November 6, 2009

A cricketing renaissance

Posted by Cricinfo - 1 day, 14 hours ago in Twenty20

From Ram Srinivasan, United States

	Tillakaratne Dilshan shows off his innovative scoop shot © AFP

A lot of ink and bits have been spent discussing the evil that is Twenty20 and the IPL. However these primarily identify the effects of Twenty20 cricket, good or bad, on the players and the business of cricket. The focus here is different; understand the effect of Twenty20s on the game of cricket. Not the business of cricket.

Batting The batting equation has changed considerably. Eleven wickets and twenty overs, instead of fifty overs. This has encouraged, or even forced, batsmen to dance on the thin line that separates recklessness and aggression. The most famous addition to the cricketing manual in recent years has been the Dilscoop. While it was pioneered by Tillakaratne Dilshan, it is fast catching on. I have had to sit through Lendl Simmons try, and miserably fail, to play the shot at least five times during the Champions League Twenty20.

The reverse-sweep, which has been the pariah of cricketing shots, is now legit and has been endowed citizenship status. Even as late as 2007, a batsman getting out on the reverse-sweep was morally culpable for any subsequent defeat. Twenty20 cricket has simply increased the percentage in the shot. First, with a number of captains (foolishly, if I might add) deciding to do away with the third man in Twenty20, the reward has increased. This has motivated players to practice the shot in the nets, reducing the risk in the shot.

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November 4, 2009

Grandmasters of cricket

Posted by Cricinfo - 3 days, 14 hours ago in Rankings

From Mahendra Mapagunaratne, Canada

	Which of these legends is not in the ICC Hall of Fame? © Getty Images

I feel that ICC should commence an honorary title system for the greatest players in the game. One may coin a suitable title but for the sake of this article I suggest Grandmaster or Cricketmaster. No one except the most passionate cricket fans would know whether a certain player is in the ICC Hall of Fame by hearing his name, but certainly a Cricketmaster/Grandmaster title would make people note that he has been honoured and even later generations with little idea of history would realise a certain player with a Grandmaster Title besides his name would have been special in the past. Wouldn't it be marvellous for instance to address Sachin Tendulkar as Grandmaster Sachin Tendulkar? ICC could take a cue from chess. Here is the chess hierarchy in descending order: Super Grandmaster [SGM], Grandmaster [GM], International Master [IM]. I think if you poll the players they are bound to like the idea of having a title beside their names.

November 2, 2009

Where are my slippers?

Posted by Cricinfo - 5 days, 15 hours ago in Fielding

From Mark Browning, Australia

	Limited-overs cricket has reduced the importance of the slip cordon © Getty Images

The popular saying goes, “Bowlers win matches.” In the longest form of the game they can’t without help. First-class and Test matches are also won by guys who are usually the least athletic members of the team. They are the fieldsmen who don’t run much and stand with their hands on their knees; sticking out their backsides at the spectators. For these are the “slippers”, the unsung heroes of Test cricket.

And they have been the true litmus test as to what constitutes a great team. Without the support of “slippers” many bowling legends of the game might be forgotten. Fifty-over cricket diminished the importance of the “slipper” while Twenty20 makes the spot almost redundant. How many know that Cameron White is a fine snaffler of edges? Will a time come when it won’t matter if he’s any good in the cordon or not? One of the main reasons why the Indian team were able to push their hosts in the 2007-08 series Down Under was the reliability of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid in the cordon in making the most of the opportunities provided.

In his final summers Richie Benaud’s television commentary role has been reduced to intermittent observer, but he was spot-on when he lamented the absence of slip-catching specialists. Their type played a large part in Australia’s dominance in times gone by. Benaud himself was superb in the gully and in his era Neil Harvey took some beauties.

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October 30, 2009

The genesis of a cricket nut

Posted by Cricinfo - 1 week, 1 day ago in Fans

From Gopal Rangachary, India

	The late 70s was a good time in India to become a cricket fan © Getty Images

Are you born a cricket nut or do you become one? At least in my case, that is the one thing I can’t blame my genes for (I have successfully blamed them for a variety of character flaws from being disorganised to having ghastly handwriting). My father was apparently anti-cricket - thought it was a waste of time – and if he had lived long enough to see me through my teenage, the world of cricket nuttiness’ would have lost me.

I have impeccable pedigree though for a cricket nut. I was born near the home of cricket (no, not in the Lord’s pavilion. It would have been impossible to have done so, as women weren’t allowed in at the time). Actually I was probably born closer to Edgbaston than to Lord’s, but at least in the country that invented cricket – and when I was seven moved to the new spiritual home of cricket, India. My primary school was at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, which is the only inactive Test venue in England today. I understand there was a turgid Test played out there about 100 years ago, where England lost to Australia.

My early recollections of sport in England are patchy. I vaguely remember kicking (or given my motor skills, missing) a football a few times, and playing one game of cricket in the street. My duties were vaguely described to me as “fielding”, and I remember being positioned at what would be a very deep long-on at the Adelaide Oval, and probably at the back of the bar on most Test grounds nowadays. Needless to say, it didn’t capture the imagination too much.

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October 26, 2009

Mystery and Magic: Iverson, Ramadhin, Gleeson and Mendis

Posted by Cricinfo - 1 week, 5 days ago in Bowling

From S.Giridhar and V.J. Raghunath, India

	Australian bowler John Gleeson demonstrates his grip © Cricinfo Ltd

A prison cell during World War II: An Australian prisoner of war is spinning a ping-pong ball to pass time. Iverson is trying out different grips to flick and turn the ping-pong ball against the wall. He finds he can turn the ball both ways by flicking the bent middle finger on either side of the ball and keeps practicing. When the war is over, Iverson unleashes this in Sheffield Shield. Called to play against Freddie Brown’s English team in 50-51, he takes 6 for 27 in the second innings of the third Test in Sydney…..

Iverson is the pioneer, the “first man ever” in this story about right-arm mystery spinners. If Bosanquet introduced the googly to add magic to leg spin and if Saqlain discovered the doosra to spice up offspin, then Iverson it was who first showed the world the magic of imparting spin either way with fingers in a manner difficult for batsmen to fathom.

How rare is the mystery finger spinner? The title of our article itself contains the names of all the well-known exponents of this art form. There are over 150 spinners in Test history but Iverson, Ramadhin, Gleeson and Mendis occupy the table of mystique – the Harry Potters of cricket.

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October 24, 2009

Mystery of the missing wrist-spinners

Posted by Cricinfo - 2 weeks ago in Bowling

From R .Giridharan, India

	England has had plenty of quality finger spinners like Derek Underwood, but where are the wrist-spinners? © Getty Images

An arrogant cricketing official once dismissed a young Kapil Dev, “There are no fast bowlers in India”. One wonders whether aspiring wrist-spinners in England, New Zealand and South Africa were rebuffed in similar ways. This article is a humble attempt to identify the factors that conspired against the emergence of any worthwhile wrist spinner from these countries.

Nature, of course, is the first stumbling block. The wickets in England and New Zealand are soft and green and the outfields moist, breaking the heart of any wrist spinner. Overcast skies encouraged captains to prefer gentle wobblers over the tweaker. In South Africa, wickets are harder, but loaded with juice that the quicks can exploit. Currie Cup, the premier domestic competition was played for long with two balls, thereby keeping the ball newer for longer periods. The quicks therefore remain in the hunt throughout.

The three teams believe in keeping things tight, drying up easy runs and throttling the opposition, especially when spinners are bowling. Spinners are expected to play second fiddle and perform effective hold-ups while the quicks rest, refresh and recharge. Finger spinners fit the bill admirably. Indeed, Lohmann, Verity, Lock, Laker, Underwood, Giles, Panesar (Eng), Tayfield, Symcox, Boje (SA), Dipak Patel, Bracewell, Vettori (NZ) all made their way into the playing eleven as personifications of accuracy, before carving their own niche. The aggressive, predatory worldview of the wrist-spinner would probably be discarded in such a milieu.

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October 20, 2009

Finetuning D/L method for Twenty20s

Posted by Cricinfo - 2 weeks, 4 days ago in Twenty20

From Tim Parsons, United Kingdom

	How many Powerplay overs should West Indies have got in the rain-interrupted Twenty20 game against England? © Getty Images

I think the Duckworth-Lewis system for Twenty20 games needs reviewing. This occurred to me after England's World Twenty20 match against West Indies in June. To recap: England scored 161 in their 20 overs and, following a rain-delay, West Indies were set a revised target of 80 from nine overs. The number of Powerplay overs was reduced from six to three.

This was all mathematically logical, but the revised target presented West Indies with an easier target. To understand why, think about it this way. It is as if West Indies were told: you have already batted for eleven overs, the score is 81 for 0, and you have a further 80 runs to make to win. Not only that, but three of the remaining nine overs are Powerplay overs. Which team wouldn't accept that with open arms?

The reason why this target was too soft boils down to two things that make Twenty20 different from the 50-over game 1. Powerplay overs are much more valuable in most Twenty20 games than most 50-over games. 2. High scoring-rates can be more easily maintained for the lower number of overs you get in a reduced Twenty20 game. So, in the England-West Indies match, a fairer target would have been possibly nearer 85 or even 90 with no Powerplay overs left.

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October 12, 2009

The chinaman bowler - odd man in

Posted by Cricinfo - 3 weeks, 5 days ago in Bowling

From S.Giridhar and V.J. Raghunath, India

	South Africa's Paul Adams is one of the most successful chinaman bowlers © Cricinfo Ltd

We set off to do a story on offspinners and left-arm spinners – similar to what we had done some months back on legspinners. We had hoped that our favourite mystery and left-arm chinaman bowlers will find adequate space. To our dismay we found that many of the names that rolled deliciously off our tongues just did not have enough wickets to qualify under stodgy criteria such as minimum number of wickets, etc. So we said, to hell with all that – let us just enjoy ourselves writing about our favourite chinaman and mystery bowlers – the non-conformists, conjurors and sleight-of-hand purveyors.

The left-arm chinaman is a mirror image of the right-arm leg break – bowled by turning the wrist so that the ball turns the opposite way to left-arm finger spin. When bowled back of the hand, it becomes the googly, it turns the other way. We identified 10 chinaman bowlers as we trawled through the history of the game. Even if you were to add up all the wickets taken by the chinaman bowlers it would be less than a combined tally of Bedi and Underwood. There are 45 left-arm spinners who have more than 40 wickets each but just four chinaman bowlers who meet this criterion. The strike-rate of the chinaman bowler is superior (a wicket every 70 balls as compared to 79 for the orthodox left-arm); the bowling average is similar, 31.6 as compared to 31.2. The difference is that while the 45 left-arm spinners have taken over 4800 wickets in 1605 matches, the 10 chinaman bowlers have played only 184 matches to take 427 wickets.

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