Cover Points

Uncommontators

gchakravarthy — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:35:00 GMT

There used to be a time when Henry Blofeld and Tony Greig were primarily the only ones who'd get behind the microphone even during matches where teams of their patronage weren't involved. While Henry's Etonian sentences constructed in a distinct voice might have been lost on the more recent cricket followers, Tony's more "accessible" din can still be heard coming out of teletubes around the cricket world.

But there was a period there - through the 90s and even into the early part of this millenium - when commentary teams were almost reduced to a pseduo matchup of the series, only off-screen.

Ravi Shastri would be teamed up with (or against as you might want to see it) David Gower. Rameez Raja and Michael Holding. Ian Smith and Ian Chappell.

Is there a new trend developing more recently? Sanjay Manjrekar often goes to Sri Lanka whether or not India's playing there. Mark Nicholas, Mike Haysman, David "Bumble" Lloyd, Robin Jackman, Ravi Shastri, Rameez Raja, Ian Chappell and the likes have all been heard in series where their teams haven't played.

The latest addition seems to be the Rolls Royce himself, Michael Holding, who can be heard in the current Ashes.

On the other end of the spectrum, we also have specialists like Tony Cozier who exclusively follows West Indies ... well, actually his stature is such that now all of West Indies follow him .. .ala Richie Benaud for Australia. And speaking of Australia, Simon O'Donnell, Bill Lawry and Ian Healey seem.to be stuck to Australia's own Channel 9.

Of course, Tony Greig can still be heard everywhere.

The rest of the story

gchakravarthy — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:45:00 GMT

Not too long ago, India's captain, MS Dhoni, was being hailed for his worker bee grade of professionalism. Now, his team mates, and to some extent he himself, would only be given a B-grade for their work.

Even his famously metronomic coach, whose made run-getting such a chore that Detroit wanted to rectuit him as a robot for their screw-tightening plant, had warned of exhaustion (read: motivational fatigue) before the World T20 ... and surely made it a talking point soon after India's exit from it.

Recently, he left another byte-mark about next year's IPL already.

While the players are fatigued, many have been wondering if the fans themselves are as well. In England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, where the sports seasons are very well demarcated, the followers of cricket seem to be able to maintain some kind of sanity. Many of Australia's internationally active cricket heroes followed their lead by skipping on IPL this time around, but did it help?

If Pakistan and Sri Lanka's 1st Test match in Galle is any indication, the answer might be: Yes!

The match has been very closely contested - well, at least until the fourth day - by two teams which are overflowing with hitherto unseen faces. It might not be a coincidence that this quality of cricket came after a prolonged and forced hiatus for Pakistan and even if not as prolonged, an equally forced, break from Sri Lanka's perspective. Of course, one could see that this break also had its impact on the quality of fielding in the Pakistani side ... but that could be "put down" to just lack of match practice ... after all this is their first Test in ...

But the vigor and drive from both teams was quite palpable and rather refreshing, especially in the face of recent Test series between the West Indies and England where all the hot air surrounding the matches seemed to have evaporated and taken away with it some of the mojo from the cricketers' as well.

In contrast, one Pakistani's mojo seems to be on the rising, and considering its already heliotropic tendencies, one wonders how much room there is to rise further. He has had considerable amount of rest as well.

England's (t)urn?

gchakravarthy — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:09:00 GMT

The way the English and the Australians have been treating the forthcoming Ashes for more than a year now, any of those "new eyeballs" (that the IPL and/or the World T20 might have managed to capture) that fall upon the build up can't be blamed for concluding that the Ashes was a tussle between the ECB's marketing forces and Australians' vicissitudes.

Under these circumstances, the Aussie traveling party was announced first, as expected, since they have to then travel ... duh! Their English counterparts were decided upon by Geoff Miller and co. more recently.

Let's take a look at the repercussions of these according to some of our own counterparts on the blogosphere.

In the green and gold corner, the Aussie perspective:

The fingers that type @ "A cricketing view" summed up the differences between the current bag of baggy greens and the last one that went to England in 2005:

2009 Ashes Squad - Australia
Ricky Ponting (c), Michael Clarke (vc), Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, Phillip Hughes, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Brett Lee, Graham Manou, Andrew McDonald, Marcus North, Peter Siddle, Shane Watson.
2005 Ashes Squad - Australia
*Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Michael Clarke, Jason Gillespie, Brad Haddin, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hodge,Justin Langer, Michael Kasprowicz, Simon Katich, Brett Lee, Stuart MacGill, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Shaun Tait, Shane Warne, Stuart Clark (added 9/8/05)

"The Cricket-Bloggers" danced a few steps further down and actually forced a final XI out of their system:

Phillip Hughes
Simon Katich
Ricky Ponting
Michael Clarke
Michael Hussey (demoted one spot due to lack of form)
Marcus North
Brad Haddin
Mitchell Johnson
Brett Lee
Peter Siddle
Stuart Clark

From the greener pastures of England, the view seems to be ... well, greener on the same side. The English seem to be hopelessly in love with the idea of an encore of the 2005 scoreline:

The "3rd Umpire", though, seems to lament the demise of Michael Vaughan, at least as an Ashes cricketer.

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The selection of a 16-man Ashes training squad, alongside an England Lions XI to face Australia, provides many portents for the summer ahead. The complete omission of Michael Vaughan is the clearest indication yet his Test career is at an end.

The English also seem to have come to terms with the fact that the reduction in Monty Panesar's cricket prowess has either meant or coincided with an enrichment in England's spin coffers. The rise of Graeme Swann and Adil Rashid has tickled the English imagination and led to the sort of pre-series chatter that one might encounter before an India-Sri Lanka series where spin bowling commands prime real estate with the fourth estate.

That feeling itself seems to be at (b)loggerheads (haa!) with the Aussie version, headed by the popular JRod, which suggests that Hilditch and co. should ditch all spin completely for a pace battery.

In the meanwhile, Australia's first warm-up match against Sussex shows that their batsmen need to learn quickly to play the quicks in England. Patrick Kidd points out how even the Italians and Germans seem to be enough to dislodge the Aussies this time around:

It is possible that by this dent to Aussie morale, Sandri could become the most important Italian cricketer since Ted Dexter (born in Milan). Ponting fell to Luke Wright and James Kirtley bagged Hussey but Sandri came roaring back by dismissing Katich and North to make it 3-2 to Italy.

Speaking of bloggerheads, looks like the Ashes have been advanced:

Whoever told you the first game will be on 8th July was wrong.
The first game of the Ashes series will take place between the best of England and the best of Australia at Barnes CC in London on Monday, 29th June.

Harmi-chameleon

gchakravarthy — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:21:00 GMT

As the ECB's marketing team ensures that The Ashes will scatter all over the cricket landscape in the next few weeks a familiar pre-Ashesquestion also makes in customary (at least from the evidence of the last 4 campaigns) rounds:

Will Steven Harmison be back in the English side?

Our friends @ The Corridor certainly agree:

It may be a trend, Steve Harmison starting the season well for Durham to yet again persuade England’s selectors that he should be picked. It’s a depressing one though, isn’t it, when his domestic performances are laced with evidence of extreme talent which has only emerged occasionally in internationals, interspersed with nervous and occasionally appauling efforts for England.

Steven's recent, aggression-filled performances for Durham have not gone unnoticed by, well, duckingbeamers:, even as Harmy himself seems to have been affected more by the outcome of such aggression that the batsmen who bore the brunt of it ... at least, physically:

“It’s the worst thing in the world when you hit somebody,” Steve said. “I really don’t like it at all. I s*** myself when I hit Tony Frost. I was upset by that. And the same when I hurt Ian Bell.”

Statements that were interpreted by Patrick Kidd @ Line and Length to be indicative of his "softness":

I want my fast bowlers to enjoy hitting batsmen if that is what the occasion demands. Remember the aggression at the start of the 2005 Ashes, when Langer was hit on the forearm and Ponting's cheek was cut by a bouncer into his helmet? It set the tone and showed that we would not be bullied.

On the other hand, the guys @ The Ashes Cricket Live think the only thing relevant from the recent domestic tournament is that the English bowlers seem to be hitting more than just batsmen ... they might be hitting prime form:

England bowlers participating in county championship action this week have been in top form. With all bowlers all hoping for a place in the starting line up in The Ashes, England vs Australia, come the first test match in Cardiff on 8th July.

So while many, like the few @ Cricket 24x7, wonder how Australia's premature ousting from the World T20 might affect their morale going into the Ashes ... or won't ...

It's funny how Shane Warne's brain works. I daresay quite a few other Aussie cricketers (current and former), cricket administrators and cricket commentators/writers would have also thought along similar lines after Australia were bundled out of the T20 World Cup.

the English selectors have clearly seem to have indicated, they don't want any mental cases coming into this year's Ashes by leaving our Michael Vaughan and Steve Harmison out of the squad ... a couple who know what it takes to beat the Aussies but also know, and only too well, what it feels like to be beaten really badly by them.

Semi Final brings Pakistan a full circle

gchakravarthy — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:08:00 GMT

A tale of the PowerPak v. the Safferers:

Albie in the Finals!!! Steyn alive, charging like a Jacques ... for one Morkel, made it to Botha Finals" - Younus Khan 23 minutes ago
Will this be Pakistan's Doom(iny)? 29 minutes ago
Wasim bowling to Wessels ... in the commentary box!! Oh! It's a *** comment followed by a *** comment. It's all crappening here ... 31 minutes ago
Akram WAZ a great bowler, but 'IM a crappy commentator. "Suppperb bowling ... supperb bowling ... suppperb bowling ..." 35 minutes ago
Full-of-crap Wessels is silent now!! 40 minutes ago
Says one green to another ... you're blue! ABD falls to AfriD and in comes JPD about 1 hour ago
Said one charger to another ... you're out of juice! But Gibbs checks the ball from Afridi after it has bowled him. Is this a sign of more hapless allegations to come? about 1 hour ago
Pakistan take a catch ... AMIRacle! Graemey innings ends. Maybe just as well for the Saffers! about 1 hour ago
Umer Goal! about 2 hours ago
Empty Wessels is making too much noise. about 2 hours ago
JP TooMany about 3 hours ago
Roll off van Der Nerve !! about 3 hours ago
Can Y. Khan do an I. Khan in the cricket World Cup? about 3 hours ago

Choke De! South Africa?

gchakravarthy — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:27:00 GMT

Indian fans might not have the opportunity to chant their favorite catchphrase any longer in the second ever World T20 Cup.

The news cloud online seems to be full of suggestions that they could have a similar-sounding one for South Africa, if their previous performances in World Cups, indeed in any major ICC tournaments for that matter, are anything to go by.

And that was when they were NOT expected to win those tournaments anyway.

This time around, they actually have been the favorites from day -4.

The last time they went into something having been expected to come out winners on the other side thereof, they lost a test series to Australia.

Some Aussies would like to firmly believe so, especially since the Australian team was unceremoniously sent off from the tournament. Others are pretty sure that will happen.

But, looking from within South Africa, it seems like the chokers tag might be turned right on its own head in what is a factually well backed up take.

MS Phoney? Come on!!

gchakravarthy — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 01:04:00 GMT

Then:

The Iceman Cometh!
Captain Cool!
Captain Fantastic!

Now:

The Axeman cometh??
Captain Evil!
Captain ... you get the pic!

"As you reap, the harvest you shall not keep" ... seems to be what many from the conventional media as well as new-world media vigilantes, also sometimes referred to as bloggers are saying to Dhoni.

This is a classic case of unsolicited generosity with severe strings attached. The media wanted poster-boys to replace the dog-eared hoardings of the previous generation. They got these in Mahi, Viru, and Yuvi. Great builders can be worse destroyers.

Pens that paint superstars can also vandalize their posters. Dhoni's crimes were making hay when the spotlight shone, taking media speculation about his integrity to heart and ... oh yes, how can one forget that ONE defeat in the World T20 Super8 match!!!

How dare an Indian captain who was hailed for taking the team to historic, even improbably, feats take it down? But what does taking a team down entail? If the media is to be believed: an injured player sent back home in the middle of a tournament and his captain who's suddenly unwilling to speak freely to the media.

Choose your journeys carefully, but choose your journos even more carefully!

Ireland back into nether land?

gchakravarthy — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:22:00 GMT

Ireland may have crossed the first hurdle in the current World T20 tournament - one of beating a Test playing nation - to make it to the Super8, but the euphoria of that victory was quelled by a metronomic rather than meteoric performance from the other Test playing team in their group, one whose wont it had been to display more of the latter.

Repeating their Super8 entry in the longer World Cup in 2007, where they vanquished a much more serious adversary in Pakistan than Bangladesh, Ireland may not be strangers to the Ire of subcontinental cricket maniacs nor to the company of hallowed rivals in an elite club.

But they had indeed been strangers to defeat in the shortest version of the sport. Ireland, coming into this World Cup, had not lost a single T20I match. One could argue that with only 5 matches under their collective 28+ belt (apologies to the spring chickens in the team) it was just beginner's luck, but a record it was. Now they sit in the Super8 but only having put in, what some would argue and at their own peril, is their rightful place.

Many might jump the gun and point out that this should put the underground ramblings of Ireland displacing Bangladesh as a Test nation to rest.

But we might not have seen the last of Ireland yet. Pakistan might be keen to avenge their 2007 embarrassment, but New Zealand and Sri Lanka have not yet seen much of Ireland and though it might be unlikely, I wouldn't put it past the Irish to give at least one of those teams a bitter taste of their stouts.

And speaking of stouts, Regan West, one of the handful thirty-plussers in the Irish team proved that being stout and astute might indeed be too much to ask for in the same person as he limbered over the crease after his very first ball ... what a West!

The hand that rocks the handle

gchakravarthy — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 22:44:00 GMT

A 10-year old boy in a cricket coaching camp in Bangalore screams at his teammate who has just finished his batting stint at the nets: "Abe! Bottom hand loose rakh ... ball girega!" [which is Hindi for: "keep your bottom hand loose the next time and the ball will drop right down"].

It might help, at this point, to remind ourselves that for a right-handed batsman, the bottom hand is his (her) right hand).

It is no secret, at least since moving images of cricket matches moved into people's living rooms, which hand plays what role in executing what kind of shot. We still hear (or read) experts rave about the top-handed treat from Dravid or a bottom-handed bombardment by Tendulkar.

But, in a unique case of noise-pollution, the question seems to be relevant: what is it that really makes a batsman top-handed or bottom-handed? Or better still, what is it that makes a shot top-handed or bottom-handed? It seems logical that the top hand should be the dominant one in a cover drive or a straight drive or an on drive. It also seems to be acceptable to assume that the pulls and cuts and hooks and flicks depend more on the bottom hand. So does it follow then that Rahul Dravid can be termed a top-handed batsman? Does it also mean that Adam Gilchrist is a bottom-handed batsman?

Are you thinking ... yes, of course!

How about we toss in another variable ... the position of the batsman's hands on the bat handle (or grip)? If Sachin Tendulkar holds the bat way down and close to the blade on handle, does that make him a bottom-handed batsman? Also, if Adam Gilchrist holds the bat near the top edge of his handle [and hence, grip] should he be called a top-handed batsman?

You have the likes of Virender Sehwag who is as easy on the brain in this regard as he is on the eye when he bats. Simplicity seems to permeate through all aspects of his batting because he holds the bat towards the bottom of the handle and prefers to play strokes which also primarily use the bottom hand.

But then, you also have a batsman who loves to play cuts and pulls which are bottom-handed strokes but whose grip on his bat is top-handed, namely Adam Gilchrist. In fact, he went so far as to use a squash ball inside the glove of his bottom hand to motor his World Cup Final winning knock in Barbados in 2007. Sachin Tendulkar, who executes flawless drives which are top-handed shots does so while his grip itself is bottom-handed, as agreed on by.

Viru: outright bottom-handed batsman.
Gilly: ??
Paaji: ??

Is there a case for brevity here? Well, let us see. What are the facts of the case?

Certain strokes use the top hand more and certain use the bottom hand.
Certain players hold the bat at the top or the handle and yet others at the bottom.

Of these, the one fact that actually warrants the classification of batsmen as top- or bottom-handed is where they hold the bat. Using the type of strokes to do so requires an additional step: the assumption that a batsman "prefers" or "enjoys" certain types of strokes and that makes it ambiguous at best.

And then there's David Gower who thinks what we widely considered to be a right-handed should really be called left-handed! It is one thing to try and be an ambidextrous batsman ... quite another to be an ambiguous one!

Other oft-used cricket terms whose excessive usage has led to more confusion than clarity include: a good length delivery and reverse swing.

One of these days ...

Foresight is 20-20

gchakravarthy — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:22:00 GMT

Alright. It is the 9th of June, 2009 and the preliminary stages of the World Cup T20 have just concluded.

(Maybe the calender is still showing 5th of June and maybe the World Cup has just started in all earnest! So what's your point??? Just stick with the post, will ya ...)

Here's how the teams stack up:

Team	P	W	L	T	NR	PTS
GroupA
India (A1)	2	1	0	0	1	3
Ireland (A2)	2	1	0	0	1	3
Bangladesh	2	0	2	0	0	0
GroupB
Pakistan (B1)	2	1	1	0	0	3
Netherlands (B2)	2	1	1	0	0	3
England	2	1	1	0	0	3
GroupC
Australia (C1)	2	1	1	0	0	3
Sri Lanka (C2)	2	1	1	0	0	3
West Indies	2	1	1	0	0	3
GroupD
South Africa (D2)	2	2	0	0	0	4
New Zealand (D1)	2	1	1	0	0	2
Scotland	2	0	2	0	0	0

If anyone had predicted that the Super 8 would include Ireland and the Netherlands ... they'd have been laughed into oblivion.

Are you laughing?

Boyle's Law of Cricket

gchakravarthy — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:02:00 GMT

The World T20 is coming ... or is it actually here.

Regardless, the teams are there.

Considering how soon after another well-followed T20 event this edition of the World Cup comes and the fact that players are going from counting their change to changing into their country's colors, there is bound to be repeated mentions of two main words: pressure and heat.

Well ... those also happen to be the two main variables in Boyle's law of gases, which basically states that for a given temperature, pressure and volume of an ideal gas are inversely proportional to each other.

Is it being implied that T20 cricket is full of hot gas ... not in this post, but maybe here.

But what IS being implied is that for our favorite cricketers at this year's T20 world cup, there might just be an inverse relationship between the pressure on them and the volume of achievements they might be bale to dish out at said event.

One could also argue like Mahesh does that the T20 version actually levels the playing field between the highly talented and the not-so-gifted, the very experienced and the rookies, the rock stars and the spectators or whatever.

Assuming that the heat (read: level playing field) is constant on the team, one might rank the teams in terms of the pressure (read: expectations) on them as follows:

India (defending champs, "rock stars", almost an entire team full of proven match winners, loads of talent, money, and support)
South Africa (excellent balance in squad, recent form @ IPL09 in their own backyard, familiarity with English conditions)
Australia (most experienced T20I team, semi-finalists last year)
New Zealand (loads of talent, recent form from IPL09)
England (hosts, decently balanced team, few match-winners)
Sri Lanka (experienced campaigners, few match-winners)
Pakistan (runners up last time, but not much cricket coming in, lots of talent)
West Indies (winners of Stanford T20, not much recent form)
Then we come to the "minnows" (really?)
Bangladesh
Ireland
Scotland
Netherlands

So applying Boyle's Law of Cricket to these teams, the teams with the best chance to win should be:

Netherlands
Scotland
Ireland
Bangladesh
West Indies
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
England
New Zealand
Australia
South Africa
India

The Netherlands ... really???

Not so fast ... that is where a key word "ideal" comes in. Boyle's law only applies to ideal gases.

Got a ranking of your own??

Hindsight is 20-20

gchakravarthy — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:19:00 GMT

Ok ... what just happened?

We all have come to terms with the fact that the 2009 edition of the Indian Premier League is NOT actually being in India. But how many of us were ready for the rest of the topsy-turvy ouctomes in just 2 days of IPL?

All 8 teams have played at least one match each and here's what's happened:

Last year's finalists both lost their first matches.
Last year's champions, in fact, ended up with the lowest total in "IPL history".
Last year's worst 2 teams won their first matches and that too with huge margins.
Last year's champions, in fact, lost to last year's worst team.

As far as individual performances go, the so-called old-timers, the ones who are supposedly "not suited for the shorter game", the "slow movers", the ones who are not considered good enough to be part of their national team, were indeed the stars of the first round:

Rahul Dravid ended up with a 120+ rated 66 to give his team's bowlers a something to defend
Anil Kumble, one of those bowlers, ended up with figures of 3.5 overs 5 wickets for 5 runs!
Sachin Tendulkar held his team's batting order in order and did what Rahul Dravid did for the Royal Challengers.

Batsmen were supposed to take everything the away bowlers and into the stands:

Anil Kumble has already been mentioned above
Ojha and Vettori did exceptionally well for the Chargers

You heard it ... this IS South Africa we are talking about and it is spinning like a top and the top spinners are out to hunt.

Captains were swapped around:

Gilly for VVS
KP for the Wall
Paaji for Bhajji (even though Bhajji did it since Sachin was out due to injury the last time around)
McCullum for Dada

One thing that stayed in line with expectations was the importance of an all rounder. This was illustrated in the match up between Kolkata and Deccan which staged quite a first in that it had or captains 2 players who were truly all rounders. McCullum and Gilchrist are each wicket-keeping batsmen, openers at that, AND captains of their respective star-studded teams.

It was quite intereting to note that South Africans refer to their kids who attend school as learners and not students. So even as Lalit Modi hands over a cheque for ZAR100,000 to a South African school and thier learners jump up in joy, one can't but wonder what the older but equally keen and astute learners of cricket will be learning from the benefit of their hindsight from the first IPL season. Those IPL "leader caps" might exchange very strange hands this time around.

The T20 format might not have too much of a history, but has enough for cliches to have come out already. "All it takes is one over for the match to turn completely" anyone?

Well, looks like all it takes is one season for some seasoned cricketers to turn their limited overs career around.

Introducing: The Manoachirector

gchakravarthy — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:48:00 GMT

First there was the captain, then came the manager, then the "coach". Each with an increasingly lower shelf-life, maybe not individually but as a breed. Now walks in Andy Flower. The great lefty opener that he was, he opens once again for this new breed ... and guess what, it is from the left-field to boot! Trust the ECB to "innovate" yet again by creating the: "Team Director".

As if to confirm the warne-ing that It is already a cliche to call the coach a team-bus, the English cricket establishment has established yet another new post that their prima donna national players could have a beef with, although there seems to be enough "e-pinion" that suggests that the two men newly at the helm of the English team probably have more in common than, well, just being familiar with being at the top of the order in a lefty kind of way .. .and a first name.

You know what they say about e-pinions though (e-pinions are like blogs ... e-veryone has them!) and so does this one.

If one thought a coach was one too many, John Buchanan has taken off on a different tangent altogether by instituting the ploy of multiple captains for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Actually, if one were to pay a modicum of attention more than needed to the name of the franchise itself, one might immediately realize that in the fantasy world of Knight Riders, there has to be more than one knight! But the "real" world doesn't need more than one Knight to Ride a team if you were to believe this Gentleman.

One of Sunny's ex-adversaries, Tony, feels that the Andy-Andy combo might not be that handy if and when Strauss leaves the scene.

Regardless of how dandy things might be between the Andies, manager, coach, and team director all just seem to be euphemisms for a non-playing captain, and that is someone cricketers and captains just don't seem to want at all.

Which begs the question ... is the "Team Director" a new beginning for this non-playing captain or is this the beginning of the end for him?

Aver + Age = Average?

gchakravarthy — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:16:00 GMT

A lot had been expressed about the supposed loss of luster of the Australian cricket stars ever since they were beaten by India in India last year.That is just another tribute to the dominance of the Australian cricket team over their counterparts who were reduced to part-counters by them during the past decade. All they have really lost in that period is the sense of invincibility. They have actually not lost too many matches and the ones they have only lost to South Africa and India. And not just ANY India or South Africa, at least in the case of India many are arguing, not without evidence, this is THE BEST Indian team to have ever played cricket!

So when Rhys Thompson "roars" in relief at the "resurgence" of the Australian team, one feels like pinching oneself and him.

Just when we thought the Australian Cricket team, the Goliath of all Australian sporting rep teams had met its own David, waiting for the killer blow, the beast has suddenly re-awakened.

But there are a few Australian cricketers to whom that word might suit much better individually. Soon after the mass exit of some of the Australian greats, various factors led to the exit of some who many thought would be counted among the greats by the time they hung their boots or cast their fishing rods for longer or strummed their guitars louder. Drum rolls please. Enter (or is it "Exit"): Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds, Stuart Clark, Shane Watson, Shaun Tait.

Of these, Binga is certain he belongs in the Australian Team, heck he demands it! The Australian Team Management seems to be certain this averment combines destructively with his aging (at least for a super-fast bowler) body resulting in average performances on the field. Roy, spurred by his agent, is bent upon averting another smash to his image. They will be hoping that it is not just the image that's below average for this otherwise fearsome competitor. "Sarfraz" , for his part, stayed true to that adage "If you love something, let it go and ...". Well, his average ODI overs have not stopped him from getting back into the side. And then there's Watto, Watto ... Watto! He must be wondering Whatto will ever bring him back from the sideline into that very side? In his case, his age might, in fact, be causing him an oppostie problem. His still-growing body a few years ago might have been put through too much resulting in a apge of injuries that possibly gave the Australian establishment that is always looking for stability, a very warm, fuzzy feeling in their collective stomachs. Tinga, who had started with a tingle in his stomach telling him he could be the next Binga, bowed himself out into the sidelineswhere he seems to linga.

All of these talented Ozzies seem to have suddenly seemed average to their national selection committee and at the same time the Australian team seems to be heading that way as well. Will their age, at least on the international cricket pitch, aver their returns to the national side? One can wait and see.

In the meanwhile, Younus Khan is lamenting the lack of Ricky, Mitch, and Mike in his opposing ranks because he feels his inexperienced side could learn a lot from them:

"When you play against the top players like Ponting, you learn different and good things"

Windies of Change?

gchakravarthy — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 06:08:00 GMT

The Windies might have been on a momentary high after securing a hitherto rare Test series victory over the visiting English since the 90s, but are these necessarily the Windies of change or just a Gayle that will blow through?

It has to be noted that this series victory came largely from one morning's deeds from two bowlers in Sabina Park. Those were the only difference-making performances from the West Indian team. Those same bowlers were rendered quite impotent in the subsequent matches; in fact one of them couldn't even hold down his spot for the full Test series. The West Indies bowling struggled consistently to knock down the English 10-pin. One could argue that this is reflected directly in the fact that the ranking of the highest run-scores in the series from both teams has Englishmen from ranks #2 until #6. The English batsmen would argue otherwise and they would be partially justified, especially since some of the aforementioned five batsmen had to weather the fieriness of Fidel on certain late afternoon and the bends from Benn on certain others. Those were the exceptions.

As far their own batting goes, Ramnaresh Sarwan scored big and bigger and Chanderpaul did what is the minimum expected from him these days and Gayle chipped in here and there. But that was mostly that! The rest of the seemingly good performances, including a couple from the spruces of Brendon and Denesh, seem so more due to the generosity of the Brits than the virtuosity of the Islanders. The question then becomes what if two of these three stalwarts fail in an entire series. One doesn't have to be Tim Burton to imagine that scenario. And the less said about the West Indian fielding the better.

And all this against an English team that has been stumbling on its own mess: Flint-OFF, Unkeen Pietersen, Andrew Stress, to name a few.

"Work ethic" is a word that is being thrown around in world cricket these days, thanks to the entry of a "corporate" mentality and the purported "accountability" that should come with it. But the world famous West Indian "lackadaisia" might be too much to handle even for these task masters. The fact that one of them, a big one at that, might end up behind bars for a long time to come doesn't help either. The laid back island culture might have even gotten to their Aussie coach, one of whose main purpose was indeed to break that easy floating bubble, as he seems to be getting himself nicely ensconced within it when he called back his batsmen in bad light even as that would directly result in their loss.

Off the field, it doesn't help that the captain is at loggerheads with the "Mother Board", which itself is not on the best of terms with the "Mother Chip" or as some call it, DigiCel.

There are more entities at play as well in contributing to that eerie premonition that West Indian cricket might never again scale back its own past heights, not the least of which are those of its fas bowlers! As Simon Evans laments, the aforementioned corporate agenda, albeit half-baked in execution, as well as fully inept cricket board have combined to make West Indies a newfound "home ground" for the English in a new form of colonialization. The locals, especially in Antigua and Barbados, with their rum-soaked breaths and their steel drum-driven hearts and vintage cricket memories have been left with just that. As Lara has hesitantly admitted, the rise of T20 seems to have given birth to a new type of cricket viewer in the Caribbean.

" ... Not necessarily the right ones I think; the ones that just want to go to the game and don’t even know what happens ..."

The English might have spoilt that party with an ODI series win, but they themselves can't lay any serious claims to have done so anywhere close to convincingly. John from the Bleacher Report seems to agree:

Despite succumbing to the brilliance of Andrew Flintoff's bowling, and subsequently losing the one-day series, the West Indies have enjoyed the better of England's tour. Test series victories are rare moments, but the reaction of the returning crowds shows that cricket remains an important social activity in the Caribbean.