looking at the teams selected in the period between the spat and now, while the core has remained more or less stable, the fringe selections have more than raised an eyebrow. While each can be explained away in isolation, taken in toto, there is neither continuity nor is there a game plan. More and more, it appears to me as if the selectors have decided to limit MSD's choices.

And then there is the Sehwag injury and the subsequent nonsense. Till date, no selector has stepped forward to state that the selection was made in good faith because they did not believe the injury to be serious enough ( despite Sehwag missing a few IPL games owing to a different injury). And when the shit hit the ceiling, it was left to MSD to salvage the situation.

I also think that the selectors are over playing their hand - a team can only lose so much before public opinion turns against it. And while that may be a good enough reason to get rid of MSD, the greater problem of inflicting the team with self doubt and losing its ability to win will be detrimental to the selectors.

And with Gary Kirsten's contract coming to an end this season, there is only so much turmoil the team can take (if indeed he decides not to continue).

The Empire may be striking back, but are the selectors chopping their noses to spite their face?

Youngistan!

2009-07-06T12:56:00.002-04:00

Between Jan , 2008 and July 6, 2009, India's ODI stats read

Played - 43
Won - 28
Lost - 11
N/R - 04

The top ten batsen ( in terms of runs) were

Overall figures
Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s
MS Dhoni	2008-2009	43	38	12	1729	109*	66.50	2029	85.21	1	14	0	109	24
G Gambhir	2008-2009	41	39	4	1551	150	44.31	1703	91.07	4	9	2	162	8
Yuvraj Singh	2008-2009	41	39	4	1445	138*	41.28	1424	101.47	4	6	3	145	48
V Sehwag	2008-2009	27	27	1	1361	125*	52.34	1073	126.84	3	10	0	184	33
SK Raina	2008-2009	29	27	6	946	116*	45.04	969	97.62	2	7	1	75	30
SR Tendulkar	2008-2009	18	18	2	722	163*	45.12	808	89.35	2	4	1	71	7
RG Sharma	2008-2009	37	35	10	634	70*	25.36	888	71.39	0	3	3	48	4
YK Pathan	2008-2009	26	17	8	241	59*	26.77	234	102.99	0	2	5	18	11
IK Pathan	2008-2009	22	14	1	231	38*	17.76	329	70.21	0	0	0	18	2
RV Uthappa	2008-2008	13	11	2	179	51	19.88	275	65.09	0	1	0	12	2

The top ten bowlers ( in terms of wickets) are

Overall figures
Player	Span	Mat	Inns	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	BBI	Ave	Econ	SR	4
I Sharma	2008-2009	29	28	221.3	7	1265	42	4/38	30.11	5.71	31.6	3
P Kumar	2008-2009	23	22	179.0	15	891	30	4/31	29.70	4.97	35.8	3
Harbhajan Singh	2008-2009	28	24	186.0	4	886	29	3/27	30.55	4.76	38.4	0
IK Pathan	2008-2009	22	21	171.2	4	1015	25	4/41	40.60	5.92	41.1	1
Z Khan	2008-2009	18	17	147.2	19	656	24	4/21	27.33	4.45	36.8	1
Yuvraj Singh	2008-2009	41	28	143.4	0	765	18	4/28	42.50	5.32	47.8	1
MM Patel	2008-2009	16	15	106.0	8	520	14	3/42	37.14	4.90	45.4	0
YK Pathan	2008-2009	26	21	89.2	0	498	14	3/56	35.57	5.57	38.2	0
RP Singh	2008-2009	13	12	85.0	6	506	13	3/46	38.92	5.95	39.2	0
PP Ojha	2008-2009	9	9	80.0	5	336	12	4/38	28.00	4.20	40.0	1

Even making allowance for Rohit Sharma's form, with Tendulkar and Sehwag back in the squad, where does Dravid fit in?

Flawed

2009-07-06T09:14:00.002-04:00

India Emerging Players squad: S Badrinath (capt), Virat Kohli (vice-capt), M Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Ishank Jaggi, Abhishek Nayar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Wriddhiman Saha, Naman Ojha, Pankaj Singh, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pradeep Sangwan, Sudeep Tyagi

Probables: MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Abhishek Nayar, Ishant Sharma, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, Munaf Patel, R Ashwin, M Vijay, Amit Mishra, Ajinkya Rahane, Dhawal Kulkarni, S Badrinath, Ashish Nehra, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar Singh, Wriddhiman Saha, Pankaj Singh.

So Manoj Tiwary is good enough for the Emerging Players squad but not good enough for the 30 probables? And Irfan is not even good enough for the Emerging Players squad? And R Ashwin is the number 2 choice offie ahead of Romesh Pawar? And is Amit Mishra the go to guy for all three formats of the game ahead of Piyush Chawla?

And why is Rahul Dravid in the mix?

Is he there because, as Cricinfo puts it -

His inclusion follows the recent struggles of Indian batsmen against short-pitched bowling, brutally shown up in the ICC World Twenty20 where Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan were troubled by bouncers from the West Indian fast bowlers. The problem continued in the subsequent ODI series in the West Indies.

But then, didnt Gavaskar, during the Sardesai Lecture state

Gavaskar also saw Indian batters' perennial weakness against short-pitched deliveries as something that was not an added concern as he felt it was due to lack of familiarity with bouncers that did the batsmen in.

"There's a lot of cricket (that has) been played where there were not many short balls, and so the balance tends to be on the front foot. Then when suddenly there are short pitched deliveries, you couldn't adjust to it. I think that's what happened (to the Indian team). I think there need not be too much concern about it," he said.

And didnt this happen only at Lords, now considered the bounciest and paciest wicket in England? Didn't South Africa pay the price for replicating the short bowling tactic against Pakistan in the T20 semifinals at Trent Bridge, a far less pacier and bouncier wicket than Lords?

So, why are the selectors regressing?

Doing a Strauss?

2009-06-29T09:06:00.003-04:00

Andrew Strauss, during the 2006-07 Ashes, tried re-inventing his game to fill the void left behind by the absence of Marcus Trescothick.

And in the process, he ended up playing too many shots too soon - a series average of 24.7 with a top score of 50 is proof.

I was reminded of this watching Gautam Gambhir during the T20 World Cup and during the two matches of the current West Indies tour.

Vide his trying to open the face of the bat and run the ball down to third man - a shot he had completely shunned during his purple patch in 2008.

Gambhir has more strokes than most if he chooses to take his time at the crease. But, in the absence of Sehwag, it looks as if he has decided to eschew his natural game and don Sehwag's role.

Problem is, Gambhir is not Sehwag. And by trying to play like him, Gambhir is digging a rather large hole for himself.

Lol!

2009-06-25T22:27:00.000-04:00

LAHORE: Pakistan cricketers are planning to encash their Twenty20 World Cup triumph and ask for a hike in the existing contracts with their respective Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises next season. After IPL organisers announced that Pakistan players would be welcome to play next season subject to clearance from both governments, sources in the sports management company representing players like Misbahul Haq, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul or Kamran Akmal said they are unlikely to play on their old contractual terms of $100,000 each.

“These players are now iconic figures after winning the T20 World Cup and it makes no sense that they should settle for old terms when other players are being paid in millions,” a source said.

The Pakistan players could not take part in the second season of IPL this year after the Pakistan foreign ministry advised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) against sending players to India after the Mumbai terror attacks. The franchises concerned then either terminated or suspended the contracts of the Pakistani players who had represented them in the first season. IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has said franchises are free to play their Pakistan signings next season provided the governments of the two countries give the clearance.

“Recently a senior official of the sports management company visited India and met with Modi and other franchise officials regarding the contractual issues of the Pakistan players who were not informed whether they would receive payments as per their contracts or these were terminated or suspended because they didn’t play in the second season,” source added. He said the official had spoken to the IPL organisers about the possibility of Pakistan players taking part in the next IPL season. “But now with the Pakistan having won the World Cup obviously the scenario has changed and it is unlikely the players will go back on their old contractual terms as they feel their value is greater now,” he said.

Looking ahead

2009-06-25T12:26:00.002-04:00

India's schedule for the rest of the season looks like this

4 ODI set against the West Indies ( June 26 thru July 5, 2009)
The ICC Champions Trophy (September 24 thru October 5, 2009)
7 ODI set against Australia ( October 2009)
3 Test and 5 ODI set against Sri Lanka ( November 2009)
2 Test and 3 ODI set against Bangladesh in Bangladesh ( December 2009)
3 Test and 5 ODI set against South Africa ( February 2010)
Asia Cup (2-6 ODIs) (March 2010)
ICC T20 World Cup in the West Indies (April 2010)

The schedule does not contain any Twenty20 games in the leadup to the World T20 Cup in the West Indies which, from an Indian stand point, can be a huge negative. With the IPL probably scheduled after the T20 WC, the only games the Indians will get is if the Champions League takes place later in the year.

On the other hand, India play plenty of ODI cricket. Against some very good opposition. And predominantly on the sub continent. Which, with 2011 in mind, is a huge bonus. Team India has a fantastic opportunity to start getting the contours of its 2011 campaign in place.

Finally, Test Cricket. The team has a fairly soft Test match schedule leading into the South Africa series, which will allow it to fine tune itself and get match ready for the big clash. Which, from a morale and match fitness point of view, is a plus.

For Team India, there are some pressing questions, the answers to which can be found in the coming months.

For starters - who replaces the big three in Test cricket? There are plenty of contenders, some with better credentials than others. The Bangladesh series can be a good testing ground to identify and groom the next generation of India's middle order. While it will be a stop gap thing ( with the onus on the selectors to ensure those chosen in their respective roles get further exposure in those roles with the "A" team and their respective domestic teams), it will still be a starting point for what follows after the retirements of Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman.

The last thing India can afford is to undo all the good work the Fab 5 have put together over the years and play musical chairs with the incumbents and their batting positions well after the remaining three have retired.

Given our experiences with finding the next Gavaskar and the next Kapil Dev and the permutations and combinations that followed, it would be better to start now when there is time rather than later when time becomes premium.

The other big question India face is - who are our close in fielders? Is Gautam Gambhir our permanent forward short leg? Who are our slippers when Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman go? And who takes the fielding positions of those who replace them?

The idea of playing Yusuf Pathan in the slips during the recently concluded T20 WC was daft, imho. If he is a slip in T20, he has to be the slip in ODIs. But he is not. The slips are manned by Tendulkar, Sehwag and whoever else catches MSD's fancy. And quite frankly, there is no method to that madness.

We play Sri Lanka at home and Bangladesh in Bangladesh. In both cases, there is a very good chance we will go in with three spinners ( with Pragyan Ojha bowling the way he is, it will be difficult to keep him on the bench).

And with no leg slip, no forward short leg or silly point, and Dravid's catching form being patchy, we will spend more time on the field than we want to if our catching is shoddy.

And its not just the spinners. For the first time in the longest time, we have both depth and variety in our pace bowling resources. We actually have bowlers who will create opportunities for us, both with the new and old ball. And if our close catching is not up to scratch, those opportunities will go to waste.

And for a team that is now seen as a contender for the top spot in all three forms of the game, the inability to catch will see us move out of contention.

Then - bowler rotation.

Given the fact that we had bowlers carrying injuries from the IPL into the T20 WC and given the number of ODIs we play in the next few months, it is imperative that we have a proper rotation strategy for our bowlers. The last thing India need is for Ishant to play all the games leading into the South Africa series and then be hors de combat, with no replacement to readily slip into his spot.

Likewise, if Irfan Pathan is a bowler who can bat, how does he fit into the grand scheme of things? If we are to play two spinners in ODIs along with two pacers, with Sehwag, Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Raina and Sharma forming the fifth bowler option, is Pathan a better bet than Ishant and RP or does India want to stick to them? And what about Praveen Kumar? And Piyush Chawla?

Ideally, an Indian ODI line up should read

Tendulkar,Sehwag, Dhoni, Raina, Sharma, Yuvraj, Pathan, Karthik, Pathan, Chawla and Kumar although a case can be made for Harbhajan, Zak, Ishant, RP, Gambhir, Jadeja, Ojha, Badri and Vijay along with Uthappa, Munaf, Sreesanth and Virat Kohli.

Finally - is Dhoni the first choice keeper for ODIs and T20s? In Test cricket, he cannot command a place in the side as a batsman alone, which makes it imperative for him to keep. In ODIs and in T20, he can and should play solely as a batsman. The notion of him being a keeper in all three forms of the game will hurt India more in the medium and long terms than help them.

And now is as good a time as any to put this in motion.

Can you count to 10?

2009-06-22T11:54:00.004-04:00

The draw for the Champions League, scheduled to be held at Lord's on Tuesday, has been postponed after the ICC told organisers that it would violate a contractual obligation. There is a 10-day ban after an ICC event on its members holding any activity at the same venue.

The ICC World Twenty20 ended at Lord's on Sunday with Pakistan beating Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the final. And the host agreement between the ICC and the hosts - the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in this case - requires the latter to provide the venue exclusively for a period that begins 21 days prior to the start of an event and until 10 days after.

---

1st Semi-Final: Pakistan v South Africa at Nottingham - Jun 18, 2009

Pakistan won by 7 runs

2nd Semi-Final: Sri Lanka v West Indies at The Oval - Jun 19, 2009

Sri Lanka won by 57 runs

Final: Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Lord's - Jun 21, 2009

Pakistan won by 8 wickets (with 8 balls remaining)

Mon Jun 22

16:40 GMT | 17:40 Local Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire at Nottingham, Twenty20 Cup

Wed Jun 24

16:30 GMT | 17:30 Local Surrey v Kent at The Oval, Twenty20 Cup

16:30 GMT | 17:30 Local Nottinghamshire v Leicestershire at Nottingham, Twenty20 Cup

Thu Jun 25

16:30 GMT | 17:30 Local Surrey v Essex at The Oval, Twenty20 Cup

Fri Jun 26

16:30 GMT | 17:30 Local Middlesex v Essex at Lord's, Twenty20 Cup

Tue Jun 30

10:00 GMT | 11:00 Local Middlesex v Surrey at Lord's, County Championship Division Two - day 1

What is the truth?

2009-06-20T14:56:00.002-04:00

Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, said he was disappointed those organisational issues surrounding the World Cup remained unresolved and added that the legal proceedings the PCB has brought against the ICC would continue. "I had hoped and expected the support of my Asian co-hosts in resolving these organizational difficulties," he said. "I am deeply disappointed that no progress was made despite the intervention of both the ICC president (David Morgan) and vice-president (Sharad Pawar).

"This means that rather than harmony amongst the co-hosts of the 2011 World Cup we will have disagreement and legal dispute. I do hope that they will reconsider their unreasonable stance so that the legal dispute can be resolved and a hugely successful World Cup organized in 2011."
--
The four co-hosts - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, had a meeting under the chairmanship of Sharad Pawar to suggest as to where the 14 matches, originally scheduled to be held in Pakistan, could be played.

However, according to the sources, Shashank Manohar flatly refused to allow PCB to host their matches in UAE. "The PCB matches can only be held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh (if not in Pakistan for security reasons)", he is believed to have said to the PCB.

The PCB has now again initiated the legal proceedings with the ICC. The PCB chief Ejaz Butt is also likely to raise the security levels in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the ICC meeting on June 25. "What if Government of India does not allow Pakistan team to play in India or Pakistan government refuses to send team to India", Butt is likely to raise the questions.
---
"We sought support of our fellow Asian co-hosts for matches to be played under the aegis of PCB in a safe neutral venue. Despite the fact that these discussions had been brokered by ICC President David Morgan and ICC Vice President Sharad Pawar who is Chairman of World Cup Central Organizing Committee, no progress was made," PCB said in a statement.

"This will mean that organizational issues surrounding the 2011 World Cup remain unresolved and that the legal proceedings the PCB has brought against the ICC in Dubai and in Lahore will continue," it added.

Sources said India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh had asked Pakistan to accept the hosting fees for the 14 matches totaling USD 10.5 million but to forget about hosting the matches at home or at neutral venues.

"At one stage Pakistan was told they could host four or five matches at neutral venues but Butt declined insisting on Pakistan getting its full quota of 14 matches," one source privy to the meetings said. PTI

How is that out?

2009-06-18T12:38:00.002-04:00

1.2	Parnell to Shahzaib Hasan, OUT, What a stunner from Van der Merwe. South Africa roar as they get into a huddle. It was a short of length delivery, going away from Shahzaib who top-edges the pull over mid-on. Van der Merwe swung back, ran ahead and dived forward to take a sharp catch.
	Shahzaib Hasan c van der Merwe b Parnell 0 (2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00

Watch the front of his hands - they are facing the ground when he completes the catch. Which begs the question - how is that a legitimate catch?

Not bad

2009-06-17T08:24:00.002-04:00

!The Indian team for the West Indies

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Yuvraj Singh [ Images ] (vice-captain), Gautam Gambhir [ Images ], Rohit Sharma [ Images ], Harbhajan Singh [ Images ], Pragyan Ojha [ Images ], Yusuf Pathan [ Images ], Murali Vijay, S Badrinath, RP Singh [ Images ], Praveen Kumar [ Images ], Ishant Sharma [ Images ], Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Ravindra Jadeja [ Images ], Dinesh Karthik [ Images ].

Ishant could probably have been rested and Munaf drafted in. Also, I would have liked to see Virat Kohli have a go ahead of either Murali Vijay or Badri.

That said, a fairly balanced side. Go well!

Chawla watch

2009-06-16T20:07:00.000-04:00

Chawla 33-7-95-5

Bouncebackability

2009-06-16T15:43:00.002-04:00

India's campaign ends with three losses out of three in the Super 8's phase. The campaign will be dissected, faults identified, players blamed, tactics called into question.

What interests me right now is how India bounces back after this set back.

We have history here. Post Sydney, there was Perth. Post the MCG T20, there was the CB series campaign. Post the Asia Cup was the taming of the M&M's. Ditto the Test series in Sri Lanka.

Next up is the tour to the Caribbean. Different format of the game, one where Dhoni's tactic of coming at 3 pays greater dividends. Then the Champions Trophy, followed by the Test series against Sri Lanka.

And plenty of rest in between.

Which translates to time out to evaluate what went wrong and why.

Personally, I think India panicked. Maybe it was the pressure of being the defending Champions. Maybe the media sideshow distracted the team. Maybe the Sehwag injury derailed the team plans. Maybe it was fatigue, coming as they were after playing 6 weeks of IPL. Maybe they were found out tactically.

Whatever the reason, there are 10 months between now and the next World Cup to straighten things out. And with the Champions Trophy in October, there is a ready milestone to evaluate whether things are going to plan or there are certain aspects that need more work.

There is way too much quality in this team to write them off after this set back. And in a perverse way, this set back may be the best thing to happen to this team.

The naysayers can take their pot shots now, because I strongly believe that this team will bounce back - stronger and tougher.

Make what you will of this

2009-06-16T10:34:00.001-04:00

No lesson from defeat, Indian players busy in revelry

Tags: New Delhi , No lesson , Defeat , Indian Players , Revelry

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_{Published by: Sudhir Kumar}
^{Published: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 at 14:18 IST}

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London: Every defeat gives some lessons. Some mend their ways and go on success path. But two successive crashes together failed to make any difference to the Team India.

Perhaps due to same reasons some team members were spotted loitering on the streets of London after getting out of the ICC World Twenty20 title race. Resorting to lame excuses, they want to evade cricket fans' fury.

Cricket fans in Dhoni's hometown Ranchi burned Mahi's effigy, holding him responsible for the defeat against England.

Just after defeat, Dhoni extended an apology to the Indian cricket lovers, promising to bounce bank.

"We are more disappointed (than you) and we respect the emotions of our fans and the country. We gave our best and we say that with an open heart, we have nothing to hide. But the next Twenty20 world cup is coming again in nine months and we would have an opportunity of proving ourselves," said a dejected Dhoni after India's heart-breaking three-run loss at Lord's last night.

Dhoni said, "We were looking at a combination in which our batting could be lengthened. We need lower order bats to contribute. Ojha may be a better bowler but Jadeja is an excellent fielder and both bat and bowl well. It also encourages us to include an extra fast bowler," he said.

"As for fielding first, we realised that under lights the wicket became better for batting." The India captain held his batting colleagues responsible for the team's loss and said there cannot be any excuse for their failure to chase down a modest target of 154.

"We failed in batting. If the opposition scores 153 and you cannot achieve that on a track like this, I don't think there can be any excuse. You just cannot explain that," Dhoni curtly said.

"We lost simply because we did not bat well. I'm rather happy with the performance of the bowlers," he added.

Dhoni was candid enough to admit that England bowlers had bounced India out of the match, sending down short-pitch stuff quite consistently.

But are all these words are enough to bring a victory to the Team? The team has to play a match against mighty South Africa. Though result of today's match doesn't make any difference to the team for the World Twenty20, a consolation win is enough to inculcate confidence in the players who are continuing with poor show.

Did he say anything different?

2009-06-16T08:43:00.002-04:00

May 8, 2009

Gary Kirsten , the India coach, says mental fatigue will be his team's biggest challenge during the World Twenty20 in England next month. The event starts on June 5 but India play their first warm-up game on June 1, just seven days after the IPL ends in South Africa. Kirsten also believes India, the defending champions, will be under added pressure during the ICC tournament but says the team has shown it is capable of handling such situations.

"The Indian players have been on the road for a long time and the biggest challenge will be mental fatigue," Kirsten told Cricinfo. "But they have enormous pride when representing India and have become a tight unit over the past few months. I'm sure they will look forward to reuniting and playing for their country."

---

June 16, 2009

Gary Kirsten , the India coach, has said players' fatigue levels and the minor injuries they carried from the IPL to the ICC World Twenty20 contributed to the champions' early exit. He felt India never reached the "intensity that you need at the international game" where the standard of cricket is much higher than it was in the recent IPL.

"Fatigue was definitely a factor, as were many other things," Kirsten said the day after India's defeat against England. "I don't want to use that as an excuse but it was a factor. We weren't an energetic team, like we were in New Zealand where the levels of energy were really good. We didn't get up to the same level on this tour." This is not the first time that Kirsten has brought up this issue. In an interview to Cricinfo last month, the India coach had pointed out that the team had been on the road for a long while and said that mental fatigue was its biggest challenge for the World Twenty20.

So, who is playing the blame game? Why are journos not doing the required homework before piling on the team?

Seriously, how dumb does one have to be to qualify as a journalist?

England's traditional weakness comes to the fore

2009-06-15T16:15:00.004-04:00

as they were thoroughly outplayed by the West Indies in a must win game at the Kensington Oval.

England inability to play a lofted shot with any degree of conviction came to bite them in the rear as they were outclassed by the West Indies in a must win game for both teams.

Over the top? I thought so.

But given that I have been hearing Nasser Hussain grate on and on about "India's traditional weakness against short pitched bowling", this was as good an opportunity to stick the boot in.

Because Nasser Hussain makes a lazy argument. And like Goebbels, he believes that if he makes the point enough number of times, it will become accepted as the truth.

I had previously argued here regarding Indians being quality players of spin that

What we have had, and consistently at that, is 2-3 very good players of spin every decade and a team nucleus that revolved around this.

and

We had, in every era, a few good and more than capable players of spin.. But what we had, even more, were quality spinners.

And because we have had quality spinners and since the spinners and the batsmen played each other more regularly in domestic cricket, the tacit assumption has been made that Indians were very good players of spin.

And the same argument holds to playing short pitched bowling at pace.

Growing up in Mumbai, playing with the hard tennis ball, pulling, if not hooking the ball was a natural instinct, given that we played on cement pitches and unless the ball was really pitched up, the horizontal bat shots were the way to go.

The constraint was that the "pitch" would invariably be sandwiched between two buildings. Which meant that any attempt to play the ball in the air jeopardized window panes. Which meant that aeriel shots had to be shelved. Which meant no hooks, no pulls.

Playing on maidans was not better. While you could hook and pull, and the rising ball gave enough opportunities to play the shot, the paucity of fielders meant that runs behind the wicket were a no no and the pull was inevitably played in front of the wicket.

And the hook ceased to exist in the lexicon.

Even today, that is true of maidan cricket.

The other great truism of playing cricket on the maidans was that the ball wouldn't travel on the dusty surface.. So the concept of timing never really existed. The way to accrue maximum runs was to whack the living daylights off the ball. And for that, you needed a heavier piece of willow ( for maximum returns).

Long story short - it is not as if kids don't play throat high short pitched bowling growing up. But given the constraints that they face, they improvise.

Again in domestic cricket, it is not as if the bumper is not present. But because the bounce on the wickets is on the lower side, a short ball inevitably sits up between the waist and the stomach - an ideal height to play the pull in front of the wicket.

And because there aren't express pacemen available at will in the domestic game, the batsmen get conditioned to play against the slower pace.

Very rarely do batsmen find themselves confronted with a pacy wicket with bounce that takes a length ball at waist height. When that happens, timing goes awry. And because one uses a heavier willow, adjusting "up" becomes a bigger problem.

Which is why Indians are late on the shot.

Not because it is a weakness but because it is a surprise. And adjusting takes time.

If Indians were "traditionally weak" at playing short pitched fast bowling, how does one explain the 13 hundreds Sunil Gavaskar accrued against the greatest fast bowling line up ever assembled. Opening the batting, In pre helmet days. ?

Finally, does Nasser Hussain remember this

Ninety runs came in the next eight overs as Tendulkar and Ganguly, who registered his ninth Test century off 156 balls, blasted the bowlers out of the park. It was the first time that Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly had registered hundreds in the same innings of a Test.
Tendulkar was contemptuous of the English seamers, hooking and pulling at will, while Ganguly devastated the hosts with his sublime strokes through the off-side, and sweep slogs over the mid-wicket fence.

The 171st over from Giles was taken for 23 runs as Ganguly scored 4,6,6,4 and tapped the left-arm spinner after the annihilating over.

and this

South Africa overpowered a new-look England side who went to the Wanderers full of optimism and left realising the scale of the task ahead. It was South Africa's tenth consecutive home Test win, equalling India's winning sequence from December 1988 to November 1994, and only their second victory by an innings against England. The first had been in 1905-06 at Cape Town, by an innings and 16 runs. This later one was completed before lunch on the fourth morning but, with rain and bad light causing interruptions, there were less than three days of playing time. The match was dominated by South Africa's peerless new-ball pairing of Donald and Pollock, who exploited perfect conditions for fast bowling to claim 19 wickets between them. Poor England. They turned up on the first morning to find a damp, spongy pitch underfoot and heavy, low clouds overhead. Then Cronje won the toss. It took just 17 deliveries to put all England's plans and preparation through a shredder as they lost four wickets for two runs, their worst start to a Test match.

He should - he was England's captain in both matches.

Taking the mickey

2009-06-15T09:34:00.002-04:00

Arthur did not want to focus on India's problems, but does believe the star-studded team may be too "individualistic."

"You never really know what is going on and they are such an unbelievably talented team. Probably the most talented. But I do think their one problem is that they play as individuals and not as a team."

Worth a read

2009-06-14T22:37:00.000-04:00

This article, in the Wisden Cricketer, reproduced in full

The Irish Problem

July 2009

Ireland feel they have nowhere to go, they can’t play Tests, they struggle to host one-dayers and England are stealing their players. Richard Gillis investigates

Eoin Morgan’s selection for the England Twenty20 and one-day international squad was greeted with a resigned shrug by Ireland’s cricket authorities, who sent the Dublin-born batsman off with their best wishes for a long and lucrative international career. No point in fighting the inevitable after all. “We’ve known for a long time that Eoin was destined to play for England, and the squad is happy for him that he’s got there and realised his ambition,” says Phil Simmons, Ireland’s coach.

But as he prepares to swap the Shamrock for the Three Lions, the story behind Morgan’s decision reveals much about the realpolitik of international cricket and the cynicism of the counties, while prompting Ireland’s leading cricket executive to question the value of the ICC’s £200million global strategy.

Rewind to April 2007, when England played Ireland in the Super Eight stage of the World Cup, following the sensational Irish victory over Pakistan on St Patrick’s Day in Jamaica the week before. Opening the England innings was another talented Middlesex left-hander who, like Morgan, was brought up in the competitive Dublin club leagues. Ed Joyce’s runs had ensured Irish qualification for the World Cup: at the 2005 ICC Trophy he scored 399 runs at an average of 99.75. But the match in Guyana was a personal disaster – he was dismissed, shouldering arms to Boyd Rankin for one and dropped three catches. The match signalled the end, for now at least, of Joyce’s international career and his role in England’s lacklustre World Cup campaign contrasted starkly to Ireland’s heroics, which elevated them to ninth in the ODI rankings.

Financially, the World Cup revealed the distance between the top Associate nations and the Test-playing group. For winning through to the Super Eights, Ireland won £36,000 in prize money, a figure that pales when set next to the £7million participation fee received by Zimbabwe’s cricket authorities, whose team Ireland had left behind in Jamaica.

However, the World Cup put Ireland in the global spotlight and, back in Dublin, Irish Cricket Union chief executive Warren Deutrom set about capitalising on this new-found status. Deutrom is a former ICC and ECB executive, attuned to the inner workings of the cricket economy with a contact book to match. He noted a clause in India’s domestic television deal that stipulated 25 matches should be held ‘out of market’, and saw a role for Ireland in hosting potentially lucrative India ODIs in the northern hemisphere. Discussions with Lalit Modi, the Indian board vice president, led to the setting up of the Future Series, a three-game ODI rubber between India and South Africa, with two friendlies against the hosts Ireland.

These games took place in June 2007 at Stormont Castle in Belfast but were blighted by poor weather and empty stands; the most memorable moment came when Sachin Tendulkar, wearing four sweaters, was clean bowled by 26-year-old Roger Whelan, who then retired to sing lead vocals with The Stimulants, a thrash-metal band from Dublin.

But in London the Future Series was being viewed with something approaching horror by ECB chief executive David Collier. By hosting international cricket on a regular basis Ireland’s growing commercial ambitions would potentially clash with England’s northern hemisphere monopoly, and reduce the value of the ECB’s television rights, for which Sky had paid £220million in 2005.

Collier’s initial response was to threaten the ICU with expulsion from the Friends Provident Trophy. The issue was ultimately resolved with a pay-off: the ICU would stop hosting India in return for England visiting for a potential sell-out ODI every other year. In addition, the ECB paid a six-figure sum to take ownership of Ireland’s television rights. There is a double standard here, not lost on cricket followers in Ireland: when the ECB offered to host IPL matches earlier this year, Collier was attempting to do exactly what he stopped Ireland doing.

Meanwhile, Eoin Morgan was another for whom the Future Series was a watershed moment. He had entered the 2007 ICC World Cup to much media fanfare but like Joyce endured a torrid time, averaging 10.11 for the tournament. And in May 2007, Morgan decided to play for his county rather than country against South Africa and India, despite the ICC’s ruling that stipulates county players be released for international games. Sensitive to how this would go down at home, Morgan took the unusual step of issuing a statement to explain his decision: “If I had gone away and played for Ireland,” he said, “Middlesex indicated that if my replacement scored runs, then they would be above me in the fight for places. They weren’t in a position to give me any guarantee about my place.”

By agreeing to release Morgan, Middlesex had complied with the letter of the ICC rules but they then shifted the responsibility for the decision on to a 20-year-old.

For Deutrom, the loss of his best player, then as now, merely reflects the wider issue. He poses a question that strikes at the heart of the ICC’s global strategy.

“What is the point of Associate cricket?” he says, laying down a challenge to Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, and his former employers in Dubai. “Ireland has proved itself head and shoulders above the rest of the Associate nations, winning all the available titles in every form of the game – four-day, 50-over and Twenty20. Yet we are bumping up against a glass ceiling. What does the ICC want us to do? How do we get from high-performance programme to the higher echelons of the world game? There is no road map for us. The issue brings to question the whole mission statement of the ICC High Performance Programme: what is it preparing teams for?

“The Future Tours Programme for 2012 onwards is currently under discussion,” he says. “There is little discussion about accommodating any more Full Members. So three or four years from now there will be no new entrants into the cosy club of full Test members. That is a significant frustration. It shows that despite the massive investment in the Associate programme, costing over £200million over seven years, there is no stepping stone from No.1 of the Associate countries, (out of 94 countries) into the Test world.

“What is the point,” he says, “of the Intercontinental Cup?” This is the ICC’s four-day, eight-team, round-robin competition which, according to the ICC, “aims to eventually establish a ranking for Associate Members in the longer form of the game to complement current rankings from the World Cricket League one-day tournaments. This will provide a more complete indication of the cricket development of the top Associate countries”.

However, to Deutrom, the costs outweigh the benefits: “There is no prize money, no competitive incentive at the end of it, such as the chance to play a Test match or a multi-day match against a Full Member. We win a tin cup but nothing else.”

The cost of participation in the event is considerable he says, running to nearly £87,000, for which the ICU gets financial assistance from the ICC in terms of flights and accommodation for a set number of players to participate. “We have won it three years on the trot and it costs an extraordinary amount of money. But in terms of financial priority, it is difficult to argue that four-day cricket is high up there with qualifying for 50-over and 20-over World Cups by paying to host ODIs. If we thought it was leading somewhere I’m sure we would want to invest in it further.”

“Inclusion in the Future Tours Programme,” he says, “gives guaranteed fixtures, which allows the ICU board to put together a commercial package with some certainty. This makes it interesting for broadcasters, and then sponsors, ticketing and hospitality. Currently, we don’t know what next year’s fixtures are going to be. We are not saying that Ireland deserves to be a Test nation tomorrow but what steps do we need to take to get there?”

An ICC spokesman told TWC: “The pathway that Warren Deutrom refers to is currently under consideration. Any decision to increase the number of Full Members would ultimately be a matter for the ICC Board, which is made up of representatives of each of the Full Member boards around the world and three Associate representatives.” It’s worth noting that Zimbabwe won the ICC Trophy three times in a row (1982, 1986 and 1990) and dominated Associate cricket for 10 years before it was made a Full Member in 1992.

Dublin bookmakers don’t seem to rate Ireland’s chances of joining them, and have noted the Chinese cricket authorities target to gain Test status by 2020. What price China playing Tests before Ireland? That’s a bet Eoin Morgan just took.

In defence of Team India

2009-06-14T21:13:00.002-04:00

or why this exit out of the World Cup is what we need.

Losing in the World Cup this year is no big deal. There is the Champions Trophy to be played later in the year and then there is the next edition of the T20 World Cup next year. Followed by the Champions Trophy.

So in terms of silverware, there are enough and more opportunities for the team in the near future.

For too long, things have been going swimmingly well. Dhoni is a captain who can do no wrong, the team batting delivers on cue and the bowling holds its own. The fielding standards fluctuate, but on the whole, India is a safe catching side.

And there the love love relation with the press.

All of which changes now.

Personally, I think we have the team that will win us the World Cup in 2011. But what we need, every now and again, is a reality check.

The T20 World Cup of 2009 provided that.

We were outplayed, out thought and out muscled. Our fielding was below par, our game plans were all over the place, we panicked.

And not because India has a "traditional weakness" against the short ball. Any team that plays on a wickets with more than usual bounce is going to suffer. It was India's turn on this occasion.

Coming into the Super 8's after playing two weak teams on a belter at Trent Bridge, India was caught on the back foot at Lords.

And in the scramble to regain lost ground, they messed up. Royally.

The batting order was all over the place, the team experimented in the Super 8's and not before, Dhoni's captaincy left a lot to be desired.

And these are just the observations of a lay watcher of the game.

The way forward is now for the team to address these issues. Not because we lost, but the outcome will impact our progress in 2011.

Talent wise, there is very little wrong with the team. Game plan wise too, having power hitters all through the batting order in the shorter formats of the games is brilliant. The problem is with managing expectation and with sticking to plans.

Too much improvisation is also not a good thing.

India play the West Indies next before a forced break. Sri Lanka is next, in November.

Between now and then, players will have enough time to rest and regroup. If India can overcome its other big issue, of hitting the ground running, we will be onto something!

Round 2

2009-06-14T16:47:00.003-04:00

Division One

Piyush Chawla completed a memorable Sussex debut by claiming 6 for 152 to help his new team to a 10-wicket victory against Worcestershire at New Road . The home side fought hard to stave off defeat as Moeen Ali hit 124 and added 208 in 63 overs for the fourth wicket with Daryl Mitchell, but once they were separated the last seven wickets fell for 111. James Kirtley made the breakthrough when he had Ali caught down the leg side after a 205-ball innings before Chawla took over. He removed Mitchell, caught at slip, and Ashley Noffke in quick succession and soon added Gareth Batty. Michael Yardy and Chris Nash knocked off the 61 runs needed in 10 overs to give Sussex their first Championship win for 11 months.

June 24th 2009, Hove. Sussex versus the Australians. Game on!

PS:- Round 1 was the Buchanan side show where everyone from Tim Nielson all the way through to Stuart McGill had a say about the matter.

Outplayed!

2009-06-14T15:53:00.002-04:00

19.6	Harbhajan Singh to Mascarenhas, 5 wides, what's gone wrong here! Singh - down the leg side, and short fine-leg has made a complete hash of things to let through five wides! That was Yuvraj's mess-up at short fine-leg
19.6	Harbhajan Singh to Mascarenhas, no run, outside off - oh well bowled! A dot ball with which to finish

India lose to England by 3 runs!

Let the inquisition begin!

K asks a pertinent question

2009-06-12T23:54:00.001-04:00

I dont know why it is becoming fashionable to change our game, especially with us Indians. A bowler who bowls quick and fast sacrifices his speed for swing and cut, both of which never eventually come to him, a batsman changes from being a dasher to a nudger, citing stability as the reason.....I wonder if all this really pays off. Is the player really doing the team a favour by changing his game? I doubt it.

Ok, the player might have been young and impetuous when he first started playing the game, and then later realized the value of not throwing his wicket away. But that doesnt mean you have to cut out all risks in your game, does it? Gilchrist took risks all the time, and he pulled it off most times. Jayasuriya still does.

Any answers?

Please explain this

2009-06-12T23:27:00.001-04:00

some one .. please....

What is Pradeep Magazine on about? Is this an exercise in speaking a lot and saying nothing?

It is a muscle tear which seems to have torn asunder India’s cricketing world and created a media storm bigger than the T20 World Cup itself.

Virender Sehwag’s shoulder injury and his subsequent withdrawal from the team has made sleuths out of ordinary men and the world’s most destructive batsman has all of a sudden become a reviled man in India.

Did he hide his injury? Has he created a division in the team? These and many other questions have been raised in righteous indignation and our mob mentality has found a victim and has nailed him to the wall.

To lend the whole drama a theatrical touch has been Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s holier than thou attitude, where he parades the entire team and even the support staff in front of the media to prove that all is well with his world. He even has a skirmish with a TV reporter but such is his clout, power and popularity that no one dares to criticise him.

In the end, Sehwag has to not just contend with the fact that he may not be able to play cricket for a few months, but also deal with a very hostile media.

In this world of black and white there are no shades of grey to be seen anywhere, especially when it involves the players.

I am not sure whether Sehwag did hide his injury or not. Nor am I sure whether he caused a rift in the team. I, like everyone else, knew that Sehwag was injured before the World Cup began, as that was the reason for his missing the warm-up matches. And any captain would go to any length to ensure that a player of Sehwag’s ability plays, even if it means waiting for longer than normal for his injury to heal. Players like Sehwag are central to a team’s strategy and their absence can lead to disaster.

That he is out of the World Cup is sad for the team as well for the fans, whichever world one belongs to and whichever conspiracy theory one agrees to.

If one goes into these blame games, then the first target should be the support staff, who train the players, treat them and even detect injuries. And what about the Board itself, which chalks up non-stop playing schedules, where a cricketer has to be on the road for what seems forever.

India should consider themselves fortunate that the gruelling IPL schedule, coming as it did on the heels of the tour to New Zealand, has resulted in a serious injury to only one key player. No one would have been surprised had there been many more victims.

Even if we agree that Sehwag may have been underplaying his injury — in the hope that he could play the World Cup -is it still such a crime as is being made out to be?

I know for a fact that some of the more sensational TV channels have told their anchors and reporters that they should treat cricket stories like they do crime stories. To do so, it needs a victim a day and unfortunately for Sehwag, it was his turn last week

11(23 balls 0 x 4, 0 x 6)

2009-06-12T16:05:00.002-04:00

And Dwayne Bravo. That was the difference between the West Indies and India today.

Bravo played a blinder, both with bat and ball. 66 in 36 balls with 4 boundaries and 3 sixes is part of the story. 4/38 in 4 overs is another part.

But the most impressive part to Bravo's cricket was his composure. Being carted around 16 runs in the 15th over did not faze him. Neither did the loss of Gayle in the 8th over wth 42 runs on board did not fze him either.

And when a player is in that zone, there is very little the opposition can do. India was beaten by one man's brilliance.

And another's incapacity to play the big shots. MS Dhoni is a lot of things, but in the main he is the Indian version of Adam Gilchrist. Or so I thought.

But ever since he decided that playing shots was not the way to go in T20 cricket, his batting is starting to become a liability for India.

11 runs in 23 balls without a hit in anger - rebuilding is fine, but what about momentum?

The biggest problem India face is the prospect of a 3 way tie between themselves, West Indies and South Africa. India not only has to beat both England and South Africa, but do so with handsome margins.

Or they can be on their way back home. Which plays right into the hands of the waiting Indian media!

Test Match Special

2009-06-12T13:26:00.002-04:00

MS Dhoni c Fletcher b Bravo 11 (23b 0x4 0x6)

11 in 23 balls in a T20 match! Is this an ad where MS Dhoni morphs into Chris Tavare?

Gee Skip, nice marker for the rest of the team to emulate!

The Big Fight

2009-06-11T13:16:00.003-04:00

Q and Damith in a no holds barred, take no prisoners, hell in a cell fight to the finish.

dot com versus dot net.

Who will come out on top?

Read all about it!

The Fletcher gambit

2009-06-11T11:58:00.002-04:00

Anonymous, in the previous post, made a telling comment

"Agreed.

The home series loss had more to do than just Fletcher stint. Dale Steyn's form with the ball, Smith batting of his life and add collective slump of Australian batting.

It would be keen to see how Chawla, if plays, nails Phil Hughes and Michael Clarke. "

And I completely agree.. There were enough valid cricketing reasons for why South Africa beat Australia in Australia.

But let us not underestimate the importance of the sideshow.

For as long as I can remember ( after news papers went online) , ex Australian cricketers of all hues have targeted the opposition as soon as they land in the country, the captain being the local favorite.

And some of the comments made were laughable, others moronic while some others were deeply insightful or cutting close to the bone.

But the sum total of these comments was that they became talking points for the press. And that in turn made it very difficult for the opposing captain/team to avoid them.

So captains and teams spend a lot more time than they had budgeted deflecting/answering/counter questioning these points. And its the kind of distraction most teams want to avoid in the lead up to a big series.

Which brings me to the Duncan Fletcher/John Buchanan/Piyush Chawla situation.

Duncan Fletcher's presence in the Protea support staff meant that Ponting had to answers questions about him in the lead up to the series. Not a big deal, but when a team is shaking off rust and having been soundly beaten in Indian, the last thing a team needs is for the sideshow to be the main topic of conversation.

Consider Piyush Chawla.

Ponting was made to look ordinary by Chawla in the warm up game that was the prelude to the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Couple that with the fact that Australians have, as a team, forgotten to play spin.

Now consider one of two scenarios - Chawla fires and Chawla misfires.

If Chawla fires, you can bet you bottom dollar that Ponting will be inundated with questions on his team's ability to play spin.

If Chawla misfires, you can bet your bottom dollar that Ponting will spin it as proof that his team has conquered spin.

And even if the two extremes do not materialize, just consider if Chawla gets Hussey out early. Ponting still has to field questions on Mr Cricket's ability to eke out a run.

Now consider Buchanan.

If the Plions do badly because of Buchanan, Ponting will be questioned about the impact of Buchanan on the Plions , on the Australians, on the KKR, the whole nine yards.

And if the Plions fare well inspite of Buchanan, Ponting will have to field uncomfortable questions about the impact of Buchanan on the Plions, the bearing of this on the Ashes, Buchanan's loyalties, his patriotism, on how they will room together in the KKR dugout, the whole ten yards.

And given the proximity of the game to the start of the Ashes, it is the kind of distraction Ponting would love to avoid. Even in good times.

Given that the Australians were bundled out of the first round of the T20 World Cup and have had to spend a couple of weeks at Leicester, playing amongst themselves, it is a team under pressure.

And given that this is the biggest series Ponting has captained, given his record as captain in England and the build up to the Ashes, he is a captain under pressure.

And distractions are the last thing he needs. Which is what the Buchanan " consultant role" is. As is Piyush Chawla's presence.

Either ways, someone in the England hierarchy has finally put his/her thinking hat on!

Diabolique

2009-06-11T09:25:00.003-04:00

Remember this

RT Ponting*

b Chawla

MJ Clarke

lbw b Chawla

B Lee

lbw b Chawla

MG Johnson

c Chopra b Chawla

PM Siddle

lbw b Chawla

The tale of the day was best captured by Ponting's struggles against legspinner Piyush Chawla in the second session. It got off to a familiar start: crease-bound, he pushed out his bat tentatively. He picked the googlies dangerously late, mistook the sliders for legbreaks and, as a result, often played with the bat facing cover and saw the ball rolling away off the inside edge.
Chawla offered Ponting a brief respite with a long-hop and an over-pitched delivery, which were hit for fours, but won the battle with a fizzing googly that found the yawning gap between bat and pad. Ponting had lunged forward to play for the legspin but lost his middle stump.

Now get this

Sussex has roped in Indian leg-spinner Piyush Chawla as a short-term replacement for Pakistan pacer Yasir Arafat. The 20-year-old Uttar Pradesh leggie will make his Sussex debut on Thursday, against Worcestershire in the LV County Championship.
"We've been looking for a bowler who can potentially change the course of a game and we're sure Piyush will fit the bill," Sussex Professional Cricket Manager Mark Robinson said.

Australia play Sussex at Hove starting June 24.

Cred.

2009-06-10T11:07:00.003-04:00

Remember this

Of course, this blueprint is subject to change at any stage, with flexibility being the management’s mantra. But, for now, it is one they believe will take Team India through the tense opening act of the biggest show of them all: World Cup 2007.

and this

Irfan nods back, returns to a serious conversation with coach Greg Chappell, his assistant Ian Fraser, the team’s physical trainer Gregory King. The Vadodara star, once India’s brightest prospect, now just an embarrassing shadow, is recovering from a shoulder injury. My ears perk up, I was told he’s not part of the team’s gameplan in the group matches. So what’s up?
But then, the next afternoon, Irfan steps in to bowl the opening spell against Holland — at 114 kmph! Even Anil Kumble tops 100 kmph occasionally.
What’s wrong with Irfan, I want to know. Well, who doesn’t? Coach Chappell tells me once again that it’s a matter of confidence, Irfan says it’s just a dip in form, something that can happen to any cricketer, former coach John Wright tells millions of TV viewers that it’s a problem with the position of his right arm, Andy Roberts blamed it on his run-up, Jeff Thomson points to his rhythm.
Okay, but can someone please explain what’s really wrong?
No answers. So I turn to Rajkumar. Rajkumar? Well, he is the president of the local Indian association. He is also the liaison man for the Indian team, the ‘facilitator’. Cheap T-shirts? No problem. Shopping trips? No problem. SIM cards? No problem.

and this

He says a session with sports psychologist Rudi Webster will help him turn the corner. Maybe, he’s hoping that Webster, scheduled to be with the team for a while some time during the group stages, will dish out the same magic potion that saw him score that superb 180 in the West Indies Test series last June. Maybe.
But what has kept Sehwag from falling apart over the potholes? That supreme self-confidence — the one shining quality that, thankfully, seems to be intact. “They (the coach and captain Rahul Dravid) know I have a talent and an ability to do well, and so they support me. I had never thought that I would miss the World Cup because I had faith in myself that I am a good player. I have done well in the past, and I knew I would definitely get another opportunity,” he says.
The captain will agree, he would say that he has always backed players who he believes can deliver for the team. The coach might just shake his head, even if he didn’t really despair when Sehwag was dropped for two one-dayers against the West Indies after the disastrous South Africa tour - apparently, to help him regain the hunger, prove that he is really committed to the thinktank’s blueprint.

and this

On the surface, it’s a quiet evening, a normal day in the world of international cricket. But yes, holed up in a distant corner, waiting for the World Cup to begin, the warm-up games playing on their minds, you can sense the simmering tension behind it all.
The Indian stars are obviously pleased with the break, even if the BCCI refused to let some of them bring their wives along this time. At least they don’t have to be glued to the mobile phone, obliging friends, fans and sponsors.
But the coaching staff is a bit worried. This eerie lull reminds them of that 11-day Diwali break in the middle of the Champions Trophy that they believe destroyed the team’s rhythm, that disrupted the “momentum”. There’s another nine-day gap coming up between the group matches and the super eight games, and they are working on team activities that will keep the “guys” engaged.

and this

But that famous smile flashed once, leaving the ‘fan’ beaming, before he trotted off to join his friends. Maybe, I wonder, this is what a World Cup is all about. Beyond the games, the gameplans, the headlines.
Soon, the dignitaries walk in, and the players start trooping out through a corner, into the reception hall. But not for long. Mahendra Dhoni sneaks out. “Jerk chicken, jerk chicken, jerk chicken,” he mutters. Obviously, he has had more than his fill of the local special over the last week, he heads to the hotel restaurant. Irfan Pathan joins him, there’s Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar, and even Dravid.
Minutes later, Munaf Patel swaggers through. “Hum to halaal meat hi khaate hain, yahan badi mushkil hain inko samjhaana,” he says. But ‘Munna’ doesn’t slip away, like the rest. He hangs around, obviously awe-struck by the star cast. He waves to Shaun Pollock, winks at Fleming. The question, as always, is the same: will India win the World Cup? “Khuda se yahi dua hain, har din, ki hum final mein pahunch jaayen,” he says. “Phir is se bhi bada reception karenge, apne gaaon Ikhar mein.”

and this

The Bangladesh coach, though, wouldn’t even discuss the possibility of an upset win over India in their tournament opener. “Who wouldn’t want that. But I would like to focus more is on how we achieve those little goals that we have set,” says Whatmore.
“Maybe, you can say we are the best prepared for the conditions. We landed here on February 20, at least a week before all the teams, and got down to some physical conditioning, considering that we haven’t played much over the last 2-3 months.”
Of course, it’s not as if Bangladesh’s World Cup campaign hinges on the backroom work put in by the coach alone.
Captain Bashar says the coach, after all, can take the players only up to the edge of the boundary line. “We have the players, and all of them are eager to fight it out, every ball. On a given day, with two or three good performances from them, anything can happen,” says Bashar.

and this

Anyway, let’s hear how India played out before the world.
• Ricky Ponting: “India will be very dangerous in these conditions. Just about six months back, the same coach was copping a fair bit of flak because the team wasn’t playing all that well, but they have turned things around very quickly. They are playing very good cricket, and these conditions will be pretty similar to what they often play on in back home in India. But the negative is that the team has never travelled too well, so we will have to see how they go here.”
• Graeme Smith: “They are a very competitive side with many world-class performers. They have quite a lot of options in both batting and bowling. The challenge is not to get those options to come off. They have got back some experience in the shape of Sourav (Ganguly) and (Anil) Kumble. India have a very good chance of winning the World Cup, like a lot of other teams have.”
• Michael Vaughan: “India are a very good team with vast experience and talent. They have a lot of depth and a lot of options, and there is every chance that we will meet them in the Super Eight stage. But as far as we are concerned, in any game, we focus on our performances. If we can turn up andplay well, we will give any team a game. India are one of the hot favourites for the title, of that there is no doubt.”
• Mahela Jayawardene: “When we played them the last time in India last month, they played very well in the last two games. They have got a lot of experience in their ranks, and some proven performers. It all boils down to individuals performing at the right time. Everyone goes out knowing that they must perform on a particular day. But it is not just enough to have the big names, it is necessary to get performances out of them.”
World Cup or India Cup?

and this

The Montego break
Dravid: We are working hard, but the World Cup is also about having some down time. When we can relax, we enjoy the atmosphere, we enjoy the tournament. I would like my boys to soak in the atmosphere, soak in everything that goes around the World Cup. Obviously, we are working hard on the side, but we need the boys to relax, too, take their minds away from the cricket, as well. So that when they come back to the ground, they are fresh and refreshed and really keen.
Yuvraj: I think it was a very good place to relax. On the day off, we went snorkelling, went on a boat ride for about two hours. And everybody had fun. So it was a very good thing to unwind. Everybody had a good time off, then came back and had a good practice session again.

2003 and now: 2 roles
Yuvraj: Obviously, we were very young in the last World Cup, our roles were different. We are much responsible now because we have had some experience after that World Cup. For me, it is high time to put my hand up and say I am going to be the person who’s going to do it.
Harbhajan: Last time, we were not as matured as we are now. At that stage, I had played only around 50-odd one-dayers. The responsibilities have changed, it is nice to be in that kind of position where the team expects you to win the game, wants you to do well. As Yuvraj said, it’s time for us to put up our hands. I am sure if we can keep up our fitness, and the mental part, in the right frame, we should be able to put up some good performances.
There are more expectations, the captain my ask me to bowl the first over, or it could be the 50th, I should be ready to bowl at any stage. I should also be more responsible with my batting, I should be more responsible for the team as a whole. It’s not just cricket. Even after the game, you should learn to enjoy time with mates as well.
No pressure cooking
Chappell: They have been playing in India and abroad for years. I don’t have to tell them about pressure. They know what pressure is all about. The group is well prepared for all eventualities and everything that can be expected to come their way in a world cup. There is no real need for anything extra in that area.

and this

Both Mahabir and Imran would love to be there for India’s World Cup matches in Port of Spain, over an hour away. The tickets have been sold out, frowns Mahabir, while Imran has no time away from his business. Then, they smile indulgently as Imam Dipoti, a bit homesick, comes out with a little wish of his own: meet Munaf Patel, speak to him in Gujarati.

and this

I hung around for some more time, and took in Tendulkar’s speech, where he picked out a personal anecdote: of a physically challenged boy who stood up on his own when his one big dream came true: hold Tendulkar’s bat, and play against the master himself.
Later, Tendulkar handed over T-shirts to the local cricket team and told them: “I would like to ask the little champion team to come to the Bangladesh match on Saturday and support us.” Then, turning to the crowd, he threw them this line: “See you in the finals.”
The crowd went wild, I turned to leave. Wait, he will speak to the media, warned a cameraman. I didn’t. Is there anything new left for Tendulkar to say, after what we have squeezed out of him over the last 16 years? As it turned out, I was not way off the mark, except for this one line: “I don’t know if this is my final World Cup. The one in 2011 is quite far from here but it all depends on how my body is holding up.” Hmmm.
Question: Is Tendulkar really a superhero? Maybe yes, because millions of us still live and die a hundred times whenever he walks out to bat.

and this

So which version of Dravid will the world see this time? As a captain, you can expect him to go into the tournament with his eyes wide open, knowing that his team is still a long way away from its best. And yes, you can also expect him to take some tough decisions based on the cold experience of having managed a bunch of such disparate characters for over a year, having honed his tactical skills against almost all his possible rivals.

As a player? He will continue to perform that crucial role that he has so effortlessly, and so skillfully, slipped into over the years: holding up the crucial middle, letting the flamboyant strokeplayers gather the applause, then step in gently to steady the ship, stepping on the gas when needed, even taking the team through to the finish line. Ricky Ponting? Naah, Rahul Dravid anytime

and this

Beyond the obvious, the truth is that never has a cricket team gone to the World Cup with so much at stake. And here’s why.

• You have a coach who is at the end of a contract, hoping that the BCCI would ask him to stay on for two years more. For Chappell, a semi-final slot is the least he needs to bring back to the table when talks for the future start. The hard-talking Aussie has, by and large, managed to push his gameplan through over the last year, but if there’s one area where he has stumbled, it is his communication with senior players like Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh.
An early end to India’s World Cup will mean the simmering tension is bound to pop up again —something that Indian cricket could definitely do without. And of course, there’s his vision still waiting to turn into reality, his process of forging a new Indian team, one that will emerge from the shadows of veterans like Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.

• You have a captain who is eager to establish his leadership with the biggest prize ever after the slump that followed a dazzling beginning. Dravid’s captaincy was the toast of the country during the amazing 17-match chase streak. But thereafter, it was a string of uncomfortable moments in the West Indies, Malaysia, during the Champions Trophy and of course, the rout in South Africa.
All of a sudden, questions were asked within the team and outside, about his conservative leadership style, his ‘aloof’ nature, even his hunger to lead. But the warm-up series this year against the West Indies and Sri Lanka has brought that shy smile back on the gentleman skipper’s face. It’s a smile that millions of fans will hope remains till the end of April — for the team’s sake, for the skipper’s sake.

• You have Sachin Tendulkar, named vice-captain, desperate to stamp his seal once again in world cricket during what will surely be his last World Cup. If India fails, and Sachin too, it will mean the beginning of the final chapter of one of the greatest cricketers ever.
After a nightmare date with a series of injuries, Sachin just about came into form in South Africa, but never quite managed to survive those blips in focus that cut him down in mid flight. He missed out on two Test centuries, barely salvaged a horrendous start in the one-dayers, and finally got going in the twin series against the Windies and the Lankans. Oh yes, Tendulkar has a lot left to prove.

• You have Sourav Ganguly, desperate for that final blaze of glory after the trauma of being dropped and then having to virtually gatecrash his way back into the team after a year. Surely, all eyes will be on Dada, whose comeback is already one of the biggest fairy tales of Indian cricket. But Ganguly, it is believed, is far from satisfied, and is eyeing that one big score that will cement his place in the team. Already, this master of man-management has made an impact among the juniors with “valuable tips” and suggestions. He will play a key role, says Chappell, but even Ganguly knows that a flop in the West Indies would have the knives out again.

• You have Virender Sehwag, struggling to come to terms with a clutch of demons hovering over his head. Sehwag’s story is the most bizarre to have come out of this Indian book in a long, long time. Everyone agrees he is the match-winner that India needs, even Chappell says he can turn a match on his own — but except for that flicker in Vizag against Sri Lanka, he has done little to keep the faith. As chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar remarked, “He keeps getting out in the same way (slashing to slips) again and again.”
For Sehwag, a bad World Cup would virtually mean a full stop—even the few senior players who have been backing him over the last few months may not be able to help. Not with a powerful section of the BCCI, livid over his strident stand on the unresolved contracts issue, gunning for his head.

• You have Harbhajan Singh, still struggling to come to terms with a coaching manual that he has never come across before. Harbhajan, an extremely emotional character, has had his problems with the blunt style of Chappell, often struggling to get on the same page with the coach. He may believe that he knows better about the art he purveys, and has often been baffled about why the thinktank does not seem to share the supreme confidence that he has in his capabilities. He may not rate his competition very highly, too, but he knows this World Cup is his best chance ever to turn the corner—in every sense.

• You have Anil Kumble, eager to make an emphatic closing statement to his one-day career. “What is the big deal?” he retorted when asked about his statement that the World Cup would be his last one-day tournament. But those who know Kumble would also know that gritty, sometimes bitter, leg-spinner will use every ball, every over to remind the selectors of what India missed out by keeping him out of the one-day squad for most of the last two seasons. In case you missed out, just check his figures during the one-day series against South Africa, his big comeback tournament.

• And then, you have a bunch of youngsters, the new face of Indian cricket. Yuvraj Singh realises that this tournament will be the biggest test of whether he is able to live up to the tag of the next great Indian hope. There’s nobody who times the ball better, says Chappell, who strongly believes that Yuvraj is the axis around which the new India will emerge. Yet, the Punjab youth icon has failed to live up to the hype - you could blame it on a bad back, and that knee injury. But Yuvraj is sure that this time, he can. And if that fabulous half-century in Vizag is any indication, he will.
Finally, there’s S Sreesanth, Dinesh Kaarthick, Munaf Patel and Robin Uthappa, all aware of the competition breathing down their collars, aware that one stumble here would push them back into the shadows.
So much at stake, then. So many individual aspirations that can, hopefully, unite to form a common target: The World Cup.

and this

The clouds are still hovering over the Queen’s Park Oval, Bermuda has been crushed, and the same fans who had called Rahul Dravid a ‘loser’ after Bangladesh are crowding around the team bus. They wave their flags as Dravid clambers up, then rush towards Sachin Tendulkar, one of them wraps Virender Sehwag in a huge hug.
Then, they all line up in front of an Indian TV channel camera, and start shouting: ‘Jeetega, bhai, jeetega, India jeetega’. Believe me, I saw it with my own eyes.........
Some of this frenzy, he suggests, is probably because of that big Indian fight for eyeballs. Eyeballs? “There has been a huge explosion in the media. The media competes with each other for space, for eyeballs, for viewership. That’s probably a trend that’s going to be there, is going to only keep getting worse and worse. It’s not for me to say whether it’s right or wrong, there are people who make these decisions on what is out on air, what to write, or what sort of lines you want to take. It’s for them to decide what sort of policy they want to take.”
Do you agree with him? I do, but just one question: Don’t the players add to this frenzy, too, with their ‘Hoo Haa’ ad promos, leaked team plans?

and this

Somebody wants Virender Sehwag to strike a note on a guitar, Harbhajan Singh is asked to pose for photographs every three steps, the battle-scarred Rahul Dravid barely manages to breeze through with a fixed smile. Lanka match? They say it’s sold out, they say Sunil Shetty’s going to come. But if we lose? The fan suddenly loses interest, turns his back on me.
Really, what if we lose? Have you ever taken a deep breath and thought about it? What will the effect be on the ad world, the MNCs that have staked millions of dollars on Team India? What about the ICC, where will they get their viewers from? The TV broadcasters, all those expert commentators holed up in studios, counting the money? What will happen to this whole business of cricket, the parasites, the wheeler-dealers, the agents, the circus?
I have to smile here. Maybe, they deserve it, for hyping this simple game to such levels that a coach is found dead after a game is lost. For luring gullible cricketers, the best among millions, into the sleazy world of commissions and contracts.
But wait, of course, I want Team India to win. But I also want them to be able to walk around without being mobbed by buffoons masquerading as fans every other second. I want them to be with people who talk cricket, know about the game, not with agents and ad men. I want them to stay on the sports pages. I want them to be able to spend at least four months a year with their families, wives, children. I want them to put their hearts into the game, not worry about the games being played with their bank accounts by their own relatives back home. I want them to be men, proud, fit athletes, true ambassadors of the game, their country.
And that’s why I won’t jump into the Caribbean sea if we actually lose to Lanka.

and this

It didn’t take much time for the cameras to turn on the returning stars, it didn’t take much time for mobile phones to start leaking confidential messages from the coach. But the real story of India’s World Cup disaster does not begin with that initial fumble against Bangladesh, or the embarrassing surrender to Sri Lanka.

By the time India reached the West Indies on March 1, the wheels had already come loose, threatening to fall off any time. And they did, within 23 days.
The Indian Express talked to some of the main characters in this tragedy — including coach Greg Chappell, captain Rahul Dravid and at least two other senior players — before, during and immediately after India’s World Cup 2007, and it can now reveal that many in this team had little hope of succeeding in the Caribbean, and the skipper was spending a lot of his time and energy repairing a severe communications breakdown between the coach and most of the senior players.
But, for now, it essentially boils down to this:

• Dravid believes it is the failure of youngsters to really challenge the aging veterans, including himself, which led to the team compromising on agility and fitness, and the burden falling back on battle-scarred shoulders. He agrees with the coach that it is high time for a young India to emerge, but strongly feels you can’t simply shut the door on players like Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar, especially when the domestic circuit is yet to throw up the kind of talent that can take over right now. His biggest disappointment is the failure of Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif to seal their slots in the Indian battling line-up over the last 12 months.

• Coach Chappell points towards the BCCI and the selectors for not seeing the larger picture — for succumbing to public pressure and recalling Sourav Ganguly, for bowing to the captain’s wishes and letting Virender Sehwag carry on, for not pushing Sachin Tendulkar enough. He also blames Tendulkar and Ganguly for staying aloof, and not contributing enough leadership-wise, letting Dravid take all the load. In one rare, unguarded moment last week, he even tried to link this ambivalence to the race for captaincy - it’s a charge that Ganguly, at least, swatted aside with a contemptuous laugh.

• As for the senior players, at least one of them was not very enthused by the “bookish” captaincy of Dravid, but stressed that the team would rally behind him in this time of crisis. And both made their disgust at the coach’s methods very clear -they blamed the Aussie for repeatedly leaking team plans and his opinion on various players to the media; they said this finally led to an atmosphere of divisiveness within the side. “He played around with our minds,” said one of them.
In fact, by the time the team reached the West Indies, the relationship between the coach and almost every other senior player, except Dravid, had become so strained that there were days when a player — like, say, Tendulkar — would hardly exchange a word with Chappell.
And despite all the public smiles, it’s doubtful whether Chappell was ever on backslapping terms with Tendulkar, Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan:

• Tendulkar’s relationship with Chappell started going awry almost immediately after his comeback from injury late last year when the coach questioned his fitness. Chappell, then frustrated by the Mumbai star’s repeated flops, slammed in another nail by standing in the way of Tendulkar’s burning desire to open the innings. The coach believes that Tendulkar is denying the team the wealth of his experience and turning away from the tough option of grinding it out and propping up the Indian middle-order - Chappell, besides, prefers to see Robin Uthappa grow as one-day opener.

• The Ganguly-Chappell patch-up is a sham in every sense with the former captain still ruing his decision to back the Aussie for the job almost two years ago, despite being ‘cautioned’ by many Australian players, including Steve Waugh. Not surprisingly, Chappell believes that the decision to recall the former skipper was a step backwards — the fight between the two had always been about who would hold the team’s reins — while the left-hander points to the string of good scores since his return to prove the coach wrong.

• Harbhajan and Zaheer, both perceived to be Ganguly’s ‘men’, got on the wrong side of Chappell following ‘Dada’s’ ouster. Chappell believes that the off-spinner has lost the will and the bite, while the emotional sardar blames the coach for not understanding his art and breaking the team’s spirit by leaking stories about players. Zaheer, who was shown the door by Chappell last year for lack of fitness and the right ‘attitude’, is back with a bang but has largely stuck to himself, and is said to be counting the days.
Dravid remains the only senior player who has been able to strike the right note with the former Australian captain - probably, because of their strong, common faith in motivational tools, in the belief that it’s the mind that counts at the highest level.
The Bangalorean is still a bit overawed by the former Australian captain’s “cricketing brain”, and believes that most of what Chappell has said - on the need to push younger players, on setting up an assembly line - makes sense. But even he is not very happy with Chappell’s obsession with the media, even though he attributes it to the coach’s eagerness to convince everybody about his vision, get everyone on board.
The skipper is also painfully aware that many of Chappell’s off-the-record opinions were being leaked right back to the players, adding up to a lot of heartburn and unrest especially over the last six months.
There you have it then: coach and players on different pitches, an overloaded captain, seniors pulling in different directions. No wonder then, that all it took finally for the world’s richest cricket team to come crashing down was one gentle push — from Bangladesh.

Which begs the question - if the media was aware of the fracture in the team in 2007, why did it not think it its duty to report this faithfully? Why were fans led to believe that all was well with the Indian team in the lead up to the World Cup in 2007?

What does it say about media credibility then?

And given that media credibility is a joke, isnt it a bit rich for them to pontificate on what MS Dhoni's actions?

Vide this gem

Dhoni is said to have been riding high in the popularity chart following his recent performances, but in Trent Bridge he landed up painting a very poor image before the Indian media.

He has declared war on the Indian media that had leaked out the news that he does not get along with Sehwag.

The alleged injury to the opening batsman is being seen as a cooked up story by Dhoni.

and this one

Dhoni has been different from his predecessors in that he believes it is essentially unnecessary to have even a working relationship with the media. In a country where ignominious tournament exits result in players’ housesbeing tarred and their cars stoned, this was a high-risk strategy at the best of times

Damned if you do...

2009-06-10T07:55:00.001-04:00

Tuesday was different. For starters, the ICC's media release said unequivocally, "Dhoni will hold a media conference". It was down in black and white, leaving the Indian team no get-out clause. And then Virender Sehwag batted in the nets for the first time during the competition, but only for 10 minutes. There was word that he was out of the competition, but only few knew for sure.

The first question put to Dhoni, who turned up without his team-mates this time, at the press conference was about Sehwag's fitness. The captain swatted it away with a majestic air of finality by saying, "Anything related to fitness, there will be a press release from the BCCI". He wasn't lying.

Having been snubbed by that terse response, no one asked a question about Sehwag for a while. It was the elephant in the room, and 20 minutes later someone began to talk about it. This time the media manager intervened and said the board would send out a release. His answer didn't satisfy anyone, for the question was asked again, this time pointedly to Dhoni, who repeated his lines. It was pandemonium after that, with people losing tempers and the usually uber-calm Dhoni showing traces of losing composure. Just when things were getting to a head, the team manager stepped in heroically and diffused the volatile situation with expert negotiation skills. A truce was brokered - a final decision on Sehwag's fitness would be taken on Wednesday. Or so we were told.

---

When India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was, fresh off the Indian team’s first win in New Zealand, he began by saying he was “shocked and sad” that sportspersons had been attacked. Pressed further about Pakistan he went on, his responses containing these phrases, “I am glad I am in New Zealand and I don't have to worry about these things… Sides like us are quite happy not to be there, in this kind of a situation…. I am happy we didn't tour Pakistan, and that the government didn't allow us to tour Pakistan. It may or may not have happened to us. But overall I am happy to be here.”

It was the last thing out of his mouth and the first thing that got snapped up. The news channels were happy to call this typical of Dhoni “speaking his mind,”. It was all true, it was gut-feel “honest”. It is probably what every Indian cricketer and every player in the world felt privately at the time. But it was not appropriate.

On a day when some of his peers could have been killed, when a match official was fighting for his life and when seven innocent human beings had lost their lives, the over-arching sentiment from the captain of India called for something other than a statement whose sub-text essentially read: “Ooo, lucky, lucky us”.

---

Really???

2009-06-09T08:41:00.004-04:00

Virender Sehwag is to return home from the World Twenty20 with a shoulder injury, a development that is likely to affect India's chances of retaining the trophy.

Virender Sehwag returning home because of injury - fine.

"A development that is likely to affect India's chances of retaining the Trophy" - how?

Sehwag has yet to master the shortest form of the game. In reality, the longer the format of the game, the better Sehwag is. And his form in the just concluded IPL has been patchy. A couple of good innings but a tendency to play too many shots too early and throwing it away.

Sehwag's replacement is Dinesh Karthik. Karthik has shown form in the IPL and is a wicketkeeper. And given Dhoni's insistence on playing Parthiv Patel for the Chennai Super Kings on account of the fact that he kept wickets, Karthik may turn out to be an inspired selection.

I really dont think Sehwag will be missed - Rohit Sharma looks comfortable at the top of the order and is in form. Also, between Yuvraj, Rohit, Raina and Yususf Pathan, the Indians have enough part time bowlers to fulfil the role Sehwag often did.

"A development that is likely to affect India's chances of retaining the Trophy" - I think not.

Reconcile this

2009-06-08T21:57:00.001-04:00

Australia have be knocked out of the Twenty20 World Championship. It is tempting to blame the pool of death for their demise as they would have most likely qualified for the Super Eights stage if they were in any of the three other groups.

But they were grouped with Sri Lanka and West Indies and were found wanting in all departments.

The main reason for this is inexperience.

Most of Australia's elite cricketers play very little Twenty20 cricket at either domestic or international level. Of the 12 players who featured in the pool games over the past three days, only David Warner, Brett Lee and David Hussey played in the recent Premier League and only Warner, Hussey, James Hopes and Nathan Bracken featured in the Australian domestic competition.

It would be harsh to call Australia clueless at this form of cricket but they are clearly one of the most inexperienced teams going around.

Perhaps Australia should follow reigning champion India's formula for success. Admittedly it was more by accident than design that India adopted a youth policy before the last World Championships, but it has worked a treat and if Australia are to succeed at this format, they will need to pick a team that will play more than a handful of Twenty20 games a year.

India have picked 23 players in the their history of Twenty20 internationals - Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly have played just one between them. Australia, on the other hand, have used 39 players since 2005.

It would be harsh to call Australia clueless at this form of cricket but they are clearly one of the most inexperienced teams going around.

23 games, the most by any nation in the shortest format, is a sure sign of inexperience!

Two captains

2009-06-08T19:55:00.001-04:00

"We knew their spinners would be the most difficult for us to face, and he's certainly had a big impact on the game.

"It was probably the biggest difference in the game, the fact that their spinners did dictate to us through the middle of our innings.

"A lot of their guys have been playing Twenty20 over last few months, but we've had a few guys at the IPL as well.

"It's irrelevant really. We knew what we had to do and unfortunately, in the last two games, we haven't been good enough to do it."

---

"It's been a wonderful experience for everybody. We have about 13 Sri Lankan players in the IPL, a few more going in next year hopefully," he said.

"Even if some of the players don't get consistent games the fact that they are there, they are rubbing shoulders with some of the greats of the game, they're learning from that experience, they're training hard, they're learning to innovate.

"And it keeps them on their toes to see how much they have to improve and really perform to be recognised in world cricket and I think that will drive our cricketers forward and upwards."

Succinct

2009-06-08T16:42:00.001-04:00

Len's take on the Australia Sri Lanka game.

Bye bye bye

2009-06-08T15:40:00.002-04:00

Today is the 8th of June. Australia plays its first tune up game against Sussex at Hove starting June 24. That's 16 days of nets, time that could have been better used getting match ready by pitting their skills against the world's best.

And this has bigger ramifications for the Ashes.

Australia played its last Test in February. England played its last test in May. England are in the Super 8's. Australia are left to lick their wounds, being eliminated in the group phase itself.

England is getting necessary match practice in high pressure situations. Australia is left to get its bowlers ( and batsmen) acclimatized to English conditions.

And there are questions - of form. Brett Lee has been carted all over the place, Mitchell Johnson hasn't really brought the ball in to the right handers, can Mike Hussey make runs, can Australia play spin?

Suddenly, the Ashes don't seem so dull!

Constant is the only change

2009-06-08T10:29:00.002-04:00

Andrew Symonds enjoys a drink while watching an NRL match, Gold Coast, June 8, 2009

Gayle Force!!

2009-06-06T11:40:00.004-04:00

You cant run away forever
But theres nothing wrong with getting a good head start
You want to shut out the night
You want to shut down the sun
You want to shut away the pieces of a broken heart
Thing of how wed lay down together
Wed be listening to the radio so loud and so strong
Every golden nugget coming like a gift of the gods
Someone must have blessed us when he gave us those songs

I treasure your love
I never want to lose it
Youve been through the fires of hell
And I know youve got the ashes to prove it
I treasure your love
I want to show you how to use it
Youve been through a lot of pain in the dirt
And I know youve got the scars to prove it

Remember everything that I told you
Well Im telling you again that its true
When youre alone and afraid
And youre completely amazed
To find theres nothing anybody can do
Keep on believing
And youll discover baby

Theres always something magic
Theres always something new
And when you really, really need it the most
Thats when rock and roll dreams come through
The beat is yours forever
The beat is always true
And when you really, really need it the most
Thats when rock and roll dreams come through...for you...

West Indies beat Australia by 7 wickets and 25 balls remaining.

The Flying Dutchmen!

2009-06-05T16:02:00.001-04:00

WooooHOOOO!!!! WOOOOO !@#$%^& HOOO!

The Orangemen win!!!

YES!

2009-06-05T11:21:00.001-04:00

Nahin toh tum log isko bhi ulta likhega

Cost/Benefit

2009-06-04T11:28:00.003-04:00

Jamie Pandaram in the Sydney Morning Herald writes

It is bizarre that the IPL franchises, who are allowed 10 overseas players in their squad and can play four each game, have been left so powerless. The top three IPL teams that enter the Champions League - Deccan, Bangalore and Delhi - will not be overly affected this time around because most of their overseas stars will not be conflicted. However, in future years when the tournament expands and more key players snub their Indian franchises, it is foreseeable that IPL team owners will put pressure on home states to release them.
With a first prize of $US3m, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that back-room deals will be done before to the 12-team tournament, from October 8 to 23 in India. The three Indian sides will be joined by NSW, Victoria, South Africa's Cape Cobras and Eagles, Sri Lanka's Wayamba, Trinidad and Tobago, Otago and the two finalists from England's domestic tournament to be decided on August 25.

If Bangalore skipper Kevin Pietersen leads his Hampshire team to the final, he would have to choose between his club of four years or the IPL franchise that pays him $US1.55m.

I am not sure it is so cut and dry.

First, there is the price doled out per player . If an IPL franchise pays a franchise player $100,000 per season and stands to get $200,000 for the same player for the Champion League, there is a profit to be made right there. Case in point, Brendon McCullum. Otago qualified for the Champions League as did NSW. And NSW is paying McCullum for his services. If McCullum decides to turn out for NSW, doesn't Otago stand to make a tidy profit?

Second, there is the question of "home clubs". What is David Warner's home club, given that he is yet to play for NSW in the Sheffield Shield? What is Dirk Nannes' home club - Victoria, Delhi or Middlesex? Given that he is Dutch, who will make that decision?

As the tournament expands, the ambiguity in defining "home clubs" is going to become a bigger issue than the compensation involved.

If Otago had not made the cut, would NSW have to compensate anyone for Brendon McCullum's services? And if McCullum hitches his wagon with NSW, are NSW obligated to pay Otago for his services? Given that they already pay McCullum, is the extra cost justified? Ditto Dirk Nannes. And what about push back? Can teams refuse the services of players who wish to work for them?

And finally this - the whole "let the player decide on who he wants to play for" is going to be a huge dampener on further IPL auctions. Why would franchises pay top dollar for players if they are not convinced that the player in question is not going to show up for them in the Champions League?

As the league grows, these questions and others will become the bigger issues - with global TV coverage and added sponsorship deals, the transfer money will become insignificant compared to this.

Further thoughts -

If Harbhajan Singh is signed by Surrey, who then qualify for the Champions League along with the Mumbai Indians, does Surrey have to recompense MI?

If Abhishek Nayar is signed by the Titans for the Champions League and have to pay MI $200,000, MI make a profit of $100,000 after utilizing Nayar's services in the IPL. Will that be accepted business prctise for the CL?

Small ball.

2009-06-03T15:48:00.002-04:00

Pakistan

Singles - 52
Twos - 10
Threes - 0
Fours - 20
Sixes - 0

India

Singles - 38
Twos - 12
Threes - 1
Fours - 16
Sixes - 2

Yes, Pakistan ran the singles more. But they did it in the latter part of their innings, specifically when Malik and Younis and then Misbah and Younis were at the crease.

The Pakistani innings was characterized by an all or nothing approach. And very poor shot selection.

And that is something they need to ramp up on. And fast.

India, on the other hand, need to work on how the begin and end games. With the ball. The absence of Zaheer Khan on the field is showing- and not just with the ball alone.

The thinking seems non existent and there is a very real sense of playing catch up. And India needs to address that.

Sauce for the goose....

2009-05-29T14:14:00.002-04:00

Remember this

For example, photographers applying for IPL accreditation will have to ensure that their clicked photos:

* appear as still images (and not as moving images or rapid-sequence streaming or refreshed images) and cannot be used to support a so-called on-line match-tracking report, audio or text based commentary service;

* are published in the relevant print media for editorial reporting purposes only;

* images are not used in association with any marks, names or logos of any third party (commercial or otherwise); no online use or publication or syndication of any such still photographic images is allowed without the express prior written consent of IPL.

These rules have already drawn flak from international media agencies like the Agence France Presse (AFP).

Then there was this

The Associated Press (AP) will not be covering this year's Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament in South Africa because organizers have imposed unacceptable conditions on media outlets covering the event.

The AP and major international news organizations Reuters and Agence France-Presse sought to persuade IPL organizers to change their minds about terms and conditions imposed on media.

The News Media Coalition, an association that represents a worldwide collection of news organizations, has also tried without success to resolve the dispute.

IPL Chief Executive Lalit Modi refused to amend conditions, including one that bars media groups from supplying news and photos about IPL events to Web sites that specialize in cricket. The IPL has signed an exclusive agreement to supply news and photos about the Twenty20 tournament to one Web site.

Now, square that with this

© AFP . This image may not be reproduced without specific consent from AFP

If media outlets desire complete access to events that are technically the property of the event holders, why don't the same rules apply to disseminating the content that is copyrighted by the very same media outlets?

What does"specific consent" mean? And how different is it from the argument Modi and CA and other had forwarded when barring media outlets from freely distributing content from their events?

Huh??

2009-05-29T12:07:00.001-04:00

"For instance, in Australia, they use the kookaburra ball and I want to cope with the extra swing and also work on my early minutes of play. I enjoy the game and I want to keep playing well rather than worry about issues like selection."

Havent they been using the Kookaburra ball for the past two seasons in the Ranji Trophy?

World T20 won't repeat mistakes of World Cup

2009-05-28T11:49:00.004-04:00

but will make new ones.

This time around, adult tickets will range from £20 at Trent Bridge to £90 at Lord's, even though Under-16s will be able to watch the final for as little as a tenner.

Then there is the schedule - 27 games in 15 days with no allowance for the rain. Plus back to back games on all match days until the semi finals means no leeway with the playing schedule in case of disruptions.

Imagine a situation where all of India's games get rain affected.India goes through to the Super 8's without having played a game and then gets eliminated in the Super 8's on account of not haviing played a game - imagine the repercussions on ad revenues and sundry other items if this were to happen.

Then there are the hours of play - all of which are targetted for prime time audiences in the UK. But the prime time audiences in the UK will have to pay to watch the T20 World Cup, given that it is on Sky.

And what about the audiences who bring in the dough?

Sat 6
18:00 local, 17:00 GMT 4th Match, Group A - Bangladesh v India
Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Wed 10
17:30 local, 16:30 GMT 12th Match, Group A - India v Ireland
Trent Bridge, Nottingham

One game begins at 12:30 AM IST on Sunday, the other at 12:00 AM IST on Thurdsay.

Nice!

PS - Thanks Q for pointing it out. And apologies to my maths teachers over the years. I am incapable of doing simple addition!

The Hours of play are 22:30 IST and 22:00 IST.

On maintaining the foreign player cap

2009-05-28T10:04:00.000-04:00

Having missed the semi finals and finals of the IPL thanks to the Memorial Day weekend, I am in no position to comment on the whats and the wherefores of the same.

But perusing through the blogs, I gathered this much

1. The Closing ceremony sucked
2. The finals was worthy of the tournament.
3. Andrew Symonds continues to be the agent provocateur and likes bullying people.

That said, the reason for this post is this - post the IPL ( and even during it), there have been questions/discussions/queries on various media sites on the merits or lack there of of the 4 foreign player cap in the IPL.

Some see this as impinging on displaying the best talent there is available within the teams, others see this as racist.Others point to the FTP, citing that if the IPL wants its own window, it must do more to accomodate the interests of the other Boards ( and players).

I completely endorse the cap.

Whats more, I would strongly advocate reducing the number of foreign players per team as the franchises expand. For the reasons listed below

1. I had, in a previous post, alluded to the fact that in Mumbai, club cricket was slowly petering out, replaced by age group cricket. And I believe this is true for the rest of the country too. And
I had written this

And because of this, there is no "mentoring" a la club cricket wherein a 40 year old grizzled veteran of many a skirmish would be around to guide a 16 year old colt on the intricacies and vagaries of the game.

And because the "mentoring" no longer exists, there is a lot less cricketing savvy on display - kids have all the skills coaching can get you but implementing those skills and thinking about the game is a whole different story altogether.

The IPL is resolves that problem. It is the only real forum where a Manish Pandey can rub shoulders with an Anil Kumble and learn what it means to be a Test cricketer. It is also the only forum where real mentoring happens - it is in every one's interests that players perform and given that there is a requirement to field kids from the U-23 age group, the onus is on the veterans to guide them to perform at their very best.

2. Domestic cricket in India suffers because the marquee players do not participate, thus lowering the standards of play. Lower standards of play implies there is no real gauge of the talent of the player - is Cheteshwar Pujara the real deal given that he scores heavily at Rajkot and not so heavily elsewhere? Is Abhishek Nayar a journeyman cricketer or does he have it in him to step up to the next level? Does Rohit Sharma have bottle and can he construct an innings?

The intensity and the standards of play of the IPL answer a lot of these questions. While the ability to construct an innings may be up in the air, the IPL does give a window to the temperament of the player in question and his ability to perform when under the microscope. It also is the only avenue where an up and coming player is tested against an established one.

The IPL helps separate the chaff from the wheat.

3. Pre IPL there were two aspects of the game where the foreign players trumped the Indians - pre match preparation and training. Pre match preparation as in the mental aspect of the game with emphasis on how to approach the nets while batting, bowling and fielding. The training emphasized on the physical aspect of the game - the fielding drills, the game situation simulations etc.

With the legions of trainers and fitness instructors and dieticians and coaches that tail each of the IPL franchises, the gap that separates the Indians versus the foreign players is fast closing.

4. Coalescing 30 Ranji teams into 8 franchises implies that the best of the Indian talent is available for selection - the onus is on the franchises to make the smart picks. And with the ICL players returning to the fold, the options available to the franchises only increase - imagine a Stuart Binny playing for the Royally Challenged and an Ambati Rayadu for the Chargers.

5. The IPL gives unheard of players an opportunity to show case their talents - who had heard of a T. Suman till IPL 2009? And they deserve it because, having done the hard yards in the domestic scene, they merit their place in the sun.

6. The argument for the best available talent to be fielded is a tenuous one, at best. No one doubts Ricky Ponting's skill as a batsman. But is he really going to augment the KKR batting when he averaged a measly 9.75 when the IPL was played in 2008? And what about Jesse Ryder, Kevin Pieterson and Andrew Flintoff. Or Jacob Oram. No one can argue that they were amongst the best available talents there are. But how much did they really supplement their team? And wouldn't increasing the foreign player cap have meant that Sudeep Tyagi never got an opportunity to bowl. Ditto Shadab Jakati?

7. The racism charge - is laughable at best. England caps its Kolpak players and has a limit on the number of foreign players participating in County cricket.Australia's domestic season is dominated by Australians, give or take a Pom or a Dutchman. The same is true of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. South Africa has a cap too on its foreign imports. And yet, no one calls them racist.

8. There are 9 Test playing nations. Which equates to 135 players ( considering 15 players per team). Of these, the number of players equipped to play T20 cricket ( temperamentally. technique wise, or otherwise) is probably less than half. Even if allowance is made for fringe players , the number of total available foreign players wont top 100. Which equates to around 12 players per team ( given the current franchise breakup). Of those 12, having 4 players in the game amounts to a 1/3rd quota of foreign players playing per game. With expansion, the number of foreign players per team will diminish and the proportion of foreign players playing for a given team will correspondingly increase.And the numbers will remain skewed in favor of the foreign players vis a vis the Indians.

So arbitrarily increasing the number of foreign players serves no purpose at all.

Finally this - the IPL will not be accommodated in the FTP until 2011, when it comes up for review. So a window for the IPL for the next 2 years is out. Furthermore, when the FTP does come in for review, cognizance will be taken of the primacies of the English and Australian Cricket seasons. And not just because the ECB is contractually bound to host 7 Tests and 15 ODIs every year. Likewise CA ( and hence its reluctance to compromise with CSA on hosting the Boxing Day test). Add to this mix the emergence of the P20 and the SPL ( Southern Premier League) from 2010 onwards and there is just no way in hell that the ICC will accommodate a 6 week window for the IPL.

Given this, and given player availability, wouldn't it be prudent for the BCCI and IPL organizing committee to focus inwards and work on raising the standards of the Indian pool instead of focusing outwards and increasing the cap on the foreign player pool?

Sudden Death

2009-05-19T15:08:00.005-04:00

or how I want the remaining matches to pan out

53rd match - Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals - KKR to win.

They have been getting their act together in the last 3-4 games and despite the losses, they have pushed the opposition hard. RR, on the other hand, look brittle with the bat in hand and their fielding effort against Dilli left a lot to be desired.

The RR loss will be deeply satisfying for me. Especially after a Mumbai girl was all ecstatic after a Mumbai loss. And because there is the possible prospect of a catfight between SRK and the Shetty babe.

54th match - Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab - KXIP to win.

The Whistle podus are in the semis even if they lose ( it will take some phenomenal batting by the other contenders and some abject batting by Dhoni's men to close the gap between the run rates). And a win against the Kinks keeps the KXIP alive for the semis. Which means more Zinta. And more Zinta hugs. And whats not to like about that?

55th match - Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians - Mumbai

For obvious reasons.

56th match - Royal Challengers Bangalore v Deccan Chargers - BRC

This is the match.The sudden death encounter between the Dhakkans and the Royally Challenged.Win here and the semis beckon. Lose and its all over.

I prefer the Royally Challenged because I like Anil Kumble. And because Adam Gilchrist bitched about Sachin not shaking his hand. Does that make me anti-Aussie?

DD, KXIP, BRC and the Whistle Podus in the semis. Whistle Podus to play DD, BRC versus KXIP.

Whistle Podus and the Royally Challenged to win.

IPL2- The Battle for the Kaveri, cant come soon enough!

PS:- Just realized - I am rooting for two southern teams. Does that make me anti-north too?

The Wordsmith

2009-05-18T20:00:00.000-04:00

The Old Batsman - a master at work!

Manjrekar-speak

2009-05-18T09:32:00.001-04:00

Mumbai Indians, like Kolkata Knight Riders, have also disappointed their fans for the second consecutive DLF IPL season. Whereas the Mumbai Ranji team's exploits over the years in Indian cricket, have been well documented. They have won the Ranji title a record 38 times. Their latest triumph coming this year. The Mumbai Ranji team obviously do something right and critically know how to win matches. It may not be a bad idea for the Mumbai Indians bosses to pay a visit to the MCA, who happen to be in their neighbourhood and pick up a few clues on building a champion team.

"Who writes the script for this tournament"

2009-05-17T10:02:00.003-04:00

exults Danny Morrison. And for once, it is not hyperbole.

44th match: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Chennai Super Kings at Durban - May 14, 2009
Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 2 wickets (with 2 balls remaining)
Chennai Super Kings 129 (19.4/20 ov); Royal Challengers Bangalore 132/8 (19.4/20 ov)

Scorecard | Commentary | Bulletin | Articles (3) | Photos (12)

45th match: Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals at Durban - May 14, 2009
Rajasthan Royals won by 2 runs
Rajasthan Royals 145/7 (20/20 ov); Mumbai Indians 143 (19.5/20 ov)

Scorecard | Commentary | Bulletin | Articles (3) | Photos (11)

46th match: Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab at Bloemfontein - May 15, 2009
Kings XI Punjab won by 6 wickets (with 5 balls remaining)
Delhi Daredevils 120/9 (20/20 ov); Kings XI Punjab 123/4 (19.1/20 ov)

Scorecard | Commentary | Bulletin | Articles (3) | Photos (12)

47th match: Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians at Port Elizabeth - May 16, 2009
Chennai Super Kings won by 7 wickets (with 5 balls remaining)
Mumbai Indians 147/5 (20/20 ov); Chennai Super Kings 151/3 (19.1/20 ov)

Scorecard | Commentary | Bulletin | Articles (2)

48th match: Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders at Johannesburg - May 16, 2009
Deccan Chargers won by 6 wickets (with 0 balls remaining)
Kolkata Knight Riders 160/5 (20/20 ov); Deccan Chargers 166/4 (20/20 ov)

Scorecard | Commentary | Bulletin | Articles (4) | Photos (15)

and now, this

19.6

Pathan to Harris, 2 runs, Punjab have won this. Fulltoss on off stump, Harris crashes it through the off side, Lee fields at sweeper-cover, there is a fumble that allows them the second. Jaskaran Singh wants the third, but Harris is so disappointed he is not even looking. Jaskaran would have had a fair shot at the third run that could have tied the game. This still would have been a run-out in all possibility because the throw was on target, but Harris should have run the third. Even Sanga, the keeper, can't believe it

Last ball coming up, four required, my money is on a slower ball

All this, in the last 4 days. After a damp first week, who would have thunk?

Correct Call?

2009-05-17T09:30:00.002-04:00

13.1

Yuvraj Singh to Symonds, OUT, a lovely stumping, what recovery from Sangakkara. Lovely bowling to begin with, drawing Symonds out, turning it across Symonds, Sanga doesn't collect it cleanly, but gets it on the rebound, falling down at the same time, and whips the bails off. Replays show he had flicked one bail off while falling down, and he didn't have the ball in his hand then. The third umpire has given it, the rules say if only one bail is off, you can remove the second bail and get the stumping

A Symonds st Sangakkara b Yuvraj Singh 25 (25b 1x4 0x6) SR: 100.00

1. Wicket put down
(a) The wicket is put down if a bail is completely removed from the top of the stumps, or a stump is struck out of the ground by
(i) the ball.
(ii) the striker's bat, whether he is holding it or has let go of it.
(iii) the striker's person or by any part of his clothing or equipment becoming detached from his person.
(iv) a fielder, with his hand or arm, providing that the ball is held in the hand or hands so used, or in the hand of the arm so used.
The wicket is also put down if a fielder pulls a stump out of the ground in the same manner.

(b) The disturbance of a bail, whether temporary or not, shall not constitute its complete removal from the top of the stumps, but if a bail in falling lodges between two of the stumps this shall be regarded as complete removal.

2. One bail off
If one bail is off, it shall be sufficient for the purpose of putting the wicket down to remove the remaining bail, or to strike or pull any of the three stumps out of the ground, in any of the ways stated in 1 above.

Problem is, the rule does not talk of the mitigating circumstances under which the bail is dislodged. I was always under the impression that if the bail(s) is(are) dislodged by the fielder, it is imperative to remove the stump completely out of the ground.

Apparently not!

Get it

2009-05-16T21:09:00.000-04:00

while stocks last!

Tension free cricket

2009-05-16T09:53:00.002-04:00

19.1	Bravo to Dhoni, FOUR, what a way to finish! Dhoni disdainfully drives the full ball over mid-on for four to seal a seven-wicket win for Chennai and that seals Mumbai's exit from the 2009 IPL

And with that, Mumbai's 2009 IPL campaign is over. No more waking up at 5:30 AM, no more donning the team colors, no more sitting in the same position so as not to jinx the team even though the legs cramp, no more forays into testing bladder control, no more praying to an assortment of gods, no more finger biting, no more palpitations, no more defending Mumbai, no more cursing Mumbai, no more defending Tendulkar, no more cursing Tendulkar, no more"what could have beens", no more"what ifs", no more to all that.

No more caring. Period.

Now that the emotional investment is no longer there, I can kick back, relax and watch the cricket.

Whoever wins, whoever loses, I could care less.

No tension!

For Mumbai, just one question. The same one as the last season. Where is the bottle in crunch situations? Where is the khadoos cricket that is the hallmark of the city? Why are we so mentally brittle?

The Karachi Sound Machine

2009-05-15T15:10:00.002-04:00

If the IPl is a joke, why bother?.

If it is not, can you substaniate the innuendo about match fixing?.

If not, what price zipping that lip?

Excuse me Mr Modi

2009-05-14T19:55:00.002-04:00

but here is a little something to jog your memory

Jaipur: The IPL on Friday took to task the captains of Kolkata Knight Riders, Sourav Ganguly, and Rajasthan Royals, Shane Warne, for breaching the ICC Rules and Code of Conduct.

Ganguly has been charged under 1.3 (showing dissent at an umpire’s decision) and Warne under 1.7 (public criticism of, or inappropriate comment on a match-related incident or match official) in the course of the match and after the match at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here on Thursday. Both have been fined 10 per cent of their match fees.

Now, in the just concluded Mumbai Rajasthan match, there happened this little incident

17.2 Patel to Nayar, 2 runs, low full toss outside off, bends low and drags it to deep midwicket, poor fielding, or so it seemed, Smith throws it straight into the umpire and they steal another single, it's all allowed

Following this incident, Shane Warne was visibly querying the batting team about fair play and fair play points and such like, a clear violation of 1.7 (public criticism of, or inappropriate comment on a match-related incident or match official).

So my question to you is, will any action be taken? And if it is, will cognizance be taken of the fact that this is a repeat offense?

Or are we to assume that given your ties to Rajasthan, the Rajasthan players ( and specifically her captain) are above reproach?

It aint over yet!

2009-05-14T18:30:00.000-04:00

Rally on, Mumbai Indians!!

The brittle master

2009-05-14T16:05:00.002-04:00

Really? Is Sriram Veera the conjurer of that other famous phrase "Endulkar"? "The Tendulkar shadow refuses to leave Mumbai." he writes.

But for his shadow what was the Indian team, Sriram? All through the 90s, but for him India were but a pack of cards, ready to be blown by the slightest breeze. He gave the team spine and he was its Atlas.

But for him, the nation would have completely lost faith in cricket in the aftermath of the match fixing scandal ( and your little raggedly website would still be housed in London and you would be a two bit beat reporter for some rag).

How old were you when the boy-man hit back to back to back hundreds - in his debut Ranji, Duleep and Irani Trophy outings? Where were you when he hit his first double hundred in first class cricket, the innings that propelled Mumbai to a first innings lead in the Ranji semi finals against Tamil Nadu? And did you know that but for his 96, Mumbai did not stand a chance in its failed run chase against Haryana in the 91 Ranji finals?

Between his debut in 1988/89 till date, we have won 8 Ranji Championships - thats 8 out of 21 Ranji's finals. No one comes remotely close.

What that man means to Mumbai, Mumbai knows. And Mumbai is proud of the fact that Sachin is ours.

The rest of the world be damned.

The Heartbreak Kids

2009-05-14T14:53:00.002-04:00

8th match: Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians at Chennai - Apr 23, 2008
Chennai Super Kings won by 6 runs

45th match: Mumbai Indians v Kings XI Punjab at Mumbai - May 21, 2008
Kings XI Punjab won by 1 run
Kings XI Punjab 189/4 (20/20 ov); Mumbai Indians 188 (20/20 ov)

50th match: Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians at Delhi - May 24, 2008
Delhi Daredevils won by 5 wickets (with 1 ball remaining)
Mumbai Indians 176/8 (20/20 ov); Delhi Daredevils 179/5 (19.5/20 ov)

53rd match: Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians at Jaipur - May 26, 2008
Rajasthan Royals won by 5 wickets (with 0 balls remaining)
Mumbai Indians 145/7 (20/20 ov); Rajasthan Royals 146/5 (20/20 ov)

20th match: Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians at Durban - Apr 29, 2009
Kings XI Punjab won by 3 runs
Kings XI Punjab 119/8 (20/20 ov); Mumbai Indians 116/7 (20/20 ov)

45th match: Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals at Durban - May 14, 2009
Rajasthan Royals won by 2 runs
Rajasthan Royals 145/7 (20/20 ov); Mumbai Indians 143 (19.5/20 ov)

Why?

2009-05-14T14:34:00.002-04:00

Why cant it be, that for once, it is Mumbai at the winning end of a close game? Either lose heavily or close the damn game.. This edge of the seat, here comes the cardiac arrest tension is not on.

And not fair.

This is so not right. On so many different levels.

Sfx on cricket

2009-05-14T09:15:00.002-04:00

(Dated April 29, 2008 - relevant today - reproduced in full)

Cricket is dead. Long Live Cricket…

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Its not just a game, they say. Its an artefact which we must preserve. And they’re right, of course. Cricket is a game of immense skill and strategy. Of ebbs and flows. The essential cricket battle is not just about which side scores more runs – but the manner in which innings are constructed and bowling strategies countered. A drama of ability calibrated to such high levels that everything extempore seems beautifully choreographed. The time honed skills when on peak display are a rivetting spectacle – their spontaneity making it better than theatre.

But what good is that theatre if it isn’t watched? And how far can we go to make it watchable ?

Thankfully for us, cricket has always been up to the task.

In its early form, Test Cricket was a timeless fight to the death, so to speak. Once a game began , it would end with a result. No rain nor storm could force a draw. It was a Test of many things, not the least of which was patience.

Then, the “I-have-to-catch-a-boat” Test happened and Timeless Tests morphed into those with an end date. 5 days (with an interspersed rest day) was a major innovation which fiddled with Test cricket’s fundamental traditions and actually set a deadline for when a match would finish. Now that one thinks about it , it must have been fairly blasphemous when first suggested but it brought a new set of nuances in. Now you had to construct and pace your innings, strategise (occasionally declare) and develop plans with time constraints. The idea of this first major – and all subsequent – innovations was to retain the sanctity of the inherent skills while also respecting the time of those involved ; spectators, players and administrators alike.

By the 1960s, having tasted the aggression of people like Don Bradman earlier, even that was beginning to seem long – and in response to growing demand for more action , One Day cricket was first introduced in England. This not only reduced the format from the existing 6 days to a single day but also brought it to one innings per side ! With limited overs !! As with all things which are built in response to market needs, it was (despite its fair distance from the traditions of the game), a resounding success. In 1971, somewhat by accident , a Limited Overs international was born and although it was the first time that national sides were playing each other in this form, it captured the World’s attention enough for the World Cup of One Day Internationals to be born a few years later.

Test cricket meanwhiled trundled alongside. It had travelled a long way from the Timeless Test age when it all began and now cohabited the sports’ stage with a compressed form of the game which increased the sports popularity as more countries joined in striving to compete with the best. Surely it could only be downhill from here. And for a while it seemed like thats what it would be.

Kerry Packer came and with him came the World Series Cricket circus. Not only were players not playing for the establishment, but there were other breaks from tradition to infuriate and sadden the purists. Night cricket , coloured clothing (pyjama cricket, if you please), white balls, players wearing double entendre’ T shirts (Big / Bad Boys play at night), Tina Turner videos and players playing (gasp !) for money rather than nation. Kerry Packer’s crew played Tests as well as Limited Overs Games and admittedly they were not well received initially but soon, the concept of the Day-Night game caught on. And Kerry Packer became legend. “There is a bit of whore in all of us, Gentlemen. Name your price”, he said to the Australian Board. And ultimately they did. In the words of Dr Greg Manning ” Packer paid $12 million not to buy cricket but to turn the cricket into something he could buy. The real meaning of his victory was that the game would never again be beyond price.”

At the height of the dramas surrounding World Series Cricket, Packer vouchsafed in a press conference that cricketers had long been exploited by authorities, and that they deserved better pay and conditions because of the pleasure they gave to millions. A journalist took up the thread for his remarks and wondered if the businessman was saying that his enterprise was “half-philanthropic”. Packer’s realism was too embedded for him to agree. “Half-philanthropic?” he said. “That makes me sound more generous than I am.”

Kerry Packer was the “commercialisation of the sport” as we now know it.

And yet, Australia now consider him the second biggest influence of the game (in a good way) for the sport in Australia after The Don. On his passing , the MCC observed a minute’s silence as a mark of respect for his contribution to the game.

Justifiably so. For Kerry Packer not only provided a much larger audience for a sport, and money that made the crumbing finances of cricket worldwide viable , but with the influence of his initiatives and the growing popularity of one day cricket – Test Cricket changed forever as well.

The ODI inarguably enhanced Tests. More results , more entertainment (of the pure cricket kind) and more revenues made it a bigger audience attraction than ever. Most importantly, in terms of skills – Better running between the wickets and fielding standards were natural offshoots but techniques went outside the textbooks and worked ! Of course, players of aggressive intent were part of the sport before the advent of ODIs but clearly that aspect of the game got more widespread.

So why this big hue and cry about Twenty20 in general and the Indian Premier League in particular ? How different is it from the Limited Overs game and how different is the inherent commercialisation from what Kerry Packer was doing ? Why are we so keen to dismiss the format at its very inception ? Why is there a school of thought that considers it so sacrilegious that they won’t watch ! Why are some so upset that obits of Test cricket are being considered and no positives – absolutely none can be seen ?

Equally importantly, why is something that was invented (yet again) by the British (in 2003 in response to the “Man and his dog watching County Cricket” syndrome), suddenly now Brutish ?

The origin of Twenty20 was really to bring cricket into a time “zone” which was comparable with other popular sport like Soccer or (Grand Slam) Tennis. The idea was, as most ideas are, a response to market needs as Cricket sought viewership. The idea was not to replace other forms of the sport – and just as the ODIs have not replaced Test cricket or other forms of first class cricket, its early if not erroneous to assume that Twenty20 will.

Initial cynicism is acceptable – and even welcome. After all, sixes and fours rain. Bowlers feel good with 7ish economy rates. Batsmen ostensibly don’t value wickets. Building an innings is almost a sin. Greed obliterates fear. Almost each toss has the losing skipper saying “conditions won’t change much”. With 3 hour match durations those are understatements. Things move lightning quick. Dot balls are gold. Risk is not a four letter word.

And without denying one’s own early cynicism , its also completely wrong to call T20 a parody, caricature or clone of the game. As we’ve said before , there are always those that will crucify themselves between regret of the past and fear of the future. Understanding the value of every delivery is an intensification of the game rather than a dilution of it. Striving to maximise returns and cut down errors from the word go is placing a big premia on performance.

As far as the IPL itself is concerned, the criticisms are many but the targets keep moving so they’re hardly easy to address. Is it the amount of money ? The source of the money ? Bollywood ? The T20 format ? Lalit Modi ? Loyalty ? Royalty ? Media ? All of the above ? There must be something right, surely.

How different are these concerns from the ones that were doubtless raised when Kerry Packer surfaced ? How long did that last and how much good did it bring ? These are questions which we are in the process of answering every passing day.

Somewhere the “off the field” entertainment, which is causing so much unrest amongst the connoisseurs, will find the right balance with the on field skills but as of now its doing the same job that coloured clothing, black sightscreens and their ilk were doing in the 1970s. And getting as much attention at the expense of the cricket from fans and critics alike.

Somewhere we’ll begin to realise and accept that Brendon McCullum’s 150 in 20 overs (an astonishingly good score for a team at the 20 over mark in the one day game) was an act of great cricketing skill and while the element of orthodoxy was missing , it was perhaps telling that Mike Hussey of the phenomenal Test average nearly matched it soon enough. For those that say that this does not adequately test enough to separate the best from the rest, its equally significant that at the time of writing , these two share the top batting slots with cricketers such as Matt Hayden , Sangakarra, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and MS Dhoni. Isnt it a vindication of skill that 4 of those 7 are Australians and come from a team that are thrice World Champions ? Haven’t Glenn Mcgrath and Mohd Asif shown their class ? Haven’t the leadership bluffs of the weaker captains been called?

Another concern is that it pays so much that it’ll destroy the first class structure – already moribund in terms of spectator interest. And there are two aspects of this – money and format.
Money first : These are professional sportsmen and if they bring in the revenue, a share of that to them is really a matter of justice. How else would we like it to be ? But spectator interest for the longer version first class games is a concept that struggles because of the premium that we now place on our time. The ICC bravely tried a “Us and Them” Super Test as a concept and it failed from the start and thats because the problem isn’t one of quality, which is high enough to justify interest – but of time.
Perhaps the format itself will go through changes. Maybe we’ll now have 4 innings of 25 overs each instead of 2 innings of 50 in a One day game to get a hybrid of sorts. But either way, the better cricketers will adjust. Sachin Tendulkar was born about the same time that limited overs internationals were. As were Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, Shane Warne and Glenn Mcgrath. They grew with, and indeed helped grow One Day internationals – but so seamless was their transition that its unlikely that any of them will be considered as having harmed Test cricket. If anything, they have embellished it.

And the performances will undoubtedly improve. And the IPL – and maybe other leagues of value – will contribute to them because they remove barriers to learning that geography created. First class cricketers and newbie internationals are rubbing shoulders with all-time greats. Getting encouragement, strategising along , playing in the nets , understanding preparations, celebrating victories and analysing losses alongside and imbibing mindsets. Even seasoned players see the value in competing with and against contemporaries that national duty would not typically allow them to.

Test Cricket has survived as long as it has because it has adjusted along with the times. Its monumental oceanic presence taking in the shades and shapes of all the new streams that joined in.

Test cricket is not going to die because the highest form of theatre lives on and because the art form is constantly evolving. It’ll probably get squeezed into an increasingly niche audience but those that are willing to carve the time to watch a performance will always stay. However, if we are to make time for it , then it too must keep with the times.

“Without tradition“, said Winston Churchill, “art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd“. Then, as with all things Churchillian, he added the punch line – “Without innovation, its a corpse.”

India forced what?

2009-05-14T07:29:00.002-04:00

Per this article, India forced Asia split on 2011 World Cup.

So I read it. And re-read it. And read it a third time.

And nowhere does it substantiate this claim - that "India had manipulated the situation to its advantage in order to squeeze Pakistan out of the tournament." ( as it is the wording is objectionable, never mind the claim).

"This was a time when India should have come forward, shown leadership and said 'It's all four of us as hosts, or none of us.' If India did not play along, does that tantamount to "manipulating the situation to its advantage" or is it "forcing Asia split on 2011 World Cup" ?

Or has Cricinfo taken the onus of repeatedly insulting its readers intelligence?