Breaking/Brief news
January 29, 2007
Lets keep the dodgy actions out please
I just happened to catch Cricket Star, the reality show on Zee Sports. It definitely looked ok. Some of the talent on show, especially in the spin bowling department, was quite good. But those in charge of the show, especially the likes of Kapil, Jadeja, Robin Singh and Manjrekar who're interacting with the young cricketers, need to make sure that they ensure that no one with a dodgy bowling action gets to be on the show. I've just seen an offspinner bowl whose bowling action would elicit a gasp from Muralitharan.
Strictly going by the ICC's standards, Murali does not chuck. But would those youngsters participating in the show, or indeed we, want a youngster's bowling action to be exposed as being faulty after he makes his debut, regardless of whether an on-field umpire calls him for chucking or if the decision is taken by committee? I'm fairly sure that the answer is no.
Which is why it is absolutely critical that this chucking thingie should be dealt with at the earliest, regardless of whether the arena is a reality TV show or an under-14 game.
Labels: chucking, murali, reality tv
Thus spake Jagadish @ 12:55 am | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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January 24, 2007
Reality TV and cricket
Simon Hughes writes in 'The Daily Telegraph' about a reality TV-cum-talent hunt show in India called Cricket Star, the prize being a contract with Leicestershire CCC. The judges include Kapil Dev, Sanjay Manjrekar and Ajay Jadeja.
The eviction, involving Manjrekar stepping forward to remove the Cricket Star badge from the doomed player's breast pocket, before he is cast out through the studio door, may sound brutal but it does make great TV.Simon Hughes also alludes to voting on religious lines.
The first eviction episode threw up another dynamic in Indian cricket – racial bias. It has often been alleged that players of a minority religion have trouble getting recognition in certain states. The left arm quick bowler Zaheer Khan, for instance, a Muslim, initially couldn't get a game for Hindu-orientated Maharashtra. In the studio, two players were up for eviction – Agha Ali Hasan, a Muslim from Hyderabad and Ranjan Singh, a Sikh from Lucknow. They had all got on famously for the two weeks they'd been together. But as his team-mates filed down the Parkinson-style stairs one by one with the name of their nomination written on a card, a strange thing happened.
The first four were all Muslim: they voted to evict the Sikh. Then came three Sikhs and a Hindu. They voted against the Muslim. It was 4-4. The captain, Mohammed Abbas, had the casting vote. Sensitive to the situation and in an impossible position, he closed his eyes and selected one of the two cards at random. The name he picked was the Sikh.
Labels: bias, racism, reality tv, religion
Thus spake Jagadish @ 2:25 pm | Sledge/Read 2 sledge(s)
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