May 3, 2008

Hectic and surreal

Posted by Lawrence Booth, 6 days, 20 hours ago in Indian Premier League

	Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne: set to meet in the IPL final? © Getty Images

This diary entry feels slightly fraudulent. I leave India in the small hours of tomorrow morning and feel like my job here is barely a third done. Some Indian journalists have expressed envy that I am ditching a six-week tournament after a little more than a fortnight, and I’ve almost felt like apologising for doing what basically amounts to a runner.

“Nice of you to pop in” is the kind of ironic comment you can expect from English colleagues if you join a tour a week late (having given the all-important 14-a-side fiasco against the President’s XI a tactical miss) or depart, ooh, several weeks early. And I am prepared to take any comments on the chin. But the truth is I wouldn’t have missed this experience for the world.

I’ve covered cricket tours before, but nothing as hectic and, frankly, surreal as this. Yesterday, for example, reminded me that for all the luxury hotels the players get to stay in, for all the adulation from the Indian public, and – yes – for all the money they are stashing away for fast cars and maybe old age, it can be a strange existence.

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May 1, 2008

English interests

Posted by Lawrence Booth, 1 week, 1 day ago in Indian Premier League

	Dimitri Mascarenhas could be the first Englishman to play in the IPL, if Warne picks him in the XI © Getty Images

For Englishmen everywhere – or maybe just those of us in India – it promises to be a momentous afternoon in the IPL. Our presence until now has been limited to a hardy handful: Jeremy Snape (performance coach with the Rajasthan Royals), Mark Benson (umpire), Robin Jackman (commentator), several TV crew members, a smattering of tourists, and your correspondent (although not for much longer). If I’ve missed anyone, I apologise.

But today, if Shane Warne is good enough to pick him for the Royals against Kolkata Knight Riders in sweltering Jaipur, our numbers will balloon by one: step forward Dimitri Mascarenhas. He might have Sri Lankan parents; he might have been brought up in Perth; hell, he might speak like an Aussie. But he was born in Chiswick, west London, and he has hit several sixes for England. That’ll do for me.

There is a hope among the one-man party of travelling British journalists that Mascarenhas’s presence will spark a rush of interest back home. Several of the UK papers sent out journalists to cover the fireworks provided by the Chinnaswamy Stadium and Brendon McCullum before and during the IPL’s memorable curtain-raiser 13 days ago; a few flew north the next morning to catch the game in Delhi; Simon Hughes of the Daily Telegraph was even spotted at the Wankhede on the Sunday evening. And then there was one. You’ll understand if the arrival of Mascarenhas elicits more excitement than it really should.

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April 30, 2008

Momentum is over-rated

Posted by Lawrence Booth, 1 week, 2 days ago in Indian Premier League

	Dwayne Bravo's unbeaten 64 took the Mumbai Indians to a seven-wicket win over the Mumbai Indians, their first in five attempts © DigitalCricket.com (file photo)

The IPL has done little to suggest that momentum is anything more than just another of those ideas which dressing rooms use to feel good about themselves. Take last night’s win for Mumbai Indians in Kolkata. The momentum argument dictated they didn’t have a prayer: four defeats in a row; still no Sachin; Harbhajan banned. But they bowled beautifully on a sluggish pitch and, after losing three cheap wickets, were inspired by the bat of Dwayne Bravo. No doubt they’re talking about the semi-finals already.

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April 29, 2008

The aftermath of The Slap

Posted by Lawrence Booth, 1 week, 3 days ago in Indian Premier League

	Sreesanth has received a warning from Farokh Engineer and will be aware that not all his Indian team-mates regard what happened to him as a crying shame © Getty Images

Since everyone has been up in arms about The Slap (and it’s only a matter of time before the words are followed by a little ™ and we can all buy the DVD), it’s tempting to wonder exactly whether many losers have actually emerged from yesterday’s hearing in Delhi. Harbhajan, sure, but let’s look, with tongue placed only partially in cheek, at some of the other interested parties…

Lalit Modi: Once he had gained control of the press conference, Modi came across very well: decisive, firm and with a good grasp of the facts. He has been insistent all along that the IPL should pay more than lip service to the fabled spirit of cricket, and now he has been true to his word. The happy-family poses for the cameras with Harbhajan, Sreesanth and Farokh Engineer felt a bit forced, but he has handled his first major crisis with aplomb.

The IPL: Only two letters separate it from the ICC, but the handling of Bhajjigate (I’m bored with The Slap already) was done in a language the game’s governing body will not recognise. While the ICC keeps having to answer questions about Zimbabwe and Peter Chingoka’s visa, the IPL has avoided accusations of a fudge by suspending one of its most high-profile players. And guaranteeing more front-page coverage in the process.

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April 28, 2008

Indian Foreign Legion?

Posted by Lawrence Booth, 1 week, 4 days ago in Indian Premier League

	Shane Warne has easily been the pick of the IPL captains ©

One of the many familiar grouses about the county game is the way in which English players can generally rely on an overseas team-mate to dig them out of yet another hole. The phenomenon is exaggerated, as most grouses about the county game are, but a glance at the daily scorecards in the English broadsheets will tell you that it isn’t exaggerated by much. After 14 matches of the IPL, I wonder if the malaise is spreading.

A few basic facts for you. There have been four centuries so far, of which three have been made by Australians and one by a New Zealander. Of the 16 fifties, only seven have been scored by Indians, and just one – step forward Delhi’s Shikar Dhawan – by a batsman who has never played in one form or another for his country.

At first sight the bowling figures appear a little more favourable to the locals. Four of the six players to have claimed five or more wickets are Indian (Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh and RP Singh), but three of them have played four matches – half the franchises have still only played three – and one may not play again, depending on the outcome of today’s hearing in Delhi.

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April 26, 2008

Slapgate - the IPL's first controversy

Posted by Lawrence Booth, 1 week, 6 days ago in Indian Premier League

	Slapgate's stars: Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth (File photo) © AFP

It’s the kind of moment sports writers like to refer to as ironic, when of course it is nothing of the sort. Harbhajan Singh’s alleged slapping of Sreesanth – or push, or comment, or tickle, or whatever it was that reduced Sreesanth to tears in Mohali last night – is all the more bizarre for occurring between players who, despite recent on-field tensions, would usually egg each other on while playing together for India. That’s the so-called irony part, even if irony in its simplest form is saying the opposite of what you really mean.

Ironically perhaps (just checking you’re still paying attention), Harbhajan detected genuine irony in Sreesanth’s supposed comment after the end of a match which extended Mumbai Indians’ losing streak to three. The details of Slapgate, as it will probably be dubbed, remain sketchy, but Sreesanth is reported to have approached Harbhajan with a smile and a “hard luck” – hardly grounds for a flailing hand, you might think, even if Bhajji sensed something other than sincerity in the remark.

Still, there is something of a delicious irony – you see, we just can’t help ourselves – in the fact that the Indian Premier League has been held up as a bastion of cross-cultural bridge-building (read: better relations between India and Australia), but has now sparked an incident between two players of the same nationality.

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April 25, 2008

Warne, a pocketful of sunshine

Posted by Lawrence Booth, 2 weeks ago in Indian Premier League

	Don't write us off: Warne has been cooking up some solid team spirit © Getty Images

I don’t know about you but I’m starting to get into this tournament. If you’re reading this in England, the chances are you probably couldn’t care less. The English season is under way, the New Zealanders – minus their Indian contingent – have arrived, and everyone is crossing their fingers and toes for Freddie’s ankle. Setanta, not Sky, have the TV rights for the IPL, which means you have even less chance of tuning in, and the only Englishmen involved so far have been Jeremy Snape and Mark Benson. Your indifference is understandable. But out here it’s different.

Last night’s game in Hyderabad was a big one for the tournament. It signalled the start of the third round of matches, which means we can begin discerning trends and inferring sub-plots (context matters, even in Twenty20). It provided a rousing finish, thanks to the old ringmaster Shane Warne. And it contained that most beguiling ingredient of any sporting contest: the upset. To see the way the Rajasthan Royals players swamped Warne after he had carted Symonds for 14 in three balls, and to listen to VVS Laxman defending his tactics and his batting was to feel right in the midst of a proper competition. Who needs cheerleaders?

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April 24, 2008

Storm in the cheering corner

Posted by Lawrence Booth, 2 weeks, 1 day ago in Indian Premier League

	The cheerleaders have been facing some flak in the media © Aneesh Bhatnagar

You can’t accuse the Indian media of not taking the IPL seriously. Today, CNN IBN has posed the million-dollar teaser: “Do cheerleaders degrade the game of cricket?” So outraged is the channel on behalf of its viewers that the question was illustrated by a close-up of a cheerleader’s cleavage. Clearly, a lot of people are working themselves into a lather.

CNN IBN was persuaded to ask its viewers to vote on the issue by the indignation of the Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party, a right wing party who are arguing that cheerleaders are no better than “bar dancers”. To the best of my knowledge, bar dancers are paid by the boogy. Whatever you make of the cheerleaders who have become one of the more incongruous features of this competition, I have yet to see them venture into the crowd touting for 100-rupee notes to be shoved into their bosom.

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April 23, 2008

Random thoughts from the first leg

Posted by Lawrence Booth, 2 weeks, 2 days ago in Indian Premier League

This is my ninth day in India, so I thought it was time to take stock and pass on a few things I’ve learned …

	Glenn McGrath: two maidens, two wins © Getty Images

1) Cricketers don’t look good dressed as gladiators (or is it Roman soldiers?). An illustrated advert in today’s Hindu depicts Muttiah Muralitharan, Matthew Hayden, a moody-looking Stephen Fleming (well, he was left out of Chennai’s match against Kings XI Punjab) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni wearing leather tunics and brandishing swords. Hmm.

2) Cheerleaders remain an elusive concept. They have either attracted angry letters to newspapers or been out-cheer-led by young men in the crowd. “We want cheerleaders” was one of the more coherent efforts at the Wankhede on Sunday. Last night at steamy Hyderabad, they even seemed to be wearing brown tights. A concession to local sensibilities, perhaps?

3) Sony Max, the Indian broadcasters of the IPL, will continue to insist that the spectators are “going wild”, even as the camera pans over a quiet-looking crowd in the break between innings. “Oh, they’re having a whale of a time,” enthuses the presenter.

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April 22, 2008

Expect the unexpected

Posted by Lawrence Booth, 2 weeks, 3 days ago in Indian Premier League

	When will one of India's young stars step up? ©

First, an apology to Shah Rukh Khan: you will not be mentioned in today’s diary entry. And nor will you, Preity Zinta. Sorry.

So, the cricket. I keep forgetting I’m here for the cricket. Before the IPL started, I asked any player I spoke to who they thought was going to win. To a man, they replied that anything could happen in Twenty20, that everyone had a strong squad, and that they were going to give 110%. At the time, these sounded like the kind of answers you get out of sportsmen every day, all round the world: non-committal, anodyne, knuckle-gnawingly tedious. But after six matches, and with a slap in the face for my cynicism, these purveyors of fence-sitting are yet to be proved wrong.

Only Kolkata Knight Riders have won two out of two; only Kings XI Punjab, surprisingly, have lost two out of two. Already, five teams have a win under their belt. Already, expectations are being dashed.

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April 21, 2008

Electrifying Eden

Posted by Cricinfo, 2 weeks, 4 days ago in Indian Premier League

By Malini Bose

	Like on most big nights the Eden Gardens saw a massive turn-out (file photo) © Getty Images

A crumbling pitch, a packed house, a power cut, sapping heat, too few sixes – and, eventually, a five-wicket win for the home side. The IPL’s first match at Eden Gardens had its share of drama, but eventually the spectators – 87,000, by most accounts – went home happy. The men behind the Knight Riders – led by the omnipresent Shah Rukh Khan - have some glitches to sort out for the remaining games, but the overall reaction and overwhelming support would have heartened them.

This match was different to anything I have seen at Eden Gardens – and perhaps different to anything this grand old stadium has seen. It was, typically, a feast of sound and colour, but something seemed different in the mix of the spectators: enthusiastic teenage girls, children not more than three feet tall, strapping men and countless women. I was part of a group of 15 friends. This was more of a family occasion than usual, and partisan down to every man, woman and child.

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Shah Rukh and the cult of celebrity

Posted by Lawrence Booth, 2 weeks, 4 days ago in Indian Premier League

	Shah Rukh Khan’s connections with the Knight Riders makes them a drawcard wherever they travel © Getty Images

Yesterday, before the games at Eden Gardens and the Wankhede demonstrated that Indian fans really are capable of going mad for a team other than the national one, I was surprised to see a huge billboard just off the main road that links Andheri to Juhu in north Mumbai. It was not so much the slogan which caught my eye (“Be scared. Be s**t-scared”), nor the joints-of-ham that passed for Andrew Symonds’s biceps, but the fact that Mumbai was giving space to the Kolkata Knight Riders, a team not merely from out of town but from the other side of the country. So much for generating support for the local side.

My friend, a Mumbai resident, gently suggested that not only was the city more cosmopolitan than other places in India, but that – sorry, Simmo – Shah Rukh Khan’s connections with the Knight Riders makes them a drawcard wherever they travel. (When I return to England, that man will haunt my dreams: he is absolutely everywhere) In the event, there was never any question of Mumbaikars not getting behind the Mumbai Indians during their five-wicket defeat to Bangalore Royal Challengers last night, but the cult of celebrity looms alarmingly large in the Indian Premier League.

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April 20, 2008

Shrinkage

Posted by Lawrence Booth, 2 weeks, 5 days ago in Indian Premier League

And there I was thinking India’s initial reluctance to embrace Twenty20 was because the format offered fewer ad breaks than the 50-over game. Well, folks, they seem to have found a way round it. I spent yesterday afternoon and evening tuned into Sony Max’s coverage of what – in unwitting homage to Sky Sports’ portrayal of the English Premier League – was unblushingly referred to as “Super Saturday”. All this meant in practice was that the IPL was staging two games in a day instead of one and never mind the quality (you fear already for Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals). But I digress.

Regular watchers of cricket on commercial TV will be used to ad breaks at the end of each over, preferably with a respectful pause to ensure the ball really is dead before we find out about the latest brand of anti-dandruff shampoo. But Sony Max has allowed several adverts to appear in a single over by shrinking the picture. Apparently this cunning tactic has been used on Indian TV for a few years now, but what seems to be new is its frequency.

What happens is that the picture shrinks to allow space underneath it and to the left, allowing the name of a well-known mobile-phone company to step seamlessly into the breach. If the commentators are busy talking at the time, so much the worse: their musings are simply drowned out by the advert’s verbals. The effect can be tantalising. Yesterday, in one of the rare moments when a commentator seemed to be on the verge of using an adjective other than “fantastic”, “incredible”, or “amazing”, he was cut off in his prime.

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April 19, 2008

In need of an identity

Posted by Lawrence Booth, 2 weeks, 6 days ago in Indian Premier League

	Indian fans associate with their national side but what of the IPL franchises? © Getty Images

Partisanship is not the most attractive word, but it may yet turn into the abstract noun most craved by the organisers of the IPL. They’ve got the money, they’ve got the glamour, they’ve got the players, and last night they were handed a gift-wrapped start by the bat of Brendon McCullum. But have they got the crowds? I’m not talking about numbers: the Chinnaswamy was packed. The question is whether the fans will come to cherish their local team like, say, followers of European football. Because without some degree of partisanship, sport is just another form of entertainment.

There was no doubting the passion of those who turned up. In descending order of ear-splitting decibels, the most emotional responses were reserved for: Sachin Tendulkar’s entry onto the stage in his role as captain of Mumbai Indians (surely it was no coincidence that his stroll, the longest of the eight captains, was left until last); the jeers for Sharad Pawar, proving once more that sport and politics do mix, just not always very comfortably; the brief booing of Ricky Ponting, captain – as if you need to be reminded – of those dastardly Australians; and the cheers for Brendon McCullum, who was batting for the away team.

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April 18, 2008

Just how popular is cricket in India?

Posted by Lawrence Booth, 3 weeks ago in Indian Premier League

	IPL - A way to popularise Test cricket? © AFP

It’s easy to get swept along by the razzmatazz of the IPL, and I apologise if I’ve already mentioned that cricket will never be the same again, or some variation on the cliché of the moment. But journalists are supposed to challenge assumptions, so – deep breath – here goes: is cricket really as popular with India’s youth as the English like to imagine?

Now before you start shaking your heads at the appalling naivety of the question, consider this quote in today’s Times of India from a Mr Sandeep Kumar Bajpai, described as an engineering student: “The IPL has the potential to become as popular as the English Premier League.” As popular? What about the IPL becoming as popular as, ooh, the Indian Test team, or the Indian 50-overs team? No, Sandeep chose a sport which anecdotal evidence suggests is in danger of diluting the average Indian youngster’s apparently innate love of cricket.

Last year, in the course of researching an article on the phenomenon of the long-distance sports fan for a British magazine, I spoke to N Manoj, an 18-year-old economics student from Bangalore and a mad-keen Chelsea supporter. He assured me that he and his friends made a habit of gathering around the TV a few times a week to watch live coverage of the English Premier League on ESPN and Star-Sports. His nickname, naturally, was Frank, after the Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard.

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April 17, 2008

We've been expecting you, Mr Khan

Posted by Lawrence Booth, 3 weeks, 1 day ago in Indian Premier League

	"Players, Kolkatans, Mr Buchanan ... korbo lorbo jitbo!" © AFP

One of the many delights of being in India is the understanding that cricket is not so much a sport as a lingua franca. I promise not to fill this blog with too many facile comparisons, but it’s safe to say that if you get into a taxi in England and ask to be taken to the local county ground, it is not usually the cue for a riotous debate with the driver about the prospects for Derbyshire’s new overseas paceman. Today I flagged down one of the thousands of auto rickshaws that make India’s streets feel like a giant beehive, and, sure enough, the driver and I were talking IPL almost before I had sat down.

Actually, “talking” is stretching a point. We roared a few words at each other over the steady drone of the traffic and managed to construct a fairly meaningful conversation about tomorrow night’s IPL opener here in Bangalore between the Royal Challengers and the Kolkata Knight Riders (whose name I will at some point be able to write without thinking of David Hasselhoff and a mysterious talking black Pontiac).

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April 16, 2008

An Englishman at the IPL

Posted by Lawrence Booth, 3 weeks, 2 days ago in Indian Premier League

	Leaving county cricket... © Siddhartha Vaidyanathan

The players I’ve chatted to so far here have done their best to deny that their sole motivation is money. Now it’s my turn. The mood in England towards the Indian Premier League is mixed. The comments under the blog I write every week for guardian.co.uk reflect a bit of enthusiasm, some curiosity, plenty of indifference and a lot of hostility. I was undecided myself, which is why I’m here now. And until my departure on May 5, I will be logging my impressions of a competition that might – just might – end up doing what everyone keeps saying it will do and change cricket forever.

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March 5, 2008

Embracing the atmosphere

Posted by Andrew Miller, on 03/05/2008 in England in New Zealand 2007-08

	It wasn't a massive crowd but a content one on the opening day in Seddon Park © Andrew Miller

There was something of an outcry when the Test venues were announced for England's tour of New Zealand. The two biggest population centres of the North and South Island are Auckland and Christchurch respectively, and they have the two biggest stadiums to boot, but neither city was awarded a match. Instead New Zealand cricket farmed its big games out to the "boutique venues" of Hamilton, Wellington's Basin Reserve and Napier. To judge by the crowd on the first day of the series, it was the most sensible decision they've made in years.

It wasn't that it was a massive crowd, but it was a content one. In this era of quick-fix cricket, a five-day Test is a hefty commitment for all parties but perhaps most significantly the fans. With the plethora of TV angles and multi-media coverage available these days, most aspects of a match can actually be better appreciated in one's armchair - especially if, for one reason or another, the fan concerned is too busy to commit to eight hours in a stadium.

The only thing that remains sacrosanct is the atmosphere. There's still no feeling quite like the "I was there" variety, but increasingly in Test matches around the world, no-one's been there. "It's been a long time since we had a decent crowd for a Test match," remarked Daniel Vettori on the eve of this match, and he wasn't playing to the gallery. England bucks the global trend because of its deep-rooted affection for the traditional form of the game, and thanks to the strength of the pound and their willingness to travel with it, the Barmy Army is welcomed with open arms wherever it roams. But for Test cricket, home audiences are thin on the ground no matter where you look.

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March 4, 2008

Wandering around Waikato

Posted by Andrew Miller, on 03/04/2008 in England in New Zealand 2007-08

	Rowers on the Waikato river © Andrew Miller

Presumably life will get livelier once the cricket gets underway, but for the time being Hamilton remains as determinedly downbeat as its southerly cousin. I find first impressions are generally fairly accurate, so when it transpired that the airport is a taxi-free zone, the nature of New Zealand's seventh-largest city became that tiny bit clearer. It took half-an-hour of loitering and three phone calls before anyone turned up to take us to town. Fortunately nobody has yet been in a hurry on this trip.

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March 3, 2008

Rivals on-field, friends off

Posted by George Binoy, on 03/03/2008 in Under-19 World Cup

	Iqbal Abdulla, Ravindra Jadeja and Wayne Parnell at breakfast after the final © Cricinfo Ltd

Several celebrations - the send-off they gave JJ Smuts and Ravindra Jadeja's manic sprint towards short third man after dismissing Jonathan Vandiar - were extremely charged up and none than Virat Kohli's release of emotion after India dismissed the South African wicketkeeper Bradley Barnes off the last ball of the match to win the World Cup by 12 runs.

So what happened? Was the aggression purely a pressure tactic because India were defending a low target in the adrenaline-filled atmosphere of a World Cup final? There was a bit more to it than that.

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March 2, 2008

Fans, cameras, attention

Posted by George Binoy, on 03/02/2008 in Under-19 World Cup

	India Under-19 captain Virat Kohli holds aloft the World Cup © Getty Images

Chaos broke loose at the Kinrara Oval the moment Siddarth Kaul bowled Bradley Barnes to win India the final by 12 runs. A sizeable number of fans leapt over the boundary boards and invaded the field to congratulate the Indian players. The organisers haven't had to deal with large numbers right through the tournament and the security was sparse. The players were too busy celebrating a hard-fought win and did not see the crowd coming. Soon they were engulfed. Their thorough preparations had overlooked the best way to escape untouched in the event of a World Cup victory. A look at old video tapes of 1983 would have helped immensely.

Virat Kohli had his shirt tugged. I think he lost his cap as well and security personnel had to drag him away from the fans. Virat had been bursting with excitement moments before but looked shaken as he walked off. It was the same with the other players as they struggled to get off the field on their own, needing to be pried away from the mob by security men. Then it began to rain really hard.

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March 1, 2008

The furthest extremity of cricket's universe

Posted by Andrew Miller, on 03/01/2008 in England in New Zealand 2007-08

	Gloomy scenes in Dunedin © Cricinfo Ltd.

There is a famous Billy Connolly sketch that might have been written with Dunedin in mind. During Britain's days of Empire, it was Connolly's fellow Scots who led the way in colonising the world, but in his opinion, they wouldn't have bothered to go further than the Mediterranean had they found somewhere cold enough and wet enough to remind them of home. "Further south!" was the cry every time they made landfall, but eventually, having rumbled through Africa, Asia and the Antipodes, they could go no further. And so they stopped.

And lo, they created Dunedin, the Scottish capital of the southern hemisphere. They couldn't have chosen a more appropriate resting place if they'd tried. When it's as cold and drizzly as it was for the final sessions of England's warm-up at the University Oval, Dunedin really does feel like the last place on earth. The closing overs were played out in front of a spartan crowd of thermal-hugging hardies, who wouldn't have looked out of place at The Grange in Edinburgh. It was nice weather for albatrosses, as they might say at the nearby Otago Peninsular.

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Magic drains and disappearing puddles

Posted by George Binoy, on 03/01/2008 in Under-19 World Cup

	It was fitting that the semi-final had not been reduced to a farcical 20-over contest, and we had the fabulous infrastructure to thank for that © George Binoy

During the interval after the rain ceased and before play began, Wayne Parnell, the South African captain, and the team's media manager stood staring intently at the ground. Their attention was focused on a puddle created by the ground staff, who had mopped up water from the covers and dumped it on the outfield. It was a sizeable amount of water and the puddle was not small. However as Parnell stared at the puddle, it disappeared right before his eyes. The outfield drains so quickly at the Kinrara that a supersopper, not that they have one, is rendered redundant.

The claims from the ground staff that they could have started play in an hour on Friday evening if the monsoonal showers had stopped were not empty boasts. I woke up at 5am this morning and it was raining – a radio commentator said the showers had started at 3am. It rained incessantly until around 11am, that's about eight hours and yet the umpires strode out to call play at precisely 12.20 pm. The drainage here must rank among the best in the world.

The players had arrived at the ground before 10am and most of them were sitting inside their tents while the weather delayed the start. There was music from the South African tent while several Pakistan players took walks around the ground. The moment the rain stopped, both sets of players took the field, knowing that play would begin sooner rather than later. Somehow word got around that the match was starting and several Pakistan fans also turned up, despite the delay. It was fitting that the semi-final had not been reduced to a farcical 20-over contest, and we had the fabulous infrastructure to thank for that.

February 29, 2008

When it stops raining, Kinrara starts draining

Posted by George Binoy, on 02/29/2008 in Under-19 World Cup

	Watching the water drain at the Kinrara Oval is a spectacle in itself © Dileep Premachandran

The second semi-final to decide which team would play India on Sunday was finely poised. Pakistan had lost two early wickets chasing 261 but Ahmed Shehzad and Umair Amin were rebuilding the run-chase with a plucky counterattack. Each boundary, every outside edge, and even mistimed shots were cheered by several Pakistan fans. The party ended abruptly with the heavy clouds, which had gathered during the dinner break, bursting shortly into the Pakistan innings. The rain was monsoonal and it was relentless until the cut-off time.

The match had to be postponed until Saturday but if you spoke to any of the ground staff, they said that if the rain had stopped in time, they could have got the ground ready for play in a jiffy despite the amount of rain.

The Kinrara Oval drains fabulously. Sitting in the press box, I could see puddles of water gathering near the covers but a few minutes later they had disappeared on their own, seeping through the grass.

The ground staff told me the venue had been designed and built by a New Zealand company and they had installed state-of-the-art drainage facilities. The ground slopes gradually as you move from the pitch towards the boundaries and the grass is planted on sandy soil which is ideal for water to percolate. There are also layers of gravel below the sand but the key to the fantastic drainage are the slit pipes that have been placed about three metres under the soil with a gap of one metre between each pipe. The water from the surface seeps into these pipes and it flows towards the larger drains outside the boundary. With the kind of rain Malaysia gets, the Kinrara needs the best drainage it can get.

February 28, 2008

Hoping for a big final, and an endless journey back home

Posted by George Binoy, on 02/28/2008 in Under-19 World Cup

	If Tim Southee wins the Man-of-the-Tournament award, the trophy will have to be couriered home © Getty Images

It's preview day ahead of the semi-final between Pakistan and South Africa so the team hotel is a must-visit for journalists. Step into the lobby and you are bound to bump into players, coaches, media managers and several others associated with the tournament. Several teams were in transit today, some were arriving in Kuala Lumpur, others preparing to leave Malaysia, while a few were heading out to see the sights.

India were scheduled to visit the Petronas Towers and were milling around the lobby. They had just emerged from a tight semi-final last night and were quietly confident, awaiting the outcome of tomorrow's game. If you ask a senior cricketer, which team they'd rather face in the final, most would spout the routine "It doesn't matter as long as we play to our potential etc etc".

The India U-19 players have got on splendidly with the South Africans but most of them would rather play Pakistan in the final. The reasons are several: Pakistan are the only other unbeaten side in the tournament, an India-Pakistan final would draw sizable crowds and create
atmosphere, and there's the lingering memory of the 2006 final, where Pakistan routed India for below 100.

When asked whether this Indian outfit was stronger than the side in 2006, the Pakistan coach Mansoor Rana kept a straight face and said "I can't judge, I only saw the Indian team for six overs in 2006."

**

Continue reading "Hoping for a big final, and an endless journey back home"

Where time becomes a loop

Posted by Andrew Miller, on 02/28/2008 in England in New Zealand 2007-08

I feel as though I have been in stasis for the past 72 hours. Time has been suspended, inverted, stretched and compressed, with mere snapshots remaining of a ludicrously protracted journey. It all began before daybreak on Monday morning, on the Piccadilly Line in London, onto which I shuffled at six o'clock in the morning, bound for Heathrow Airport. It continued through 13 hours of in-flight poker and serial ipod abuse en route to Singapore, a jewel of a city-state that I have now visited three times, but never for longer than an hour and a half.

Next stop, Auckland. The City of Sails by day; the city of room service and snatched winks of sleep by night. Seven hours in an airport motel were enlivened by a non-functioning room key that refused to let me into my room in the first instance, then refused to allow me to leave thereafter. Then it was down to Dunedin, so far south on the South Island of New Zealand that the next stop would appear to be Antarctica. And then, as I touched down, I realised. The further you travel, the more things stay the same.

It was raining when I landed, but not the sort of rain I've previously associated with the Southern Hemisphere. This was a dank, drizzly type of rain - the type that turns hillsides a lush green and leaves sheep feeling waterlogged and morose. In other words, it was rain that might have been imported direct from the United Kingdom.

Continue reading "Where time becomes a loop"

February 27, 2008

New Zealand's Kanpur connection

Posted by George Binoy, on 02/27/2008 in Under-19 World Cup

	New Zealand U-19 bowlers Trent Boult and Anurag Verma before their semi-final against India © George Binoy

There were two players born in Kanpur playing the semi-final between India and New Zealand. One was Tanmay Srivastava, India's No. 3 batsman, while the other was New Zealand medium-pacer Anurag Verma, whose family migrated when he was nine years old. And by coincidence, Tanmay bowled Anurag during the final overs of New Zealand's innings and Anurag duly returned the favour by having Tanmay caught in India's chase. Were they aware that they were born in the same city? You bet.

Anurag's family moved to New Zealand in 2000 and he says that he never played serious cricket while he was in India, only after-school games with friends. After his shift to New Zealand, a friend asked him to play for his team on Saturdays, and he's been playing ever since.

Continue reading "New Zealand's Kanpur connection"

February 25, 2008

Déjà vu for Ali Asad and Imad Wasim

Posted by George Binoy, on 02/25/2008 in Under-19 World Cup

	Pakistan players mingle with their fans after the match © George Binoy

When the dust settled on the quarter-final between Australia and Pakistan, Imad Wasim and Ali Asad might have felt a bit of déjà vu. They had been here before: winning a knock-out match against Australia at an Under-19 World Cup by bowling them out for a low score.

In 2006, Pakistan qualified for the finals by scuttling Australia for 124 after setting a target of 288. Wasim took 3 for 16 with his left-arm spin in that match while Asad had helped rescue Pakistan from 80 for 5 with 69 from 86 balls.

Fast forward two years and there are two significant differences: it was a quarter-final and Australia were batting first. Wasim took 2 for 21 today as Australia were bowled out for 129 and, after Pakistan were reduced to 32 for 3 during their chase, Asad struck an unbeaten 63 off 70 balls to take Pakistan into the semis.

The Australians were understandably downcast after their defeat - their campaign had been weaker than in 2006. The Pakistan team, however, were bubbling with excitement. They cheered loudly as Asad went up to collect his Man-of-the-Match award and raised their volume while he answered questions with a smile that would not go away.

After the formalities had been completed, the Pakistan players did something that I haven't seen so far in the tournament. They went up to the tents and shook hands with the few fans who had vociferously supported them through the match. Two security guards went with the players as they mingled with the crowd and you couldn't help but feel that, although it was better to be safe than sorry, the measure was a bit unnecessary.

February 24, 2008

Will the press descend again?

Posted by George Binoy, on 02/24/2008 in Under-19 World Cup

The deputy president of the Malaysian Cricket Association, P Krishnaswamy,
who is also the chairman of the organising committee of the Under-19 World
Cup, had told me that he expected crowds, relatively speaking, to turn up
from the quarter-finals onwards. And sure enough, apart from the school
children who were being brought to the game to spread awareness, there was
a sizeable Indian contingent cheering their team on in the match against England.
There were a few English supporters as well but you had to search for them
because they weren't heard. They didn't have much to cheer about all day.
I haven't been to a Bangladesh game in the tournament but word is that
their support has been strong.

The press box at the Kinrara Oval has also been sparsely populated during
the first round of the tournament. Apart from the ICC officials,
television, and radio commentary crews, there are only a handful of
journalists: three from India, one from South Africa who works for the
official website, and a few from Sri Lanka. I've heard that there were
several Pakistan journalists in Johor so they should arrive at the Kinrara
for their quarter-final against Australia tomorrow.

However, there was a stack of uncollected media passes in the press box. I
spotted one belonging to a Mumbai journalist, who had applied for
accreditation but not yet made the trip to Kuala Lumpur. While travelling
by taxi, the journalist I was with got a call from a TV reporter in India
asking for sound bytes from Malaysia regarding India's progress. I had
heard that in 2006, the press box gradually filled up as India advanced in
the tournament and it was a packed house for the finals. There's no reason
to believe that 2008 will be any different if India are one of the teams
playing on March 2.

February 23, 2008

Howzat? Nicht aus

Posted by George Binoy, on 02/23/2008 in Under-19 World Cup

	Paul Baldwin (right) oversees a washed-out game in Scotland © Donald MacLeod/The Scotsman

On one of my first days in Kuala Lumpur, I met a man who said he was an umpire at the Under-19 World Cup. His name was Paul Baldwin and he said he was from Germany. An umpire from Germany? Paul Baldwin certainly wasn’t a German name. I had to wait nearly a week and made a trip to Penang to find out more.

Paul’s father was in the British Royal Air Force and he was posted in Germany so Paul moved there when he was 17. He didn’t play cricket for about five to six years because he says he just wasn’t interested.

“One day I saw a game of cricket at the air force base,” Paul says. “I then started playing and ended up being captain of the side.”

Paul took his first steps towards becoming an umpire during casual club games in Germany. Someone from the batting side would often stand in as the umpire. So one day when Paul was officiating, the opposition appealed for lbw when the batsman was miles outside his crease. Paul concurred. Paul's team-mates were livid and said he couldn’t umpire again until he took an umpiring course.

Continue reading "Howzat? Nicht aus"

Happy and relieved

Posted by Cri-Zelda Brits, on 02/23/2008 in ICC Women's World Cup Qualifiers, 2007-08

	I was personally pleased to finally score my first ODI hundred earlier against Netherlands © ICC

The players came into this tournament knowing qualification was an absolute must for South
Africa, so I'm almost as relieved as I am happy that we are going to the Women's World Cup in 2009.

I expected a slightly tougher game against Ireland in our semi-final, but once again we put in an outstanding team effort, with our bowling attack in absolutely superb form.

We've obviously had some interesting matches, against teams of very different standards, but everybody has to start somewhere and I hope teams such as Papua New Guinea and Bermuda would have learned some lessons.

I think the Papua New Guinea opening bowlers have been one of the most difficult attacks we have faced this past week. If they continue to work on their game, there is no reason why they can't be more competitive in the future.

For us, there have been many star performers, although I have been really proud of the way Olivia Anderson has adapted to international cricket.

Continue reading "Happy and relieved"

The World Cup beckons

Posted by Urooj Mumtaz, on 02/23/2008 in ICC Women's World Cup Qualifiers, 2007-08

	Pakistan celebrate their victory over Netherlands and a place in the Women's World Cup © ICC

It was a World Cup win for Pakistan’s men team in Australia back in 1992 that inspired me to take up the game, so to think that I am going to follow in the footsteps of some of my cricketing heroes is amazing.

I don’t think anybody in my family would have thought that when I first picked up a cricket bat aged six-and-a-half and played against my brothers and cousins in the backyard that I would go onto lead my country in the sport. After yesterday’s result, when we beat Netherlands by 94 runs, even Dad might forgive me for all the plants we used to destroy in those backyard games. I don’t think there could have been prouder parents in Pakistan last night.

I tried to treat the semi-final against the Netherlands in the same way as I would any other match. After waking up and getting some breakfast, I finished praying and then did some visualization work to help me with my batting and bowling.

Continue reading "The World Cup beckons"

February 22, 2008

Rival fans make their presence felt

Posted by George Binoy, on 02/22/2008 in Under-19 World Cup

	Members of Australia's Air Force Base and their families watch the cricket ... © George Binoy

So when I saw a few people coming in nearly an hour early to the
Australia-Sri Lanka game at the Penang Sports Club, I assumed they were
related to the Australian cricketers. They had come well equipped with two
massive Australian flags, an over-sized ice box full of beer and soft
drinks – but mainly beer – an inflatable Wallaby and a pump to inflate it.
They were enthusiastic enough to haul a football goalpost about 50 yards
towards their tent so that they could drape their flags from it. I went up
to ask which cricketer’s family they were.

It turned out that they weren’t family. There’s a Royal Air Force base in
Butterworth, Penang and these fans were stationed there. There were about
ten before the start of the match but Grant, who appeared to be the chief
enthusiast, said he expected about 80 to come in. They have an Australian
Defence Force (ADF) cricket team and its banner, which has a pouncing tiger with
claws bared for a symbol, was signed by all the U-19 cricketers and hung
over the tent. The icing on the cake, however, was a “Bay 13” sign which
hung between the Australian flags, in honour of the famous stand at the
MCG which is renowned for its not-so-sophisticated behavior.

Continue reading "Rival fans make their presence felt "

February 21, 2008

'Let’s hope for the best'

Posted by George Binoy, on 02/21/2008 in Under-19 World Cup