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September 29, 2007
Posted on 09/29/2007 in ICC World Twenty20
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Stuart Broad and Yuvraj Singh laugh it off after batsman hit bowler for six sixes in an over
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| Stuart Broad recently joined the list of bowlers who were hit for six sixes in an over when he was taken apart by Yuvraj Singh in the Super Eights stage of the ICC World Twenty20. The Times of India’s Avijit Ghosh analyses the psychological impact of being on the receiving end of such an onslaught.
London-based sports psychologist Victor Thompson explains. "The main risk is that the bowler will interpret the sixes as evidence that he has failed as a bowler," he says. According to the sports psychologist, a bowler should focus on the challenge and not the threat of the situation to prevent from crumbling psychologically.
"He should analyse his delivery and look for ways to test and beat the batsman. He must keep his body language confident and positive: upright, purposeful, chest high. He should also recall similar situations before where he has had success and shown grit against a challenging batsman. Other techniques can also help but these can give most bowlers a boost," Thompson says in an email interview.
Florida-based performance psychologist John F Murray compares the event to a pitcher getting hammered in baseball. "The effect depends entirely on a player’s experience, self-confidence, maturity and resilience. If a player is high in these factors then catastrophic failure has little effect and the player usually recovers well and may even return with increased confidence and focus," he says.
September 26, 2007
Posted on 09/26/2007 in ICC World Twenty20
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The future of Indian cricket belongs to cricketers with young and willing legs and arms and uncluttered minds
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India's victory at the ICC World Twenty20 has prompted the country's national dailies to remark on the event in their editorials. Here is a collection of opinions:
The Hindu says that it is clear the future of Indian cricket belongs to cricketers with young and willing legs and arms and uncluttered minds. But it warns against the success being blown out of proportion.
There are two clear messages from South Africa for the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The first is that the time may be just right to consider easing out the old guard. The other is that the BCCI must not allow this Twenty20 triumph to lead to a slow cannibalisation of Test cricket.
The Times of India calls for a celebration of diversity that defines this young Indian side.
The Hindustan Times observes that the changing face of Indian cricket reflects a deeper social and political transformation that the country has gone through.
Most sociologists would see this as confirmation of the rise of small-town India: to the multi-storey malls in Rohtak, you can now add the residence of Joginder Sharma. This is the India for whom playing cricket is a vehicle of social mobility, of finally unshackling an oppressive system where the public school tie appeared to matter more than ability. With its uniquely meritocratic approach, cricket could do what few other fields of activity in this country provided: a chance to excel and be recognised, irrespective of one’s lineage.
But it cautions against vieweing cricketers as catalysts of social change.
Don’t forget the euphoria of the 1983 win was followed by the horrific anti-Sikh riots just a year later. 2007 may be a watershed moment in Indian cricket, but beyond the boundary life isn’t quite so smooth.
September 25, 2007
Posted on 09/25/2007 in ICC World Twenty20
Peter Roebuck began the tournament as a Twenty20 sceptic. Since then he has discovered that the format has much to offer, as he explains in the Age.
Arguably, Twenty20 is better in small doses but it has stated its case impressively and now must be part and parcel of the program. Apart from anything else, helped by a notably cheerful commentary team, it makes entertaining television.
Jon Pierik writes in the Herald Sun that the way India celebrated their triumph was proof Twenty20 matters.
There is no time to think, just do what comes naturally. Veteran commentator and former England batsman David Lloyd went as a far as describing the celebrations as unprecedented on a cricket field. This sheer delight in winning a tournament most people dismissed can only be a good thing for a sport that hasn't had much to cheer about recently.
Posted on 09/25/2007 in ICC World Twenty20
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The competition has been packaged as any fast food should be: attractively presented for rapid consumption and instant gratification with no pretensions
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After the end to an exciting inaugural World Twenty20, Mike Haysman – always a fan of the format – says it’s time for change in his article in SuperCricket.
The ICC can no longer ignore the popularity of the shortest form and needs to accommodate the wishes of their fanatical paying public. This injection is exactly what the game needs to rejuvenate the sport and whilst Test cricket needs to be protected and preserved, the relatively sluggish 50 over game can step aside and allow the new pretender centre stage.
Fazeer Mohammed, writing in the Trinidad and Tobago Express, seems to agree.
From the pulsating curtain-raiser at the Wanderers between South Africa and the West Indies to today's final matching India against Pakistan at the same venue, this tournament has spanned all of two weeks, including two rest days either side of Saturday's semi-finals. Compared to the attention-sapping two-month duration of the last two World Cup events - the International Cricket Council's flagship tournament - the competition has been packaged as any fast food should be: attractively presented for rapid consumption and instant gratification with no pretensions towards the proper nutrition that is needed to sustain the long-term health of the traditional form of the game.
A column in the Indian Express suggests that Twenty20 is not a dumbing down of the game.
Contrary to fears that cricket matches are becoming mindless slog-fests, T20 intensifies scrutiny of the game. Every delivery matters, every shot, every catch, every dive. With such little scope to make amends, freeloaders are caught out immediately.
Remember John Wright’s wry observation that the way limited-overs cricket was headed, any day now all eleven players would be picked for their batting. Most teams already go into ODIs with just four regular bowlers, even three. T20 has reversed that. The last fortnight in South Africa has shown that amongst well-matched teams the fifth bowler matters.
Posted on 09/25/2007 in ICC World Twenty20
A new-look Indian team has emerged in the format that’s been a hit the world over, says Somini Sengupta in the New York Times.
Not only was the game different, but the team was unlike those past. Its members played fast and furious. They danced victoriously on the cricket pitch. At news conferences, they spoke Hinglish, a mongrel of Hindi and English that has become the lingua franca of the young small-town Indian.
Although Pakistan may have lost the final, Kamran Abbasi in the Dawn says it was cricket that was the winner at the Wanderers. He also feels that it's a great start for the newcomers at the helm of the Pakistan team.
There is no shame in this defeat even though it might be at the hands of Pakistan’s biggest rivals. Malik and Lawson have revived Pakistan as a force in world cricket. It is an era begun with energy, passion, discipline and much excitement.
September 21, 2007
Posted on 09/21/2007 in ICC World Twenty20
"The South African cricket team are not a bunch of chokers. We know, because they tell us so," writes Michael Doman on Independent Online. "Yet on Thursday night in Durban they were rudely dumped out of the World Twenty20 by India when they buckled under the pressure of having to chase a victory target of 154 in 20 overs."
The other cry in the wake of South Africa's demise is: Where was Jacques Kallis when needed. Not selected in the squad... and in hindsight perhaps this was a mistake. The people are impatient for success. Yet remember that two of Saturday's semifinalists, India and Pakistan, did not make it past the first round of the 2007 World Cup.
Posted on 09/21/2007 in ICC World Twenty20
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Rohit Sharma - Next in line
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Rohit Sharma has been talked about for long in Mumbai cricket circles and it was only a matter of time before the whole country would sit up and take notice of him. After his match-winning 50 against South Africa which helped India advance to the semi-finals, his family spent a sleepless night, and they were hardly complaining. Read the full piece in Rediff.
The telephone would not stop ringing and the 15 people assembled in Dinesh Lad's room at Star Line building Gorai in the far suburbs of Mumbai couldn't believe that the boy next door had made it big.
Also read Sandeep Dwivedi's article in the Indian Express.
But Sharma’s friends keep it simple as they can’t stop speaking about last night’s ‘kadak’ knock. They speak fondly about Indian cricket’s newest star, who hasn’t changed a bit and still constantly keeps in touch with them. No doubt, Sharma groaned about his cell phone bill to a journalist recently and asked him to keep in touch through mail.
September 20, 2007
Posted on 09/20/2007 in ICC World Twenty20
Soumya Bhattacharya writes in the Hindustan Times why Twenty20 doesn't seem like cricket to him.
It appears to be not so much a speeded-up, watered-down version of cricket, a sort of cricket-lite for dummies who are incapable of comprehending the complexities and subtleties of the greatest game in the world, but an utter impostor. It has whittled away at cricket’s essence; it has snuffed out its soul; it is unrecognisable as the game I adore.
Posted on 09/20/2007 in ICC World Twenty20
Big hits are nothing new, but in his column for the Guardian Mike Selvey says cricket's overdoing it a bit too much. Getting closer to the matter, Selvey's view is that new lightweight bats mean limited-overs cricket is in danger of turning into a predictable slogarama.
There is some phenomenal ball-striking taking place, the size of some of the boundaries notwithstanding. Before Yuvraj Singh's outrageous six sixes in an over off Stuart Broad yesterday, the longest hits so far, presumably measured by laser, have been belted by Pakistan's Misbah ul-Haq off Australia's Nathan Bracken, stunning 111-metre front foot drives both. These, and many of the numerous maximums hit this past week or so, have been the result of perfect striking and supreme confidence; six anywhere, anytime. The bats don't half help, though; these disposable lightweight lumps of willow, all volume and no density. It is these characteristics that still bother me.
Writing in the Hindu, Steve Waugh hopes Mahendra Singh Dhoni's appointment as ODI captain doesn't detract from India's task at hand - qualifying for the semi-finals of the ICC World Twenty20.
Waugh also feels the Australians are taking time to come to grips with the Twenty20 format, and seem to be caught between wanting to play the way they do in 50-over cricket and trying to innovate.
September 19, 2007
Posted on 09/19/2007 in ICC World Twenty20
Australia's insistence on using Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds as their spinners, rather than the specialist Brad Hogg, is hurting them significantly at the ICC World Twenty20, as Peter Roebuck explains in the Sydney Morning Herald.
As the Pakistanis rattled along, Adam Gilchrist must have wished he had Brad Hogg's more potent brew at his disposal. Arguably, Hogg's batting was also missed as the tailenders swished away like a drunken headmaster. Not that it was easy for the Australians to change a team that has been serving them well. Nevertheless, spin has been to the foremost in this Twenty20. As with the film industry, it is often written off but refuses to die. Not for the first time, Daniel Vettori has been as dangerous as any paceman.
Posted on 09/19/2007 in ICC World Twenty20
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"Why, oh why, KP, couldn't you have kept your trap shut?"
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Convincing as Twenty20 cricket has become, it would be dangerous for the game to lose sight of the advantages that are still clear in 50-over cricket, writes Mark Nicholas in the Daily Telegraph.
Twenty20 is exciting because it is condensed. It is the natural heir to the 40-over cricket that quickly established itself in the late Sixties as the "new black" – hip, fast, accessible and satisfying. Previously unseen audiences were as seduced then as they are now. Forty years on, it is obvious to everyone except the people who run the game in England day-to-day, that the 40-over format is a white elephant. In fact, it is more dangerous than that. It is an energy sapper, an injury-sucker and a diversion from the accepted formats that are played everywhere else in the world.
Nicholas also requests Kevin Pietersen to stop bleating and just get on with his game.
In the same publication, Mike Atherton says that Twenty20 cricket is a threat to the game's future. Atherton's view is that the appetite for Twenty20 is insatiable, and he's ready to lay a large wager that eventually 50-over cricket will be rendered extinct as a result.
James Lawton shares similar views in his column in the Independent.
Twenty20 is not cricket. It does not have growth, that sublime building of skill and concentration and timing which makes the Test game so ultimately intriguing – nor much of the declining, but sometimes still visible, fundamental qualities of the game which are offered down the food chain until, as in the crudest making of an omelette, the eggs are smashed in the version which is now having imposed upon it, in another money-grubbing lunge, the dignity of a world title.
In the process, cricket uses up its prime talent with the profligacy of a doomed punter chasing from one casino to another.
Over in the Times, David Fulton feels England's top sports stars are resorting to the blandest of platitudes. Fulton too criticises Pietersen's call to "humiliate" Australia by knocking them out of the World Twenty20 - which backfired spectacularly, by the way - and wonders how KP felt it would somehow serve as an act of revenge for the Ashes whitewash.
September 17, 2007
Posted on 09/17/2007 in ICC World Twenty20
It has only taken a week for Peter Roebuck to soften his anti-Twenty20 stance. He explains in the Sydney Morning Herald that although he is not yet a convert, he now understands that some good can come from the shortest format of the game.
Above all, the tournament has maintained its momentum. Thankfully, the ICC learnt from the mistakes made in the last long-winded World Cup. Matches have been rattling along so that interest has not wavered. Tickets have been cheap, $4 in the popular areas, and no attempt has been made to dampen spirits. To the contrary, music has been encouraged as well as silly costumes and amusing antics.
Robert Craddock, writing in the Courier-Mail, still has significant reservations.
I find it's like watching that old 1960s television show Combat (with Vic Morrow) where people got shot up at the rate of 100 deaths per minute. Eventually you get to the stage where you go "Oh, another one, anything else happening?" It doesn't push my buttons but you simply have to accept that cricket needs it.
September 16, 2007
Posted on 09/16/2007 in ICC World Twenty20
With the ICC Twenty20 seemingly a hit with the spectators unlike the tedious World Cup in the Caribbean, Michael Atherton ponders the implications for 50-over cricket in The Sunday Telegraph. He says the announcement of the Champions League and the 25% increase in number of Twenty20 games in the next English county season are a portent of things to come.
The appetite for Twenty20 is insatiable. While all eyes have focused on South Africa, there were two developments elsewhere which suggest that eventually Twenty20 cricket could well become the dominant form of the game. I'd certainly lay a large wager that eventually 50-over cricket will be rendered extinct.
September 14, 2007
Posted on 09/14/2007 in ICC World Twenty20
Australia were beaten by a younger, fitter, brighter Zimbabwe outfit on Wednesday, according to Peter Roebuck in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Aussies looked leaden. Not so long ago, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist dominated a World Cup campaign. Here, they lost their wickets to poorly executed back-foot shots. Having played practice matches on firmer pitches, none of the Australians timed the ball sweetly, especially off the back foot. Ponting himself played an awful shot, a slog sweep that merely made matters worse. Perhaps the Australians had watched the opening match and thought every ball had to be dispatched into the stands. Certainly the batsmen did not adjust their games to meet the conditions. None of the Australian batsmen played county cricket this winter, and it showed.
Australia’s players weren’t the only ones looking sheepish after the match. Adam Hamilton writes in the Herald Sun that punters around the world lost tens of millions of dollars because of the upset.
"When the Aussies got into $1.01 we still matched more than $400,000. That's the shortest odds possible," Betfair’s Hugh Taggart said. "What's even more staggering is that a further $2.8 million was matched at $1.02. It's safe to assume there's more interest in Twenty20 than we first thought."
September 13, 2007
Posted on 09/13/2007 in ICC World Twenty20
Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, Peter Roebuck says he can't be content with Twenty20 given the nature of the format.
Satisfaction was lacking. Twenty20 tolerates batting without consequence. It is a slogathon. None of the subtleties of the game were seen, the speculations in the stands, the mid-pitch debates. Everyone is a hitter.
Posted on 09/13/2007 in Zimbabwe cricket
There’s not much to cheer in Zimbabwe these days, so you can forgive the state-run Herald newspaper, the only mainstream publication in the country, from going overboard after Zimbabwe’s stunning win against Australia. It was unsurprising that the match is the lead story on the front page.
One commentator noted that now everyone knew why the Australian national side was banned by its government from coming to Zimbabwe for a one-day international series this month.
Zimbabwe had won the hearts of the crowd for their commitment in all departments and it was no surprise that virtually everyone waited for their chance to congratulate the victorious players who went on a victory lap. The electronic scoreboard stayed with the message "Congratulations Zimbabwe" for the night.
Perhaps fortunately, the result came too late for today’s Australian papers, but tomorrow’s are unlikely to be too forgiving to Ricky Ponting’s side.
David Hopps in The Guardian notes:
It was also an embarrassing start for Tim Nielsen, Australia's new coach, whose side were 50-1 on favourites, but who looked unprepared both physically and mentally. They had practiced on the featherbed pitches of Johannesburg and entirely failed to adapt to the more hostile conditions in Cape Town.
In The Daily Telegraph, Simon Briggs says it was down to preparation.
Beset by political troubles, Zimbabwe have suspended themselves voluntarily from Test cricket indefinitely. There are many within the sport who believe they should not be allowed to compete at all until the tyrant Robert Mugabe is deposed. But whatever the real-world backdrop, this team have clearly prepared themselves with great efficiency for this tournament. Their bowling was disciplined, and their batting cool-headed.
September 10, 2007
Posted on 09/10/2007 in ICC World Twenty20
In case you hadn't noticed, there's a World Cup going on. Well, there are two but on this site we'd better stick with the cricket one. So here's a link to the TV ads that have been publicising the campaign for the last four or five weeks in South Africa – and, just like the competition, they've been very well received by the public.
South Africans have also really taken to the domestic version, the Pro20, and our South African colleague Keith Lane tells us he's not seen an empty Wanderers for the four internationals played there.
Nearly time for kick-off, then, but in the meantime enjoy the ads.
September 9, 2007
Posted on 09/09/2007 in ICC World Twenty20
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Expect a real carnival in South Africa this September
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Now that all other international commitments have come to an end, all the teams can focus entirely on the ICC World Twenty20. Scyld Berry feels Twenty20 is going international for three reasons - Everybody wants to cash in; the timescale is ideal; and the shorter the game, the more likely a close result. He writes in the Sunday Telegraph
The first Twenty20 World Championship should be the most watchable 'global' cricket event for a decade. It can hardly fail to be. Recent World Cups have been dire because they have comprised far too many countries and therefore far too many mis-matches, while every Champions Trophy has proved a non-event. Such is the appeal that Tuesday's opening game between South Africa and West Indies and the final are sell-outs; and three-quarters of seats overall have been sold, albeit at knock-down prices, the lesson of the last World Cup having been learned.
Simon Wilde is of the same seniment as he previews the the tournament in the Times.
This event should be everything the one in the Caribbean was not – and therefore hasten the march towards 20-over cricket becoming the sport’s dominant short form. At 14 days long rather than 47, it will be blessedly concise.
Ticket prices have been slashed to bring back the masses who were so brutally cold-shouldered at the World Cup. With the most expensive seats for the final on September 24 costing £11 rather than £149, as was the case in Barbados in March, grounds should be full rather than three-quarters empty.
Also read Will Luke's piece on how Twenty20 cricket is true to its roots on cricinfo.com
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