India forced what?

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?

Trends?

		PJ Hughes	b Kruger	118

PJ Hughes not out 65

		PJ Hughes	b Rogers	74

		PJ Hughes	c Nixon b Harris	139

		PJ Hughes	c Denly b Tredwell	23

		PJ Hughes	lbw b Willoughby	5

		PJ Hughes	c Batty b Dernbach	195

		PJ Hughes	c Batty b Schofield	57

		PJ Hughes	b Parnell	12

		PJ Hughes	c Ambrose b Rankin	7

		PJ Hughes	b Nel	11

1. 4 bowleds and 4 caught behinds in 10 completed innings

2. The bowler break up is as follows
Right-arm medium-fast
Slow left-arm orthodox
Right-arm medium (6 ft 0 in)
Right-arm offbreak(5 ft 11 in)
Left-arm fast-medium
Right-arm medium-fast(6 ft 2 in)
Legbreak(6 ft 1 in)
Left-arm medium-fast
Right-arm medium-fast(6 ft 7 in)
Right-arm medium-fast

A propensity to fall to taller bowlers with the ability to get the ball in?

Mumbai has company

Say hello to the Deccan Chargers of 2009.

Primacy

pri⋅ma⋅cy

–noun, plural -cies for 2, 3.

1.	the state of being first in order, rank, importance, etc.

2.	Also called primateship. English Ecclesiastics. the office, rank, or dignity of a primate.

3.	Roman Catholic Church. the jurisdiction of a bishop, as a patriarch, over other bishoprics, or the supreme jurisdiction of the pope as supreme bishop.

---

Origin:
1350–1400; ME primacie < class="ital-inline">prīmātia, alter. of L prīmātus (prīm(us) prime + -ātus -ate ³ ); see -y ³

Sir Garfield Sobers and Sir Vivian Richards have defended the primacy of Test cricket in the wake of the withering critique launched by Chris Gayle. Richards said Gayle's comments regarding the death of Test cricket were tantamount to a "total betrayal of the game that raised him" and hoped they were not reflective of the West Indian captain's true feelings.

With respect Sir Richards, here is a bit from Chris Gayle's Wikipedia entry

Gayle played for the West Indies at youth international level after he made his first-class debut aged 19 for Jamaica. He played his first One Day International 11 months later, and his first Test match 6 months after that.

Then there is the statement itself of betraying the game that raised him - the game Gayle plays is cricket. Not Test Cricket, not 50 over cricket, not beach cricket, not tennis ball cricket and definitely not one bounce out cricket. There are all manifestations of the game "that raised him", different formats, if you will.

"I believe Chris still loves Test match cricket, and maybe he wouldn't have made these comments if he had been thinking clearly. I honestly feel that this is not what he genuinely believes, and if it is, it is a total betrayal of the game that raised him.

Everyone has his/her preference - just because you choose to like format of the game does not mean that the other formats are in any way inferior. They may be, in your mind, but sweeping generalizations without the data to back it up is also a betrayal - of intelligence and logic.

Phrase

my way or the highway

1. (mainly US, idiomatic) An expression suggesting an ultimatum which indicates the listener(s) will either conform to the desires of the speaker or else the listener(s) will be excluded

which about sums up the argument for primacy!

The death of Test Cricket

Forget all the debate about whether Test Cricket trumps T20 or vice versa.Forget too the firestorm ignited by Chris Gayle's comments.

The barometer for the health of Test cricket is this - a domestic tournament in a foreign country draws in more crowds than a Test match at the Mecca of Cricket at the start of the English summer.

Watching cricket in stadiums is a very English/Australian thing. Unlike India where people prefer to watch the game from within the confines of their homes.

And yet, when there were half empty stadia at Mohali and Nagpur (never mind the fact that the stadia were well away from the city center and the BCCI had a convoluted policy of selling tickets for all 5 days instead of a per day basis), there was incessant breast beating about how Test cricket was dying ( never mind the fact that the TRP's were off the roof as were the ad revenues).

So what does the half empty Lords tell us about the health of the game? And in case we forget, cricket is not on free to air TV. People actually have to pay for the previlege of watching cricket on TV ( unlike India).

And yet, Chris Gayle's comments raise a firestorm. Wonder why?

Knackered?

Sat 16 16:45 local, 14:45 GMT, 20:15 IST	48th match - Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
Sun 17 12:30 local, 10:30 GMT, 16:00 IST	49th match - Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

Back to back games? At the fag end of the campaign? Who came up with this itinerary and how did DC consent?

Exorcising the ghosts

of May 21, 2008 and April 29, 2009.

Two games, Two clinical wins.

Next up, the Royals sans Warne.

Sachin versus Shane will have to wait!

Fourth on the leader board. Who would have thunk, two games ago?

When is the ball dead?

From Cricinfo

3.5 Vaas to Carseldine, OUT, Carseldine is out, a bizarre bit of cricket, Carseldine fails to connect with the ball again, it thuds into his back pad, Gilchrist collects this time and belts out an appeal for caught-behind, Carseldine doesn't realise the keeper has the ball and sets off for a single, Gilchrist whips off the bails and asks the square-leg umpire for a stumping, which is upheld
LA Carseldine st wicketkeeperGilchrist b Vaas 8 (11b 1x4 0x6) SR: 72.72

From Cricbuzz

Vaas to Carseldine, out Stumped!! Unbelievable piece of stupidity from Carseldine! back of a length outside off, Carseldine misses the clip, they all go up for the caught behind, there was no bat involved, came off the back leg, Gilly is distraught at that not been given out, what does Carseldine do, he looks for the single, Gilly whips the bails off in a flash, Carseldine is left bemused, never seen that before, what a gift of a wicket for DC. Carseldine st Gilchrist b Vaas 8(11) [4s-1]

The dead ball law

Law 23 (Dead ball)

1. Ball is dead
(a) The ball becomes dead when
(i) it is finally settled in the hands of the wicket-keeper or the bowler.
(ii) a boundary is scored. See Law 19.3 (Scoring a boundary).
(iii) a batsman is dismissed.
(iv) whether played or not it becomes trapped between the bat and person of a batsman or between items of his clothing or equipment.
(v) whether played or not it lodges in the clothing or equipment of a batsman or the clothing of an umpire.
(vi) it lodges in a protective helmet worn by a member of the fielding side.
(vii) there is a contravention of either of Laws 41.2 (Fielding the ball) or 41.3 (Protective helmets belonging to the fielding side).
(viii) there is an award of penalty runs under Law 2.6 (Player returning without permission).
(ix) Lost ball is called. See Law 20 (Lost ball).
(x) the umpire calls Over or Time.

(b) The ball shall be considered to be dead when it is clear to the umpire at the bowler's end that the fielding side and both batsmen at the wicket have ceased to regard it as in play.

2. Ball finally settled
Whether the ball is finally settled or not is a matter for the umpire alone to decide.

3. Umpire calling and signalling Dead ball
(a) When the ball has become dead under 1 above, the bowler's end umpire may call Dead ball, if it is necessary to inform the players.

(b) Either umpire shall call and signal Dead ball when
(i) he intervenes in a case of unfair play.
(ii) a serious injury to a player or umpire occurs.
(iii) he leaves his normal position for consultation.
(iv) one or both bails fall from the striker's wicket before he has the opportunity of playing the ball.
(v) he is satisfied that for an adequate reason the striker is not ready for the delivery of the ball and, if the ball is delivered, makes no attempt to play it.
(vi) the striker is distracted by any noise or movement or in any other way while he is preparing to receive or receiving a delivery. This shall apply whether the source of the distraction is within the game or outside it. Note, however, the provisions of Law 42.4 (Deliberate attempt to distract the striker).
The ball shall not count as one of the over.
(vii) the bowler drops the ball accidentally before delivery.
(viii) the ball does not leave the bowler's hand for any reason other than an attempt to run out the non-striker before entering his delivery stride. See Law 42.15 (Bowler attempting to run out non-striker before delivery).
(ix) he is required to do so under any of the Laws.

4. Ball ceases to be dead
The ball ceases to be dead - that is, it comes into play - when the bowler starts his run up or, if he has no run up, his bowling action.

5. Action on call of Dead ball
(a) A ball is not to count as one of the over if it becomes dead or is to be considered dead before the striker has had an opportunity to play it.

(b) If the ball becomes dead or is to be considered dead after the striker has had an opportunity to play the ball, except in the circumstances of 3(vi) above and Law 42.4 (Deliberate attempt to distract striker), no additional delivery shall be allowed unless No ball or Wide has been called.

Question is, if the wicketkeeper is appealing for a caught behind, isn't the ball automatically dead?

Watching Simon Doull go Subramaniam

reminded me of this

Seiously KKR?

Ajit Agarkar plays a blinder to propel KKR to 123. The adrenaline is pumping. So is the confidence. And what does McCullum do?

Open with Ishant and ...Henriques!

I mean, seriously?

Much better

By far the most balanced team the Mumbai Indians have fielded in this tournament so far. They got the right left right batting lineup going. The bowlers had definite roles, the team was not carrying any hangers on.

The batsmen batted, the bowlers bowled, the fielders fielded, Sachin handled his bowlers well. The result was a clinical performance by the Indians and a much required win.

Better days lie ahead!

The PCB

or how not to present an argument

c. India due to law and order situation had to relocate IPL Series to South Africa although the official reason given is IPL schedule clash with the national elections. Recently Australia refused to send its Tennis Team to India for Davis Cup which was due to be held in Chennai, India.

1. Does the PCB have in its possession, documentary evidence to substantiate its claim that the IPL move to South Africa was for reasons other than the schedule clashing with the national elections? And documentary evidence does not purport to Javed Miandad ( Director General, PCB) calling his son's father in law to enquire if the law and order situation is kosher in India and what can be done to disrupt it.

2. It will behoove the lawyers representing the PCB to know that Australia faces sanctions including, but not limited to, a monetary fine plus a forfeit and a possible relegation in the Davis Cup group for not honoring its commitments to play India at Chennai after the ITF had cleared the security arrangements made for the clash.

3. It would also behoove the PCB to know that Pakistan faces a civil war within its own borders. One that Pakistan's prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, said the army was fighting for "the survival of the country",

Strong words, coming as they are from the Prime Minister of the country - so how does the PCB plan to address this real and present danger to thier ability to host the World Cup in 2 years time? Or is "dog in the manger" the PCB policy when it comes to the World Cup?

Badri can bat saala!!!

when the pressure is on. And the spotlight is on him!

Who would have thunk?

PS:- And he is a pretty good linebacker too!!! Whistle podu!!!

Yusuf Pathan, Jacob Oram

the boundary rope, a T20 game and a catch.. Irrespective of the venue, the link remains.

Dont mess with Achettup

especially when he is in this form.. Brilliant!