Was anybody surprised with the result of this game? We were so sure this result was in the offing that we did not see a single delivery of this game. We don't have anything to say about this game. Can we get the other useless games done and over with and move on to the business end of the tournament? Please?
Wait, NZ plays Australia this Friday. If NZ beats Australia, we will most probably die of shock. Other than that, all the other games are crap. Wait, how could we forget? the very important game between West Indies and England is coming up. That will be an entertaining game. If we were a betting man, we would put some money on Michael Vaughan scoring some runs in this game. How many runs, you ask? Let's not talk about unimportant things like that instead let's talk about:
"...shoes, and ships, and sealing wax-
Of cabbages and Kings,
And why the sea is boiling hot,
And whether pigs have wings."
As Akira Kurosawa once said (talking about his movies in general and RAN in particular): "If I wanted to deliver a message, I'd write a letter" and then he promptly spoiled this great response by saying: "What I wanted to say in the last scene was that humanity must face life without relying on God or Buddha.."
Why are we talking about Kurosawa in a cricket blog? That is a good question. We are going to watch a movie now. Our favorite movie of all time. Great movies are like that - timeless and good for the soul. Great games are also like that. Unfortunately, there haven't been that many great games in this world cup.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
England Vs South Africa, Super Eights
South Africa ignored our dire warnings and went ahead and included Andre Nel in the team. They will pay for this. Soon. Maybe as soon as the semi-final. Despite the presence of Andre Nel in the bowling line-up, England, taking a leaf out of India's playbook, imploded spectacularly. They made a mind boggling score of 154 and South Africa knocked it off without breaking a sweat.
England's first wicket fell when the score was 9 runs in the 8th over. That's right, 8th over. Whatever one might say about the English performance on the cricket field, one has to admire their stubbornness with sticking to their "plan". What was the "plan"? To bat sedately for 20 overs without losing wickets ("back to the basics" approach) and then accelerate like hell in the last 15 overs.
They got the "bat sedately" part right but the "not losing wickets" and "accelerate in the last 15 overs" parts - not so much. It was a disgrace that Ravi Bopara, who has looked much better then at least 5 of their star players, batted at number 7. Mind you, that was a promotion. He batted at number 8 in the earlier matches. Stupid and highly moronic.
England was one of the dark horses of this tournament back when the world cup started last century. They were coming to the Windies after beating Australia and having won the VB Championship. The team has a good bowling attack, some in-form batsmen (Bell, KP, and Colly), Monty, and Flintoff. It's sad that they couldn't all play well in the same match. Forget about the 'all' part, even if three of their players played well, they would have done well.
Today's performance was truly depressing. We were pumped up for a great tussle between England and SA. What with this game being a virtual quarter-final and on top of that there was this whole sideshow of KP and Smith. This could have been a great match. Unfortunately, only one team showed up for this match and that team was not England.
On the bright side(?), England will play more matches in this world cup than India and Pakistan combined. Furthermore, all cricket lovers have a great cricket match with nothing at stake to look forward to:
England Vs West Indies.
That game is going to rock! Everybody will score centuries and then all the bowlers will take hat-tricks. Mark your calenders. It's the must see match of the tournament. You heard it here first.
England's first wicket fell when the score was 9 runs in the 8th over. That's right, 8th over. Whatever one might say about the English performance on the cricket field, one has to admire their stubbornness with sticking to their "plan". What was the "plan"? To bat sedately for 20 overs without losing wickets ("back to the basics" approach) and then accelerate like hell in the last 15 overs.
They got the "bat sedately" part right but the "not losing wickets" and "accelerate in the last 15 overs" parts - not so much. It was a disgrace that Ravi Bopara, who has looked much better then at least 5 of their star players, batted at number 7. Mind you, that was a promotion. He batted at number 8 in the earlier matches. Stupid and highly moronic.
England was one of the dark horses of this tournament back when the world cup started last century. They were coming to the Windies after beating Australia and having won the VB Championship. The team has a good bowling attack, some in-form batsmen (Bell, KP, and Colly), Monty, and Flintoff. It's sad that they couldn't all play well in the same match. Forget about the 'all' part, even if three of their players played well, they would have done well.
Today's performance was truly depressing. We were pumped up for a great tussle between England and SA. What with this game being a virtual quarter-final and on top of that there was this whole sideshow of KP and Smith. This could have been a great match. Unfortunately, only one team showed up for this match and that team was not England.
On the bright side(?), England will play more matches in this world cup than India and Pakistan combined. Furthermore, all cricket lovers have a great cricket match with nothing at stake to look forward to:
England Vs West Indies.
That game is going to rock! Everybody will score centuries and then all the bowlers will take hat-tricks. Mark your calenders. It's the must see match of the tournament. You heard it here first.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Australia Vs Sri Lanka, Super Eights
SL did the unexpected by "resting" Murali, Vaas, and Malinga. This decision tells us that they realistically did not expect to win this match. Then, SL's game plan boiled down to how they planned on losing the match.
It is true that SL could have had a chance of winning the match if Jayasuriya played one of his patented explosive knocks followed by the top order consolidating and ending up with a HUGE total (around 300-325). That did not happen. Mainly due to Nathan Bracken's brilliant bowling. We haven't talked much about Bracken because we were hoping that he would just go away if we ignored him long enough. Now that is not going to happen, we might as well heap praise on Bracken.
Nathan Bracken is the kind of bowler all cricket sides drool over - left arm fast-medium. The last great left arm fast-medium bowler Australia had was Bruce Reid ( A brilliant bowler with injury problems). Left arm fast bowlers are prized because their natural delivery veers away from the right-handers and if the said left arm bowler has the ability to bring the ball in or to straighten the ball after it pitches, so much better.
Bracken can do all of the above and on top of it, he is very accurate and has McGrath like ability in keeping to his line and length. Bracken not being in the Australian test side is a joke. Anyway, Bracken bowled phenomenally well and had SL reeling at 29/3.
Mahela Jayawardene and Chamara Silva did the rebuilding work for SL but after they were gone, the Aussies quickly rolled over the other batsmen and SL ended up with 226 runs. Jayawardene looked very good out in the middle. He batted very fluently and seems to be in really good form. Mahela's batting form must please the Lankans a lot. His short-arm pull off Tait for a 6 was the best shot he played all tournament.
SL's total was never going to trouble the Aussies and sure enough, it did not. They cantered to victory in the 43rd over losing just 3 wickets and on top of that they were able to give Symonds some quality time in the middle.
So, What did this game prove? Aussies are the best team in the world and SL don't have to feel depressed because they left out their best bowlers from the team. It is a win-win situation for both teams. But, here's the catch: SL batting line-up was their A-team and they did not cover themselves with glory today. If SL play Australia again and post a similar score, they are going to lose even if they have Vaas, Malinga, and Murali in the line-up.
A lot will depend on SL's batting if they are to win the world cup. That means, a lot will depend on how well Jayasuriya bats. Since we are talking about Sanath, what is the deal with Tharanga? He has been plodding at the other end and puts undue pressure on Jayasuriya. If SL want Jayasuriya to bat freely they need Tharanga to bat a little bit more aggressively at the other end.
The Aussie Juggernaut rolls on.
It is true that SL could have had a chance of winning the match if Jayasuriya played one of his patented explosive knocks followed by the top order consolidating and ending up with a HUGE total (around 300-325). That did not happen. Mainly due to Nathan Bracken's brilliant bowling. We haven't talked much about Bracken because we were hoping that he would just go away if we ignored him long enough. Now that is not going to happen, we might as well heap praise on Bracken.
Nathan Bracken is the kind of bowler all cricket sides drool over - left arm fast-medium. The last great left arm fast-medium bowler Australia had was Bruce Reid ( A brilliant bowler with injury problems). Left arm fast bowlers are prized because their natural delivery veers away from the right-handers and if the said left arm bowler has the ability to bring the ball in or to straighten the ball after it pitches, so much better.
Bracken can do all of the above and on top of it, he is very accurate and has McGrath like ability in keeping to his line and length. Bracken not being in the Australian test side is a joke. Anyway, Bracken bowled phenomenally well and had SL reeling at 29/3.
Mahela Jayawardene and Chamara Silva did the rebuilding work for SL but after they were gone, the Aussies quickly rolled over the other batsmen and SL ended up with 226 runs. Jayawardene looked very good out in the middle. He batted very fluently and seems to be in really good form. Mahela's batting form must please the Lankans a lot. His short-arm pull off Tait for a 6 was the best shot he played all tournament.
SL's total was never going to trouble the Aussies and sure enough, it did not. They cantered to victory in the 43rd over losing just 3 wickets and on top of that they were able to give Symonds some quality time in the middle.
So, What did this game prove? Aussies are the best team in the world and SL don't have to feel depressed because they left out their best bowlers from the team. It is a win-win situation for both teams. But, here's the catch: SL batting line-up was their A-team and they did not cover themselves with glory today. If SL play Australia again and post a similar score, they are going to lose even if they have Vaas, Malinga, and Murali in the line-up.
A lot will depend on SL's batting if they are to win the world cup. That means, a lot will depend on how well Jayasuriya bats. Since we are talking about Sanath, what is the deal with Tharanga? He has been plodding at the other end and puts undue pressure on Jayasuriya. If SL want Jayasuriya to bat freely they need Tharanga to bat a little bit more aggressively at the other end.
The Aussie Juggernaut rolls on.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Bangladesh Vs Ireland, Super Eights
ICC had a grand vision. On a sunny April Sunday, India and Pakistan would play in front of packed houses and bring the world cup to life. If ICC was lucky, this game would be a crucial game with the loser getting thrown out of the world cup. Unfortunately for ICC, this scenario did not come to pass. Instead, Bangladesh was playing Ireland in a match which would determine who among them would occupy the last spot.
Bangladesh for all the giant-killing it has done in this world cup, has a very sub-continent trait of being inconsistent. This inconsistency led them to a defeat in a game where they were, for once, the favorites. Ireland won the toss, elected to bat and went to post a very competitive total after a sedate start. KJ O'Brien and Trent Johnston provided the much needed impetus with some lusty hitting. Chasing 243 would not have been a problem for Bangladesh if they had gotten off to a good start.
Bangladesh lost wickets regularly and were never in the chase. The bane of bad batting (lack of partnerships) was their biggest problem. It did not help Bd that Habitual Basher...er...Habibul Bashar is in a batting slump. We would have liked to see Bashar play well. He has a reputation of being a fierce puller and is very well known for his addiction to the hook shot. Sadly, he was nowhere near his best.
Despite doing a lot of commendable things in this world cup, this loss must be a real downer for Bangladesh. On the other hand, Ireland played exceedingly well and were captained brilliantly. Trent Johnston did a great job captaining the side and played very good cricket too. For our money, Trent Johnston was the man of the match.
Ireland has done a commendable job in this world cup. We really hope that they don't go the way Kenya did after the last world cup. Ireland needs a lot of love. Money will help too. But the most important thing Ireland needs is: matches with other test playing countries. ICC should not drop the ball with Ireland. They can be a test playing country pretty soon if they are given the needed encouragement.
Bangladesh for all the giant-killing it has done in this world cup, has a very sub-continent trait of being inconsistent. This inconsistency led them to a defeat in a game where they were, for once, the favorites. Ireland won the toss, elected to bat and went to post a very competitive total after a sedate start. KJ O'Brien and Trent Johnston provided the much needed impetus with some lusty hitting. Chasing 243 would not have been a problem for Bangladesh if they had gotten off to a good start.
Bangladesh lost wickets regularly and were never in the chase. The bane of bad batting (lack of partnerships) was their biggest problem. It did not help Bd that Habitual Basher...er...Habibul Bashar is in a batting slump. We would have liked to see Bashar play well. He has a reputation of being a fierce puller and is very well known for his addiction to the hook shot. Sadly, he was nowhere near his best.
Despite doing a lot of commendable things in this world cup, this loss must be a real downer for Bangladesh. On the other hand, Ireland played exceedingly well and were captained brilliantly. Trent Johnston did a great job captaining the side and played very good cricket too. For our money, Trent Johnston was the man of the match.
Ireland has done a commendable job in this world cup. We really hope that they don't go the way Kenya did after the last world cup. Ireland needs a lot of love. Money will help too. But the most important thing Ireland needs is: matches with other test playing countries. ICC should not drop the ball with Ireland. They can be a test playing country pretty soon if they are given the needed encouragement.
New Zealand Vs South Africa, Super Eights
We predicted this. Well...not in so many words but we did say this:
The thing about NZ is that they use the limited resources they have very efficiently. Shane Bond is the best fast bowler on the planet right now. This guy is awesome. BCCI should use the money it has to make Shane Bond a citizen of India. India can use him. What we like about Bond is not that he is a great fast bowler but the fact that he is such a nice guy. After beating Kallis every ball in an over, he stood and smiled at Kallis after each ball. The best part was that it was not a mocking smile. It was a smile of a man who felt the batsman's pain. It was a very sympathetic smile. How can one dislike a guy like that?
Anyway, after Bond smiled for 10 overs, he finished with figures of 10 overs 1 maiden, 26 runs and 2 wickets. Great bowling from Bond. NZ bowled very well and contained SA to 193 runs. This total would never trouble the Kiwis. All they had to do was stay at the wicket and they would get the required runs.
Fleming and Styris did just that for the most part and then McMillan took them home. With this win, NZ is in the semi-finals. Not a big deal since they have been in a lot of semi-finals. This world cup, they have a very good chance of making it to the finals. We are rooting for them.
SA on the other hand, now have to play a 'quarter-final' match against England to get to the semi-finals. England have a pretty good chance at winning that game. That would be fantastic. Bad Karma is a bitch.
"...Andre Nel was not dropped despite our recommendation. South Africa is going to pay for that. Soon."SA did not drop Andre Nel for this match and paid the price. Serves them right. They really should have dropped Nel for Langeveldt. Langeveldt is a much better swing bowler and would have liked to bowl on the green top in Grenada.
The thing about NZ is that they use the limited resources they have very efficiently. Shane Bond is the best fast bowler on the planet right now. This guy is awesome. BCCI should use the money it has to make Shane Bond a citizen of India. India can use him. What we like about Bond is not that he is a great fast bowler but the fact that he is such a nice guy. After beating Kallis every ball in an over, he stood and smiled at Kallis after each ball. The best part was that it was not a mocking smile. It was a smile of a man who felt the batsman's pain. It was a very sympathetic smile. How can one dislike a guy like that?
Anyway, after Bond smiled for 10 overs, he finished with figures of 10 overs 1 maiden, 26 runs and 2 wickets. Great bowling from Bond. NZ bowled very well and contained SA to 193 runs. This total would never trouble the Kiwis. All they had to do was stay at the wicket and they would get the required runs.
Fleming and Styris did just that for the most part and then McMillan took them home. With this win, NZ is in the semi-finals. Not a big deal since they have been in a lot of semi-finals. This world cup, they have a very good chance of making it to the finals. We are rooting for them.
SA on the other hand, now have to play a 'quarter-final' match against England to get to the semi-finals. England have a pretty good chance at winning that game. That would be fantastic. Bad Karma is a bitch.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Australia Vs Ireland, Super Eights
WOW!
Australia completely demolished Ireland. Talk about kicking arse. Australia kicked some serious arse. The match was over before lunch. Brilliant.
Can anybody beat Australia? They are playing brilliant cricket.
Australia completely demolished Ireland. Talk about kicking arse. Australia kicked some serious arse. The match was over before lunch. Brilliant.
Can anybody beat Australia? They are playing brilliant cricket.
New Zealand Vs Sri Lanka, Super Eights
The question is: How will SL play when their freak of nature (who has truly come of age) is not available to perform his miracles?
Answer: The other freak of nature (Muralitharan) and the old war horses (Vaas and Jayasuriya) will lift their game as needed.
Great win for SL. They deserve the semi-final spot. Next stop for SL: Australia. Go SL.
Answer: The other freak of nature (Muralitharan) and the old war horses (Vaas and Jayasuriya) will lift their game as needed.
Great win for SL. They deserve the semi-final spot. Next stop for SL: Australia. Go SL.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Bangladesh Vs England, Super Eights
West Indies and England were two teams that Bangladesh could fancy their chances against. That's what we thought before the Super Eights started. One can now scratch England off that list. England put in a impressive bowling performance and skittled out Bangladesh for 143. Panesar (who was not very impressive against Australia) did a great job and picked up 3 wickets for 25 runs in his 7 overs. Surprisingly, Sajid Mahmood was pretty good too. We get the feeling that Mahmood is a rich man's Ajit Agarkar. He will bowl well when everything is going swimmingly well but will wilt under pressure.
Chasing a meager score of 143, England decided that the match needed a little fizz and started losing wickets. Eventually, England scored the required runs but crawled instead of sprinting towards the total. They took 45 overs to score the runs. Bangladesh scored 143 in 37 overs. That is just ridiculous. England made real heavy weather of the chase. It was not entertaining cricket but England got the two points they desperately needed.
England's next match will be against South Africa. The winner of that match will go to the semi-final. England will need to pick up their game to have a chance of beating SA.
Chasing a meager score of 143, England decided that the match needed a little fizz and started losing wickets. Eventually, England scored the required runs but crawled instead of sprinting towards the total. They took 45 overs to score the runs. Bangladesh scored 143 in 37 overs. That is just ridiculous. England made real heavy weather of the chase. It was not entertaining cricket but England got the two points they desperately needed.
England's next match will be against South Africa. The winner of that match will go to the semi-final. England will need to pick up their game to have a chance of beating SA.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
West Indies Vs South Africa, Super Eights
South Africa kicked West Indies out of the world cup. We have one question for Brian Lara after this defeat: What was the deal with the last powerplay? Why didn't Lara take the third powerplay? Did he forget? was it intentional? or was he hoping that the umpires would forget? Whatever the case might be, the way WI played, they did not deserve to get ahead in this tournament. Their game, barring the game against Pakistan, has been very insipid. The team has been playing very bad cricket. They knew going into this game that this was a make or break game for them. If that doesn't inspire a team to pick it up a notch then the team doesn't deserve to win.
However insipid WI played, AB DeVilliers played an inspired knock and in the process hit his first ODI century. More importantly, from S. African point of view, batted himself into form. In a space of 14 balls, AB scored about 50 runs (when he went from somewhere in his nineties to 144). It was a brilliant batting display and he knocked the stuffing out the West Indian bowling attack. The knock against SA is that they play a very formulaic brand of cricket and that their cricket lacks flairs. But this in this match, SA's batting display was all about flair. It had a very unkallisque like batting from Kallis who hit another half century (81 runs in 86 balls). Seems like all the criticism seems to have gotten under the big man's skin.
There is not much to say about West Indian batting. Chris Gayle flattered to deceive, Lara failed, Chanderpaul failed, Sarwan played the 'Captain on the sinking ship's deck' even though he is not the Captain, and that was that.
The match was over by the time SA's innings ended. A very one-sided match and a boring one too. Andre Nel was not dropped despite our recommendation. South Africa is going to pay for that. Soon.
However insipid WI played, AB DeVilliers played an inspired knock and in the process hit his first ODI century. More importantly, from S. African point of view, batted himself into form. In a space of 14 balls, AB scored about 50 runs (when he went from somewhere in his nineties to 144). It was a brilliant batting display and he knocked the stuffing out the West Indian bowling attack. The knock against SA is that they play a very formulaic brand of cricket and that their cricket lacks flairs. But this in this match, SA's batting display was all about flair. It had a very unkallisque like batting from Kallis who hit another half century (81 runs in 86 balls). Seems like all the criticism seems to have gotten under the big man's skin.
There is not much to say about West Indian batting. Chris Gayle flattered to deceive, Lara failed, Chanderpaul failed, Sarwan played the 'Captain on the sinking ship's deck' even though he is not the Captain, and that was that.
The match was over by the time SA's innings ended. A very one-sided match and a boring one too. Andre Nel was not dropped despite our recommendation. South Africa is going to pay for that. Soon.
Rahul Bhattacharya
Regular readers of this blog know that we are a big fan of RB's writing. He has been pretty busy lately and has been writing quite a few articles. Listed below are some of his columns/articles/profiles we really liked in no particular order:
Fantastic profile of Shane Bond.
A great feature on VVS Laxman. Really worth your while if you are a fan of Laxman.
Another really good feature on Anil Kumble-the man who couldn't spin the ball to save his life.
RB interviews John Wright.
Zoo TV, indeed.
Feature on Dravid after his elevation to Captaincy.
Fantastic profile of Shane Bond.
A great feature on VVS Laxman. Really worth your while if you are a fan of Laxman.
Another really good feature on Anil Kumble-the man who couldn't spin the ball to save his life.
RB interviews John Wright.
Zoo TV, indeed.
Feature on Dravid after his elevation to Captaincy.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Ireland Vs New Zealand, Super Eights
For a little while, another upset was in the air with New Zealand struggling at 118-4. But it is important to remember that cream always rises to the top. NZ did the needed repair work and then went on a little rampage in the last 7 overs. They were plodding along at 189-4 in the 43rd over but the last 7 overs proved very eventful and they ended their innings at 263-8 from their allotted 50 overs.
That's the thing about good teams. Not that they never get into trouble but that they invariably find a way to did themselves out of the hole. In this particular instance Peter Fulton held the innings together while Brendon McCullum and James Franklin applied the finishing touch. The thing we like about this Kiwi side is that they do everything very matter-of-factly. There is no drama in their play. This is how seasoned cricket teams are supposed to win their matches. With this win, they are a shoo in for the semi-final berth. We are still backing NZ to be one of the two sides that can beat Australia.
The Irish have nothing to be ashamed with their effort. They did the best they could and only lost their way in the last 7 overs while they were bowling. Once NZ made 263, the game was out of Ireland's reach. All they could hope to do was compete. The fact that the Irish could not compete was because NZ has too much firepower at their disposal. Shane Bond did what he has been doing throughout this world cup by bowling magnificently.
Bond has cut down on his pace a little bit but, if anything, he has become more dangerous. He is able to bowl an excellent line and length and produces some beauties every once in a while. The fact that Kiwi's field brilliantly means that these beauties that Bond produces almost always get him wickets. Another hero for NZ today was Daniel Vettori. Daniel Vettori is a spinner in the Anil Kumble mould. Vettori preys on the tailenders and is very difficult to get away with. He was extremely effective today and ended up with 4 wickets for 23 runs in his 8.4 overs. It was a very clinical and effective bowling performance from NZ today.
Overall, NZ should be very pleased with this win and by scuttling Ireland out for 134 runs, their NRR is also healthy. They just need to hold it all together for a few more weeks and they have a very good chance of taking the world cup with them.
That's the thing about good teams. Not that they never get into trouble but that they invariably find a way to did themselves out of the hole. In this particular instance Peter Fulton held the innings together while Brendon McCullum and James Franklin applied the finishing touch. The thing we like about this Kiwi side is that they do everything very matter-of-factly. There is no drama in their play. This is how seasoned cricket teams are supposed to win their matches. With this win, they are a shoo in for the semi-final berth. We are still backing NZ to be one of the two sides that can beat Australia.
The Irish have nothing to be ashamed with their effort. They did the best they could and only lost their way in the last 7 overs while they were bowling. Once NZ made 263, the game was out of Ireland's reach. All they could hope to do was compete. The fact that the Irish could not compete was because NZ has too much firepower at their disposal. Shane Bond did what he has been doing throughout this world cup by bowling magnificently.
Bond has cut down on his pace a little bit but, if anything, he has become more dangerous. He is able to bowl an excellent line and length and produces some beauties every once in a while. The fact that Kiwi's field brilliantly means that these beauties that Bond produces almost always get him wickets. Another hero for NZ today was Daniel Vettori. Daniel Vettori is a spinner in the Anil Kumble mould. Vettori preys on the tailenders and is very difficult to get away with. He was extremely effective today and ended up with 4 wickets for 23 runs in his 8.4 overs. It was a very clinical and effective bowling performance from NZ today.
Overall, NZ should be very pleased with this win and by scuttling Ireland out for 134 runs, their NRR is also healthy. They just need to hold it all together for a few more weeks and they have a very good chance of taking the world cup with them.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Australia Vs England, Super Eights
As we write this, England are 61-2 in the 14th over. Ian Bell just hit 3 fours off McGrath's bowling. McGrath is shaking his head and swearing. What a beautiful sight. The second powerplay is on and Clarke is already on with his spin. Clarke is proving very hard to get away with. KP just made us a liar by advancing down the pitch and hitting a spanking straight drive for 4 and then he goes again and hit a huge 6. Brilliant shot. England 74-2 after 15 overs.
Once again, the English openers fell cheaply. Both (Vaughan and Strauss) fell to Tait. Oooh Brad Hogg into the attack. This will be interesting. Chinaman into the attack. KP uses his feet really well. Interestingly, Ponting has not taken the third powerplay. Three runs from the over. England 77-2 after 16 overs.
Update 1:
England is now 99-2 after 19 overs. KP is going great guns. Like the commentators keep reminding us, he is very tall. Okay. Got it. Shut up already. Bard Hogg is in his 3rd over. He is getting a little bit of spin. KP lucky that his leading edge did not carry to a fielder. Hogg is bowling well. England 101-2 after 20 overs.
Both Bell and KP are playing spin pretty well. Maybe Ponting wants to get the fifth bowler in quickly. Clarke and Symonds are doing the fifth bowler' job so far today. Nicely pulled by Bell for a couple. Bell seems like a very sensible player but his running between the wickets is a bit shambolic. England is doing a good job of milking the fifth bowler. 107-2 after 21 overs. This is good sized ground. England taking a lot of easy singles. Beautiful late cut from Bell. It didn't get him the four the shot deserved. 115-2 after 22 overs.
Both batsmen on 49. Good innings from both of them. KP is playing the dashing innings while Bell is playing the steadying hand. Symonds into the attack and it is KP's 50. Nice innings. Go on play some more and get the 100. Bell's 50 now. Very nice innings. Brilliant attempt by Ponting to take a very hard catch. KP gets a life. Will he make it count? We will find out.
Update 2:
Another nice over for England. 7 runs from the over. England 126-2 after 24 overs. Hogg is getting through his overs pretty quick. Symonds starts his over and Bell says 'hello' with two sweet boundaries. Nasir Hussain can't stop himself. He is going ga-ga. We are happy for Nasir. Another nice over for England. 12 runs off the over. 138-2 after 25 overs. Brad Hogg is bowling well but KP and Bell are settled and are taking the easy singles. Lucky! KP is very lucky. Everybody missed it and England gets 4 byes. Nasir just said: "Shouldn't give Australia any kind of chance." He is very angry with KP for getting beaten. 146-2 after 26 overs.
Australia takes its thrid powerplay. Very important 5 overs coming up. Tait into the attack. Great shot from Bell. 4runs. Ah! McGrath into the attack-again. McGrath Vs KP. As everyone knows, McGrath broke KP's ribs in Australia. Great shot from Bell. Bell is on fire. Uppishly driven on the off-side (McGrath says "catch" but there was no chance) for a four. Very nice shot from Bell. 161-2 after 28 overs.
There is a conspiracy. KP hits the ball up in the air and Haydos drops an easy catch! what joy! Haydos dropped a very easy catch. Will it be enough for Australia to drop Haydos from the team? KP now has two lives. He better make it count now. Tait is working up pace. The last ball was about 94 mph. Good over from Tait. Very unlucky. McGrath back into the attack. KP looks a little unsettled now. It is funny that KP starts off with a lot of confidence and after he score about 50 or so, his confidence level starts dropping and his strokeplay becomes a little shaky.
McGrath gets Bell. Caught by Hussey. Bell couldn't keep his drive down and it flew directly into Hussey's hands. Great innings from Bell. Out for 77. This brings Collingwood into the middle. Another man in form. Good over for Australia. 166-3 after 30 overs.
Update 3:
Wow! Tait gets another wicket! thin outside edge to Gilchrist. Colly gone for 2 runs. England again in a spot of bother. Flintoff comes in to bat. He has been in horrendous form recently. Can he play a big innings when his side needs it? Great bowling from Tait. He is working up a lot of pace. 168-4 after 31 overs. Good captaincy from Ponting. Brad Hogg into the attack. Flintoff struggles against spinners. Scratch that, Flintoff is struggling against everyone. Drinks. 169-4 after 32 overs.
Couple of tidy overs from Australia. 175-4 after 34 overs. England need to keep wickets till about the 43rd over. A good score for England will be about 300 runs. Bracken into the attack now. Another tidy over. 178-3 after 35 overs. Great bowling from Brad Hogg. Flintoff was all at sea. Flintoff stumped by Gilly and England is 179-5. Great bowling from Hogg. This chinaman is good. Funnily enough, McGrath is talking to Hogg about his bowling.
Flintoff's wicket brings Ravi Bopara in and he is off the mark right away. England 181-5 after 36 overs. Hogg is bowling brilliantly. England needs another "big partnership". Hogg again. "Hoggie" says Gillie. Excellent spell from Hogg. Bopara can't seem to read Hogg's spin. Good bowling. Very good bowling. 10 overs for 36 runs and 1 wicket. 190-5 after 38 overs.
Symonds back into the attack. Beefy is going on about something or the other. England 195-5 after 40 overs. Beefy says "10 overs to go then". Brilliant. Somebody please give Beefy a Fields Medal. He is a mathematical genius. McGrath back into the attack.
Update 4:
England get to their 200 in the 42nd over. Well, England will be very happy if they score about 280. Tait into the attack now. The man with 3 wickets. KP is losing his timing. He is struggling. Not getting enough strike is what the commentators are saying. Good bowling from Tait. 207-5 after 43 overs. We will have to revise the target some more. England will now be happy with about 265 runs. The time to hit out is coming. McGrath is coming on and England will have to go after him.
Nice shot from KP. Short and wide, KP puts it away easily.
Nice shot from Bopara. Lovely cover drive. 4 runs. 223-5 after 45 overs. 229-5 after 46 overs. Bracken is back on. A full tos and KP can't put it away. Gets a single. Bopara needs to pick up his strike rate now. Gone! Bopara gone. Flicked beautifully but picked Hussey out near the square boundary. Gone for 21 runs. England 230-6 in the 47th over. England is losing its way here. KP batting on 96. One gets the feeling he is going to wait till he gets his hundred.
Time is running out for England. They need to start hitting. 232-6 after 47 overs. KP on 99. There. 100 for KP. He looks happy. He should be. Good batting from KP. A little tame by his standards but England was losing wickets at regular intervals and he really couldn't break free. What is he going to do now?
Nice over from McGrath. 236-6 after 48 overs. England, for some mysterious reason, has decided to just putter around instead of hitting out. They should have been slogging about 4 overs ago. Maybe the side has decided that 250 is a good enough score to defend. They need some boundaries. KP looks like he has forgotten how to hit boundaries. KP is gone. Out. Tried to make room and hit on the off-side. Didn't connect properly and holes out to Clarke in the outfield. Out for 102. Nice innings but one gets the feeling that it could have been better.
Too fast. Too much happening. First, Mahmood got out for a duck then Nixon hit a 6. The very next ball, he hold out to Hodge and got out. So, England are 246-9 in the last over. Will they reach 250? Apparently not. England all out for 247.
In the end, England will feel that they fell short by about 30 runs. The partnership between Bell and KP was great but other than that, England played pretty badly. Excellent bowling from the Aussies. Bracken, Tait, and Hogg were the stand-out bowlers.
On the face of it, the Aussies should not have any problem chasing this score down.
Update 5:
Hayden is very lucky to be still there. Shout for LBW turned down by the umpire. It looked plumb and Haweye cofirms it. Very lucky. Australia 1-0 after 1 over. Mahmood into the attack and Gilly takes up his offer and spanks a loose ball to the boundary. Australia on its way. Another boundary from Gilly. 9-0 after 2 overs.
Gilly is motoring along. 3 fours for his 12 so far and the Aussies move to 18-0 after 4 overs. Hadyen advancing down the wicket ala KP but the bowler doesn't bite and gives him a wide. Great shot by Hayden. Lofted on-drive over a wide mid-on's head. 4 runs. 24-0 after 5 overs. Finally, a good over from Mahmood. Maiden over. Three slower balls in that over. How long before Gilly starts depositing those slower balls outside the stadium?
England has to know that the only way they can win this match is by bowling out Australia. No slips but a short cover and a wide fine leg as the close-in catchers. Anderson strays and Hayden dispatches it to the boundary. 4 runs. Another beautiful cover drive from Hayden. 4 runs. Anderson is not bowling well. Time to bring in Flintoff. 34-0 after 7 overs.
Anderson still continuing and Gilly is still scoring freely in his bowling. England were unlucky early on not to get LBW's but its all Australia now. Good comeback from Anderson in the last 3 balls of the over. 45-0 after 9 overs. Great shot from Gilly. He picked up the slower ball from Mahmood and sent it to the boundary. 4 runs. 52-0 after 10 overs.
Update 6:
Flintoff into the attack. Hayden walks down the pitch and pulls powerfully. 4 runs. Somebody please get this man out. Somebody didn't hear us properly because instead of Hayden, Gilly gives Collingwood an easy catch. Gilly gone for 27. Australia 57-1. Panesar into the attack now and Ponting walks in too. Hayden and Ponting - two players we dislike the most. It would be funny if Hayden gets Ponting run out and then gets out the very next ball. This will lead to an Australian collapse and people will be so pissed that Hayden will be dropped from the team and Ponting will be made to carry the drinks for the rest of his life. We can dream, can't we? 58-1 after 12 overs.
Flintoff over the wicket to Hayden. Hayden is advancing down the pitch. What is wrong with this guy. Coward. Stay in the crease and play. Haydos takes a big swing and misses. All the England players are chatting with Hayden. Hayden takes up the bait and swings Flintoff to the boundary. 4 runs. This man is very powerful. 62-1 after 13 overs.
Panesar to Ponting and he gets off the mark with a nice lofted shot for four. The English commentators are whining about the "ugly aussies" sledging KP. Okay, lets call off the match and award it to England. Australia 68-1 after 14 overs. 71-1 after 15 overs. Australia motoring along on cruise control now. 83-1 after 17 overs. 89-1 after 19 overs. Paul Collingwood comes into the attack. Hayden is already on 41. Please get this guy out. GONE!!!!! First ball. Colly clean bowls Hayden!!! Brilliant! Australia now 89-2 in the 20th over. Clarke joins Ponting at the crease. The top four of Australia have been fantastic. If England gets the top four, Australia will be definitely under pressure since the other batsmen have not had all that much batting the last few games. Australia 91-2 after 20 overs.
Update 7:
Flintoff is doing a terrific job. Very tidy. But it has to be worrying Vaughan that he has already bowled 5 overs. 94-2 after 21 overs. 96-2 after 22 overs. Another tidy over from Colly. James Anderson into the bowling attack. Can he continue applying the pressure? He gave away a lot of runs in his first spell. 5 balls and 2 runs so far. Good over. 98-2 after 23 overs.
Australia doing its "hitting to the fielder" for singles. A lot of runs to the Mid-on. Commentators want a faster fielder than Strauss at mid-on. Have to agree with them. 5 runs off Colly. 103-2 after 24 overs. Another good over from Anderson. Colly to continue. Monty misfields and it is 3 runs. 111-2 after 26 overs. England doing a good job but they need wickets to keep this game from going Australia's way.
Ravi Bopara is loosening up. Will Vaughan give the ball to him? 5 runs from the Anderson over and the Aussies are 116-2 after 27 overs. Collingwood to continue. Nice shot from Ponting. Used his wrists to turn the ball towards deep-square leg. 4 runs. Things are easing up a bit for the Aussies. England needs another wicket. Now. 124-2 after 28 overs. Sajid Mahmood with his slower deliveries comes into the attack. Great shot! 4 runs for Ponting. Hit past mid-off and was very sweetly timed. 132-2 after 29 overs. Monty into the attack now. He is pushing the ball through too fast. He ought to slow down his deliveries a little bit. Tidy over. 134-2 after 30 overs. Drinks.
Update 8:
England needs wickets. Mahmood continues and Ponting greets the first ball and drives it past Point for a 4. Another 4. This time on the leg side. This takes Ponting to his 50. Another good innings when his team needs it. Mahmood is falling apart. Somebody please get Ponting out or this match will be over pretty soon. 13 runs from the over. 147-2 after 31 overs. Bad bowling from Mahmood. Time to bring Bopara into the attack. The Aussie running between the wickets is fantastic. Panesar is not looking threatening in the least. 152-2 after 32 overs. Flintoff into the attack. He just has 4 overs left. Freddie couldn't do much and Australia is cruising along at 159-2 after 33 overs. England needs a wicket.
Panesar to continue. He is not troubling the batsmen at all. Nice shot from Ponting. 4 runs over mid-wicket. Ponting is a great batsman. This game is over folks. 165-2 after 34 overs. Collingwood into the attack now. Where is Bopara? Can Colly do it again? No. 171-2 after 35 overs. Ponting and Clarke are making it look easy. Clarke just hit a great shot for 4. 185-2 after 37 overs. England NEEDS WICKETS. No one to take them though. Bring in Bopara, I say. Panesar to continue his unthreatening bowling. 2 fours from the over and some singles takes Australia to 196-2 after 38 overs. Flintoff back into the attack. 199-2 after 39 overs. 201-2 after 40 overs.
This game is over. Australia will win this game easily.
Update 9:
Ponting gone. Run out! Brilliant piece of fielding from Colly. Great batting from Ponting. Nobody deserved to get his wicket. His batting was superb and he did the job for his team with a very well made 86. Australia should be able to easily win the game from here on. Suddenly, England seemed to have gotten a second win. Too little too late, unfortunately. Good over from Flintoff. 202-3 after 41 overs. Symonds bludgeons the slower ball from Colly to the boundary. 4 runs. Symonds goes again. KP takes a brilliant catch very close to the boundary rope but can't control his step. Treads very close to the rope and finally steps inside rope but lets the ball go. Meanwhile, the batsmen run two runs. After a lot of discussion, the batsmen get two runs. The very next ball, Symonds hits a huge six. A very good over for Australia. 215-3 after 42 overs.
Flintoff bowling his last over. Brilliant shot from Symonds. Symonds is on fire. Great cameo so far. Good comeback from Flintoff. 219-3 after 43 overs. Mahmood back into the attack. Nasir is a very bitter man. He reminds us of the long suffering Indian cricket fan. Meanwhile, Clarke goes hard at Mahmood and gets a boundary. 226-3 after 44 overs. Australia should win this very comfortably. James Anderson into the attack. When the final analysis is said and done, England will realize that it lost the match because they batted like twits at the end and because they did not let Ravi Bopara bowl. 5o for Clarke. Good batting from him. Time for the Pup to take the old lady home.
Symonds pounds another 4 over extra cover. 240-3 after 46 overs. We like Nasir Hussain. He has a very self-deprecating sense of humor which is very endearing. Clarke picks up another 2 and the Aussies now need 6 more runs. Please finish it off this over. No such luck. 4 to win. Next over perhaps.
Mahmood to bowl the 48th over. Bouncer to Symonds. Good bowling. Another bouncer and Symonds is ready. Pulls it to the boundary for another 4. Good win for Australia. Symonds played a great cameo of 28 runs in 28 balls. The man of the match for our money is Ricky Ponting.
Once again, the English openers fell cheaply. Both (Vaughan and Strauss) fell to Tait. Oooh Brad Hogg into the attack. This will be interesting. Chinaman into the attack. KP uses his feet really well. Interestingly, Ponting has not taken the third powerplay. Three runs from the over. England 77-2 after 16 overs.
Update 1:
England is now 99-2 after 19 overs. KP is going great guns. Like the commentators keep reminding us, he is very tall. Okay. Got it. Shut up already. Bard Hogg is in his 3rd over. He is getting a little bit of spin. KP lucky that his leading edge did not carry to a fielder. Hogg is bowling well. England 101-2 after 20 overs.
Both Bell and KP are playing spin pretty well. Maybe Ponting wants to get the fifth bowler in quickly. Clarke and Symonds are doing the fifth bowler' job so far today. Nicely pulled by Bell for a couple. Bell seems like a very sensible player but his running between the wickets is a bit shambolic. England is doing a good job of milking the fifth bowler. 107-2 after 21 overs. This is good sized ground. England taking a lot of easy singles. Beautiful late cut from Bell. It didn't get him the four the shot deserved. 115-2 after 22 overs.
Both batsmen on 49. Good innings from both of them. KP is playing the dashing innings while Bell is playing the steadying hand. Symonds into the attack and it is KP's 50. Nice innings. Go on play some more and get the 100. Bell's 50 now. Very nice innings. Brilliant attempt by Ponting to take a very hard catch. KP gets a life. Will he make it count? We will find out.
Update 2:
Another nice over for England. 7 runs from the over. England 126-2 after 24 overs. Hogg is getting through his overs pretty quick. Symonds starts his over and Bell says 'hello' with two sweet boundaries. Nasir Hussain can't stop himself. He is going ga-ga. We are happy for Nasir. Another nice over for England. 12 runs off the over. 138-2 after 25 overs. Brad Hogg is bowling well but KP and Bell are settled and are taking the easy singles. Lucky! KP is very lucky. Everybody missed it and England gets 4 byes. Nasir just said: "Shouldn't give Australia any kind of chance." He is very angry with KP for getting beaten. 146-2 after 26 overs.
Australia takes its thrid powerplay. Very important 5 overs coming up. Tait into the attack. Great shot from Bell. 4runs. Ah! McGrath into the attack-again. McGrath Vs KP. As everyone knows, McGrath broke KP's ribs in Australia. Great shot from Bell. Bell is on fire. Uppishly driven on the off-side (McGrath says "catch" but there was no chance) for a four. Very nice shot from Bell. 161-2 after 28 overs.
There is a conspiracy. KP hits the ball up in the air and Haydos drops an easy catch! what joy! Haydos dropped a very easy catch. Will it be enough for Australia to drop Haydos from the team? KP now has two lives. He better make it count now. Tait is working up pace. The last ball was about 94 mph. Good over from Tait. Very unlucky. McGrath back into the attack. KP looks a little unsettled now. It is funny that KP starts off with a lot of confidence and after he score about 50 or so, his confidence level starts dropping and his strokeplay becomes a little shaky.
McGrath gets Bell. Caught by Hussey. Bell couldn't keep his drive down and it flew directly into Hussey's hands. Great innings from Bell. Out for 77. This brings Collingwood into the middle. Another man in form. Good over for Australia. 166-3 after 30 overs.
Update 3:
Wow! Tait gets another wicket! thin outside edge to Gilchrist. Colly gone for 2 runs. England again in a spot of bother. Flintoff comes in to bat. He has been in horrendous form recently. Can he play a big innings when his side needs it? Great bowling from Tait. He is working up a lot of pace. 168-4 after 31 overs. Good captaincy from Ponting. Brad Hogg into the attack. Flintoff struggles against spinners. Scratch that, Flintoff is struggling against everyone. Drinks. 169-4 after 32 overs.
Couple of tidy overs from Australia. 175-4 after 34 overs. England need to keep wickets till about the 43rd over. A good score for England will be about 300 runs. Bracken into the attack now. Another tidy over. 178-3 after 35 overs. Great bowling from Brad Hogg. Flintoff was all at sea. Flintoff stumped by Gilly and England is 179-5. Great bowling from Hogg. This chinaman is good. Funnily enough, McGrath is talking to Hogg about his bowling.
Flintoff's wicket brings Ravi Bopara in and he is off the mark right away. England 181-5 after 36 overs. Hogg is bowling brilliantly. England needs another "big partnership". Hogg again. "Hoggie" says Gillie. Excellent spell from Hogg. Bopara can't seem to read Hogg's spin. Good bowling. Very good bowling. 10 overs for 36 runs and 1 wicket. 190-5 after 38 overs.
Symonds back into the attack. Beefy is going on about something or the other. England 195-5 after 40 overs. Beefy says "10 overs to go then". Brilliant. Somebody please give Beefy a Fields Medal. He is a mathematical genius. McGrath back into the attack.
Update 4:
England get to their 200 in the 42nd over. Well, England will be very happy if they score about 280. Tait into the attack now. The man with 3 wickets. KP is losing his timing. He is struggling. Not getting enough strike is what the commentators are saying. Good bowling from Tait. 207-5 after 43 overs. We will have to revise the target some more. England will now be happy with about 265 runs. The time to hit out is coming. McGrath is coming on and England will have to go after him.
Nice shot from KP. Short and wide, KP puts it away easily.
Nice shot from Bopara. Lovely cover drive. 4 runs. 223-5 after 45 overs. 229-5 after 46 overs. Bracken is back on. A full tos and KP can't put it away. Gets a single. Bopara needs to pick up his strike rate now. Gone! Bopara gone. Flicked beautifully but picked Hussey out near the square boundary. Gone for 21 runs. England 230-6 in the 47th over. England is losing its way here. KP batting on 96. One gets the feeling he is going to wait till he gets his hundred.
Time is running out for England. They need to start hitting. 232-6 after 47 overs. KP on 99. There. 100 for KP. He looks happy. He should be. Good batting from KP. A little tame by his standards but England was losing wickets at regular intervals and he really couldn't break free. What is he going to do now?
Nice over from McGrath. 236-6 after 48 overs. England, for some mysterious reason, has decided to just putter around instead of hitting out. They should have been slogging about 4 overs ago. Maybe the side has decided that 250 is a good enough score to defend. They need some boundaries. KP looks like he has forgotten how to hit boundaries. KP is gone. Out. Tried to make room and hit on the off-side. Didn't connect properly and holes out to Clarke in the outfield. Out for 102. Nice innings but one gets the feeling that it could have been better.
Too fast. Too much happening. First, Mahmood got out for a duck then Nixon hit a 6. The very next ball, he hold out to Hodge and got out. So, England are 246-9 in the last over. Will they reach 250? Apparently not. England all out for 247.
In the end, England will feel that they fell short by about 30 runs. The partnership between Bell and KP was great but other than that, England played pretty badly. Excellent bowling from the Aussies. Bracken, Tait, and Hogg were the stand-out bowlers.
On the face of it, the Aussies should not have any problem chasing this score down.
Update 5:
Hayden is very lucky to be still there. Shout for LBW turned down by the umpire. It looked plumb and Haweye cofirms it. Very lucky. Australia 1-0 after 1 over. Mahmood into the attack and Gilly takes up his offer and spanks a loose ball to the boundary. Australia on its way. Another boundary from Gilly. 9-0 after 2 overs.
Gilly is motoring along. 3 fours for his 12 so far and the Aussies move to 18-0 after 4 overs. Hadyen advancing down the wicket ala KP but the bowler doesn't bite and gives him a wide. Great shot by Hayden. Lofted on-drive over a wide mid-on's head. 4 runs. 24-0 after 5 overs. Finally, a good over from Mahmood. Maiden over. Three slower balls in that over. How long before Gilly starts depositing those slower balls outside the stadium?
England has to know that the only way they can win this match is by bowling out Australia. No slips but a short cover and a wide fine leg as the close-in catchers. Anderson strays and Hayden dispatches it to the boundary. 4 runs. Another beautiful cover drive from Hayden. 4 runs. Anderson is not bowling well. Time to bring in Flintoff. 34-0 after 7 overs.
Anderson still continuing and Gilly is still scoring freely in his bowling. England were unlucky early on not to get LBW's but its all Australia now. Good comeback from Anderson in the last 3 balls of the over. 45-0 after 9 overs. Great shot from Gilly. He picked up the slower ball from Mahmood and sent it to the boundary. 4 runs. 52-0 after 10 overs.
Update 6:
Flintoff into the attack. Hayden walks down the pitch and pulls powerfully. 4 runs. Somebody please get this man out. Somebody didn't hear us properly because instead of Hayden, Gilly gives Collingwood an easy catch. Gilly gone for 27. Australia 57-1. Panesar into the attack now and Ponting walks in too. Hayden and Ponting - two players we dislike the most. It would be funny if Hayden gets Ponting run out and then gets out the very next ball. This will lead to an Australian collapse and people will be so pissed that Hayden will be dropped from the team and Ponting will be made to carry the drinks for the rest of his life. We can dream, can't we? 58-1 after 12 overs.
Flintoff over the wicket to Hayden. Hayden is advancing down the pitch. What is wrong with this guy. Coward. Stay in the crease and play. Haydos takes a big swing and misses. All the England players are chatting with Hayden. Hayden takes up the bait and swings Flintoff to the boundary. 4 runs. This man is very powerful. 62-1 after 13 overs.
Panesar to Ponting and he gets off the mark with a nice lofted shot for four. The English commentators are whining about the "ugly aussies" sledging KP. Okay, lets call off the match and award it to England. Australia 68-1 after 14 overs. 71-1 after 15 overs. Australia motoring along on cruise control now. 83-1 after 17 overs. 89-1 after 19 overs. Paul Collingwood comes into the attack. Hayden is already on 41. Please get this guy out. GONE!!!!! First ball. Colly clean bowls Hayden!!! Brilliant! Australia now 89-2 in the 20th over. Clarke joins Ponting at the crease. The top four of Australia have been fantastic. If England gets the top four, Australia will be definitely under pressure since the other batsmen have not had all that much batting the last few games. Australia 91-2 after 20 overs.
Update 7:
Flintoff is doing a terrific job. Very tidy. But it has to be worrying Vaughan that he has already bowled 5 overs. 94-2 after 21 overs. 96-2 after 22 overs. Another tidy over from Colly. James Anderson into the bowling attack. Can he continue applying the pressure? He gave away a lot of runs in his first spell. 5 balls and 2 runs so far. Good over. 98-2 after 23 overs.
Australia doing its "hitting to the fielder" for singles. A lot of runs to the Mid-on. Commentators want a faster fielder than Strauss at mid-on. Have to agree with them. 5 runs off Colly. 103-2 after 24 overs. Another good over from Anderson. Colly to continue. Monty misfields and it is 3 runs. 111-2 after 26 overs. England doing a good job but they need wickets to keep this game from going Australia's way.
Ravi Bopara is loosening up. Will Vaughan give the ball to him? 5 runs from the Anderson over and the Aussies are 116-2 after 27 overs. Collingwood to continue. Nice shot from Ponting. Used his wrists to turn the ball towards deep-square leg. 4 runs. Things are easing up a bit for the Aussies. England needs another wicket. Now. 124-2 after 28 overs. Sajid Mahmood with his slower deliveries comes into the attack. Great shot! 4 runs for Ponting. Hit past mid-off and was very sweetly timed. 132-2 after 29 overs. Monty into the attack now. He is pushing the ball through too fast. He ought to slow down his deliveries a little bit. Tidy over. 134-2 after 30 overs. Drinks.
Update 8:
England needs wickets. Mahmood continues and Ponting greets the first ball and drives it past Point for a 4. Another 4. This time on the leg side. This takes Ponting to his 50. Another good innings when his team needs it. Mahmood is falling apart. Somebody please get Ponting out or this match will be over pretty soon. 13 runs from the over. 147-2 after 31 overs. Bad bowling from Mahmood. Time to bring Bopara into the attack. The Aussie running between the wickets is fantastic. Panesar is not looking threatening in the least. 152-2 after 32 overs. Flintoff into the attack. He just has 4 overs left. Freddie couldn't do much and Australia is cruising along at 159-2 after 33 overs. England needs a wicket.
Panesar to continue. He is not troubling the batsmen at all. Nice shot from Ponting. 4 runs over mid-wicket. Ponting is a great batsman. This game is over folks. 165-2 after 34 overs. Collingwood into the attack now. Where is Bopara? Can Colly do it again? No. 171-2 after 35 overs. Ponting and Clarke are making it look easy. Clarke just hit a great shot for 4. 185-2 after 37 overs. England NEEDS WICKETS. No one to take them though. Bring in Bopara, I say. Panesar to continue his unthreatening bowling. 2 fours from the over and some singles takes Australia to 196-2 after 38 overs. Flintoff back into the attack. 199-2 after 39 overs. 201-2 after 40 overs.
This game is over. Australia will win this game easily.
Update 9:
Ponting gone. Run out! Brilliant piece of fielding from Colly. Great batting from Ponting. Nobody deserved to get his wicket. His batting was superb and he did the job for his team with a very well made 86. Australia should be able to easily win the game from here on. Suddenly, England seemed to have gotten a second win. Too little too late, unfortunately. Good over from Flintoff. 202-3 after 41 overs. Symonds bludgeons the slower ball from Colly to the boundary. 4 runs. Symonds goes again. KP takes a brilliant catch very close to the boundary rope but can't control his step. Treads very close to the rope and finally steps inside rope but lets the ball go. Meanwhile, the batsmen run two runs. After a lot of discussion, the batsmen get two runs. The very next ball, Symonds hits a huge six. A very good over for Australia. 215-3 after 42 overs.
Flintoff bowling his last over. Brilliant shot from Symonds. Symonds is on fire. Great cameo so far. Good comeback from Flintoff. 219-3 after 43 overs. Mahmood back into the attack. Nasir is a very bitter man. He reminds us of the long suffering Indian cricket fan. Meanwhile, Clarke goes hard at Mahmood and gets a boundary. 226-3 after 44 overs. Australia should win this very comfortably. James Anderson into the attack. When the final analysis is said and done, England will realize that it lost the match because they batted like twits at the end and because they did not let Ravi Bopara bowl. 5o for Clarke. Good batting from him. Time for the Pup to take the old lady home.
Symonds pounds another 4 over extra cover. 240-3 after 46 overs. We like Nasir Hussain. He has a very self-deprecating sense of humor which is very endearing. Clarke picks up another 2 and the Aussies now need 6 more runs. Please finish it off this over. No such luck. 4 to win. Next over perhaps.
Mahmood to bowl the 48th over. Bouncer to Symonds. Good bowling. Another bouncer and Symonds is ready. Pulls it to the boundary for another 4. Good win for Australia. Symonds played a great cameo of 28 runs in 28 balls. The man of the match for our money is Ricky Ponting.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Promises
BCCI released a statement after Working Committee meeting. We will post the statement here in full and keep this post in a prominent location on this blog. We can then go back to the statement in a year's time (if we are still blogging) to see how BCCI followed up on their promises.
1. With a view to strengthening domestic cricket, efforts will be made to ensure that all Test / ODI Cricketers play Irani, Duleep, Challenger and some Ranji Trophy Matches.If followed upon, this is a very good idea. For the Test/ODI players to participate in domestic cricket, the domestic cricket schedule will have to revised. Will it happen? It will be easy to monitor this.
2. Every Association will be directed to prepare fast and lively wickets for domestic tournaments.Good idea but we have heard this several times in the past. Let's see what happens this time around.
3. The BCCI will do away with home and away rotation and allot venues for Irani Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Deodhar Trophy, Ranji Trophy semi-finals and finals and one-day all-India knockout.Moving along.
4. It was decided that all affiliated units should start their own state academies by April 2009. These academies would be linked to the National Cricket Academy for the purpose of uniformity in coaching.A very good idea but why 2009? Why not a little bit sooner? It probably takes some time to set up a cricket academy. But if things go to form, this idea will be forgotten very soon.
5. It was decided to scrap the present zonal representation in the senior and junior selection committees. BCCI will appoint selectors on a full time basis based upon the eligibility criteria which would include stature as a player, selection experience etc. They will be remunerated suitably and appointed for a two-year term. The BCCI will take steps to propose necessary amendments to the Constitution to give effect to the above decision.An excellent idea but if one reads the statement, nothing will come to pass till about a year. Will take steps? When? We really hope this comes to pass but if the past record is anything to go by, this too will be forgotten. For, if the zonal selectors are removed from the picture how will Mr. Pawar's coterie get the votes it needs to stay in power?
6. Regular and frequent Under-19 and India A tours to Australia / England / New Zealand / South Africa / West Indies will be undertaken.Another excellent idea. Should be easy to monitor.
7. The Working Committee has directed the Selection Committee to send a young team to Bangladesh under an experienced captain. The selection committee, after discussions has appointed Rahul Dravid as captain for India's tour to Bangladesh, Ireland and England.Young team to Bangladesh is a very good idea. If we had to guess, Ganguly, Agarkar, and Bhajji at a minimum will be "rested" for this tour.
8. BCCI will appoint a permanent manager for the Indian team for a two-year term. The Board will also appoint a permanent Media Manager for a two- year term.Well...BCCI will have to appoint a permanent manager and will do so but the Media Manager is another matter altogether. The lethargy of BCCI is world famous (BCCI doesn't even have a website) so how soon they will hire a Media Manager is something to watch for.
9. Notice will be issued to Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh under Rule 38 of the Memorandum and the Rules and Regulations of the Board asking for an explanation for their comments made to the media.Well. What can one say? Should one read into this? Has Sachin Tendulkar now become mortal or is it all just eyewash to appease the crowds?
A lot of people we know are happy that the BCCI decided to cut down on the endorsements of the players and also negated the contracts. We are not so sure that endorsements and contracts are the reason for the loss in the world cup. We were surprised to hear that this was one of the things the former captains suggested to the Board. Maybe it is a good idea but this looks a lot like an employer, seeing that the public opinion is against their employees, is trying to affirm their superiority over the employees. As a principle, we are against this. Nothing to do but wait and see how this pans out.10. Working Committee approved the Performance-based Payment to the players and decided to do away with the present gradation for Retainership. Apart from the payment, the following points would form a part of the contract.
A player will endorse not more than 3 sponsors / products No Sponsor can contract more than 2 players. The players will not be allowed to do any sponsor-related events 15 days before the tour and also during the tour. Before every tour, all the contracted players have to undergo a fitness test and only those who fulfill the benchmarks will be considered for selection. No player shall have exclusive contracts with electronic or print media. Only the captain can write a column or talk to the media but not exclusively. The players shall take prior approval of the Board before signing any endorsement contract and will submit a copy of the agreement to the Board. All the players shall submit a copy of the existing contracts with sponsors to the Board. All the players will have to play a stipulated number of domestic matches when not playing for India. In the event of injury to the player, the Board will compensate him the match fees that he would have earned for a maximum period of six months.
11. The Working Committee decided to form a Cricket Advisory committee consisting of the following ex - captains: Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, MAK Pataudi, Chandu Borde, Ravi Shastri, Krish Srikkanth and S Venkataraghavan under the Chairmanship of President [Sharad Pawar] and will include all the Office Bearers.What is the purpose of this committee?
12. The working committee appointed Ravi Shastri as Cricket Manager for the India's tour to Bangladesh. It was further decided that Venkatesh Prasad will be the bowling coach and Robin Singh, the fielding coach for the tour.Excellent. Finally! India has a bowling coach.
Bangladesh Vs South Africa, Super Eights
This was great win for Bangladesh. Much greater than the one against India. We are most happy that Andre Nel, despite a fiver fer, did not win the match for SA. Thank God for small mercies. It was excruciating watching the Bangladesh innings as Nel took wickets at regular intervals. All our pain vanished when Ashraful started to open up. There were three cheeky boundaries where Ashraful, trusting his hand eye coordination, moved across the off stump and glided the fast bowlers past fine leg.
If those boundaries were cheeky, his square drive off Langeveldt was the shot of the match. That was a glorius hit. We envy the high Ashraful must have got when he hit that shot. That was a shot of a man in full control of his batting. He squared up to a fullish ball on the off-stump, opened up the face of the bat and drove the ball beautifully past Point. What a shot. Mortaza pitched in with a great cameo and contributed 25 very useful runs. Ashraful's masterly 87 took Bangladesh to a very respectable total of 251 in 50 overs.
South Africa were completely outplayed. They lost wickets regularly and at no stage looked like they were going to win the match. Rafique and Razzak were brilliant and consistently troubled the batsmen. These guys can teach the dart thrower (Harbhajan) a trick or two.
SA should have won the match. Like the brilliant L.Sivaramakrishnan said: "They need a big partnership". Actually, L. Siva is a very bad commentator and is very irritating (not as much as Ranjit Fernando though) and if he figured it out that to win a cricket match, a big partnership is needed, South Africa must have figured it out too. Or maybe we are giving the Saffies too much credit.
SA didn't get the big partnership they needed to win the match because Andre Nel failed. Andre Nel should take complete responsibility for this loss and retire from cricket. SA was well on its way to victory and were cruising along at 132 for 7 when Nel joined Gibbs at the crease. What was needed was a big partnership to see SA home. What they got was Nel getting out for 1 run. Instead of a "big partnership" SA got a "very small partnership" between Nel and Gibbs (5 runs). That is not acceptable.
Andre Nel can't help himself. He is a bully and will not retire from cricket. Therefore, SA must do the right thing and drop him from the team. Andrew Hall would have given SA the "big partnership" they needed.
We are happy that Bangladesh beat SA. SA is much bigger scalp than India. Now everyone can stop talking about Bd beating India and instead, focus on Bd beating SA.
We are pumped for tomorrow's match between Ravi Bopara and Australia. Should be fun.
If those boundaries were cheeky, his square drive off Langeveldt was the shot of the match. That was a glorius hit. We envy the high Ashraful must have got when he hit that shot. That was a shot of a man in full control of his batting. He squared up to a fullish ball on the off-stump, opened up the face of the bat and drove the ball beautifully past Point. What a shot. Mortaza pitched in with a great cameo and contributed 25 very useful runs. Ashraful's masterly 87 took Bangladesh to a very respectable total of 251 in 50 overs.
South Africa were completely outplayed. They lost wickets regularly and at no stage looked like they were going to win the match. Rafique and Razzak were brilliant and consistently troubled the batsmen. These guys can teach the dart thrower (Harbhajan) a trick or two.
SA should have won the match. Like the brilliant L.Sivaramakrishnan said: "They need a big partnership". Actually, L. Siva is a very bad commentator and is very irritating (not as much as Ranjit Fernando though) and if he figured it out that to win a cricket match, a big partnership is needed, South Africa must have figured it out too. Or maybe we are giving the Saffies too much credit.
SA didn't get the big partnership they needed to win the match because Andre Nel failed. Andre Nel should take complete responsibility for this loss and retire from cricket. SA was well on its way to victory and were cruising along at 132 for 7 when Nel joined Gibbs at the crease. What was needed was a big partnership to see SA home. What they got was Nel getting out for 1 run. Instead of a "big partnership" SA got a "very small partnership" between Nel and Gibbs (5 runs). That is not acceptable.
Andre Nel can't help himself. He is a bully and will not retire from cricket. Therefore, SA must do the right thing and drop him from the team. Andrew Hall would have given SA the "big partnership" they needed.
We are happy that Bangladesh beat SA. SA is much bigger scalp than India. Now everyone can stop talking about Bd beating India and instead, focus on Bd beating SA.
We are pumped for tomorrow's match between Ravi Bopara and Australia. Should be fun.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
News Round-Up
Harsha's father used to give "tuition" for free. 6:00 AM sharp. Good to know. Okay then, see you in the morning Mr. Bhogle. Frivolity aside, he raises some good points about BCCI but we are not all that sure about "benevolent" dictators. As the old saying goes: Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. We don't trust one person running the show without any checks and balances. As another old saying goes: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Mukul Kesavan's take on GC's resignation. Good post. Might be worth your while if you are not too busy. This bit makes complete sense to us:
BCCI's schedule for the next two days:
Mukul Kesavan's take on GC's resignation. Good post. Might be worth your while if you are not too busy. This bit makes complete sense to us:
"It can be plausibly argued that the problem with Chappell wasn't his candour, it was his propensity to intrigue. Several cricket journalists I've read or spoken to (and this includes Chappell's protagonists) testify to his habit of sending sms messages to journalists leaking his views on players, selection and policy. The players who disliked him complain about how manipulative he was. They might be wrong and self-interested but it's odd that Indian journalists and commentators should find the stereotype of the straight-talking Australian and the truth-denying Indian easier to credit than the chorus of allegations that Chappell's preferred mode for communicating with the media was the modern equivalent of harem whispers.Brett Lee is planning to terrorize everybody. Not with his bowling but with his singing.
Just as odd is the 'balanced' view that equates criticism of Chappell and his methods with a willful blindness to the structural problems of Indian cricket. I find no difficulty in holding in my head (at the same time) two related but distinct ideas: 1) that the BCCI presides over a mess and 2) that Chappell is a terrible coach. The need for structural reform and the necessity of making the best of what you currently have aren't contradictory goals..."
"The move into music and films hasn't just dropped into his lap; it's been in the making for the past six years. The first song was just scratching the surface. It wasn't a huge revenue-raiser in itself . . . (but) it was part of a broader plan to focus a lot of our energies on the music and movie business on the subcontinent. It's not just about cutting a record. It's far broader and longer term than that."Just kill us now.
BCCI's schedule for the next two days:
Day OneAnother interesting quote from the article:
10.30 am: Captain, coach, manager, selection committee chairman Dilip Vengsarkar to meet BCCI officials to discuss on the World Cup debacle. Coach and manager to submit reports.
3.30 pm: Board officials meet other Team India players, including Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.
Day Two
Working Committee meeting:
To discuss on improvement of the domestic structure, make it on the lines of Australia’s Sheffield Shield, improve playing conditions.
Discussion on players’ contracts, revising them specifically to be performance-based.
To discuss with former captains of India on complete revision of the country’s cricketing profile and appoint an interim coach.
To discuss on Zee’s bid to launch the Indian Cricket League.
“Don’t expect a lot of decisions to be taken. But do expect a lot of talking to be done. It is a two-day meeting and not just a two-day affair.”Okay. No decisions and lot of talking. Have to remember that. What does the third sentence mean? "Two-day meeting and not just a two-day affair." We have no idea. Please let us know if you know what it means, my dear readers.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
England Vs Sri Lanka, Super Eights
In retrospect, this was always going to be a fantastic match. It had all the ingredients: two captains marshaling the resources they have brilliantly, two good bowling line-ups, and two great batsmen in Jayasuriya and KP. If there were any doubts, it was about which England side would show up. The English side we saw in Australia showed up and played hard. In Ravi Bopara, England have found something special - a cool customer who remains unfazed under pressure. Though England lost, they have learnt something about themselves. They were in a pressure cooker situation with SL applying the screws (just shush, we know we mixed up our metaphors. okay?) and they came out of it without disgracing themselves.
However, we have to say that if England had realized that the world cup had started some time back instead of today, they might have acquired the hard edge needed to win close matches by now. That was the major difference between the two teams. SL were like battle hardened troops who were led by an astute and respected captain who knew the side's strengths and weaknesses while the English were like gifted rookies who needed some hard earned experience under their belt before they could consistently beat the better sides.
Sri Lankan batting lives and dies with Jayasuriya. If Jayasuriya clicks, they put up a good score and when he fails, they don't. However, the Sri Lankan bowling is a different matter altogether. Despite what anyone says, the strength of both teams is their bowling. This is especially true of SL, who have in the recent times acquired the knack of defending low/medium totals. Their belief in their bowling prowess is such that they don't count themselves out of any match. Added to that, the massive improvement in their fielding means that they have mental superiority over the batting team while defending totals.
Today was a very good example of how they win their matches while defending totals: get a couple of quick wickets in the beginning, slowly start exerting pressure by not allowing boundaries, have Jayasuriya bowl at one end to get through the overs quickly and economically, cut of easy runs with their electric fielding, bring in a fast bowler (Malinga/Fernando/Maharoof) or Murali (Oh, by the way, KP cannot be considered the best ODI batsman in the world till he wins some games for his side. The tussle between KP and Murali was fantastic with Murali coming out on top today) for shock treatment and to get another wicket or two, rinse, and repeat.
The only reason England even got close to winning the match was due to a superb partnership between Paul Nixon and Ravi Bopara. They scampered their singles and kept the asking rate in control so that they could blitz at the end. They nearly carried it off too. It was a brilliant effort. We don't know anything about Ravi Bopara but based on just this match, he deserves to bat higher up. Maybe even in Flintoff's spot. Will England do it? Based on the whole Ashley Giles episode (that of not dropping him for Panesar), they won't. Too bad for them.
SL now looks set for the semi-final. They already have 6 points and a win over Ireland will see them in the semi-finals via net run rate. England still have a chance, assuming they will beat Bangladesh, they have to win 2 out of 3 more matches against WI, Australia, and South Africa. If they beat Australia this weekend, they will get into the semi-finals. Since the world cup just started for them, maybe the England side which showed up today will show up again against Australia.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Ireland Vs South Africa, Super Eights
Well, that was not unexpected. In a rain delayed (again) match, Ireland made 152 in 35 overs but thanks to Messers Duckworth and Lewis, SA had to make 160 in 35 overs to win the match. In the end, SA won easily.
Ireland were outplayed but were not outclassed. They are showing a lot of commitment in all their matches and if they continue to play like they did today, they will not be going home without a win in the Super Eights. In the very important match between Bangladesh and Ireland, the Irish have the edge and have a very good chance of winning. We are very glad that this match is one of the few matches that has been sold out (Pakistan and India were 'supposed' to be playing this match).
Jacques Kallis reminds us of Ravi Shastri in his heyday. He plays the very important role of being the anchor for the team. This angers a lot of fans but is ultimately very important to win matches. Ravi Shastri used to be booed all the time in India for his slow knocks but he used to stick around and do the necessary dirty work to see India home.
Enough about this boring match. We are looking forward to tomorrow's match between England and SL. This is a very important match for both sides. If SL wins this match, they will have 6 points and assuming they win their match against Ireland, will have a total of 8 points. That will book them a semi-final berth.
England have 2 points from beating Ireland. Assuming they beat Bangladesh, they will have 4 points. They need another 4 points to book their semi-final berth and will be playing SL, WI, SA, and Australia for the 4 points. That makes this game an almost must win for the English side.
Hopefully, rain won't play spoilsport tomorrow and we will get to see the whole match.
Ireland were outplayed but were not outclassed. They are showing a lot of commitment in all their matches and if they continue to play like they did today, they will not be going home without a win in the Super Eights. In the very important match between Bangladesh and Ireland, the Irish have the edge and have a very good chance of winning. We are very glad that this match is one of the few matches that has been sold out (Pakistan and India were 'supposed' to be playing this match).
Jacques Kallis reminds us of Ravi Shastri in his heyday. He plays the very important role of being the anchor for the team. This angers a lot of fans but is ultimately very important to win matches. Ravi Shastri used to be booed all the time in India for his slow knocks but he used to stick around and do the necessary dirty work to see India home.
Enough about this boring match. We are looking forward to tomorrow's match between England and SL. This is a very important match for both sides. If SL wins this match, they will have 6 points and assuming they win their match against Ireland, will have a total of 8 points. That will book them a semi-final berth.
England have 2 points from beating Ireland. Assuming they beat Bangladesh, they will have 4 points. They need another 4 points to book their semi-final berth and will be playing SL, WI, SA, and Australia for the 4 points. That makes this game an almost must win for the English side.
Hopefully, rain won't play spoilsport tomorrow and we will get to see the whole match.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Something is Rotten in the State of Denmark
No, not 'the State of Denmark' but 'Indian Cricket'. We just didn't want to mess with the Bard's words. Moreover, what is good for the bard is good for us and more importantly, we don't let facts get in the way of good titles.
Vijay Lokapally's article is a must read. We are convinced that Greg Chappell has to go just because there doesn't seem to be any trust between the players and the coach. We found this paragraph bizarre:
Before we lynch Chappell, a word to the wise: If these rifts between the coach and the players was so severe, why didn't we hear anything about it after the South African tour and before the world cup? All everybody talked about before the world cup was how tight the team was and how they were all working together towards a common goal. So what happened?
We will just have to wait for the 'leaked' reports after April 6th and 7th. It will make for very entertaining reading.
Vijay Lokapally's article is a must read. We are convinced that Greg Chappell has to go just because there doesn't seem to be any trust between the players and the coach. We found this paragraph bizarre:
The support staff, especially Ian Fraser, has made matters worse. He earned the ire of the players to such an extent that he was asked to leave the dressing room for his attempts to ridicule them during a tense situation on the last tour of South Africa.If support staff are ridiculing players then something is seriously wrong.
The seniors in Chappell's firing line are Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, V.V.S. Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Ajit Agarkar...That's 8 players! Who does he get along with? don't answer that, it was a rhetorical question.
Before we lynch Chappell, a word to the wise: If these rifts between the coach and the players was so severe, why didn't we hear anything about it after the South African tour and before the world cup? All everybody talked about before the world cup was how tight the team was and how they were all working together towards a common goal. So what happened?
We will just have to wait for the 'leaked' reports after April 6th and 7th. It will make for very entertaining reading.
Bangladesh Vs New Zealand, Super Eights
His name is Bond, Shane Bond and he had bowling figures of 10 overs, 4 maidens, 15 runs, and 2 wickets. He "took care" of Bangladesh and went back to the dressing room to drink his vodka martinis. It was a great bowling performance but...
Was Bond really the man of the match? Scott Styris took 4 wickets for 43 runs in his 10 overs and Fleming scored an unbeaten century to see NZ home. Weren't they more worthy of the 'mom' award?
Bond getting the 'mom' award reminded us of Al Pacino not getting an Oscar nod for 'Godfather II' and finally getting the award for the eminently forgettable 'Scent of a Woman'. It was more of a reward for past performances and less of actually being the 'mom' on the day. Anyway, we won't begrudge Bond his 'mom' award just like we didn't begrudge Al Pacino his Oscar award. Both deserved their Oscar/'mom' award.
We are a little worried about the health of NZ'ers. They are dropping like flies. On this day, they lost Michael Mason and James Franklin. Other injuries to the side include Darryl Tuffey, Lou Vincent, and Gillespie. We were aghast and impressed when we heard that Lou Vincent broke his wrist in practise while facing Bond. These NZ'ers take their practice seriously.
The Black Caps can take a leaf out of the Indian book and avoid injuries during practice. Indian cricketers know practice is inherently dangerous and hence avoid it at all costs (Sehwag) or if they are forced to practice they ask bowlers not to bowl bouncers while they are batting (Ganguly). If there was a world cup for the least number of injuries to a side during practice, India would win hands down. No question about it.
We are really hoping that they can somehow field their best team for the important matches up ahead. On a brighter note, as long as Bond is around, NZ will remain a potent force (hope we didn't jinx Bond).
Tomorrow's match between South Africa and Ireland is going to be pretty boring. In fact, we will go out on a limb and predict that South Africa (in a very boring way) will beat Ireland. All is not lost for Ireland though, based on Bangladesh's past two performances, the match between Ireland and Bangladesh will be close and Ireland have a pretty good chance of winning that match.
Was Bond really the man of the match? Scott Styris took 4 wickets for 43 runs in his 10 overs and Fleming scored an unbeaten century to see NZ home. Weren't they more worthy of the 'mom' award?
Bond getting the 'mom' award reminded us of Al Pacino not getting an Oscar nod for 'Godfather II' and finally getting the award for the eminently forgettable 'Scent of a Woman'. It was more of a reward for past performances and less of actually being the 'mom' on the day. Anyway, we won't begrudge Bond his 'mom' award just like we didn't begrudge Al Pacino his Oscar award. Both deserved their Oscar/'mom' award.
We are a little worried about the health of NZ'ers. They are dropping like flies. On this day, they lost Michael Mason and James Franklin. Other injuries to the side include Darryl Tuffey, Lou Vincent, and Gillespie. We were aghast and impressed when we heard that Lou Vincent broke his wrist in practise while facing Bond. These NZ'ers take their practice seriously.
The Black Caps can take a leaf out of the Indian book and avoid injuries during practice. Indian cricketers know practice is inherently dangerous and hence avoid it at all costs (Sehwag) or if they are forced to practice they ask bowlers not to bowl bouncers while they are batting (Ganguly). If there was a world cup for the least number of injuries to a side during practice, India would win hands down. No question about it.
We are really hoping that they can somehow field their best team for the important matches up ahead. On a brighter note, as long as Bond is around, NZ will remain a potent force (hope we didn't jinx Bond).
Tomorrow's match between South Africa and Ireland is going to be pretty boring. In fact, we will go out on a limb and predict that South Africa (in a very boring way) will beat Ireland. All is not lost for Ireland though, based on Bangladesh's past two performances, the match between Ireland and Bangladesh will be close and Ireland have a pretty good chance of winning that match.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
West Indies Vs Sri Lanka, Super Eights
Ah, so that's what a player with a lot of experience brings to the table. Batting sensibly when the conditions are unfavorable and then picking an opportune time to have a go at the bowlers. Sanath Jayasuriya did all this and much more in Sri Lanka's drubbing of West Indies.
Jayasuriya's knock was fantastic. Under helpful conditions, the WI bowlers did a good job of not giving him any room to play his shots. Jayasuriya had to bide his time patiently - that he did admirably and it wasn't till the 17th over that he finally started going after the bowlers. It was a great batting display which we hope the Indian cricket stars caught on TV. They could learn a thing or two.
We've said this before and will probably say it again: SL and NZ are the only teams that are capable of beating Australia. This match further confirms our belief. SL, after a very slow start, went on to make 303 in their 50 overs. For WI to stand a chance, Gayle and Lara had to fire. They didn't and the match was lost.
We never thought that the WI team had any chance of winning the world cup but we are amazed at how they are unravelling. They can't even claim that pressure is playing a part because it seems like no one in the WI really cares about how Lara and his boys fare. It is sad that all is not well with team. They didn't look all that happy out in the field. To be fair, it very well could be because Jayasuriya was kicking their collective arses.
WI and England remind us of the Indian team. They have the same uncertainty about them. In terms of drama, the match between WI and England will be a classic. This match will see-saw several times with each team trying to lose and finally the undeserving side will win. We are marking our calendar for that match: April 21. By that time, both teams will probably not stand of chance of making it to the semi-final. That should add to the drama.
As of today, our picks for the semifinal are: Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka. Tomorrow, its the black caps turn to teach Bangladesh a cricket lesson. We will go out on a limb and say NZ will beat Bangladesh. Any takers?
Jayasuriya's knock was fantastic. Under helpful conditions, the WI bowlers did a good job of not giving him any room to play his shots. Jayasuriya had to bide his time patiently - that he did admirably and it wasn't till the 17th over that he finally started going after the bowlers. It was a great batting display which we hope the Indian cricket stars caught on TV. They could learn a thing or two.
We've said this before and will probably say it again: SL and NZ are the only teams that are capable of beating Australia. This match further confirms our belief. SL, after a very slow start, went on to make 303 in their 50 overs. For WI to stand a chance, Gayle and Lara had to fire. They didn't and the match was lost.
We never thought that the WI team had any chance of winning the world cup but we are amazed at how they are unravelling. They can't even claim that pressure is playing a part because it seems like no one in the WI really cares about how Lara and his boys fare. It is sad that all is not well with team. They didn't look all that happy out in the field. To be fair, it very well could be because Jayasuriya was kicking their collective arses.
WI and England remind us of the Indian team. They have the same uncertainty about them. In terms of drama, the match between WI and England will be a classic. This match will see-saw several times with each team trying to lose and finally the undeserving side will win. We are marking our calendar for that match: April 21. By that time, both teams will probably not stand of chance of making it to the semi-final. That should add to the drama.
As of today, our picks for the semifinal are: Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka. Tomorrow, its the black caps turn to teach Bangladesh a cricket lesson. We will go out on a limb and say NZ will beat Bangladesh. Any takers?
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Australia Vs Bangladesh, Super Eights
This match turned out to be a mismatch of gigantic proportions. Rain delays turned the match into a 22 over side game. Bangladesh lost the toss and were asked to bat by Ponting. McGrath took 3 wickets and overtook Wasim Akram as the leading wicket taker in the world cup. For what it is worth, we still think Akram was a better bowler than McGrath.
We don't want to talk about Hayen anymore. He is boring us with his consistency. We like a little bit of uncertainty. Indian cricketers are past masters of this great ancient art. One never knows how they will perform on any given day. That keeps the fans on their toes, keeps them sharp and imbues them with "now what new catastrophe" attitude. These qualities are very useful in the 'real' world*.
What is the big deal about scoring a lot of runs every time one goes out to bat? That is so, NOT COOL. That's why Hayden is a bore and that's why Aussies don't like cricket anymore**. Because the Australian team is very consistent, their fans don't have avenues for letting off steam. Evil things happen when fans don't have avenues to let off steam: a 'fan' might suddenly decide to enslave the world by controlling all the newspapers and the TV stations in the world or another 'fan' might suddenly think that hitting another human being's face with a telephone is a good idea.
The Australian cricket team has some tough decisions to make. Let's hope they make the right decision***.
* Not really.
** We don't exactly know that. In our defense, we watched FOX News last night and we are not responsible for what we say for the next 24 hours.
*** Since the collective IQ of the team is 11, we will spell it out for their benefit: Right decision = Play badly.
We don't want to talk about Hayen anymore. He is boring us with his consistency. We like a little bit of uncertainty. Indian cricketers are past masters of this great ancient art. One never knows how they will perform on any given day. That keeps the fans on their toes, keeps them sharp and imbues them with "now what new catastrophe" attitude. These qualities are very useful in the 'real' world*.
What is the big deal about scoring a lot of runs every time one goes out to bat? That is so, NOT COOL. That's why Hayden is a bore and that's why Aussies don't like cricket anymore**. Because the Australian team is very consistent, their fans don't have avenues for letting off steam. Evil things happen when fans don't have avenues to let off steam: a 'fan' might suddenly decide to enslave the world by controlling all the newspapers and the TV stations in the world or another 'fan' might suddenly think that hitting another human being's face with a telephone is a good idea.
The Australian cricket team has some tough decisions to make. Let's hope they make the right decision***.
* Not really.
** We don't exactly know that. In our defense, we watched FOX News last night and we are not responsible for what we say for the next 24 hours.
*** Since the collective IQ of the team is 11, we will spell it out for their benefit: Right decision = Play badly.
England Vs Ireland, Super Eights
Ve vill write thees match report like thees because eet vas a most boring match. England somehow managed to beat Ireland. Heartache for eeenglees fans has been postponed. That's feene, ve 'ave all the teeme een the world. Kant yu teel?
Ve kant think of anything elsie to say. Oh yeah, Collingwood is gud and so is gud 'ol Flinty. Oh yeah again, Pie San ees not the beeeeeest batsman een the world. 'E ees not even klose. He ees nuthin compared to Dhoni. No one but Dhoni in thees world cup 'as scored two ducks. As ve kan teel from personal experience, scoring 2 ducks in 3 matches EES 'ARD WORK, MKAY.
Ve kant think of anything elsie to say. Oh yeah, Collingwood is gud and so is gud 'ol Flinty. Oh yeah again, Pie San ees not the beeeeeest batsman een the world. 'E ees not even klose. He ees nuthin compared to Dhoni. No one but Dhoni in thees world cup 'as scored two ducks. As ve kan teel from personal experience, scoring 2 ducks in 3 matches EES 'ARD WORK, MKAY.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Talking Heads
Harsha's remedy for the ills plaguing the Indian cricket team is to reduce the number of first class teams in India and thus increase the cricketing standards. Fair enough.
Mukul Kesavan says it's Greg's fault (not in so many words...but...you know what, you should read the whole thing and decide for yourself). His theory:
Javagal Srinath says that Chappell's approach contradicted Indian way. We respect Srinath so we won't editorialize his column. Read it for what it is worth.
Confirming the fact that it is the best newspaper in India, The Hindu mentions that Polly Umrigar was inducted into the Legend's Club.
Mukul Kesavan says it's Greg's fault (not in so many words...but...you know what, you should read the whole thing and decide for yourself). His theory:
Ajit Wadekar, the senile old man of Indian cricket, decides to sound statesman like and for once eschews his garbage about "gora" coaches. One can peek into his psyche in this column. The column says: 'First find the cat you want to bell'. Right. Instead of talking about the causes/reasons of the bad show put on by India and how to go about correcting them, Wadekar, wants to pin the blame of this bad show on somebody. If that's the mentality 'esteemed' former captains have, there is no hope for Indian cricket.I think we lost because Chappell, with the best possible intentions, tried to shake the team out of its settled routines by recruiting new players and rotating their roles. He bet on youth and fitness, on developing the all round skills of players like Dhoni and Pathan, and on undermining notions of seniority and hierarchy. He made an example of Ganguly to this end, made his indifference to slow-moving specialists like Laxman obvious and built up players like Raina on the strength of their fielding skills.
All of these policies are theoretically defensible: the problem is, they didn't work. Raina wasn't ready for prime time as a batsman, Pathan's bowling fell away, the experiments at the top of the order failed and by the time the World Cup came round, the Indian team looked remarkably like the one John Wright had handed over. Ganguly was back and he rejoined a team that had been stirred and shaken so hard that it was an anxious bunch of individuals with no esprit de corps
Javagal Srinath says that Chappell's approach contradicted Indian way. We respect Srinath so we won't editorialize his column. Read it for what it is worth.
Confirming the fact that it is the best newspaper in India, The Hindu mentions that Polly Umrigar was inducted into the Legend's Club.
West Indies Vs New Zealand, Super Eights
Despite the loss of Lou Vincent,
Despite Shane Bond, Jacob Oram, and the steady Vettori, NZ’s strength lies in their batting depth. With Styris and McMillan in the form of their life and Jacob Oram and McCullum behind them, they have one of the strongest batting line-ups in the tournament.
Like we mentioned before, we see
Lara is not exactly setting stadiums on fire. He needs to cut out the cute shots and play like Lara we all know. Gayle is doing a Sehwag and Chanderpaul can’t seem to get out of his rut. If the big three don’t play well,
Good to know that though India is out of the tournament, its spirit lives on in the West Indian side. If they continue to play this way, Bangladesh will win two of their Super Eight matches. That will make us very happy.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
News Round-Up (Kind of)
This is ridiculous: Guru Ram Dev wants to ban cricketers from featuring in soft drink commercials after the Indians were ousted from the world cup. An excerpt:
Ramdev, who arrived in Dhanbad to take part in a 6-day yoga camp, told a press conference: "India's ouster from the World Cup may have shattered the dream of sports lovers in the country but it benefited crores of children as far as their health is concerned."The children see cricketers as idols and try to follow in their footsteps, he said while urging the BCCI to bar cricketers from advertising ‘harmful’ soft drinks.
"Such advertisements will have a bad effect on the health of crores of children in the country," Ramdev claimed. He also advocated the introduction of yoga in schools rather than sex education
Some very obvious questions: Is it okay for children to drink colas if the Indian cricket team wins matches? and more importantly, why is yoga and sex education mutually exclusive? Why can't kids have both yoga and sex education in school?
Dilip Balwant Vengsarkar AKA The Colonel, has suddenly realised the virtues of keeping his mouth shut.
Cricket going Hockey way? Hopefully not. We believe that there is still room for artistry in cricket. The day Matthew Hayden becomes the poster boy of cricket is when we should start worrying. Wait...South Africa Vs Sri Lanka, Super Eights
What a match! Unfortunately, we didn't watch a single ball and we weren't even close to a computer to follow the score. From all the reports we have read this was a cracker of a match. Malinga is a freak of nature and would have felt right at home in 19th century when round-arm bowling was all the rage and W.G. Grace was hitting round-arm bowling all over the ground. Malinga would have given the great man a stiff challenge...we think.
Anyway, if you are reading this blog you probably know more about this match then we do. To redress that situation we are watching the match now and might (or might not) have more pithy comments after our viewing.
If you were like us and do not know what you missed, Langeveldt took the first 5 for in this world cup, Malinga took 4 wickets in 4 balls and South Africa won the match by a hair's breadth. Here is the match report and here is the scoreboard.
Having grown up watching batsmen trash bowlers without regard, we love it when bowlers dominate a match. The best match of the world cup so far? we will answer that question after we watch the match.
Update:
It was an engrossing match. The last 5 overs were fantastic. Graeme Smith said that SA were on top for 95 overs of the match. We disagree. SA was on top for about 75 overs of the match.
Anyway, if you are reading this blog you probably know more about this match then we do. To redress that situation we are watching the match now and might (or might not) have more pithy comments after our viewing.
If you were like us and do not know what you missed, Langeveldt took the first 5 for in this world cup, Malinga took 4 wickets in 4 balls and South Africa won the match by a hair's breadth. Here is the match report and here is the scoreboard.
Having grown up watching batsmen trash bowlers without regard, we love it when bowlers dominate a match. The best match of the world cup so far? we will answer that question after we watch the match.
Update:
It was an engrossing match. The last 5 overs were fantastic. Graeme Smith said that SA were on top for 95 overs of the match. We disagree. SA was on top for about 75 overs of the match.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
News Round-Up (Sort Of)
Greg Chappell sends SMS messages to journalists. No wonder nobody likes GC. A coach's primary job is to build trust with his players. Looks like GC failed to do that miserably. Here's the offending paragraph for all you lazy people:
Fascinating reading about the inner workings in the BCCI (hat tip: Prem Panicker): Here.
The Colonel speaks again. Wants 'both young and experienced' captain. Okay then. Bye.
Meanwhile in Pakistan, "fans" went to the airport to "greet" Younis Khan.
Apparently, the Indian team was "most indisciplined” and “on an enjoyment spree” (they were up till 1 AM in the morning and were *gasp* smoking) when they toured WI in 2006. So, we should fire the coach says GCA board official. Duly noted. Thank you Mr GCA board official.
On February 16, after an article of mine appeared in this paper Greg sent me a SMS, which I am reproducing for the sake of the public. "Excellent article. Almost spot on. Even to the last selection meeting. I fought for youth. The senior players fought against it and the chairman went with them out of fear of media, if youth didn’t perform. Kartik will be a very good batsman and by the way is a potential leader. You are very right about Yuvi. Regards, Greg."Another theory as to why Bob Woolmer was killed (hat tip: Prem Panicker) - Here.It was the morning of the ODI against Sri Lanka in Visakhapatnam. The time the SMS was received — 08.16.31. For those who did not read the article, it would be helpful for their comprehension of the situation in a context.
As far as Dinesh Kartik is concerned, I had hinted he should not be taken as a second wicketkeeper, implying he be should taken as a batsman and called as such. Hence Greg’s explanation. About Yuvraj Singh I had written, "For heaven’s sake, let nobody consider Yuvraj Singh as a future captain."
Fascinating reading about the inner workings in the BCCI (hat tip: Prem Panicker): Here.
The Colonel speaks again. Wants 'both young and experienced' captain. Okay then. Bye.
Meanwhile in Pakistan, "fans" went to the airport to "greet" Younis Khan.
Apparently, the Indian team was "most indisciplined” and “on an enjoyment spree” (they were up till 1 AM in the morning and were *gasp* smoking) when they toured WI in 2006. So, we should fire the coach says GCA board official. Duly noted. Thank you Mr GCA board official.
West Indies Vs Australia, Super Eights
The village idiot has struck a rich vein of form and is in danger of becoming an idiot-savant. Who is to blame for this travesty? Daniel Vettori, that's who. Why? Because Hayden was out of form and was one match away from being dropped when Vettori dropped Hayden (score: 0) in the CB Series. Hayden then went on to make a century which got him into the world cup squad and the rest, as they say, is history. Daniel Vettori is a moron.
Hayden's batting will never be considered beautiful but it is extremely effective. Hayden is so dumb that he doesn't know it's better to be beautiful than to be effective. Hayden is not one of the sweet timers of the ball but he glosses over his timing deficiencies with the power he brings to the crease.
Hayden after a very slow start went to hit another century (158 in 143 balls) and powered Australia to yet another 300 plus score (322 in 50 overs). He was helped with nice cameos from Ponting, Clarke and Watson.
The rest of the match got rained out so West Indies will begin their chase tomorrow. Luckily they still have the full 50 overs but unluckily their target is a whopping 322. West Indies desperately needs a Lara special to chase this total down.
We will update this post after the West Indian innings tomorrow.
Update:03/28/2007
For West Indies to win this game, Lara needed to play one of his very special knocks. He did to a certain extent but it was not long enough and it was not special enough. Gayle is in awful form. Whatever happened to the destroyer of bowlers? He seems shrouded in doubt and not batting well.
Long story short, West Indies lost to Australia. Will someone please beat Australia? Once again, Australia is looking like a Juggernaut.
Hayden's batting will never be considered beautiful but it is extremely effective. Hayden is so dumb that he doesn't know it's better to be beautiful than to be effective. Hayden is not one of the sweet timers of the ball but he glosses over his timing deficiencies with the power he brings to the crease.
Hayden after a very slow start went to hit another century (158 in 143 balls) and powered Australia to yet another 300 plus score (322 in 50 overs). He was helped with nice cameos from Ponting, Clarke and Watson.
The rest of the match got rained out so West Indies will begin their chase tomorrow. Luckily they still have the full 50 overs but unluckily their target is a whopping 322. West Indies desperately needs a Lara special to chase this total down.
We will update this post after the West Indian innings tomorrow.
Update:03/28/2007
For West Indies to win this game, Lara needed to play one of his very special knocks. He did to a certain extent but it was not long enough and it was not special enough. Gayle is in awful form. Whatever happened to the destroyer of bowlers? He seems shrouded in doubt and not batting well.
Long story short, West Indies lost to Australia. Will someone please beat Australia? Once again, Australia is looking like a Juggernaut.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Where Does India Go From Here?
India's ouster from the world cup is heartbreaking but it is also an opportunity. Will BCCI do the right thing this time around? Based on their past track record, we doubt it. There will be a lot of bloodletting and heads will roll but if these are cosmetic to assuage the rage of "fans" it would be a travesty. April 6th and 7th are the dates to watch as BCCI is convening a meeting with ex-captains to decide the future of Indian cricket. In the meantime, it gives us an opportunity to pontificate about the kind of cricket team India should be aiming for.
What kind of a cricket team do we want?
A cricket team which can play well outside India has to be the top priority. For far too long, Indian teams have been flat track bullies. A tinge of green on the pitch should not make our batsmen yellow with fear. India should be able to win away tours, be aggressive in the field, play hard, not wilt under pressure, field as well as the Australians, and run the singles well. In short, the much clichéd term: "Total Cricket".
Coach:
Greg Chappell will most probably be sacked. One can argue that his “process” was never given the chance it deserved but it can also be said that a coach who rolled over without a fight when his scheme was being systematically dismantled does not deserve to be the coach. If, as reports seem to suggest, GC has lost the trust of his players; then he should be fired. No coach, however great, can succeed when his players don’t buy into the scheme. Getting players to believe in what the coach has to offer is a major part of the coach’s job.
His sacking might be symbolic: getting rid of the ‘foreign’ element from the team might be therapeutic for the loonies out there. Whatever the rationale behind GC’s firing, it is most likely that he will be gone.
Operating on the belief that GC will be sacked. Who should replace him? Will BCCI be wary about hiring a foreign coach after this fiasco? Will the Wadekars and Kapil Devs succeed with their vociferous racist remarks? Time will tell. Some of the names doing the rounds:
John Wright
Bob Simpson
Sandeep Patil
Anybody else? Any interesting names out there? Please let us know.
If by some miracle, he retains his job, it has to be considered a win for Indian cricket. Not because he is a good coach but because, for once, an administration took a stand of not pointing fingers at the easiest target and stuck by their employee in the face of immense pressure.
If BCCI decides to give GC another chance then a lot has to be done. BCCI has to empower GC and give him the team he wants, giving GC a core group of younger, fitter players and letting him mould them into a cohesive unit, having a pool of players to pick and choose from, not second guessing GC after every defeat and selecting a team based on performance rather than reputations. This will invariably lead to axing of star players like Ganguly, Sehwag, Bhajji, Tendulkar and Kumble. This option will be traumatic for a lot of fans. Will the BCCI do it? We doubt it.
Whatever we do, we should not fall back on hiring great Indian ex-captains (Kapil Dev, Wadekar, etc) as the Indian team’s coach. It will be a step backward if we do it. These great ex-players don’t have the coaching pedigree. Hire a coach who has a proven track record and technical know how.
Whether BCCI keeps GC or fires him and hires another coach, one thing they have to do is hire a bowling coach. Why India doesn’t have a bowling coach is beyond our understanding.
Captaincy:
This is a knotty problem. Overall, Rahul Dravid’s captaincy has not been bad. He had a poor run as a captain in the world cup. Is that enough to sack him? Dravid has shown himself to be thoughtful and tactical as captain. Can he emerge a stronger person and a stronger leader from this ordeal? We think so.
If there is a knock against Dravid, it is that, after buying into GC’s “process” he capitulated after a string of defeats and opted for ‘captaincy by committee’ approach. His captaincy took a step back by preferring experience over younger and fitter players. He should have known better than to underestimate the importance of fielding.
There is talk about bringing back Sachin Tendulkar as the captain. That would be a bad idea. Even worse would be making Ganguly the captain. Realistically, India doesn’t have many choices when it comes to captaincy. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, and Saurav Ganguly are the only candidates unless BCCI opts for ‘out of the box thinking’.
Dravid is reaching his peak as a batsman while Tendulkar and Ganguly are sliding down. We also believe that Dravid will come out of this debacle as a better captain. If there is anyone in the Indian team who does not wilt at the first sign of pressure, it is Dravid. Dravid has also shown that captaincy does not have an adverse effect on his batting. Dravid has always done well when his back is to the wall. We believe that Dravid still has a lot to offer Indian cricket. If the choices for captaincy are Ganguly, Tendulkar, and Dravid, we prefer Dravid.
Md. Kaif is another player we are very fond of. He was the captain of the U-19’s and is the captain of UP. From everything we have heard, he has the tactical nous and people skills to be a good captain. Bring back Md. Kaif into the team and make him the vice-captain. True, he is not the most prolific batsman in the country but his fielding alone should guarantee his spot in the ODI team and if he were given as many opportunities as, say, Sehwag, he would have probably cemented his spot. Kaif’s batting style (anchoring one end and rotating the strike) makes him ideal to be sent up the order.
The idea of Sehwag as the captain or vice-captain did enter our mind but we quickly discarded it because his spot is in jeopardy now. Sehwag has to go back the drawing board to sort out his fitness and technique.
Does anybody know if Yuvraj can be considered captaincy material? Again, Yuvraj’s test spot has not been cemented so he and Kaif are in similar boats. If given a choice, we prefer Kaif over Yuvraj because we believe Kaif has the common touch to get the best out of his team-mates. Maybe Yuvraj can be India’s Graeme Smith. We doubt it.
Another option could be VVS Laxman. Laxman is well liked and might not make a bad captain. By making Laxman the captain, BCCI could neatly side step several problems. He is senior enough to command respect from the younger players and is well liked by the senior players. One great thing about Laxman being the captain is that he would be in the ODI team. Dropping Laxman from the ODI team because he was considered to be a bad fielder was a gigantic joke.
We did consider having 2 different teams: one for the ODi’s and one for the Tests. Australia is pointed out as an example of this system. The reason this worked for Australia is because the captain of the test team was not part of the ODI team. One could argue that Dravid could remain the captain of the Test team while someone else could captain the ODI team. This will only work if Dravid is not part of the ODI team. That is a bad idea. Not having Dravid in the ODI team will hurt India. Again, we believe Dravid has a lot to offer Indian cricket. Talent like Dravid’s comes along rarely and we should value it.
Our preference is to stick with Dravid as the captain (for both ODI’s and Tests) and make a younger player (Kaif) the vice-captain. If Kaif succeeds, he could take over after Dravid retires and if he doesn’t, India will have time to identify another candidate while Dravid is steering the ship. Our second preference is to make VVS Laxman the captain (for both ODI’s and Tests) and again, make a younger player the vice-captain.
Team:
Tendulkar, Ganguly, and Kumble should retire from ODI’s. Sehwag, Agarkar, and Bhajji should be dropped from ODI’s. That gives us 6 spots for youngsters to fill. Agarkar can be replaced with Sreesanth, Bhajji can be replaced with Powar, and 3 batsmen can take the place of Tendulkar, Ganguly, and Sehwag.
Ganguly, Kumble, Agarkar, Sehwag, and Bhajji should be dropped from the test team. We believe Tendulkar still has something to offer in the Test arena so he should be allowed to keep his spot. Actually, we will be depressed if Tendulkar is dropped for Tests but will get over it very quickly.
The emphasis on future players has to be paramount. Jaffer, Kaif, Raina, Kaarthick, Gambhir, Pathan, and Sreesanth should be nurtured and given enough chances. The emphasis on star players has to decrease. Indians have to realize that the team comes first. It was a pleasure watching the Aussies, Clarke and Ponting, disregard their personal milestones in their match against SA. That would have never happened in an Indian team.
Indians have to realize that to reach Australian and South African level of play, their fielding has to improve drastically. A good idea would be to hire a fielding coach like the South Africans have. It’s not enough to bat well or bowl well, one has to field well. The star players cannot be excused from fielding drills. Fielding has to be an important criterion for selection (not a fake criterion like it was with Laxman’s non-selection). Running between the wickets is also something that needs to be improved. Influx of younger players will improve that to a certain extent but it can be improved further.
Cricket, especially ODI’s, has become an athlete’s game. Emphasis has to be paid to fitness, stamina, and endurance. It is a disgrace that young professional cricket players like Sehwag turn up at fitness camps overweight and out of shape. Players have to follow their off-season regimens. Heavy fines should be levied if a player does not follow their off-season regimen.
Miscellaneous:
BCCI should invest its millions in infrastructure. Our stadiums are falling apart and the conditions inside are horrible. Our one and only visit to see an ODI was traumatic. The stench of urine in the stands was gut-wrenching.
India needs better pitches and outfields. Let’s not kid ourselves about our batting prowess by belting out hundreds on flat tracks. These flat tracks have been the graveyard of many an Indian fast bowler. Why would anybody want to be a bowler when there is no glory in being one? It is not like we don’t know how to build bowler friendly pitches. Mohali is a prime example. We need more Mohali’s in other states.
India should also invest in the massive talent pool it has. We need more ‘A’ matches. A good performance in the U-19’s should not equate to a spot in the national team. The U-19’s need time to hone their skills and BCCI can provide it and should provide it.
For too long domestic cricket has suffered. Plans to reinvigorate and improve domestic cricket are many and varied. Domestic cricket deserves its own post and will be tackled at a later date.
Are we missing anything from our long discourse? Does anyone disagree with us? If so, convince us we are wrong and we will edit the post accordingly.
What kind of a cricket team do we want?
A cricket team which can play well outside India has to be the top priority. For far too long, Indian teams have been flat track bullies. A tinge of green on the pitch should not make our batsmen yellow with fear. India should be able to win away tours, be aggressive in the field, play hard, not wilt under pressure, field as well as the Australians, and run the singles well. In short, the much clichéd term: "Total Cricket".
Coach:
Greg Chappell will most probably be sacked. One can argue that his “process” was never given the chance it deserved but it can also be said that a coach who rolled over without a fight when his scheme was being systematically dismantled does not deserve to be the coach. If, as reports seem to suggest, GC has lost the trust of his players; then he should be fired. No coach, however great, can succeed when his players don’t buy into the scheme. Getting players to believe in what the coach has to offer is a major part of the coach’s job.
His sacking might be symbolic: getting rid of the ‘foreign’ element from the team might be therapeutic for the loonies out there. Whatever the rationale behind GC’s firing, it is most likely that he will be gone.
Operating on the belief that GC will be sacked. Who should replace him? Will BCCI be wary about hiring a foreign coach after this fiasco? Will the Wadekars and Kapil Devs succeed with their vociferous racist remarks? Time will tell. Some of the names doing the rounds:
John Wright
Bob Simpson
Sandeep Patil
Anybody else? Any interesting names out there? Please let us know.
If by some miracle, he retains his job, it has to be considered a win for Indian cricket. Not because he is a good coach but because, for once, an administration took a stand of not pointing fingers at the easiest target and stuck by their employee in the face of immense pressure.
If BCCI decides to give GC another chance then a lot has to be done. BCCI has to empower GC and give him the team he wants, giving GC a core group of younger, fitter players and letting him mould them into a cohesive unit, having a pool of players to pick and choose from, not second guessing GC after every defeat and selecting a team based on performance rather than reputations. This will invariably lead to axing of star players like Ganguly, Sehwag, Bhajji, Tendulkar and Kumble. This option will be traumatic for a lot of fans. Will the BCCI do it? We doubt it.
Whatever we do, we should not fall back on hiring great Indian ex-captains (Kapil Dev, Wadekar, etc) as the Indian team’s coach. It will be a step backward if we do it. These great ex-players don’t have the coaching pedigree. Hire a coach who has a proven track record and technical know how.
Whether BCCI keeps GC or fires him and hires another coach, one thing they have to do is hire a bowling coach. Why India doesn’t have a bowling coach is beyond our understanding.
Captaincy:
This is a knotty problem. Overall, Rahul Dravid’s captaincy has not been bad. He had a poor run as a captain in the world cup. Is that enough to sack him? Dravid has shown himself to be thoughtful and tactical as captain. Can he emerge a stronger person and a stronger leader from this ordeal? We think so.
If there is a knock against Dravid, it is that, after buying into GC’s “process” he capitulated after a string of defeats and opted for ‘captaincy by committee’ approach. His captaincy took a step back by preferring experience over younger and fitter players. He should have known better than to underestimate the importance of fielding.
There is talk about bringing back Sachin Tendulkar as the captain. That would be a bad idea. Even worse would be making Ganguly the captain. Realistically, India doesn’t have many choices when it comes to captaincy. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, and Saurav Ganguly are the only candidates unless BCCI opts for ‘out of the box thinking’.
Dravid is reaching his peak as a batsman while Tendulkar and Ganguly are sliding down. We also believe that Dravid will come out of this debacle as a better captain. If there is anyone in the Indian team who does not wilt at the first sign of pressure, it is Dravid. Dravid has also shown that captaincy does not have an adverse effect on his batting. Dravid has always done well when his back is to the wall. We believe that Dravid still has a lot to offer Indian cricket. If the choices for captaincy are Ganguly, Tendulkar, and Dravid, we prefer Dravid.
Md. Kaif is another player we are very fond of. He was the captain of the U-19’s and is the captain of UP. From everything we have heard, he has the tactical nous and people skills to be a good captain. Bring back Md. Kaif into the team and make him the vice-captain. True, he is not the most prolific batsman in the country but his fielding alone should guarantee his spot in the ODI team and if he were given as many opportunities as, say, Sehwag, he would have probably cemented his spot. Kaif’s batting style (anchoring one end and rotating the strike) makes him ideal to be sent up the order.
The idea of Sehwag as the captain or vice-captain did enter our mind but we quickly discarded it because his spot is in jeopardy now. Sehwag has to go back the drawing board to sort out his fitness and technique.
Does anybody know if Yuvraj can be considered captaincy material? Again, Yuvraj’s test spot has not been cemented so he and Kaif are in similar boats. If given a choice, we prefer Kaif over Yuvraj because we believe Kaif has the common touch to get the best out of his team-mates. Maybe Yuvraj can be India’s Graeme Smith. We doubt it.
Another option could be VVS Laxman. Laxman is well liked and might not make a bad captain. By making Laxman the captain, BCCI could neatly side step several problems. He is senior enough to command respect from the younger players and is well liked by the senior players. One great thing about Laxman being the captain is that he would be in the ODI team. Dropping Laxman from the ODI team because he was considered to be a bad fielder was a gigantic joke.
We did consider having 2 different teams: one for the ODi’s and one for the Tests. Australia is pointed out as an example of this system. The reason this worked for Australia is because the captain of the test team was not part of the ODI team. One could argue that Dravid could remain the captain of the Test team while someone else could captain the ODI team. This will only work if Dravid is not part of the ODI team. That is a bad idea. Not having Dravid in the ODI team will hurt India. Again, we believe Dravid has a lot to offer Indian cricket. Talent like Dravid’s comes along rarely and we should value it.
Our preference is to stick with Dravid as the captain (for both ODI’s and Tests) and make a younger player (Kaif) the vice-captain. If Kaif succeeds, he could take over after Dravid retires and if he doesn’t, India will have time to identify another candidate while Dravid is steering the ship. Our second preference is to make VVS Laxman the captain (for both ODI’s and Tests) and again, make a younger player the vice-captain.
Team:
Tendulkar, Ganguly, and Kumble should retire from ODI’s. Sehwag, Agarkar, and Bhajji should be dropped from ODI’s. That gives us 6 spots for youngsters to fill. Agarkar can be replaced with Sreesanth, Bhajji can be replaced with Powar, and 3 batsmen can take the place of Tendulkar, Ganguly, and Sehwag.
Ganguly, Kumble, Agarkar, Sehwag, and Bhajji should be dropped from the test team. We believe Tendulkar still has something to offer in the Test arena so he should be allowed to keep his spot. Actually, we will be depressed if Tendulkar is dropped for Tests but will get over it very quickly.
The emphasis on future players has to be paramount. Jaffer, Kaif, Raina, Kaarthick, Gambhir, Pathan, and Sreesanth should be nurtured and given enough chances. The emphasis on star players has to decrease. Indians have to realize that the team comes first. It was a pleasure watching the Aussies, Clarke and Ponting, disregard their personal milestones in their match against SA. That would have never happened in an Indian team.
Indians have to realize that to reach Australian and South African level of play, their fielding has to improve drastically. A good idea would be to hire a fielding coach like the South Africans have. It’s not enough to bat well or bowl well, one has to field well. The star players cannot be excused from fielding drills. Fielding has to be an important criterion for selection (not a fake criterion like it was with Laxman’s non-selection). Running between the wickets is also something that needs to be improved. Influx of younger players will improve that to a certain extent but it can be improved further.
Cricket, especially ODI’s, has become an athlete’s game. Emphasis has to be paid to fitness, stamina, and endurance. It is a disgrace that young professional cricket players like Sehwag turn up at fitness camps overweight and out of shape. Players have to follow their off-season regimens. Heavy fines should be levied if a player does not follow their off-season regimen.
Miscellaneous:
BCCI should invest its millions in infrastructure. Our stadiums are falling apart and the conditions inside are horrible. Our one and only visit to see an ODI was traumatic. The stench of urine in the stands was gut-wrenching.
India needs better pitches and outfields. Let’s not kid ourselves about our batting prowess by belting out hundreds on flat tracks. These flat tracks have been the graveyard of many an Indian fast bowler. Why would anybody want to be a bowler when there is no glory in being one? It is not like we don’t know how to build bowler friendly pitches. Mohali is a prime example. We need more Mohali’s in other states.
India should also invest in the massive talent pool it has. We need more ‘A’ matches. A good performance in the U-19’s should not equate to a spot in the national team. The U-19’s need time to hone their skills and BCCI can provide it and should provide it.
For too long domestic cricket has suffered. Plans to reinvigorate and improve domestic cricket are many and varied. Domestic cricket deserves its own post and will be tackled at a later date.
Are we missing anything from our long discourse? Does anyone disagree with us? If so, convince us we are wrong and we will edit the post accordingly.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Bangladesh Vs Bermuda, Group B
For a moment, our heart fluttered when Bangladesh was reeling at 37-3 chasing a target of 95. Luckily, better sense prevailed and we reasoned that the Bangladeshi young guns would not fold up under pressure like the Indians. They would not squander the chance they have been given. Batting on a sticky wicket, Ashraful and Saqibal Hasan saw Bangladesh home.
Bangladesh went on to beat Bermuda in rain curtailed match. They are into the Super 8's where they will get several more opportunities to bring down the other big teams. Whether this happens or not, Bangladesh should be very happy with their performance so far. Well done and good luck.
Bangladesh went on to beat Bermuda in rain curtailed match. They are into the Super 8's where they will get several more opportunities to bring down the other big teams. Whether this happens or not, Bangladesh should be very happy with their performance so far. Well done and good luck.
Did The "Process" Fail?
We came across this article from Rahul Bhattacharya while surfing a cricket message board. If the premise is true (that of distrust) then the article carries some weight.
The Process and why it failed so miserablyAny thoughts?
Rahul Bhattacharya
Four years ago to the day India crashed out of a World Cup. Then it was then the final. Now, bar a fresh face here and there, those same men, pale shadows of their former selves, hang their hopes on the cuddly amateurs of Bermuda, otherwise growing accustomed to the greatest embarrassment of their cricketing lives. ‘You ain’t going back home,’ a drunk hollered jauntily, almost as if to console them, ‘they gon kill yuh’.
Insofar as this can be analysed as a match of cricket it may be said, as the captain and coach said on loop while facing the press, that India “did not play well”. The seam bowlers were sharp upfront but they were unlucky, the fielding was mediocre and the batting hopeless.
Pitifully it all unravelled finally, the feebleness of despairing men unable to face the heat, and the campaign that had blazed across televisions, hoardings, powerpoint presentations and a million dreams came to a virtual halt. The world will turn, but try telling that to the Indian fan.
The cricketers will take a roasting, and there is little really to commend their efforts for the past year. The batting has been frail and the bowling medium and the fielding almost superfluous. Of course it has. And let us not even start on the system that produces and manages these cricketers. Yet, if we must be current, it is too convenient to ignore the point that this was a side without a chemistry. The only hope for it galvanising lay in the bonding that comes from special triumphs. It was not to be.
The team that is not united will find it hard to win. Rahul Dravid is an admirable cricketer in every respect, a setter of examples, but his fatal deficiency as captain was the inability to bring together people in a manner that makes them bigger than they are, a task made almost impossible by the politician employed as the coach.
When responding to one of the few questions he deigned to answer at the press conference, Greg Chappell pointed to the lack of partnerships. It could well be the motif for his tenure.
Numerous players earned the coach’s greatest censure and time after time he found friends in the media, in awe of his stature, thrilled by the access he provided, to spread the message. They were flamed privately to the press men. Word would get back to players, many of them could not relate to his methods anyway. Bonds were broken, and ultimately there hardly remained one. It is not there was not a shred of validity in the observations. But when there is such a breakdown of trust in a team its very spirit dies. India needed a leader, a builder; they got a wrecking ball.
From a tactical point of view, a shake-up was very much required when Dravid and Chappell came together. But experimentation was taken a step too far. It is one thing to make a flexible line-up, another to bend it till it breaks. It was going to be all or nothing. You could have an answer for every situation and equally to none. When it came down to it, the team was without a single bankable position.
The analysis has only just begun. It will continue with numbing force for months to come in what, for fans and media alike over the past two years, has been the most polarised period in recent Indian cricket history.
But take some time out to look the other way. As the world-weary Indians watched impassive from the dressing room, the jubilant Sri Lankans bounced joyously off the field, and the eager teenagers of the Bangladesh cricket team beamed in the audience. “The beauty and the cruelty of sport”, Dravid would philosophise later. Till better times, the supporters of the biggest, most decadent cricket playing nation in the world must have to come to terms with that.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
England Vs Kenya, Group C
England beat Kenya and are through to the super 8's. We didn't see this match because we were busy watching the Australia-SA match. We are happy that England got through - somebody has to give Ireland and Bangladesh hope for a win in the Super 8's. England team has a very subcontinental trait of being able to lose to anyone on any given day and beating anyone on any given day.
Happy days are ahead for cricket fans rooting for the weaker teams.
Happy days are ahead for cricket fans rooting for the weaker teams.
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