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March 31, 2009

Talking about Walking

Posted by Cricinfo - on 03/31/2009 in World cricket

Amid all the drama there is a small gesture that is cricket’s stand out act of graciousness, walking. In many ways it epitomises the gentlemanly character of the game. It is honourable, humble, chivalrous. Yet although we nod deferentially to batsmen who walk, we remonstrate if our players are criticised for staying put after a convincing appeal. Bar a scattering of stumps, walking just isn’t expected however much it is admired. Standing until the umpire’s finger goes up has long been a right of batsmen everywhere.

So walkers are a rare breed. Giving oneself out is an unnecessary sacrifice, heroic beyond the vast majority of batsmen, whether at Lord’s or in the backyard. Walking may have an air of the saintly about it, but it also has a mild whiff of the foolish. A simple cost-benefit analysis shows that it just isn’t worthwhile.

Yet walking could become more common amid the confusion of the new decision-review system. If not to ensure right trumps wrong, then at least to save face. Given that technology can both vindicate and vilify players, they might be inclined to err on the side of fair play. Of many examples in the recent South Africa-Australia series, take Ricky Ponting in the first innings of the third test at Newlands.

With two referrals still in the bag, Ponting walked when he was given out caught behind off Albie Morkel. Looking at replays, there was evidence to suggest that Steve Bucknor may have been wrong. 'Hotspot' showed no mark and slow-mo no edge. Had Ponting asked for the referral, Bucknor may well have been overruled. The Australian captain assumed that Hotspot would reveal a nick. It would be a waste of a referral and incriminating. He knew he was out, so he walked.

There was no frustrating halt in play, no exasperation at the ambiguity of the referral system, no philosophical debate about the nature of ‘irrefutable evidence’. Whether motivated by fair play or prudence, moments like this illustrate how cricket’s spirit can also be its arbiter.

Obviously there will be occasions when batsmen do not know whether or not they are out, and they are right to leave it to the umpire to decide. Equally obvious is that there will be occasions when batsmen know they are out but there is no appeal from the fielding side. To expect them to walk in these cases is ambitious.

But when batsmen do know they are out – which happens more often than not – and the fielding side enquires, the ready availability of technology to prove that they are could give batsmen reason to depart of their own free will. This must be a good thing, for the success of the referral system and for the sake of cricket’s good name.

At the end of the day, there will always be a gap between the laws of cricket and the manner in which it should be played. If the new decision-review system gets the official go-ahead, the two might come just a little closer.

Comments (34)

Questioning Crowe

Posted by Cricinfo - on 03/31/2009 in Indian cricket

Was it really all Sehwag's fault that India were under pressure? The failure of nightwatchman Ishant Sharma on the 2nd evening was also mooted as a leadership letdown. Yet did Vettori get the same flak for Kyle Mills' duck in the 1st Test? Or for his rigid, mechanical policy of rotating his bowlers in 6-over spells in the same match? Crowe's analysis of Sehwag's leadership was probably more influenced by his modes of dismissal, rather than actual decisions as skipper. Injudicious strokes in both innings certainly cannot be termed as 'leading from the front'. Yet this is the method that has enabled Sehwag to collect tons on subcontinental dustbowls as well as grassy decks in South Africa and Australia, averaging over 50 in under 65 balls every time he occupies the crease.

Crowe even wondered aloud 'how many more Tests Sehwag will captain', suggesting that his vice-captaincy should be revoked. Instead, he claimed VVS Laxman was better-suited to the role, citing his 'wealth of experience', declaring that the vice-captain should be someone 'sure of his place in the side'. On several levels, this assessment is flawed.

Barring a brief spell in 2007, Sehwag has been a fixture in the Indian Test XI since 2001. He is also no spring chicken, standing only 9 Tests away from representing his country at Test level as many times as Crowe did in his entire career. Crowe carped on, arguing that Laxman demands the respect of team-mates and opposition alike (implying that Sehwag doesn't). Both are proven match-winners, but with his destructive style and more Test centuries already than Laxman, does Sehwag also not command respect?

This is not to promote/defend Sehwag's leadership ability, or to doubt Laxman's batting record and captaincy material - my point is merely to question Crowe's vice-captaincy criteria and analysis. When Craig McMillan suggested Gautam Gambhir as a possible choice, Crowe immediately (and almost angrily) dismissed him by referring to lack of experience. By Crowe's regimented thinking, MS Dhoni would never have been allowed to captain in limited-overs and eventually Tests. Up until now at least, we all know how that has turned out.

Comments (19)

March 27, 2009

Call for entries

Posted by Cricinfo - on 03/27/2009 in Extras

Comments (2)

March 26, 2009

Coach v Captain

Posted by Cricinfo - on 03/26/2009 in Extras

Looking at Ganguly's face in the press conference it was easier to fathom that he wanted to be somewhere else, he was trying hard to hide his disappointment, his expressions changing from anger to disbelief, even Buchanan said that if he was Ganguly he would be upset, Ganguly if he had his way might just have gone into invisible mode and smacked the hell out of Buchanan, but it was quite a sight to behold the coach and the captain seemingly at pains to explain the latest blockbuster innovation of Mr. Buchanan.

Ganguly was always a feisty character, prepared to speak his mind, never afraid to call a spade a shovel. When a similar sort of personality like Shahrukh Khan is the boss of the team there are bound to be ego clashes, throw in Buchanan into the mix and you have the perfect recipe for disaster, as a matter of fact both Ganguly and Shahrukh had huge differences of opinion in the IPL last year, but as any family would, they settled down to brush aside their differences, but it seems the infighting and petty squabbles have reared their ugly head again.

John Buchanan the most successful coach in history is a man who has always stood for invention, be it the Chinese style army camp organized for the Aussies prior to their departure to England for the Ashes in 2005, ironically they lost that series and also many in the team were not happy with him which is a different story altogether. He also predicted that players in future will be ambidextrous,where they can bat or bowl equally well with both hands, so it is not a surprise to see him coming up with another move this time of having different captains for different stages of a game.

Buchanan spelt out his plan, he will have a player walking out for the toss, a batting captain, a fielding captain, a bowling captain, probably a captain for overseeing what should be the menu for the players to eat, then there can be a captain as well to see who drives the team bus on the way to the ground. Innovation is Buchanan's middle name but it does seem he has gone a little too far this time.

In recent times we have had numerous coach-captain fiascoes, again Ganguly heads the list, his infamous spat with Guru Greg Chappell hogged so much news space in the media in India that he might well have been the most loved or hated man on the planet depending on your choice. Recently Kevin Pietersen just did not want anything to do with Peter Moores and ultimately both had to be sacked, but the repercussions were found immediately as England lost the Test series 0-1 to a spirited West Indian side.

What exactly is a coach's role in cricket? This issue has been discussed thread bare in the media numerous times, but to just state the obvious, a cricket coach is not the final authority on the game unlike a football manager who has to worry about substitutions, the time left on the clock, decide on who takes the Penalty kicks in a shootout, and several other finer details. A football manager has to be proactive since it involves his total effort into the game, a timely substitution at the vital moment can change a game, a cricket coach on the other hand does not have much to do other than ironing out small technical deficiencies that might have crept into a player's game.

There are so many back room staff in cricket nowadays that the role of the coach is getting diminished by the day. England for example have a separate XI of back room staff if you can call it that, if god forbid something happens to their main cricket team they can step in at any time without worrying about replacements. Then why cant the coach and captain co-exist peacefully in cricket? Is it because that either of them think that they are the sole authority on the game or is it that the coach wants to operate like a football manager who exerts more power on his players? Either ways unlike a football manager who is the final decision maker on the field, the captain will and always be the one who will be calling all the shots on the field, if the reverse of the above mentioned scenarios were to happen then it will lead to many Chappell-Ganguly episodes.

Shane Warne once famously said that the coach is one who drives the players to and fro from the ground, it is said that he was never in favour of coaches and especially not pleased with Buchanan's methods, he proved everyone wrong by winning the IPL last year when he successfully led a team of rank rookies to the title. In fact India too were without a proper coach when they won the series in England in 2007, the senior players like Sachin, Ganguly, Kumble, Dravid and Laxman were the decision makers on that tour, it just shows that you don't need a coach when you have such a top class line up.

It is debatable whether Australia would have won two World Cups without John Buchanan, they might well have because they had such a wonderful line up. With a bowling coach, a fielding coach, and a coach for every aspect of the game, the head coach of the cricket team is becoming just another man in a bunch of guys looking to produce the results. Strikingly coaches who prefer to be in the back ground like John Wright, Gary Kirsten, Duncan Fletcher have had the most success unlike the likes of Greg Chappell, who successfully turned the late swing of Irfan Pathan's bowling into a batting swing from which he has never been able to recover his tremendous bowling skills and finally a wonderful talent was lost to the world. Guru Greg even had the temerity to question Sachin Tendulkar's commitment after India bowed out of the 2007 World Cup which was as blasphemous as John Lennon saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ.

Finally for the creme de la creme to finish it off and it comes from who else but Shane Warne, when asked during the IPL last year " What is the coach doing mate"? he replied in his usual naughty style, " He is driving the bus mate". That quote symbolizes what he thinks of coaches in cricket, probably he was right.

Comments (4)

March 25, 2009

Leg Spinners: Stories and Anecdotes

Posted by Cricinfo - on 03/25/2009 in Extras

From S. Giridhar and V J Raghunath, India

	Clarrie Grimmett continuously added variations to his bowling © The Cricketer International

Our previous article was merely a statistical assessment of 37 leg spinners in test cricket history. But the spice of leg spin is in the stories and anecdotes. Since our generation has seen Warne, Kumble, Mushtaq and Qadir in full television glory with each and every minute movement and sleight of hand shown to us in finest detail, we will recount yarns of the leggies of eras gone by.

We begin with a bit of delicious irony, more than 100 years old that surrounds the googly. Around 1900, Bosanquet the Englishman who invented the googly passed on the secret to his county colleague, a South African called Schwarz who in turn shared this with 3 colleagues in South Africa. The result was that when England visited South Africa in 1906, the hosts greeted them with a team that included 4 leg break / googly bowlers and they routed England 4-0. In fact South Africa often opened the bowling during that series with a googly bowler.

The googly even though discovered over a hundred years ago gives connoisseurs the same fresh pleasure every time it is bowled. Here is one that we draw from arguably one of the finest books by a cricketer. If you have read Arthur Mailey’s “10 for 66 and All That”, you will immediately recall the unforgettable chapter on Mailey’s first encounter with the ‘immortal Victor Trumper’. After all his anxiety and suspense, Mailey had a chance to bowl to him. A couple of perfectly good leg breaks were driven with absolute authority to the off-side ropes. Realizing that he might not get another over, Mailey decided to try his then newly invented googly. He tossed it up and saw Trumper coming down the wicket. The ball swerved out (unlike the leg break which would have drifted in). Trumper, uncertain, made the adjustment to play it away from his leg but the googly sneaked through between bat and pad. Trumper didn’t attempt to regain his crease; he just smiled at Mailey, shook his head and said “that was too good for me, son” and walked away. Mailey says he felt no triumph - he felt like a boy who had killed a dove.

Grimmett perhaps the most industrious and accurate of leg spinners, kept adding variations continuously to his bowling. To the extent that when batsman started recognizing his flipper because they could hear the snap of his fingers, Grimmett the wily fox, started bowling leg breaks with a snap of the fingers of his left hand! This amazing leg spinner’s book “Getting Wickets” is a much recommended reading for slow bowlers.

Tiger O’Reilly was so unplayable that when Len Hutton composed an All Time Best England XI to play Australia, he included Maurice Leyland. When questioned about selecting Leyland over more illustrious players, Hutton said that this left handed batsman had the best record against O’Reilly and that alone was enough in Hutton’s book to earn him this honour! The Don himself rated O’Reilly the greatest bowler he had seen.

Tich Freeman ranks stunningly high among leg spinners despite having just 66 Test wickets. Next only to Wilfred Rhodes in the number of first class wickets, he has the amazing record of being the only bowler in county cricket history to take over 300 wickets in a season and also the only bowler to have taken 10 wickets in an innings thrice. Can you imagine an English leg-spinner taking over 200 wickets every season for eight consecutive years without resorting to some seam and swerve in typically English conditions? The Wisden in its description of Freeman says no such thing – this very short man was quite simply a very remarkable leg spinner; classical slow leg spinner with deceptive flight, tremendous control and the full repertoire of leg break, top spinner and googly. Freeman played just 12 Tests but his match winning ability was overwhelming – 10 wicket hauls in 3 of his 12 matches simply mean Freeman gave his side a winning chance by his very presence.

For the authors, two Indians have a special place in our hearts. Subhash Gupte was nothing less than a sight for the Gods! Subhash had a lovely action and his right hand would do a kind of “S” before delivering that was truly captivating. Subhash had good control, fine flight and all the variety - including two different googlies. In fact, very often, he would lull batsmen with the easier to spot Googly no.1 and then fool them later with the difficult to pick Googly no.2. He would very often greet new batsmen with a googly first ball. When the Commonwealth team toured India in 1956 he did this to Sam Loxton (apparently forewarned) who calmly pushed the googly away to square leg for a single. As he strolled across for the run, he is supposed to have told Gupte, “don’t bowl me that stuff, Subhash; I can pick it every time”. Loxton later claimed he didn’t get any more googlies that innings. In the Test matches of those days, Subhash would bowl a few away from the turf to the keeper to loosen up when he was first brought on to bowl (after a few perfunctory overs from Ramchand or Phadkar or Umrigar). Immediately there would be a buzz around the ground and 'oohs' and 'aahs' as they watched these preparatory rites. If only Subhash had better close-in catchers to support him (Indian fielders in those days, barring Umrigar, just about caught balls that came comfortably into their midriff!), he would have taken closer to 200 wickets than the 149 he finally ended with against his name. The 3 Ws of West Indies – Weekes Worrell and Walcott – were absolutely certain that Gupte was the greatest spinner they had ever faced.

The second leggie for whom we have a special place in our hearts is the one and only Bhagwat Chandrasekhar who won nearly a dozen matches for India with his bowling. Immortalized for his heroic role in India’s triumph over England at the Oval in 1971, Chandra was a sight to behold when in full flow. Sleeves buttoned down at the wrist, shirt tail flapping, unruly hair flying, a brisk bounding run, 100000 spectators at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata chanting “Chandra! Chandra!” and five predatory close – in fielders waiting like vultures around the bat ... cricket when Chandra bowled had an electricity that has never since been matched. In the series against England at home in 1972, such was Chandra’s domination that he took 35 wickets while the rest of his bowling comrades put together had 40 wickets. He had the Englishmen in such a trance that he even got a batsman caught at short leg of a bouncer, a delivery that Chandra did unleash once in a while.

The best of stories need not be about those on top of the pile. We conclude with a gem about VV Kumar, a fine leg spinner who only played two Tests for India in 1960. This was narrated to Raghunath after he had played a good knock against VV Kumar in a club match at Chennai. Rangan, his cricket crazy captain at Nungambakkam Sports Club, ran the nets for not only his club but for all enthusiastic cricketers in South Madras. Top Madras cricketers would come to the nets in the early 60s and one of them was Kumar. It was during one such outing at the nets that Kumar bowling to Rangan – a good bat himself – impishly wagered that Rangan would not be able to even touch with his bat ten successive legitimate deliveries of his. This mind you, was on matting where the ball does not skid through. Rangan thought he would win the bet easily since even an edge would do. Later Rangan, recounting the scene in his inimitable style said that every ball from VV Kumar buzzed and sang and he could not fathom the turn or fizz even playing back and giving himself extra time and room to put bat to ball. To his utter dismay Kumar won the bet. Kumar in his heyday was that good.

The stories are endless. Leg spin is timeless, infinitely romantic. The fact is that on a placid wicket on the first day morning of a Test match, the fielding side captain depends on his leg spinner to turn on the magic. As the leg spinner and his captain discuss the field placements, as the leg spinner spins the ball from hand to hand, as he licks his fingers and approaches the bowling crease, every person watching the drama waits with bated breath. With a leg spinner as we only too well know, the possibilities are simply endless.

Comments (19)

March 22, 2009

Leg Spinners – A statistical assessment

Posted by Cricinfo - on 03/22/2009 in Extras

We realized that each aspect of performance – wickets, strike rate, bowling average, five wickets in an innings and ten wickets in a match – will have a bearing on determining the overall value or effectiveness of the bowler. We decided that for the strike rate, bowling average, five wickets in an innings and ten wickets in a match, we could create a Relative Index and convert each bowler’s performance into his individual index score. To calculate the index for a particular parameter, let us demonstrate with the example of Warne’s index for strike rate: His strike rate is 57.4. The cumulative strike rate of the 37 players in our list is 2627.1. So Warne’s SR Index is 57.4/2627.1 expressed as a percentage which is 2.7. Each player’s Index for each of the four parameters is calculated. The aggregate of the index for the four parameters of each player provides us the individual players’ index scores. Thus Player’s Index Score is the sum of Index score on SR + Bowling Average + 5w/Inn + 10 W/ Match. The lowest Player Index Score reflects best in class and so ranks would progressively go down as the index scores went up.

We also need to recognize and give value to the wickets that a bowler had taken as this reflects a bowler’s longevity and sustained performance. Since the 37 bowlers in our list range from an extreme high of 708 wickets to an extreme low of 20 wickets, we decided to convert the wickets to their logarithmic value (Let us call this Log W; 100 wickets would thus have a value of 2, 200 wickets would have a value of 2.3 and 400 would be 2.6, 1000 wickets would be 3). Sticking to our convention of lowest figures indicating highest degree of effectiveness, we created an Effectiveness Index by dividing the Players Index Score by the Log value of Wickets. Thus Effectiveness Index = Player’s Index Score/ Log W. Table 2 below ranks the leg spinners by their Effectiveness Index and seemed to be a fair representation and pecking order among the leg spinners.

But having done this, one realized that we must also consider the quality of opposition and the quality of batsman whose wickets had been captured. What proportion of the wickets was against weaker teams? How many of these were either lower order batsmen or tail-enders? Should we not apply some kind of factor for taking this aspect into our calculations? Here is where Mike Holmans provided us invaluable support. Readers will be familiar with Mike’s article that appeared on 19 December 2008 in Cricinfo where he presented the “Most Efficient Bowlers” by creating an index that specifically took into account these factors. So we wrote to Mike and requested him to present us with his index for each of the 37 bowlers on our list. Mike was immensely helpful. We acknowledge Mike’s help by christening his index as the Holmans Power Index of Efficiency.

From the Holmans Power Index - it was interesting to note that while champion bowlers such as Clarrie Grimmett and Bill O’Reilly were in the top in Holmans list too, bowlers of the pre-1930 era who did not play too many tests but had stunning strike rates such as Bert Vogler, Brendon Bosanquet, Ranji Hordern and Tich Freeman surpassed players such as Anil Kumble, Richie Benaud, Chandrasekhar, Qadir on Holmans Index. We decided that we would combine (and average out) the Effectiveness Index created by us and the Holmans Power Index to arrive at a ‘Composite Effectiveness Index’. We felt that this might help smoothen out some of the sharper differences between the two methods. And so it surely did. Thus while we will find the odd bowler surprising high on the Composite Effectiveness Index List, we have a reasonably large number of players in a pecking order that intuitively also seems right. And so we have these players, each with a composite effectiveness index that ranges from the best of them all – Warne at 36.46 to Chandu Borde at 74.66. This then is the final pecking order that we have arrived at as shown in Table 3 below.

We debated quite a bit about the merits of splitting this list into two separate categories or more - for instance separate tables and rankings for bowlers with less than 100 wickets and those with more than 100 wickets. We also toyed with the idea of separating cricketing eras and have separate lists for players who were from the pre 1930 era and post 1930 era and so on. But finally we decided that we will retain all of them in one pool. The fact that Warne, Grimmett, O’ Reilly, Chandra and Kumble are in the top ten would probably be greeted with unanimous agreement and add credence to our methodology. But we wonder if are stirring up a nice royal debate by placing Vogler, Hordern and Freeman in the top ten using our methodology. Obviously, even though they took fewer wickets, they were so strong on the other parameters that they pushed the likes of Mushtaq, Benaud, Gupte and Qadir to places 10 to 14. Having done with the stats, we cannot wait to narrate anecdotes and stories on our favourite leggies. Watch this space!

Comments (114)

Curiouser and curiouser

Posted by Cricinfo - on 03/22/2009 in World cricket

Now Cape Town. Australia skittled out and South Africa, with new openers, a stand-in captain and an air of pessimism, somehow contrive to grind Johnson and his cohorts into the dust as though we were back at Perth or the MCG. I just don't get it.

No doubt some of you will suggest, Mark Nicholas style, that this is the wonder of cricket. It is so unpredictable. It's a funny old game. Isn't it marvellous? Well, yes it is, from a spectator's perspective. I've always preferred to watch two well-matched but ordinary competitors scrap for victory than a well oiled machine rolling over feeble opponents.

But the human brain also strives for patterns, for frames of reference. And that is my problem. I can't work out if what we've been glued to for the last three months is two ordinary teams taking it in turns to beat one another up, or two fantastic sides engaged in a titanic struggle for world supremacy.

You see in cricket there is no form book. There is Wisden, of course, an entire universe encapsulated in the shape of a yellow brick. But the good editors of that august publication do not entangle themselves in the sordid business of telling you which team is best. In despair I turn to the ICC rankings. They tell me Australia are best, by a small distance from South Africa. I can live with that. Problem is they also tell me that both teams are better than India, by a slightly smaller distance, which I couldn't even live next door to.

Eureka! The answer. It cannot be that South Africa, Australia and India are all fantastic. That would be a cricketing golden age and I refuse to accept that we have done enough to deserve one of those. Therefore, they must all be equally ordinary. Apart from India.

So there you have it. The ICC rankings are wrong, India are best and the rest are following them in ragged bunch, with England wheezing along in the rear and hoping that ominous pounding sound they can hear is the beat emanating from their I-Pods and not Bangladesh about to overtake them.

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March 16, 2009

Strange goings-on in Cricket

Posted by Cricinfo - on 03/16/2009 in World cricket

Comments (3)

Expert's commentary

Posted by Cricinfo - on 03/16/2009 in Extras

Perhaps the South African accent can come a close second. But most prominent South African commentators are actually Englishmen to begin with (maybe I am just thinking of Robin Jackman, but that's probably because not enough personalities from South African television have been heard by Indian viewers).

When one talks accent, it's difficult to leave out England. The once-popular Geoff Boycott has surely been surpassed by David Lloyd. Lloyd is funny (last night's T20 international included a hilarious account of why he thought umpires Clyde Duncan and Norman Malcolm were actually four different people!) and backs it up with an accent that appears more natural than Boycs' exaggerated attempts!

I guess accent could also increase the intonation, and that's where Ian Botham is a massive letdown. His delivery is just as dreary as his cricket was breathtaking. While Bob Willis would make someone unfamiliar with his craft believe that he was the Ashley Giles of his era! What about the Aussies? Bill Lawry cracks me up with his 'Austraaya' (though most Aussies tend to say that) and 'Shaun Povick'. Richie Benaud had his Sean Connery-esque tendency to inform viewers that the 'Ian Chappell ish with the two captainsh for the tosh'.

Closer home I think most Indian commentators give good accounts of themselves. Though I can never figure out how Sivaramakrishnan picks up the accent of whoever he's sitting in the commentary box with. Also the horribly un-Indian greeting 'go well' has gained currency with all Indian commentators, particularly when they're done with the toss or the match presentation.

Pakistani commentators befuddle you with their inability to get Indian names right. 'Saachin' Tendulkar and 'Yovraaj' Singh must be household names across the border, and I guess the answer to this must lie in the way most Indians do not know the exact pronunciation of Pakistani names (the ICL had a Pakistani cricketer called 'Haafiz' Khalid which our Indian commentators continually referred to as Hafiz, as that's how he spelt it).

There are some commentators who you'd want to hear to at any time of the day, irrespective of what accent they were bringing to the table. I am sure many cricket lovers like me are huge fans of the purr of Michael Holding, the way David Gower's commentary seems to reflect the elegance of his batsmanship, or the way Sunil Gavaskar (sometimes) gets into the mood for mischief and that's when his anecdotes come out flying.

All said and done, commentary continues to be an integral part of cricket. And hearing and learning to appreciate the way callers and experts from across the world use the English language is an experience that's often inspiring, sometimes funny, but never bad!

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March 10, 2009

Stop pissing in my coffee

Posted by Cricinfo - on 03/10/2009 in Extras

And if you are anything like me, you invest a lot in cricket. You start to follow the match scorecards daily even more diligently than ever. They become your alternate NASDAQ ticker. You look at strike rates and averages to forget the interest rate and the stock market index. You squirrel away small percentages of your feelings and inner voices towards this glorious sport and try to look at the return on your investments. Investments you have been making since you were a kid. From your piggy bank days, from the time of pocket money doled out by doting parents, from when you held your first paycheck in your hand. All the way till now.

You think back to the cricket of the last year or so, and a smile immediately appears on your face. There was Mendis bamboozling the best with his finger gymnastics. That magical spell from Ishant to Ponting at Perth. The Proteas using the Steyn gun on the Aussies to stunning effect. The Zen-like calm, combined with ruthlessness in Dhoni’s demeanor, as the Indians socked it to Ponting’s crew. The look of unbridled joy upon J.P Duminy’s face when he reached his first hundred at the MCG. The England team walking out at Chennai following the horrific events in Mumbai. Moments like that. Special moments.

Yes, there are frown inducing memories too. You remember Harbhajan and Symonds in Sydney. You fret over why you don’t remember anything about a match involving Pakistan. Sreesanth copping that slap (well-deserved, you may think) from the loose cannon Harbhajan. And why we still haven’t figured out how to prepare an outfield, leave alone a pitch.

And there are those bittersweet and poignant moments. Gilly, the Prince of Kolkata, Kumble and Haydos. Dravid, one of India’s greatest batsmen, suddenly looking lost, forlorn and scared in the nation’s gaze as he battled an extended loss of form. Vettori leading his hastily put together team with a quiet dignity, a wry smile and steel. You silently thank them for the memories. Cricket, at its best is good at generating just these kinds of memories. The very kind of memories you are relying on now to distract yourself.

These days, you wake up each morning and pick up your newspaper and settle down. You flip to the sports pages quickly. You want the business section to flash by in a blur. You are not ready to let it piss in your morning coffee yet. You are wondering about how Punter’s boys are coping in Jo’burg. Have Dhoni’s band of brothers acclimatized themselves in chilly Christchurch yet? Is Mahela really handing off the controls to Sangakkara in a few days? And will Freddie be able to walk out with his teammates behind Strauss in Barbados?

But wait! What has happened to your warm and cozy sports pages? Where are those match reports you were desperately seeking? The sports page looks kind of strange, doesn’t it? Big and lurid headlines screaming out at you. Must be something big. Ponting’s men wreaking bloody vengeance on the Proteas maybe? Something as unlikely and spectacular as Shoaib Akhtar actually playing and demolishing the Lankans in Karachi? Did Dhoni’s boys rack up 400 in a T20 match against the Kiwis? You go in for a closer look and then step back in surprise.

And in dismay.

The sordid Stanford saga is furiously unfolding in front of you and is occupying more and more newspaper acreage by the day. You remember that you even brushed past his grinning face on the front page. (Bloody hell, I believe he is on the front page of even the New York Times! What are they doing covering cricket?) This time around, the three letter acronyms pursuing him like ravenous hounds are not the ECB, but the FBI. The second round of the IPL auction (”There was a little element of feeling like a cow” – Adam Gilchrist, March 2008) has just been concluded with a discerningly muted euphoria compared to last year’s. Freddie, bum ankle and hip and all, is a millionaire and while K.P may have lost the captaincy, he has raked it in by the Mallyans of dollars. The second IPL season is almost upon us and they say the movie stars and billionaire franchise owners are fraught with worry about their splashy investments from last year. Shah Rukh is so worried that he may not dance for Kolkata this time. A worried Mallya is holed out on his yacht on the French Riviera nursing his drink. And Lalit Modi (him, of that four letter organization, the BCCI, with one three letter cricket league in his fist and another one under the heel of his Gucci loafers) has figured out yet another way to hog the headlines again. This time it is for losing an election and for being for accused of miscellaneous dubious activities, shady land grabs, political shenanigans and plain old fashioned crimes like forgery.

You take a sip of your coffee and realize that someone has indeed been pissing in it.

What happened ? All you wanted to do was to check your other investments. The ones which were going to tide you by the difficult times. You were looking for news of Tendulkar, but are inundated by news of his other boss, Ambani. For Duminy, but all you can find in these pages are stories of financial doom for the Deccan Chargers. For Gayle, but are being regaled with stories of that grinning bear whose offices in Houston have been sealed by the police. Look! There’s news of a nation-wide alert for the Texan god who descended on the unsuspecting Antiguans. What has he done now? It can’t be for bouncing Matt Prior’s wife on his lap last year, can it? Come to think of it, is this the first time the word cricket has been used along with the acronym FBI in the same sentence? You are looking for calypso tinged reports of huge crowds thronging the Sir Vivian Richards stadium in St. John’s but are staring at a photograph of long lines of people on the streets of the same city. They look too distraught to be standing in line for tickets for the Test match. What? They are lined up outside the locked up doors of their bank containing their meager life savings? They definitely don’t look like they are capable of heading over to that spanking new stadium named after the King himself. Yes, the new one built with Chinese money. And what are the Chinese doing funding and building cricket stadiums in the Caribbean? Have they lost their marbles? You remember getting Ntini’s autograph along the boundary at the Oval, and try to check out his bowling figures in yesterday’s match. But allegations against Modi for forging a signature have barreled it out to some obscure part of the newspaper.

Your are mad now. You should be mad by now. This wasn’t supposed to happen. They are storming your refuge too now. They robbed your city home and have now followed you to your cottage in the country and have ransacked it too. While you were outside, sitting by the lake, looking up at the stars. While you were out trying to enjoy the fresh air and the smell of leaves.

I, for one, resent this intrusion. I do not like the fact that I suddenly feel as if I got my investment reports mixed up. My two worlds have collided now in a way that they cannot be unraveled. I am being forced to wade through sewage now to get to the apple tree. I am forced to sit at the opera next to this obese, loud, belching, flatulent man who will proceed to eat his greasy burger and fries during the aria, while talking on his cell phone. The library I borrow my Rushdie and Roth from has been renovated and will now devote half its space to pornography.

Crass is what it is. An assault on my senses and sensibilities.

I do, and will bear a grudge against everyone who has been an accomplice in this crime of allowing these people to lay siege to my other side too. The one I had taken refuge in. Every single one of them. All the lawyers, financiers, diplomats, lobbyists, MBA wielding cardboard cutouts, businessmen, power mongers, politicians, dictators, hoodlums, ass kissers and boot lickers. There you go. I have pretty much listed the motley crew of people who are guilty of depriving me of a very simple pleasure that I had planned on relying on. A pleasure that they weren’t even supposed to be able to get their dirty paws on. The only problem here is that the same motley crew forms the list of office bearers of the collection of boards and organizations that are in charge of administering the very game we all care about.

Oh, you think I am over reacting here? I am being old fashioned, am I? Being a purist? Not willing to change with the times? Clinging on to an idyllic past in the face of an ever changing fast society? With all due respect to you my friend, that is the biggest load of putrid fecal matter you can throw at me. Bollocks to you, I say. In fact, I say that all the above over used and over abused reactionary platitudes are cowardly alternatives to admitting that things have gone awry. It has hit the fan, splattered across the room and is dripping down the walls.

Cringing at the failure to keep Lord’s off limits to helicopters of megalomaniac billionaires trying to make leery indecent proposals to the English cricket team is not being a purist. Not wanting to read about totalitarian despots who have clawed their way into the highest offices of the state and country’s cricket boards to dictate who plays where and when and for how long and against whom is not being old fashioned. And clinging to an idyllic past? I have news for you my friend. I am trying to cling to the absolute present. I am only trying to cling to the drama on the field here. To the bare bones dramatic reality of bowlers pitted against batsmen. And over reacting? You call a fervent desire to not see the very pulsing lifeline of the sport, the foundations of everything we want to remember, enjoy and hold dear to our hearts - and I am talking about the players, past and present here - being made to debase their images in this sordid drama over reacting?

Frankly, it is the image of the players which hurts the most. And yes, they are only images. But we are talking about the essence of what sustains our interest in the sport itself. The very collages of images of deeds on the field that make you come back again and again to the game. This is the one that is the most painful to bear.

Watching Sir Garfield Sobers wait at the edge of the circle of whirring rotor blades for Sir Allen Stanford to get out with his outsized valise of dollar bills is one image I never wanted to see. Not just now, in hindsight and in the light of him being pursued by the SEC and the FBI. Yes, Sir Garry was only doing his job and yes, he had the laudable goal of accruing financial benefits for his own cash strapped cricket board. But I am entitled to rue and mourn that image for what it does to my personal memory stash. We are talking Garry Sobers here. Arguably the greatest cricketer to ever play the game. The class, the style, the charisma, the talent and the breathtaking bravado with which he towered over the game in bowling, batting and fielding. A player who I never got to watch, but had absolutely no problem convincing myself that he was the real deal, the greatest and one of the most magnetic by a mile. Convinced to such an extent that my hackles rise when Yuvraj Singh is compared to him by some over-zealous hack writing in the Indian press. He should never have been put in a position where he had to stand on the grass that is still singed from his strokes from decades ago and shake that man’s hand. A man who had no qualms about openly deriding the game itself. Yes, I am entitled to be appalled by that image.

And then there is that photograph. The one that has been seared into the surface of my brain and is as fresh as it was a year ago. It is that photograph of the Texan overlord in the pavilion at Lords. Yes, that one. The one with the big transparent box with neatly packed twenty million dollars in the foreground and the man with the golden grin standing behind it flanked by Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Ian Botham and Sir Everton Weekes. I find it hard even after a year has passed to think about, leave alone speak about that image.

Because of Viv.

Viv.Oh Viv! Vivian Richards. Sir Vivian Richards! You, of the gum-chewing , magnetic and brooding walk from the pavilion with your bat swinging in your hands like a machete. The maroon Windies cap casting a dark shadow just over your gleaming eyes. The nervous anticipation and the dread of the fielding team rising with each step of yours. The desperate attempts by the opposing captain to suppress the urge to change the field three times before you have even reached the middle and taken guard. Stepping away three feet outside the leg stump and smashing Bob Willis over extra cover for six at the Oval. That 55 ball assault in the Test Match in Antigua that seemed to still unfold in slow motion. Swooping down on the ball like a panther for those 3 run outs at Lords in 1975. That smouldering glare behind that regal nose as Lillee stood in the middle of the pitch enquiring about your mother. You, who played your entire career with nary a word spoken, a smile on your face and when needed, a glare in your eye.

How am I supposed to come to terms with that image of you standing next to him behind the stash of dollars? Once again, your intentions were entirely honorable and that is precisely why he wanted you next him the first place anyway. But you in the same frame as him is just not right. You do not belong there. When I first saw the pictures from that day in the pavilion at Lords, I forced myself to think that you looked uncomfortable in the picture. I sincerely hope you were. And your old friend Beefy is right next to you too. Hamming it up for the cameras. Yes, the second greatest allrounder the game has ever seen. Headingly in 1981 and countless other exploits. A sublime and raw talent, who had the cricket world by the scruff of its neck and did it with a cheeky smile on his face for an entire decade. Beefy and Viv on the same team at Somerset! Can anyone forget that? He was months away from being knighted by the Queen. (Beefy, who we had chuckled to ourselves, had knighted himself in 1996 itself - with a bong.) And Sir Everton Weekes. One of the three W’s. A name which brings a look of admiration and pride on the faces of cricket lovers of my father’s generation to this day. The collective memories the three of you have provided has sustained generations of cricket fans. And will persist and pervade the thoughts of future ones.

Yes, this is what is being tarnished with everything that has happened over the last year and continues to have its fallout in public to this day. The characters causing the news for all the wrong reasons have been doing it relentlessly throughout this period. It may just be a coincidence that almost everything we are talking about is related to the new fangled hot shot kid in town – T20. And it is entirely possible that it is not. But that is not the point. I may have a personal opinion about not caring to wait for three matches to get to see Ishant bowl 9 overs, like he did in that magical spell at Perth last year. But I am at least entitled to want to watch a magical 2 over spell by Warney playing for the Royals against the Super Kings – the one where he mesmerized and fooled Dhoni into popping a catch to slip – without these characters shoving everyone aside, flashing their Rolex watches, mugging for the camera and also monopolizing the air waves and the print media.

Well, we are on the verge of falling head first into the second IPL season and if it is anything like the first, we are all in for some exceptionally offensive scenes that will be played out for our benefit. I for one, am bracing myself to see players from the past reverently kneeling with upturned faces and puckered up lips. Looking for the first one that passes by to kiss. It will make more of a dent in your saved up stash and will drive you insane. It should, if it is going to be anything like the one I would like to remind you of.

Last year, at the height of the IPL frenzy, Lalit Modi walked out to the middle and stood at the pitch alongside the commentators to toss the coin for the captains. A very professional looking but at the same time, a visibly hyper-ventilating Ravi Shastri introduced him to the TV audiences at home and suddenly said, “He is Moses of the game who has shown the path to blazing success.” Yes, he made this very statement looking into the camera as his fellow commentator yelped around next to him like an excited poodle. Even as I gagged on my coffee, I distinctly remember thinking that Ravi Shastri may accidentally have mixed up his myths and his Bible. Maybe he meant to say Midas, I thought. But, you know what? He didn’t. He meant Moses. He was trying to conjure up epic images for us of Lalit Modi parting the crowds at Eden Gardens and leading us to some kind of promised land up in the sky. He was just doing his job as commentator, of course. But did he have to lose all his bearings to mouth such claustrophobically sycophantic words? Ravi Shastri, who during his playing days personified a quiet and grim dignity. One who utilized his limited talents to the maximum possible and bravely fought many a memorable battle. One who fought his way from No. 11 all the way to becoming the de facto opener in Tests and ODIs. The one who we had proudly cheered for as he drove around the MCG in that Audi he got for winning the man of the Series award at the World Championship of Cricket in 1985.

Later during the season, he was to say “Lalit Modi is a tall man”. You are a tall man Mr. Shastri. You stood even taller during your playing days. Maybe you got carried away after you saw that gigantic 200 foot hoarding of Lalit Modi that appeared next to the Chennai overpass to coincide with the start of the first IPL season? For he is not a tall man. In fact he is quite a small man. Small but happens to be a big honcho at this bullying organization which is petty enough to deprive us of the pleasure of watching Shane Bond bowl to Sachin Tendulkar in a couple days. Just to buttress their own fiefdom. Just to squash that annoying upstart, the ICL, that seems to stick in their collective throat. Not that it has any perceivable threat to their coffers in any kind of way.

You don’t agree? Well, he and his cronies went one step further a few days ago. They withdrew Sachin Tendulkar this time, from an exhibition T20 game where Hamish Marshall, another Kiwi national team discard due to his association with the ICL, was penciled in to play. Just to bare their teeth again at the ICL and thump their chests. It would have been just an idyllic and old fashioned exhibition game, you know. How do you think that excited eight year old kid who was looking forward to seeing the Little Master in action at that game feels? He is just beginning to build up his own little stash of memories that he will need in the coming years. He is still in his piggy bank days in that. And that my friend, is a crying shame.

Damn right, I feel like I am violated.

Comments (74)

March 4, 2009

Trip to Pakistan

Posted by Cricinfo - on 03/04/2009 in Extras

A cash-strapped Sri Lankan cricket board probably saw this as an opportunity to kill two birds in one stone. One was to get some revenue out of the tour. And second to prove to the world that cricket of all sports could never be affected by terrorists. If nothing had happened, the world would've hailed Sri Lankans for their courage instead of talking about the darkness PCB is staring at today. What they did not understand is that it is hard to deal with lunatics like the terrorists. They only crave for publicity, money and some way to trouble people. They know that incidents such as this will be shown ad nauseam as breaking news on the various news channels, reporters will be mentioning this for at least a month and there will be debates and blogs (such as this one). But I digress.

My memories about the Indo-Pak rivalry go back to the World Cup 1996. I was 11 at that time and the match was played at my hometown Bangalore. This was the first D/N match at Chinnaswamy stadium. Ajay Jadeja had hit Waqar to every part of the ground and India made a good looking score of 287. We went out to play gully cricket believing that the match was in the bag. When we came back, Anwar and Sohail decided that Pakistan had to win WC twice in a row. They just thrashed the bowlers to all parts of the ground. 84 in ten overs and the whole of Bangalore was silent. Two bowlers from our our own state (Karnataka) were made to look like bowling machines. Anwar fell after a loose shot and gave a chance for the audience make some noise. But, Sohail kept going and silence pervaded again. Sohail was then removed by Prasad.

We kids remember discussing the dismissal almost every time we talked about cricket. The rest was history. A poster was released that had frame by frame shot of Sohail dismissal which soon became a must have for all kids.

Then came the Sahara tournament in Canada. If I remember correctly, the first time ESPN started broadcasting cricket matches and first time I heard Harsha Bhogle. In the second season Ganguly was hailed as an all-rounder and Inzy became famous after the 'alloo' incident. After the third season, in 1999 was when tensions were again rising between the two nations and cricket suffered all the way. The same charm of beating Pakistan wasn't there anymore even when the cricketing ties were restored. And now it has come to a grinding halt.

I am pretty much sure ICC has lot to think about after this incident. 2011 is not far away and things are definitely not looking stable. Of the 10 nations that were fit to play test cricket, Zimbabwe fell apart, Bangladesh are still minnows and now Pakistan have a problem on their hands. If ICC stages a dull tournament like the 2007 WC in 2011, there might be need for a new organization to lead cricket. But what Indians will miss the most is a classic India-Pakistan match.

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March 3, 2009

Facebook for cricket

Posted by Cricinfo - on 03/03/2009 in Extras

Jerome Taylor is furious. Monty Panesar and John McCain are now friends. Sarwan is wondering why he is still batting, when Shiv is out.

Sachin Tendulkar is finally in a place where the ball will come on to the bat. Younis Khan added the 'dead pitch' application to his iPhone. Matthew Hoggard feels left out.

Sangakkara is blogging. Allen Stanford is on the run, baby. Lalit Modi just lost the election, but is still happy. Viv Richards doesn't like beaches anymore.

Michael Clarke is feeling his throat. Andrew Flintoff is scheduled for surgery. Again. Giles Clarke is stupefied no one saw that coming. Lalit Modi wants to stress again that he is happy.

Kevin Pietersen needs time away from all the madness. He is going to the IPL. Chris Gayle just got referred. He didn't enjoy the experience. Mohammed Ashraful yet again hit 20 off 2 balls and got out. This has to end now.

Gideon Haigh is writing a piece on how he knew all along that Stanford was a sham. Steven Lynch is digging up records. Sehwag is looking for quick runs.

Stuart Broad's Stealth Zombie served a bowl of pain to Yuvraj Singh. Dileep Premachandran is done giving soccer analogies. Peter Lalor is taking a potshot at the BCCI. M.S. Dhoni is trying to stay positive. Ricky Ponting is mildly amused his team won.

Sambit Bal feels he shouldn't have written the article, after all. Iain O' Brien is exhausted. He will update his blog tomorrow, fans. Lara Bingle is no longer listed as single.

Mendis is wondering what's gonna come out next? Peter Moores is lost. Sourav Ganguly removed Greg Chappell from his list of friends. Irfan Pathan is tired of being treated like a spinner.

Lakshman Sivaramakrishnan has vowed to stop squealing during commentary. Samir Chopra is debating whether or not to blog full time. Shane Warne spent all his winnings on that random chick. In his defense, he was not sober.

Feel free to add your contributions. Barath.

PS: This is purely for the purpose of having some fun during work when my thesis adviser is not around. I don't mean to offend anyone. Seriously.

Comments (5)