The great Fall blockbuster

not the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but this

I concur

AR: Now to the question that you have picked as the best one that has come in for you this week. Sandip from the United States wants to know: should MS Dhoni be made India's Test captain? He says that Anil Kumble has been captain of the Test side for a few months now and Dhoni has been the captain for the one-dayers and Twenty20 matches for a similar amount of time. It is very evident that Dhoni has matured tremendously in a short span of time. Is the time ripe now for the Indian selectors to politely replace Kumble with Dhoni as captain of the Indian Test team for the upcoming series against Australia?

GB: My answer to that is simple: no. There has never been a wicketkeeper-batsman who has been a successful captain in Test cricket over a period of time. Occasionally a wicketkeeper has captained an odd Test match. But to do everything, like dealing with the press, wicketkeeping, and batting day after day, match after match is too difficult.

Let me explain to you: stand in front of the mirror, go down on your haunches and come back again. That is what the wicketkeeper does, for 90 overs a day, for 540 balls, plus the throwing and the extras, and so you go up and down about 600 times a day. Most of you will be lucky if you can do that 50 times in front of the mirror. It is very tiring. On top of that, you have the mental situation of having to work out in your head between balls who is going to bowl, what will be the field positions, and still catch the ball if it comes to you.

What has happened in the past when wicketkeepers were captains is that they were concentrating too much on where the fielders should be and who is going to bowl next and so they started dropping catches. I have great respect for Dhoni and I think he has done a wonderful job in one-day cricket. He probably could captain in Tests too but it's just that his position as wicketkeeper makes it all difficult when you add it together.

In one-day cricket, you only have 20 overs or 50 overs to keep wickets - three and a half hours at most to keep wickets. Then he gets a couple of days off. In Test cricket there are no days off. It lasts for five days solid. You have done one innings and then you have to do a second innings. Then you probably get three days off before another Test match because administrators are shoving Test cricket and one-day cricket in as much as they can. Now on top of that, they are shoving in as much Twenty20 cricket as they can. So it is going to get very difficult. It is not that Dhoni can't do it mentally; it is not that he isn't up to the challenge. I think he is, he is very knowledgeable, but it is his position as wicketkeeper that makes it very difficult to encompass captaincy and keeping wickets well.

Clutching at straws...

AUSTRALIA'S hopes of inflicting early pain on India in the Border-Gavaskar series were given a major boost, with the first Test expected to be played on an upgraded fast and bouncy pitch.

News flash, Jon - Bangalore is home to Anil Kumble, captain of the Indian Test Cricket team. And Anil Kumble is a spinner. And unlike Nagpur in 2004 where Shashank Manohar was opposed to the then BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya, the KSCA is completely on side with Sharad Pawar..

So, expect a wicket with bounce, because that will bring our spinners to play.. But dont rule out a turner, because we are going to play up our strengths and highlight your weaknesses, not vice versa.

Thank you Delhi...

Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited 266 (Shehzad 66, Umar Akmal 58) beat Delhi 134 (Kohli 52, Imran Ali 6-52) and 516 for 4 (Chopra 182, Kohli 197) on first-innings lead

The two previous editions of the Mohammad Nissar Trophy, instituted in 2006, had been won by Indian teams - Uttar Pradesh in 2006 and Mumbai in 2007.

You spineless bastards!

The Champions Trophy

When initial reports came in about India not playing ball with the ICC's plan of hosting the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in October of 2009, it was played up by the media as Indian intransigence, never mind the fact that the proposed dates clashed with India's series against Australia - a series that was a part of the FTP.

David Hopps, in the Guardian, characterized it thus -

As if providing proof that cricket does not want to listen, on the very day that Trescothick's autobiography was launched, the International Cricket Council was beset by more unsustainable scheduling as India undermined the rescheduled Champions Trophy itinerary for October 2009 with grandiose plans of its own. Greed - of players and administrators - silently eats away at the health of the game and those who play it.

It is with this in mind that I read the following article on the Cricinfo website

Chances of the Champions Trophy being held in 2009 appear to be brightening with intense discussions on the issue between ICC officials and those of its member boards over the last few days opening up "2-3 options". One of those options will be finalised when the governing body's executive board meets next month, Cricinfo has learnt.

Salient amongst the points made was this

"There is no question that all the boards would like the Champions Trophy to happen," Shah told Cricinfo. "But you can't expect only India to adjust its dates for that. We are willing to look at an adjustment by a few days if everyone else involved is equally flexible."

and this

According to the governing body, the "primacy of ICC events was restated" during its board meeting in Dubai on September 11 to discuss the dates, but sources said that an interesting sidelight of the discussions was that no board appeared keen to see the Champions Twenty20 League affected to accommodate the Champions Trophy.

But what really made me sit up and take notice was this paragraph

The Indian board may be open to facilitating a window from around September 20-30 by pushing back the dates of the Champions Twenty20 League and the Australia one-day series by a few days. For that to happen, England and Australia will have to tweak the dates of their one-day series, the New Zealand-Sri Lanka engagement has to be looked at and, crucially, the ICC may have to compress the span of its tournament. But while Shah said that "even the ICC has to be flexible", there are no signs of an update from England, where the line of thought within the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) at the moment seems to be that it is a question for the ICC to answer and that "the ball appears to be with others".

First, the security excuse.. Now, not a word on rescheduling the Natwest Trophy or revisiting the itinerary. Nothing. Nada.

And they say it is India that is undermining the Champions Trophy!

No no no no no no

No!

No Peter no... You are expected to bag the opposition players, not your own.

And Malcolm, it is the opposition who has a popgun bowling attack, not your own.

This is, by far the weirdest build up to the Gavaskar-Border trophy since its inception - former Indian player bagging the opposition captain, Aussie journalists downplaying their team AND bagging their own... What next, Ishant Sharma naming his bunnies?

This is not how the script goes..

Ponting will fail: India's Borde

Isn't it the prerogative of former Australian players to make pre-series statements like these?

Favourable coverage returns...on Cricinfo

ESPN Star Sports (ESS) has bagged the ten-year rights for the Champions League Twenty20 with a bid of $900 million, making it the highest value cricket tournament on a per game basis.

DIC was next in contention with a bid of $751.3 million, marginally higher than the floor price fixed at $750 million. Abu Dhabi Sports Club's was disqualified for being a conditional one.

ESS' global rights until 2017 are all-inclusive including TV telecast, sponsorship, mobile and new media.

No more snarky quote unquotes from the "Cricinfo staff", I would assume?

Mahela-speak

"The important thing is that the boards don't compete with each other," the batsman told the October edition of the Wisden Cricketer magazine.

"The BCCI also needs to understand that we can't be playing four Twenty20 tournaments in a year. What happens to other cricket around the world then?

"Everyone's being driven by the money but you have to compromise and start sharing the pot."

This spake Sri Lanka's captain, Mahela Jayawardene, in the context of the IPL and Twenty 20 cricket.

Pakistan's attempts to undertake an unscheduled tour of Sri Lanka later this month seems destined for failure as the Sri Lankan board has demanded a whopping two million dollars for the proposed one-day series.

Sources say that a leading sports channel from Dubai had offered to broadcast the series on a barter basis and are willing to treat it as a one-off event.

"Ten sports have offered to bear all production costs for the series in return for getting the rights of the series and then arranging for the title sponsorship and other revenues and paying all expenses. But the Sri Lankan board is demanding two million dollars payment for the television rights itself," the source said.

"boards don't compete with each other", "What happens to other cricket around the world then", "you have to compromise and start sharing the pot."" - is your own Cricket Board listening to what you have to say, Mahela?

Bye bye Arjuna?

Sri Lanka's cricket board is set for its first elections in four years, Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge told AFP on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has been dogged in recent years by controversies and bitter infighting among politicians wanting to wrest control of the most popular sport in the island nation.

“Work is underway to hold the elections,” Lokuge said, while declining to give a precise date.

The last elected administration under Tilanga Sumathipala was dismissed by the then sports minister Jeewan Kumaratunga in March 2005, barely a year after elections.

Since then, politically appointed administrations have run SLC, the island's richest sports governing body.

Sumathipala's rival in the 2004 election, former captain Arjuna Ranatunga, now heads SLC, but the 44-year-old, who is a ruling party member of parliament, has said he is not interested in contesting the elections.

Jayantha Dharmadasa, a previous chairman of SLC, and Sumathipala are thought likely to run. -(AFP)

Playing by the rules

India oppose Champions Trophy in October 2009 - reads the headline on the front page of Cricinfo.

The first paragraph of the article ( by the ubiquitous Cricinfo staff) reads

The Indian board has rejected suggestions made during a meeting of the ICC's chief executives in Dubai on Wednesday to conduct the Champions Trophy in October 2009 because it will clash with the "very important" one-day series at home against Australia. The issue now passes to the ICC Board, which meets on Thursday.

Now, a cursory glance at the Future Tours program will show that the 7 ODI series had long been penciled in for October ( a quid pro quo for the CB/VB series or a money spinner all on its own or because CA is not willing to club its Tests and ODI commitments in India, take your pick).

So how is it that the ICC picked this window for the Champions Trophy, contravening its own Future Tours program?

And if staging the Champions Trophy is paramount, why not in September?

( and never mind the quote unquote around very important - Cricinfo may have moved to Bangalore but that does not make them any less snarky - does being persona non grata at the IPL hurt so much.. for so long?)

An unique double!

1000 posts and a year of blogging!!!

Way to go Uncle J!!

Come on. England!!!

( or why I want England to win the inaugural Stanford Twenty20 bash!)

A deal will mean that if England win, each of the XI will receive US$1 million, the rest of the squad share US$1 million, and the management team splits another US$1 million. The remaining US$7 million will be shared between the ECB and the West Indies Cricket Board, regardless of the outcome of the match itself.

Now, if England were to lose out on the 13 million promised to the winners, the recriminations will begin in earnest.. Scapegoats will be found, players will find themselves out of favor within the team, players will be named and shamed.

The team will be disrupted!

Which is not the ideal preparation for the India tour.. And not that I will be complaining too loudly if this happened.

But it will be a temporary blip - the player ( or players) who contributed most to the loss will find themselves out of favor with the team and the management and, in all probability, find themselves on the sidelines ( unless you are a Freddie Flintoff or a Kevin Pieterson, but even then you will find yourself the source of much team animosity).

But, on the other hand, an England win will have more far reaching consequences...

Think about it,,, Here is the XV named for the Stanford series -

Squad for Stanford and India ODIs Kevin Pietersen (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Stephen Harmison, Samit Patel, Matt Prior (wk), Owais Shah, Graeme Swann, Ryan Sidebottom, Luke Wright

Of these XV, XI lucky players will stand to get a million dollars each while the four benchwarmers will get 250,000 dollars each.

So, for starters, questions will be asked of the team selection - who in the XV are closest to the captain and the coach?

Then, there is the money itself.. For the players losing out on the loot ( even if they made their presence felt in the leadup to the game), there is going to be resentment at being left out.

And, if the team, in a rare moment of charity, decides to divide the loot equally, there will be members from the playing XI who will think that they have been given a raw deal.

Either ways, team unity and harmony will be put to test...And if the feelings fester, the long term implications will be tremendous.

Imagine the same cast of players participating in the Stanford quadrangular scheduled in England ( prior to the Ashes, methinks) and the same cast of bench warmers missing out on a lions share the $9.5 million pay cheque!

Nothing like success to destroy a team's fabric!

no Mishra?

"For God's sake, allow me to fail," said his captain. Then why is he denying Amit Mishra the same?

Cant play spin?

Yesterday, after India A lost its first 3 wickets to Bryce McGain and ended the day at 180/4, there was a lot of talk of India's inability to play spin.

And the usual breast beating began - batting quality has gone down, "they don't play spin like they once did." etc etc.

So it was with some interest that I looked at the scorecard of the second day's play between India A and Australia A.

Australia 113/8 in 44.5 overs ( RR 2.52)!!!!

But... but.... Australia always scores at 4 runs or more per over.. And they play spin as well as, if not better than the Indians. And they play spin with soft hands.. And they rotate the strike.. And they work on partnerships.. And they target specific bowlers.. and fielders..

So, have the Australians forgotten how to bat?

But.... but.... wasn't Shaun Marsh at the IPL proof positive that there was enough roster depth in the Australian domestic setup to keep the Aussie flag flying for altleast one more generation?

So how does that dovetail with the current capitulation by Australia A?

Or is India's "inability" to play spin a knee jerk reaction?

And for all the talk of India's players using their feet to get to the pitch of the ball etc, here are my two cents

1. Using your feet when the spinner is tossing it up makes sense. But try using your feet when the ball is aimed flat and fast.. And good luck with that!

2. Heavier bats and smaller grounds make using the feet to get to the pitch of the ball irrelevant. Batsmen can swing through the line (or across the line) fully secure in the knowledge that even mis hits will accrue runs.

3. Pad play- anyone remember Jimmy Adams? And does anyone remember the amount of pad play in the 80s and the early 90s? For all the talk of using the feet to the spinners, how often did batsmen, beaten in the flight, thrust their pads out to negate the spinner?

We have had, through the ages, quality players of spin.. But not all 11 of the team were spectacular players of spin.

I mentioned on Soulberry's excellent blog that, because we have been blessed with great depth in spin bowling, the tacit assumption has been that we are great players of spin ( across generations). Which is not necessarily true.

Because, by that logic, the Pakistanis have to be the best players of reverse swing bowling.. But the truth is otherwise!