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February 9, 2010
Loyal cricketing servants XI
Posted 11 hours, 6 minutes ago in New Zealand cricket
In light of the selections of first-class journeymen Peter Ingram and Andy McKay to the New Zealand squad, Daniel Richardson, in the Manawatu Standard, takes a look at 11 journeymen in domestic cricket who haven't played for New Zealand in any form of the game.
Michael Parlane, Northern Districts, debut 1992-93
The definitive first-class journeyman and the obvious choice for the captaincy. The older Parlane brother is the longest-serving current first-class player in New Zealand. He's a steady opener who has 15 tons in the four-day game, but with an average of 32 he was hardly banging down the door for a call-up to the next level.
Neal Parlane, Wellington, debut 1996-97
Parlane could count himself a bit unlucky he hasn't been thought of as an opener in recent times with some heavy scoring, particularly in the Twenty20 competition this summer. The 31-year-old has been a loyal servant to Wellington and Northern Districts and can also keep wickets if required.
February 8, 2010
Nannes: The international man of mystery
Posted 1 day ago in Australian cricket
A man of good cheer, a genuine paceman and an international man of mystery - that's what Luke Tagg thinks about Australian fast bowler Dirk Nannes. Not just his his fearsome pace and swing, he believes Nannes is a cricketing rarity and full of surprises. Read on in The Boundary Rider blog.
He boasts a permanent stubble and the straightest teeth in world cricket, and he's full of cracks and jokes and the odd bit of swearing. I like that - it gives him character. So many cricketers today talk team-speak, with very few capable of expressing creative thought.
Nannes is a true Renaissance man and I reckon the key to his cricketing success is his attitude towards cricket. He didn't let it matter too much and as soon as you let go, you find freedom.
February 7, 2010
Hollow day proves game needs a rethink
Posted 2 days, 2 hours ago in One-day cricket
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Fifty-over cricket looks jaded
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Observing the empty top deck of the MCG stands closed and quite a few of the other layers half-empty during the first game between Australia and West Indies, Peter Roebuck in the Sydney Morning Herald says it's hard to avoid thinking the ODI is running out of gas. Unable to rely on entertainment alone, one-dayers have not survived the ensuing scrutiny about their relevance.
Changes are needed. Shorter boundaries could be introduced and eight awarded for clearing the boundary. Earlier starts might be considered. Especially on weeknights and in term time, 10.30pm finishes take a toll. And the game can go along quicker, with faster over rates and so forth.
But these ideas exist around the fringes. No less important is to give the matches some context. Hitherto the main purpose of one-dayers has been to offer the public a good night out at the cricket. No longer could anyone claim that the game belonged to stuffed shirts. As far as night entertainment is concerned, T20 now serves the purpose better than its longer-winded older brother. Over the years, cricket has spent an inordinate amount of time maintaining the illusion that it occupies higher ground. Gradually, it has retreated from pomposity.
The power of 19
Posted 2 days, 3 hours ago in Pakistan cricket
Pakistan’s abject failure in Australia had left a vacuum in fans’ hearts, which the country's Under-19 side doing duty in the World Cup in nearby New Zealand stepped into with ease, writes Saad Shafqat in the Dawn.
On the eve of the India match, people were busy exchanging notes about the game and discussing prospects. Details of the TV coverage had spread like wildfire, and alarms had been duly set for 2:30 am. That the national team was meanwhile lurching from one disaster to another proved a great boon to the youth team.
2011 World Cup not beyond New Zealand
Posted 2 days, 12 hours ago in New Zealand cricket
After observing New Zealand's strong showings in one-dayers in the past six months, including the run to the ICC Champions Trophy final and the series victory over Pakistan in the UAE, Mark Richardson makes the bold claim in the Herald on Sunday that New Zealand have the goods to win the 2011 World Cup in the subcontinent.
Ryder and Brendon McCullum are potentially a devastating combination but if Ingram can back up his top debut, there's cover at the top. The openers are backed up by Martin Guptill, who is proven now at ODI level, and Ross Taylor, who is approaching world class. ...Factor in the return of Shane Bond and Kyle Mills, then there's competition for the last spot in Ian Butler, Daryl Tuffey, Tim Southee, Andy MacKay and Nathan McCullum. There's plenty of batting ability in that lot, too.
Siddle will bounce back from fast bowler’s curse
Posted 2 days, 14 hours ago in Australian cricket
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Back-breaking work: Peter Siddle
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Australia's most promising fast bowler, Peter Siddle, is broken, writes Darren Berry in the Sunday Age.
It was sadly only a matter of time before the frame of the Morwell wood chopper could take no more. He has been hurting for some time, but has a big heart and refuses to yield to the pain barrier ...
The only thing that will stop him from becoming a truly great fast bowler up there with McGrath, Lillee, Lindwall and co. will be his body. If his back can recover fully from this latest setback and rebuild he will easily match numbers with the greats.
In the same paper the eventful rise of the Victoria allrounder John Hastings is covered.
New South Wales are having a difficult season after winning the Champions League Twenty20 and the Sun-Herald’s David Sygall takes a look at the troubles players have shifting between the three forms of the game.
February 6, 2010
Confusion in New Zealand
Posted 3 days, 11 hours ago in New Zealand cricket
New Zealand Cricket seems confused. First came an announcement that Brendon McCullum was no longer vice-captain. Fair enough. And now a further announcement that Ross Taylor is also not vice-captain. Equally fair. Then came Mark Greatbatch's appointment as head coach. His stint with Warwickshire was volatile, but these tales are at odds with the character NZC led us to believe will work alongside Vettori, writes Jeremy Coney in the Dominion Post.
Yet instead of adapting to accommodate the county system and the Warwickshire ethos, Greatbatch began the new era by stamping his authority. He imposed himself aggressively. An uncompromising, "I'm the boss" and "we'll do it my way". It led to discontent. Morale plummeted. Barriers went up and players turned against him. Two departed and other senior members rebelled.
Mickey cools his heels
Posted 3 days, 12 hours ago in South African cricket
Having just quit as South Africa coach, Mickey Arthur has vowed to get up at 5.30 am and watch every ball when his country takes on India in Nagpur. In his column in the Hindustan Times, he says he is missing the buzz and excitement that a Test series always provides, but on the other he has realised how much his life has been consumed by the job.
For five years Graeme and I had a belief that if you started a Test stronger than the opposition, you had more chance of finishing it strongly. We always felt that the first hour set the tone for the match, we believed it was easier to win a Test by taking the lead early rather than having to come from behind.
Remember Muscles?
Posted 3 days, 12 hours ago in Indian cricket
Venkatapathy Raju, part of India's spin trio in the early 1990s, reminisces his early days when he shared Irani chai and samosas with friends, caught two buses everyday to get from Ramanthapur to Gymkhana, his school days and watching the Mithun Chakraborty-starrer Disco Dancer 15 times. Neeraja Murthy of the Hindu catches up with the former left-arm spinner, nicknamed Muscles, now the Hyderabad coach.
Raju's teacher Anjaneya Sastry played a key role in shaping the cricketer in him. “Initially, the lure for us to play cricket was the announcements made in school assembly about the students who played well in inter-house matches. It was a high to receive the applause and appreciation. There was no pressure from my parents so it was easy to balance cricket and studies,” he smiles.
New format needed for U-19 tournament
Posted 3 days, 12 hours ago in Under-19 World Cup
The ICC's format for the world youth tournament needs to be changed, particularly with the knockout phase where one bad match is enough to undo all the hard work in getting there, writes Geoff Longley in the Press. After the first-round pool matches teams went straight into the quarter-finals, semis and final while those knocked out were left to play off for the minor placings.
A better system may have been to keep the four pools of four, but start playing them immediately the teams had arrived instead of having two full rounds of practice games. If teams want practice games, arrange them beforehand as most did.
Cricket needs to stop thinking defensively
Posted 3 days, 12 hours ago in Cricket
Cricket remains the most controversial of games. At times it is hard to remember that it is only a game and supposed to be fun. The Afridi controversy, the pitch invasion at the WACA and the argument over John Howard as a candidate to serve as the ICC’s deputy president in 2010 can make the followers of the game despair. Cricket needs to stop thinking defensively and cast itself as breeding ground for diversity and toleration, writes Peter Roebuck in the Hindu.
But, then, cricket stopped being merely a recreation long ago and instead became both an industry and an expression of national pride. Once its leading nations became independent it was only a matter of time before they began asserting themselves.
February 5, 2010
Afridi offers food for thought
Posted 4 days ago in Ball tampering
The resulting uproar over Shahid Afridi's snack has reignited the debate about ball tampering, and in the New Zealand Herald Adam Parore says Pakistan got away with it for 15 or 20 years because no one really knew what was going on.
Clearly, with reverse swing still being apart of test cricket, minor doctoring of the ball is still going on. I don't believe it is possible to get reverse swing without some illegal work on the ball. But it is being done in a way that is actually good for the game, giving the bowlers more chance when batsmen could absolutely dominate.
Along the same lines, David Leggat wonders if Afridi would have opted to take a chomp at the ball had he known a healthy dose of the stuff you clean toilets with might find its way to his stomach.
Laptop-designed plans no match for on-field education
Posted 4 days, 1 hour ago in English cricket
England must improve their decision making and the best way they could do that is by playing, writes Mike Selvey in the Guardian.
We got an example of prescriptive thinking at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2006, when a member found on the floor a copy of England's bowling plans – their "dodgy dossier" – and stuck it in the public domain. It detailed how they intended to deal with each batsman, which plans, if executed properly, would mean that Australia would scarcely muster double figures between them. Of particular memory, apart from the worrying fact that "nick" was spelt with an additional "k", was the "bouncer essential" observation for Andrew Symonds. True as this may have been, it was mortifying to see, for five and a half hours, a man set deep on the hook for each of his 156 runs, during which time, despite many invitations to do so, he did not attempt the stroke once. The plans did not cater for that but there was no plan B.
February 4, 2010
Pollard’s rags to riches tale
Posted 4 days, 16 hours ago in West Indies cricket
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Big thing: Kieron Pollard
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Kieron Pollard is the epitome of the Twenty20 generation, but still maintains some old-fashioned values that many traditionalists would find hard to reconcile, Jamie Pandaram writes in the Sydney Morning Herald.
For a boy who grew up in a poor home in Tacarigua, Trinidad, raised by a single mother alongside two younger sisters, this new world presents him with an opportunity. Pollard, 22, wants to ensure his newborn son Kaiden never suffers the hunger he experienced and that his mother is rewarded for her toil.
''My upbringing, I wasn't from a wealthy family,'' Pollard said. ''For me, getting afforded the opportunity to play cricket, and being able to make a lot of money, that drives me you know, because you don't want to end up in that situation again.
In the Age Chloe Saltau looks at the rise of Cameron White, who has gone from Test legspinner to Twenty20 vice-captain in just over a year.
Tendulkar tops Indian sports power list
Posted 5 days, 5 hours ago in Indian cricket
The Indian edition of Sports Illustrated has compiled a list of the 50 most influential people in Indian sport. The business paper Mint carried the list which is dominated by suits, with only three sportsperson in the top 20: Sachin Tendulkar (1), MS Dhoni (5) and chess world champion Vishwanathan Anand (18).
Captaincy: No comparison between cricket and football
Posted 5 days, 6 hours ago in Captaincy
Michael Atherton, writing in the Times, says captaincy is a far more serious business in cricket than it is in England's most popular sport. The captain is central to everything that goes on in cricket unlike the "half a million quid" reference that has come to characterize the role in football.
When Andrew Strauss pulled out of the tour to Bangladesh that starts this month, the reactions of dismay or understanding explain neatly why the John Terry affair has only a passing relevance to England’s chances in this summer’s World Cup finals in South Africa.
'Not only selectors can advance black players'
Posted 5 days, 8 hours ago in South African cricket
Sport24's chief writer Rob Houwing interviewed Craig Matthews, who played 18 Tests and 56 ODIs for South Africa and was recently relieved of his position as a national selector in a clear-out of the whole panel. In the first part of the interview, Matthews speaks about the pressure from the national board, the race issue, and development at the grassroots level.
When the country picks U13, U15, U17 sides, they are generally on merit and there are a lot of black Africans. What happens between that point and franchise cricket? And for those who get there, are these guys being advanced as they should within their franchises? How are we going to ensure, amidst the reality of it being 2010 in South Africa, that nine times out of 10 we can pick a player who is, indeed, good enough? That’s where you need more attention, more money being thrown at the problem, even … it’s better than the present landscape where people are being fired left, right and centre because nobody really knows (the true requirements).
Click here for the second part of the interview.
The Permanently Confused Board
Posted 5 days, 12 hours ago in Pakistan cricket
Writing in Dawn, Shoaib Alvi vents his frustrations with the PCB (read: Permanently Confused Board). He has more questions than answers and believes the chairman's evolution committee, formed after Pakistan's dismal showing in Australia, is nothing but a farce.
The more achieving captains — Kardar, Hanif, Mushtaq, Imran, Miandad, Wasim — all led the right mix. To the people who go hoarse shouting that we should have fresh blood in the team or those who hark for experience, I would say just go for balance and range in thinking in all aspects that affect performance in management, coaching and on the field. You are all barking up the wrong tree.
February 3, 2010
A trans-tasman rivalry for the ICC post
Posted 5 days, 22 hours ago in ICC
In the New Zealand Herald, David Leggat writes of the difficulty Australia and New Zealand are experiencing in naming a candidate to act as Sharad Pawar's deputy in the ICC once he takes over as president, and eventually succeed him. Both countries have made their respective picks - Australia have John Howard and New Zealand Sir John Anderson. One, a former Prime Minister who is a self-confessed cricket "tragic" but has no administrative background in cricket, the other an experienced businessman and a noted cricket administrator. Who should be the one?
Anderson is a vastly experienced businessman of high renown, noted troubleshooter and cricket administrator of considerable substance, who knows the ins and outs of the game better than most.
It should be a no-brainer, but Australia are fighting hard for their man. They seem unwilling to acknowledge the logical course of action. It smells of big brother lording it.
England should not hurry Gibson replacement
Posted 6 days, 3 hours ago in English cricket
Bob Willis is of the opinion that England should be in no hurry to find a replacement for former bowling coach Ottis Gibson who has resigned to join the West Indies team. Writing in Skysports.com, he believes that this gives the England think-tank an opportunity to reassess the structure of their “hopelessly top-heavy” back-up staff. He recommends Darren Gough and Allan Donald as potential stop-gap replacements.
I've got great respect for Darren Gough after what he did during his England career and perhaps he'd fit the bill if he's back on the cricketing track rather than the celebrity one. If Gough is happy to fill the role part-time, that's the way I might do it short-term.
Allan Donald's name has also been mentioned and, of course, he has a definite advantage over someone like Ian Pont or Kevin Shine, who was shoe-horned into the job in 2006, in the sense that he has been there and done it at the highest level.
The Insured Premier League
Posted 6 days, 12 hours ago in Indian Premier League
From the pointed end of terrorism to the relatively mundane possibility of lost baggage, the IPL has every eventuality covered. Falaknaaz Syed in the Hindustan Times explains the insurance framework in place for the third season.
As players not bought at one of the auctions generally cost their owners less, the cover is proportionately lower - a Rs 25 lakh to one crore personal accident policy and a Rs 5 lakh medical cover. Finally, there's also a cushion in place for a staging association, in case of any mishap - a stampede, a fire in the stands etc - Rs 10 crore for each of the 60 matches.
HRV Cup success bleak in the future
Posted 6 days, 12 hours ago in New Zealand cricket
One of the key successes of the inaugural HRV Cup in New Zealand was the presence throughout of the country's best players. Though January is best suited to the shortest form of the game, international obligations may force New Zealand Cricket from ring-fencing the month in the future. David Leggat has more in the New Zealand Herald.
Sam Worthington in the Dominion Post speaks to New Zealand Cricket chief Justin Vaughan, who also believes a repeat of the domestic boom next summer appears impossible because of the World Cup.
February 2, 2010
Be honest, IPL
Posted 1 week ago in Indian Premier League
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The truth is out there: Lalit Modi
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In her blog on the India Today website, Sharda Ugra questions why the people involved in the IPL did not choose to be plainspeakers by explaining their view why the Pakistanis couldn’t be a part of the auction.
The statement would have made us all shift in our chairs and accuse the IPL/ movie stars/ businessmen/ franchise owners of a pragmatism-overload or a lack of courage and that would have been the end of it. Maybe that’s why it was never said. Better to put 11 Pakistani cricketers on the block and then out to dry by talking about “limited slots”, “tactical decisions” and “availability issues”.
Rohit Mahajan, writing in Outlook magazine, has a similar view. He not only believes that excluding Pakistanis from the IPL was a sordid affair, but that Lalit Modi was its unctuous author.
In the same magazine, Ajith Pillai imagines the secret diary of Lalit Modi.
Lowering the boom on Afridi
Posted 1 week ago in Pakistan in Australia 2009-10
When a repeat offender is allowed to get away with a rap on the wrists as Shahid Afridi has been for his 'ball biting' incident, the ICC itself brings the game into disrepute, says Suresh menon in his column on Dreamcricket.com.
Not since Chaplin made a gourmet meal of his shoes in Gold Rush has feasting on unexpected objects looked so hilarious on the screen. Chewing on leather in a movie is funny; chewing on leather in a cricket match with the aim of helping a fast bowler is ridiculous. The only thing more ridiculous is the ICC’s gentle rap on the wrist of the player who has been in trouble before for trying to alter the condition of the pitch illegally.
Rohit Mahajan in Outlook magazine wonders if the captain can actually go to the length of biting a cricket ball to make it swing more, what may the team do if they get an opportunity to do it surreptitiously?
It was surely the daftest, most comical thing ever done on a cricket field – and probably the second most infamous bite in the history of sport after Mike Tyson’s attack on Evander Holyfield in 1997...daft though this action is, it can’t be condoned because of that reason – that it was so incredibly stupid. Stupidity can’t justify crime.
February 1, 2010
Afridi tucks in
Posted 1 week, 1 day ago in Pakistan in Australia 2009-10
After Shahid Afridi attempted to bite the ball during the fifth ODI in Perth, Patrick Kidd writes in the Times that he must be "the stupidest captain in the history of the game".
I wonder what the umpires were saying to him as they pointed out the apparent canine indentations. "Looks like someone's been chewing on this, skipper," one umpire might say. "Gosh, how strange," Afridi says, "was it a stray beaver? I hear there are a lot of beavers in Perth. Or maybe a dingo."
He did not subtly pick at it or try to play football with it, Stuart Broad-style, he wrapped his lips round the ball and gnawed upon it. Was he just peckish? Did he think that the fact he had walked past the umpire a second or two earlier meant that no one would spot him treating a cricket ball like an apple?
New Zealand's top 10 bowling bolters
Posted 1 week, 1 day ago in New Zealand cricket
Andy McKay's surprise selection to the New Zealand squad for the ODIs against Bangladesh has led Andrew Alderson in the New Zealand Herald to look up 10 instances where surprise did not always mean success, and where experiments went wrong.
The balls do matter
Posted 1 week, 1 day ago in Cricket
A layman may wonder what difference does the ball make, especially when the shape, size and weight remain the same, but let me assure that there's a massive difference in how different balls behave in the air and off the surface, writes Aakash Chopra in the Hindustan Times.
Let me begin with SG Test ball. It has a more pronounced seam, which stays that way for almost the entire length of the innings. It helps the quick bowlers release the ball in an upright seam position, as it doesn't wobble much after releasing, and helps the spinners grip the ball better and get more purchase off the wicket as the seam grips the surface well. The ball doesn't swing much when new, but starts swinging when one half becomes shinier than the other. As the shine stays longer, it enables quick bowlers get the swing and slower bowler the drift. The quicks who `release' the ball instead of hitting the deck are more successful with the SG ball as they can get it swing and seam the whole day. The Kookaburra ball, on the other hand, also has a pronounced seam, but it fades away quickly.
The absurd search for an ICC chief
Posted 1 week, 1 day ago in ICC
Peter Roebuck writes in the Sydney Morning Herald that Australian businessman Sir Rod Eddington has been asked to become an "independent" chairman of a committee of Australian and New Zealand representatives who will nominate either John Howard or Sir John Anderson as the next ICC vice-president.
In effect, he will decide the occupant of the most prestigious and important office in the game. It is an extraordinary state of affairs. His involvement is merely the latest aberration in an absurd episode.
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By giving an Australian the casting vote, New Zealand has acted with the generosity missing in its counterpart. As the offended party, it had every right to resent the very fact the debate is even taking place let alone that it has been stretched out interminably. Contrastingly, the unnecessary acrimony has made Cricket Australia look mean and arrogant.
January 31, 2010
International manhunt ends at home
Posted 1 week, 1 day ago in New Zealand cricket
He could have been a corporate high-flyer, a brewery boss or even a public relations genius but Mark Greatbatch has settled for the post of New Zealand head coach for now. Andrew Alderson, in the New Zealand Herald, profiles the former opener-turned coach and speaks to former players who've been associated with him, including Justin Vaughan and Danny Morrison.
"But Mark always knew how to schmooze with corporate types, be it out at the races or at the tennis. He was an incredible networker, just loved going out to dinners. He'll be genuine, infectious and passionate in his new role. He used to get so fired up on the field with big diving catches and a willingness to get peppered as an opener just to fill a spot in the side when the middle order was strong."
In the same paper, David Leggat says Greatbatch has got plenty of hats to wear and his first challenge will be to tighten up the techniques of the batsmen at least before the Australians arrive. He should also look to inspire the players to display the same enthusiasm and resolve which set him apart during his playing days.
Greatbatch is an enthusiastic man and he's a straight talker. He hasn't shied away from hard conversations with players. Having two of the three selectors in the team's inner sanctum seems one too many, but give it time. At least a decision has been made and now it's time to move forward.
Clearing the air over Arthur controversy
Posted 1 week, 2 days ago in South African cricket
In the Independent Online, Patrick Compton looks into six key questions surrounding the resignation of South Africa coach Mickey Arthur. Some of his conclusions are: that Arthur was told he would be sacked if he didn't resign, that the captain-coach relationship was not a factor, that transformation was the decisive issue and that whoever the new South Africa coach is can expect more pressure to include black players.
Also read the interview of former South Africa captain and former managing director of the South African board, Ali Bacher, in the Kolkata-based Telegraph. Bacher says the underlying issue is the inability to find a black successor to Makhaya Ntini, whose Test days seem to be over.
And in the Times, Simon Wilde writes that shoehorning Lonwabo Tsotsobe (the black player with the best credentials for making Graeme Smith's side) into the Test team at this stage would hurt both South Africa and Tsotsobe. He says the big challenge is in spreading cricket culture in the South Africa's interior areas.
January 30, 2010
Attitude behind Styris' omission
Posted 1 week, 3 days ago in New Zealand cricket
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Should the ink of 'SB Styris' be drying on the team sheet?
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Scott Styris' omission from the squad to play Bangladesh appears to be a decision the selectors based on attitude rather than form, writes Andrew Alderson in the New Zealand Herald. Styris was offered the chance to respond to his omission and the resulting feedback but politely, and perhaps understandably, declined, but a number of cricketers took minimum coaxing to comment.
"Scotty kicked a lot of people on the way up, now he's getting kicked by a lot of people on the way down," one said. "He can be a bit of a bully boy with his pranks to try to fit in. Dan would ask if he's a must-have? Most would say 'no'."
Another said: "He's highly competitive but when he takes the piss it can be misconstrued at times."
Other responses included: "He's seen as selfish, a difficult bugger," and "my heart's not bleeding for him. Cricket always revolved around what he was doing. Scotty's all about Scotty."
In the same paper Mark Richardson says the Central Districts opening batsman Peter Ingram has no second chances and that's the beauty of selecting someone in their thirties.
Meanwhile Paul Lewis feels that if Twenty20 can help lift attendances and appreciation of cricket, including Tests, then it will have performed a mighty task.
In the Sunday News, Aaron Lawton speaks to Jesse Ryder and discovers his difficult upbringing has played a part in his sometimes wild ways.
"I haven't ever really had boundaries or rules set in place for me, even when I was a young fella," Ryder told Sunday News, at his home in Lower Hutt. "Growing up, I basically just did what I wanted to do so it has been really hard to change the way I do things." He was moved around the Wairarapa and finally settled in Napier with dad Peter. "I didn't really have the best upbringing in Napier because my old man was always going out and coming in late," Ryder said.
Modi and the messy Pakistan affair
Posted 1 week, 3 days ago in Indian Premier League
The outrage in Pakistan over the exclusion of their players in the IPL auctions is understandable, because of the manner in which the delicate situation was handled by the franchises and Lalit Modi, who didn't drop any hints as to what could happen at the auction, writes Rohit Mahajan in Outlook. Salman Ahmed of Portfolio World Sports Management, who manages several Pakistani players, says the sponsors had a right to be wary after the Mumbai attacks, but could have used a bit of tact and honesty in dealing with the Pakistan players.
Tanvir, who played a key role in the Rajasthan Royals win in 2008, says it was a bolt from the blue when their names were added to the auction list. “I was certain I was going to play for my team!” he told Outlook. “I’d got a letter from Rajasthan Royals saying I’d be playing this season for them, to help me get the visa. Then, three days before the auction, I was told I was going to be put on auction. And then came the humiliation at the auction—there was no need to do this!”
Punter's best weapon against bogyman is his mind
Posted 1 week, 3 days ago in West Indies in Australia 2009-10
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'Stick to plan A, don't go to plan Z'.
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A top psychologist believes Ricky Ponting should not overreact to mind games, writes David Sygall in the Sydney Morning Herald. Performance psychologist Phil Jauncey uses interesting analogies, but the former Australian cricket team consultant's explanations provide a clue as to what might be swirling around Ponting's mind as he prepares to face West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach in the limited-over series this week.
Steve Waugh, for instance, stopped playing the short ball. Ponting worked on it and played it attackingly. They're both good answers because they both show that the batsman's in control. The problem arises if the batsman starts wishing the bowler didn't bowl short. Once you start saying, 'If only', you're giving up control of the situation.
Tale of remarkable change gone sour
Posted 1 week, 3 days ago in South African cricket
Although itself plagued by injuries, Indian cricket will be watching the events unfolding in South Africa with amusement. Injuries heal, broken bones mend, bad backs improve, but the sort of self-inflicted hurt South African cricket has suffered can take years to remedy, writes Peter Roebuck in the Hindu.
In a trice South African cricket has lost its coaching staff and the entire selection committee. So much for stability! So much for the intelligent development of the game in a new dispensation! ... Admittedly the team had not won any silverware. For some reason the South Africans tighten up in finals. Perhaps it all means too much to them, stops being a match and becomes a mission. It is a heavy load for sportsmen to carry.
Cricket and Mahatma Gandhi
Posted 1 week, 3 days ago in Offbeat
On Gandhi's death anniversary, Arghya Ganguly explores the little-known link between cricket and the Mahatma in the Times of India Crest.
The Rajkumar College at Rajkot in 1880 was a training pitch for Indian princelings. Hailing from a humble background, KS Ranjit Singhji was sent to the college as an eight-year-old boy, by his wealthy adopted family. But much to their dismay, he turned out to be a backbencher, scoring more on the field than in the classroom. Ranji showed aptitude for both tennis and cricket but went on to take the latter more seriously. One of his fellow students was Gandhi.
When Gandhi first went to England as a student, "one of the three letters of introduction that he carried was to Ranji" . Cricket commentator Scyld Berry has remarked that the "eventual prince originated from a humbler background than the Mahatma, subsequent champion of the people" and that "both the prince and the self-made pauper were schooled in the sporting ethos of Rajkot and both probably went out to the world with ideas of British sportsmanship which they had internalized in College".
In this game of greed, no one is above board
Posted 1 week, 3 days ago in Indian Premier League
It is time, people on either side of the [India-Pakistan] divide realise that IPL is all to do with greed and it is best not to get emotionally used and mix "lofty" sentiments like nationalism with this mean business, which gives money primacy over sport, writes Pradeep Magazine in the Hindustan Times.
One wonders as to how long it will take India and Pakistan to start regretting their part in the affair of the so-called Indian Premier League’s snub to Pakistani cricketers, for neither party can claim to have reason on its side, writes IA Rehman in Dawn.
January 29, 2010
Ssssh! Taylor's 'stand-by' captain
Posted 1 week, 3 days ago in New Zealand cricket
The secrecy which accompanied the appointment of Ross Taylor as 'stand-by' captain for New Zealand has intrigued David Leggat in the New Zealand Herald. He believes NZC appear to have managed to efficiently plug any leaks on what's going on with cricket in the country.
It would be easier to get a one-on-one chat with Vladimir Putin on the inner workings of the politburo while sharing a couple of Big Macs in Red Square than get a clear idea of how things are progressing with this.
Taylor's appointment is a signal that the New Zealand selectors are readying for life without captain and talisman Daniel Vettori. Former wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Parore, writing in the same paper, believes the secrecy was more about not putting the previous vice-captain, Brendon McCullum, in an awkward spot, now that he been relieved of the job.
Nine cricketers to avoid in a dark alley
Posted 1 week, 4 days ago in Cricket
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It's the eyes. Those damn eyes!
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As much as he loves a handy dark alley in which to hide, Luke Tagg draws the line at finding himself face to face with certain cricketers in the dead of night, with nobody but Dead Gran to hear him scream. Writing on boundaryrider.com, Tagg picks one cricketer from each Test playing nation who he would least like to meet in that dark alley. It is his fervent wish that you never meet them there either.
This one is a complete no-brainer. In case you haven't figured out why Viru may be a problem in a dark alley, allow me to elucidate: He'd hit you. With his bat. Again and again and again and again and again and again and again. He just wouldn't stop hitting you. If you died it would make no difference - he'd just keep hitting you and hitting you and hitting you and hitting you, until even your corpse begged for mercy.
Youthful exuberance bodes well
Posted 1 week, 4 days ago in ICC Under-19 World Cup
Fearing that the game hereabouts is ageing, Australia is trying to find youngsters mature and gifted enough to chuck into the deep end. The success of the Under-19 team at the World Cup is ample proof that Australian cricket does not want to become old and crabby, writes Peter Roebuck in the Age.
Not that Australia needs to rush to promote these fellows. Performance needs to be part of the package. Arguably the selectors have been in too much of a hurry. Moises Henriques, Phillip Hughes and David Warner count among players whose abilities took them ahead of their knowledge. Now they are consolidating until balance has been restored.
Hammad Azam, whose batting has been crucial to the Pakistan U-19s making it to the World Cup final, tells cricistan.com that the credit goes to the coach Ijaz Ahmed. Hammad's innings under pressure in the quarter and semi-finals were superb and reflecting on those crackerjacks he says there's hardly ever a reason to take wild slogs.
I was only thinking of one thing. I kept telling myself that regardless of whether the team wins or loses, my job was to stay there till the last ball. The team needed me and what they needed the most from me was to stay out there and not give my wicket away. In both games I knew that if I was still batting at the end of the innings then Pakistan would have won the match.
The cricket delusion
Posted 1 week, 4 days ago in Indian cricket
Picking up from the recent problems in Indian hockey, Karan Madhok on SLAM Online looks at cricket's shadow over other sports in India. The problem is the fact that all the glorious stories and figures in India belong to cricket, and if Indians do strike lucky and succeed in another sport, the successes are either quickly forgotten, or the newspapers find it tough to squeeze in the news amongst the barrage of daily cricket stories that the Indian audiences are overdosed with.
With all the attention and finances thrown around by the broadcasters, promoters, media and government authorities to make cricket the most lucrative business in India, there is little left room left to share with other sports in the country. It is perhaps no surprise then, that India, a country of a billion and a half people, has won a staggering ONE (1) individual gold in the history of the Olympic Games, and that too went to the shooter Abhinav Bindra at Beijing 2008, who was rich enough to self-finance his training, equipment and success, free from the meddling hands of the government. The Olympics, obviously, doesn’t feature cricket, or India would have raked in the medals and the positive vibes.
In praise of extras
Posted 1 week, 4 days ago in Miscellaneous
An editorial in the Guardian emphasises the importance of extras in keeping players on their guard on the field. The heavy penalties associated with lapses prompt greater discipline, and the runs earned by a team - and not the individual - by way of extras, is a reminder that the playing XI is greater than the sum of its parts.
Sundries – as some Australians still quaintly dub them – are not some optional add-on, but are integral to the sport. If wides went unpunished, bowlers would be free to protect their side's total by sending the ball out of the batsman's reach. Byes, meanwhile, keep wicketkeepers on their toes, and punish the field as a whole for allowing the ball to drift away from the action, which would be a dulling waste of time.
'No one can match Pakistan's U-19 talent'
Posted 1 week, 4 days ago in ICC Under-19 World Cup
Pakistan's Under-19 captain, Azeem Ghumman, comes across as a confident young man in his interview with cricistan.com. Almost all the batsmen in the Pakistan line-up are openers, including Ghumman. Here's his take on switching to the middle order during the World Cup in New Zealand: I made 49 against the West Indies and got out trying to accelerate the run rate in the last 10 overs, I suppose I could have slowed down and got my 50 but then we wouldnt have got the big score that helped us put pressure on their batsmen. And the same thing happened against Papa New Guinea where I got out on 40 trying to increase our net run rate. I've always known that opening the innings is a tough job but now I've got a new appreciation of what a number 4 or 5 batsman goes through, it's not an easy job at all.
'I never turned on Arthur'
Posted 1 week, 4 days ago in South African cricket
Graeme Smith wishes he could quit, but he can't. He's been trying to quit for the past two years, but each attempt has been rebuffed by his own conscience and decent upbringing. He'll probably carry on trying to give up caring what people think about him until the day he gives up playing, and he'll probably keep on failing, writes Neil Manthorp in the Mail and Guardian.
Cricket and AFL battle for U-19 star
Posted 1 week, 4 days ago in Australian cricket
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In demand: Alex Keath
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The allrounder Alex Keath is in Australia’s Under-19 World Cup side but he is also a talented Australian rules player. On Saturday he will line up in the tournament final against Pakistan in New Zealand before having a bigger decision to make. Michael Warner of the Herald Sun takes a look at the situation.
Victoria coach Greg Shipperd has revealed Keath will be offered an unprecedented three-year senior contract worth at least $150,000 with the promise of future domestic and international riches to come if he eschews an AFL career. Keath, 18, has already been nominated by Gold Coast Football Club under special dispensation rules giving the club access to the best junior footballers in the country.
January 28, 2010
Who after Arthur?
Posted 1 week, 5 days ago in South African cricket
After Mickey Arthur vacated the South African coaching post, Ryan Hoffmann looks at the likely replacements in the Mail & Guardian. He puts interim coach Corie van Zyl and former captain Kepler Wessels as frontrunners. When news of Arthur's departure first broke, Wessels was the first name being bandied about as a possible replacement. The former Proteas skipper has a no-nonsense reputation and is not afraid to voice his opinions, most notably on Graeme Smith's early days as captain of the national team. He has not had a great deal of success as a coach, both at English county Northamptonshire or in the Indian Premier League, but his technical knowledge of the game makes him a serious contender for the job.
In the Independent Online Kevin McCallum says the theory being floated that Graeme Smith engineered Arthur's downfall must be dismissed. He also wonders why it was so easy for some of the media and the general public to blame Smith. Smith committed the horror sin of accepting the captaincy at the age of 22, taking over from the much-loved Shaun Pollock. Mothers wanted their daughters to marry Polly, fathers wanted their sons to bowl like him; then came along this young, brash fellow who took the world head on, dated a super model and was not afraid of confrontation. Smith is resented because he seems so sure of himself, because he scores his runs in such an ugly manner, and at such a rapid rate. This fear of confidence in South Africa is utterly bizarre. The perception of Smith is based more on emotion than the make-up of the man.
After attending the press conference confirming Arthur's exit, Neil Manthorp writes in Business Day that the controversial issue of 'transformation' never came up in it. He also says that the sacked selectors also had no official or unofficial guidelines on quotas for national selection. So the executive committee decided to replace Arthur and sack the selectors. But who are the committee? What gives them that right? And what are they doing to help the lack of transformation?
It seems churlish to single anybody out, but let us take a couple of examples at random: brilliant businessman Lazarus Zim is president of Gauteng and therefore a member of the executive. Gauteng has two black franchise players — Thami Tsolekile, purchased from Cape Town, and Aaron Phangiso, nabbed from Northerns. It does not have a single locally produced black player — with Soweto next door.
The removal of the selection panel suggests that the quota system could soon make a return, writes Mike Selvey in the Guardian.
January 27, 2010
Australia’s World Cup King
Posted 1 week, 5 days ago in Australian cricket
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Ricky Ponting lifts the 2007 prize
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Will Swanton, writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, says Ricky Ponting’s desire to extend his Test career meant Twenty20s or one-dayers had to be obliterated from his schedule. He chose to get rid of Twenty20s.
Why had Australia's front man bucked popular opinion and chosen one-dayers over cricket's version of Beatlemania? Why turn his back on truckloads of cash, packed crowds, adrenaline rushes, sure-fire ratings hits and even more truckloads of cash? His simple answer: ''World Cup.''
Ponting plays his 334th one-day international, the most by an Australian, when his high-flying team meets Pakistan at the WACA on Friday. He is a behemoth of the most prestigious one-day tournament of all. Viv Richards, Steve Waugh, Allan Border have all had moments of blinding brilliance in the World Cup's sun but Ponting's success shades them all.
Arthur quitting: win-win?
Posted 1 week, 6 days ago in South African cricket
The immediacy of Arthur’s resignation – it had not yet come from the horse’s mouth as this was penned – caught me off-guard, as it would have most. His actually doing it, in the aftermath of South Africa’s rather shaky, split-personality home summer? Not quite so much, writes Rob Houwing on Sport24.
Coaching or captaining this country, with the unique factors and needs that accompany it, is a particularly exhausting responsibility, and this against a universal backdrop which suggests more and more that coaches in professional sport have definite “shelf-lives” anyway.
Speaking of captaincy, if it is true that Arthur’s relationship with Graeme Smith had “deteriorated irreparably”, it is remarkable in some ways how the latter continues to prosper in his portfolio – he has now outlasted several coaches, including the indelicate taskmaster Jennings and affable “diplomats” in Arthur and Eric Simons.
On Sport24, Houwing also ponders who will succeed Arthur as South Africa coach. Corrie van Zyl? Gary Kirsten? Duncan Fletcher? Kepler Wessels?
Wessels was once not shy to castigate Smith’s team for talking a good game, rather than delivering it, although spats have lessened parallel to the Proteas learning to break the tape more routinely, especially at Test level.
And just maybe the sort of challenge Wessels would pose is what Smith needs, whether he realises it or not, at this juncture. The latter has been at his post for a long time, and there must be the risk of leadership “fatigue” or some degree of apathy and ambivalence setting in.
Barend Prins believes that Arthur’s exit offers a good chance to get some new blood into the set-up. Writing in sport.iafrica.com, he believes that Allan Donald, if he can be conviced to take up the role, is the best man to don the role of bowling coach.
Having arguably this country's greatest ever bowler involved closely with speedsters Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel can only be a good thing, but just imagine how much of an influence he can have on the current 'golden boy' of South African cricket, Wayne Parnell. Donald seems to have become something of an expert in the biomechanics of fast bowling since hanging up his boots as well.
It's just not kilikiti
Posted 1 week, 6 days ago in Offbeat
It's just not what? If you haven't heard of Kilikiti, you might want to read Andy Bull's Spin in the Guardian. It's a variant of cricket played in Samoa.
The Samoans named their bespoke version of the sport kilikiti (or kirikiti), a Polynesian transliteration of cricket. The major change was in the number of players per side, which was increased to allow greater participation. "It is nothing unusual to see 30 or 40 opposed to one another," Churchwood wrote, "and I have known them to play as many as 200 odd a side. The fact is, that these matches are of one town against another, in which all insist upon taking a hand. These huge meetings, as may be readily imagined, last a week or more, junketing going on the whole time, and generally wind up with a big feast."
January 26, 2010
Mickey Arthur will be missed
Posted 2 weeks ago in South African cricket
Though Mickey Arthur's decision to quit is yet to be confirmed by the South African board, the opinion writers have already started work. In iol.co.za, Kevin McCallum says he will be missed but he had run the average lifespan of an international coach.
Arthur perhaps didn't love the stress and tension that came with the job (who would?), but he revelled in being involved in the highs and lows that the national team has romped through since he was appointed in May 2005. If he was hurt by the suggestions that his nickname was Mickey Mouse and he was no more than Smith's puppet, then Arthur didn't show it.
With Arthur quitting as South Africa coach, Kepler Wessels' name quickly leapt to the forefront of speculative replacement lists. His similarities with captain Graeme Smith leads Rob Houwing in Sport24.com to believe a potent combination was in the offing.
The mere arrival of Wessels would probably quell that swiftly, and it is possible that some of his known non-negotiables – like personal discipline and devotion to conditioning – would help propel Smith and company beyond just sporadic major triumph but also to the ability to bed down emphatically at pinnacles rather than visit them disappointingly fleetingly.
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