A slip up?

Robert Craddock writes in The Courier-Mail about the kind of work ethic on display by members of the World XI who lost by a narrow margin to Australia two days ago.

Craddock's report proves that I was spot on about there being many a slip between the keeper and bowler. Apparently Inzamam assumed that his seat at first slip had been dusted and kept ready for him, for when slip catching training commenced, he announced that he'd stand at first slip. Graeme Smith let Inzi in on the secret that he'd been volunteered for third slip, the decision being taken when Inzi was catching up on his jet lag. Remember that as it is, Inzi would have been sulking about not being made captain, when he clearly wanted the job.

It remains to be seen if Inzi's performance show was in any way related to the events before the game. Inzamam isn't the only one who has been castigated. Sehwag, who scored the World XI's only fifty, apparently joined hands with Inzamam in making fun of Graeme Smith's attempts at getting his side to buck up during practice.

Labels: super series 2005

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Super Test: Australia whip World XI in four days

A thrashing by over 200 runs in under four days in the six day Super test and a 3-0 drubbing in the one-dayers means that the concept of a Super Series between the best and the best of the rest is in serious danger of being relegated to being a one-off event.

The ICC's CEO Malcolm Speed has now made it clear that such a series would recur in the future only if one team stood out from the rest of the cricketing world. However, this does contradict the ICC's original media release announcing that the first edition would be held in Australia and that every four years, the top ranked team would play one-day internationals and a one-off test against a team comprising cricketers from the rest of the countries.

While I do think that the concept of the Super Series deserves to be given more opportunities, to succeed or to fail, you could have your say on the issue too by voting in the poll at the top of the right hand-side navigation bar.

Back to the cricket though. The World XI started off in sight of victory needing to score 330 runs on the fourth day, with two more days in hand, and eight wickets in hand. Dravid and Lara started off solidly, with Lara keen to avoid a duck, which would have given him a sequence of 0, 5, 0, 5 & 0. Dravid watched Lara belt a few breathtaking boundaries on the off-side but couldn't add too many of his own as he edged Warne to slip. Shortly thereafter, Lara was out caught behind off Warne when the ball bounced unusually. 50/2 had become 69/4 and hopes for a successful chase now depended solely on Inzamam, Kallis and Flintoff.

Inzamam's 12000-odd km journey to Australia was made to seem even more pointless when he was given out lbw to Lee's yorker, the ball almost definitely going down legside. His one run for the game certainly would make his performance the most well paid batting display in the history of cricket, earning US $25,000 for his effort. Add in the flight ticket and it becomes apparent that Graeme Smith's motivational talk doesn't seem to have had too much of an impact.

Kallis and Flintoff then struck a few bold blows to enhance their reputations as the <insert South Korean electronics giant name here> ICC Players of the Year. But Stuart MacGill, who missed out on any meaningful action during the Ashes, struck when he had Flintoff holing out to the substitute Brad Hodge, in for the injured Katich, at deep square leg.

Kallis was batting quite well, but sans the required support. In any case, 230 odd runs to win with four wickets in hand was a well nigh impossible task. Boucher was nicely caught by Hayden at slip off Warne. A couple of overs later, MacGill snapped up three wickets in an over, including two in two balls, got himself a five wicket haul and ended the agony for the World XI, spectators, administrators and other fans of the concept.

On Saturday, I realized the level of imbalance in the World XI. Five, if not six, out of the side preferred fielding in the slips. Now unless the field was spread thus, it would have been impossible to accomodate everyone in their favourite positions.

Matthew Hayden's century on the first day, his second innings 77 and some good slip catching won him the man of the match award. Gilchrist's glovework, his murderous hitting in the one-dayers and his first innings blitz won him the man of the series award.

Labels: super series 2005

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Super Test: Interestingly poised

Play ended on day three at Sydney with 25 runs on the board for the World XI after losing both the openers in the chase of 355 for a win against the World Champion team.

From 66/1 overnight, the day started brightly for Australia as Hayden and Ponting continued to score runs freely and they seemed to be running away with the game at 152/1. Harmison initiated the collapse by getting rid of Hayden and Clarke. This is when the World XI came back in with Flintoff and Muralitharan. Flintoff was terrific and continued to trouble the Aussies by dismissing Ponting, Watson & Warne. Muralitharan displayed his class and accounted for Katich and Gilchrist within a space of 4 deliveries. Even on a deteriorating wicket, Vettori proved ineffective which might raise a few more questions. The World XI got their bowling act together again and ended the Aussie second innings for 199.

Set to make 355 for a win, the World XI reply started badly by losing their skipper Smith to McGrath even before adding a run on the board in just the fitth ball of the innings. There was more bad news for the World XI before stumps as Sehwag snicked one to Gilchrist off MacGill, but not before carting Warne over mid wicket for a huge six. Dravid (17*) was looking good in his brief stay at the wicket and Lara was yet to open his account when play ended. The World XI would certainly need one special innings from any one of their batting stars as Flintoff rightly said its possible to chase the target, though it won't be easy. If Lara can break the jinx of his single digit scores in this trip, there would be something worth watching tomorrow.

Labels: super series 2005

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Super Test: World XI continue to be in shambles

The World XI showed no signs of improvement over their one-day form and were bundled out for a paltry 190, out of which 76 runs belonged to the man from Najafgarh. Other than Sehwag, only 3 men managed to get into double figures. Smith fell early trying to hook Lee but Sehwag was the usual one we see in first innings of several India Tests - belting the bowling at will and scoring at a strike rate of almost 90. The greatest disappointments were Dravid's duck and Lara's yet another single digit score for the World XI. Both of them were nailed by the master called McGrath. Warne got rid of Sehwag caught at forward short leg by Katich and the score was 134/4. From then on, the Aussie legspin duo weaved their magic and made their team bat again for 20 overs. MacGill ended up with 4 wickets and Warne picked up three.

Apart from the happenings later in the day, the first hour was a happy one for the World XI with Flintoff continuing to be a pain to the Aussies. He picked up 4 wickets for 59 runs as he helped his team dismiss Australia for just 345 after being 331/6 at close of play on day 1. He started the slide by trapping Gilchrist right on front with the second ball of the day for his overnight score of 94. The tail followed very soon and the World XI was suddenly looking a revived unit until their batters let them down again and made 155 runs less than what Australia managed in the first innings. Australia ended the day with 66 runs on the board in the second innings for the loss of Langer's wicket.

Inspite of the poor showing by his teammates, Sehwag sounded very optimistic after the day's play. Now, one does not wonder about the status of this Test - official or unofficial, but why was it scheduled for 6 days? Is this World team just not able to bring in the team factor?

Labels: super series 2005

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Super Test: Australia recover through Hayden and Gilchrist

Australia ended the first day of the Super Test at 331/6 and will definitely be the happier side. They were in some trouble when Murali and Vettori snapped up a couple of wickets to send them from the comforts of 150/2 to 163/4, a period of play in which Michael Clarke became the first batsman in test matches to be given out caught after an intervention by the third umpire.

Enter Adam Gilchrist, batting at #6 to accomodate Shane Watson and Stuart MacGill. He then played the kind of innings which went AWOL during the Ashes. When play ended prematurely, he was on 94(109) and Australia were looking at going past 400 to put pressure on the World XI who would bat last against Warne and MacGill. This game has two spinners on each side, surely a rareity for a test match in Australia.

Matthew Hayden, who escaped the chop which Martyn copped, made his second century in two tests, a far cry from his form till the Oval test match. His was a chancy knock, but he, and Australia, will take it over the rock solid 20s and 30s he has been making in the recent past.

Langer went very early, the third ball of the day's play in fact, bowled by Harmison. The World XI had an all-English opening attack as Shaun Pollock was left out to accomodate Inzamam (who might have thrashed Smith with the bat if he had been left out) and the two spinners. Flintoff and Harmison did trouble the batsmen, but with not much assistance from the wicket, runs did become progressively easier to get. The Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy winners may have both been all-rounders, but only one of them looked like getting wickets today.

Kallis, whose bowling has deteriorated to picking up six wickets in his last 9 tests, excluding achievements against Zimbabwe, fed Hayden and Ponting with a lot of hit-me deliveries and his first spell effectively ensured that the two Aussies began to enjoy their time out in the middle, putting on 73 at over 3 runs an over.

After Ponting was out in the 40s, Clarke and Hayden speeded up the runrate with Hayden especially severe on Vettori and to a lesser extent on Murali. He swept repeatedly and went past his half-century. A while later, Clarke was out, having got a start and Katich followed soon, run out following a collision with Murali. Gilchrist and Hayden then belted the bowling around the ground with Gilchrist predictably outscoring Hayden, even though Hayden had gone past his century. The fifty partnership came up in just 10 overs and just when they looked for a lot more, having added a further 47 in 8 overs, Hayden was dismissed by Murali, attempting to cut.

Watson can certainly bat, and he gave Gilchrist very good company, as the two put on 63 runs in fairly quick time. Watson though failed to read Murali towards the end of the day's play and shortly after he was dismissed lbw, the umpires offered the light to the batsmen, who accepted it, much to the relief of the World side.

Labels: super series 2005

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Kumble's baffling omission

The lineup of spinners potentially participating in the Super Test which starts tomorrow reads (in alphabetical order of second name) Stuart MacGill, Muttiah Muralitharan, Daniel Vettori and Shane Warne. It is a glittering lineup. But it is by no means the best available spinning talent. I cannot understand how Kumble, Harbhajan and Kaneria were left out. If we use performances in the same period used for the ICC awards, i.e. between August 1 2004 and July 31 2005, then this is what we get.

Danish Kaneria had 60 wickets in ten tests and his breakup was 15 wickets @ 37 v Australia, 19 wickets @ 32 v India, 15 wickets @ 24 v Sri Lanka and 11 wickets @ 34 v West Indies.

Anil Kumble had 64 wickets in 11 tests and his breakup was 27 wickets @ 25 v Australia, 10 wickets @ 14 v Bangladesh, 17 wickets @ 38 v Pakistan and 10 wickets @ 34 v South Africa.

Harbhajan Singh had 48 wickets in 9 tests and his breakup was 21 wickets @ 24 v Australia, 4 wickets @ 41 v Bangladesh (hiak! hiak!), 10 wickets @ 33 v Pakistan and 13 wickets @ 24 v South Africa.

The incumbents' statistics were:

Muttiah Muralitharan had 22 wickets in 3 tests and his breakup was 5 wickets @ 33 v South Africa and 17 wickets @ 10 v West Indies.

Daniel Vettori had 38 wickets in 7 tests and his breakup was 18 wickets @ 41 v Australia and 20 wickets @ 11 against Bangladesh.

The World side is playing against Australia. Even on the basis of their overall past records against Australia, it is tough to justify the selections. Admittedly it is tough to drop Murali, in spite of his not having played much in the last year. On the basis of performances against Australia in the last year, Kumble and Harbhajan definitely deserved a spot, perhaps Kumble more so than Harbhajan considering his performances during India's tour of Australia in 2003/04. Kaneria has improved by leaps and bounds and his performance in Australia was wonderful, but he lacked bowling support.

Purely based on the numbers, it does seem to me that one of those selections is wrong. I love that chap's bowling, and my wife is a huge fan of his looks, but I would certainly not have picked the bespectacled one.

Labels: kumble, macgill, super series 2005

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Quote of the day: Graeme Smith

Graeme Smith, whose credentials of being the World side's captain in the Super Test have been questioned, has sought to motivate his teammates who were thrashed in the one-dayers by revealing to them the uncomfortable and undeniable truth that in an era of fast increasing fuel prices, air tickets are costly.

In the pre-game press conference he revealed his mantra:

I said to the guys I haven't come all this way to play one Test and lose.

If I were one of his teammates who had been part of the one-day leg, I'd have piped up and said

Skip, it is your problem that you weren't picked for the one-dayers. You weren't good enough! We came here to play three one-dayers and one test and lose them all!

Labels: super series 2005

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Australia completes yellowwash

There was very little to write home about for the ICC World XI as they lost the 3rd ODI also, this time by a huge margin of 156 runs. It was a great disappointment for a team studded with stars motley crew to lose all the three matches. That the closest game in the series was won by 55 runs is an indicator of how one-sided the contests were.

The World XI clearly looked out of sorts and out of form and would probably have lost a one-day game to an Indian one-day side. Every batsman looked out of place and was not sure about his game. The Super Series really did not live up to its name and lets all hope that things turn around atleast in the 6-day Test starting this Friday.

In 28th over, the World XI looked like getting back into the game as they had Australia at 148 for 5 at that point of time after Ponting's half-century, Hussey(75) and Watson(66) got together and showed and lot of sense and urgency whenever required and took their team to a very respectable and defendable total of 293 without losing any further wickets. With the way they batted, it should have settled all talk of Australia becoming beatable etc. Remarks about ageing players, retirements of key players, sub-standard captaincy, poor recent fielding efforts etc. all went out of the window as Australia showed why they were truly a world-class team, as opposed to a collection of world-class individuals, as they came up with their trump cards and defeated the opposition.

In reply, the World XI never looked like being in the hunt as they were bowled out for 137 runs in the 28th over. Mr. Extras was the second top scorer with 24 and that tells you the sorry story. Lee broke the back of the World XI by accounting for Gayle, Kallis, Lara and Dravid. Surely that kind of lineup counts as more than 4 wickets! Watson then cleaned up the rest and also contributed with breathtakingly running out Sehwag. He was the obvious choice for Man of the Match.

I was one of those who was not happy with the ICC as they made these matches to be official ones. But, now I am convinced that by not making these games official, the competitive spirit would have certainly decreased and Australia's tenacity might have gone down and probably would have let the World XI get a consolation win.

Labels: super series 2005

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World XI falls prey yet again

Australia seemed to be back to their usual self after the ashes loss with yet another thumping win over the ICC World XI. Australia was helped by winning the toss again and was even more helped with Gilchrist getting his blitzkrieg form back as he went berserk over the best bowlers in the world and notched up his 12th ODI hundred(8x4, 4x6), his first against the World XI. He was ably supported by his Katich (47) initially. Ponting and Martyn too seemed to get their touch back with exciting half-centuries to their names. Symonds hit some lusty blows at the end which made Australia and with 328 for 4. The bowling hero for World XI in their first match, Vettori went wicketless this time and Muralitharan ended up with 1 for 43 from his 10 overs and the pacers were treated almost like Zimbabwean bowlers by the World Champions.

Gayle, who replaced Afridi in the team, and Sehwag started positively, with Sehwag Falling to Lee for 21. The best period of play for the World XI came soon after that with Gayle and Sangakkara (half-centuries in both games) belting the bowlers all round with 17 fours and 2 sixes between them. The middle order failed to deliver for the World XI yet again, though not as bad as their first outing two days back, still not good enough for the names they carry. Flintoff alone helped himself to 42 runs in another lost cause as the World XI folded up for 273 in just 45.3 overs.

Australia won today by 55 runs and took the series 2-0 with one more match to go on Sunday.

Inspite of losing the series, the World XI skipper felt that the Super series was a success with the World Champions getting a chance to prove against the best in the world. Wait, Mr. Shaun - is your bunch playing like the best in the business ?

Labels: super series 2005

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Australia draw first blood

Australia seemed to forget the Ashes wounds and inflicted quite a heavy defeat on the ICC World XI in the first one-dayer of the Super Series at Melbourne today. Gilchrist started briskly after Pollock called wrongly at the toss and Australia seemed to go along well with Katich playing a very scratchy innings initially, but later finished as the top-scorer for Australia. After Gilchrist was castled by Kallis, Ponting seemed to be in a hurry with a flurry of strokes and fell to Pollock soon. At this point, Australia were cruising at almost 6 rpo. Muralitharan then settled into his rhythm and accounted for Martyn (0) and Katich soon. But quite easily, the pick of the bowler was Vettori who bowled with guile and accuracy and ended up with 4/33 off his 10 over quota. Symonds and Hussey managed to get into the 30s while Clarke and Watson failed to reach double-digits. With some proper slogging by Lee towards the end, Australia ended up with 255/8, which finally proved to be very good as they won by 93 runs.

The ICC World XI started their innings very slowly with McGrath demonstrating yet another time his excellent line and length and keeping the batsmen tight. Sehwag was looking his own self and fell to the master soon. Kallis who came in at #3 lasted for quite some time, but couldn't get the runs flowing, also fell to McGrath - finished with 2/13 from 7 overs. Bracken then struck the big blow by getting rid of Lara for a duck - Symonds caught him at cover. The ever-reliable Dravid and the new sensation Pietersen also fell in quick succession, courtesy Lee and Watson respectively. While all these were going on, the wicket-keeper bastman from the emerald isle was playing some bold shots and notched up a half-century to his name before falling to Watson. Afridi (the super sub) and Pollock, who came in to accompany Flintoff, too fell cheaply. Flintoff and Akhtar played a few big shots towards the end, obviously in lost cause as they were all out for 162 in 41.3 overs. Watson ended up with the Man of the match award for his 3/43 from 10 overs in addition to his direct hit to get rid of Pollock.

Though the numbers pointed to the ICC World XI, the Australians showed character and won comfortably living up to the favourites tag.

Labels: super series 2005

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Super Series update

Australia and injury withdrawals have become very synonymous these days, starting from McGrath at Edgbaston. Shaun Tait and Brad Hogg have pulled out of the Super Series with right-shoulder and left-knee problems respectively. Stuart Clark and Cameron White have been announced as replacements.

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After spending a few days with the ICC World XI players, Lara now feels that the Aussies are vulnerable after their Ashes loss which contrary to his earlier views. Pollock, captain of the one-day side, too felt confident and was not worried abt the gelling factor of his team as they were all a bunch of professionals.

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With one of the brothers fighting it out with the Indian captain, the other brother has now made it clear that he does not agree with the choice of the captain of the World Test side. Would he, although not being the coach, ask Graeme Smith to step down from captaincy on the eve of the 6-day Test?

Labels: super series 2005

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The mind games start

The Super Series mind games seems to have started as soon as the ICC World XI players landed in Australia. Pollock reminded Aussies of their wounds by saying that he would use England's tactics to keep Australia on the defensive. He went ahead and named Flintoff the key player. I wonder how Robert Key would feel about that!

Lara then jumped in and suggested that Australia's loss in England was was a minor blip and that they would be back on top of their game very soon. Dravid, who is not known for his mind games, made it clear that he didn't think England were the #1 side yet.

In the meanwhile, the ICC World XI, though playing without Flintoff, Vettori and proper helmets, defeated Victoria by a slim margin in their practice match at Melbourne.

Labels: super series 2005

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No ICC World XI helmets?

See the snaps from the Victoria v ICC World XI practice match.

When the ICC can get sponsors queueing up to sponsor even abdomen guards, why can't the players get helmets as part of the apparel? Why was Shahid Afridi wearing a Sri Lankan helmet and Rahul Dravid wearing his Indian helmet and Shaun Pollock wearing his South African one.

I really hope the Super Test and one-day internationals will see all the players turn out in better head-gear, like Sehwag did today.

Labels: super series 2005

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Gayle, Inzamam and Dravid last minute inclusions

Following Tendulkar's and Gibbs' withdrawals from the ICC Super Series, their replacements have been named. Inzamam, Dravid and Gayle have been called up. Inzamam and Gayle replace Tendulkar and Gibbs respectively in the test side while Dravid replaces Tendulkar in the one-day side.

With Gayle being called up instead of Gibbs, this means viewers, spectators, World XI players and their Australian opponents will salivate at the prospect of seeing Sehwag and Gayle bat together. Even if Gayle dropped down the order, the most likely candidate to open with Sehwag would be Afridi. Just make sure you do not miss a ball of the action when these chaps are batting!

And no, Gibbs hasn't pulled out fearing the long arms of the law, yet again. This time it is an injury.

Meanwhile, the ICC has announced that the umpiring duties for the three one-dayers will be shared by Aleem Dar, Darrell Hair, Rudi Koertzen and Simon Taufel. Simon Taufel and Rudi Koertzen will be the on-field umpires for six days of the Super Test.

There is one problem with the appointment of Taufel and Koertzen for the test. Given that the games are official tests and one-dayers, the announcements violate Law 3.1.3 of the ICC's own playing conditions for test matches.

Law 3.1.3 states:

ICC will appoint two umpires to stand in each Test Match. Neither of such umpires shall be from the same country as the participating teams and shall be selected from the 'Elite Panel' or the 'International Panel'.

Correct me if I am wrong, but this effectively means that Taufel, who is from Australia, one of the participating teams, cannot umpire in the Super Test! But of course, who stops the ICC from moving its own goalposts.

Darrell Hair, although resident in England for a while now, continues to represent Australia on the umpiring panel. His appointment seems to have now created a situation where he could report Murali for chucking, again.

Labels: super series 2005

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The suspense ends as World team is announced

Three months after announcing the preliminary squad for the Super Series, the ICC's selectors announced that Graeme Smith and Shaun Pollock would captain the test and one-day sides against Australia in the whisky drinking competition.

The sides are:
Test: Graeme Smith (capt), Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid (vc), Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis, Andrew Flintoff, Shaun Pollock, Mark Boucher, Steve Harmison, Shoaib Akhtar, Muttiah Muralitharan, Daniel Vettori.
ODIs: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar (vc), Jacques Kallis, Brian Lara, Kevin Pietersen, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Flintoff, Shaun Pollock (capt), Kumar Sangakkara, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Makhaya Ntini, Muttiah Muralitharan, Daniel Vettori.

The lone test is at Sydney, and it will be played over six days! My gut feeling is that Kallis and Vettori will miss out, which means a bowling line-up of Harmison, Akhtar, Pollock and Murali with Flintoff doing the all-rounder duties. The batting lineup of Smith, Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar and Lara should be able to take care of itself. With Flintoff, Pollock and Boucher to follow, the batting will not be too much of a worry. Kallis is a far better batsman than bowler and I don't think he'd contribute much as a bowler against Australia. Flintoff's recent success will tilt the decision in his favour.

I am amazed that Kumble and Harbhajan have been left out. They have consistently had sub-20 bowling averages against Australia. Compare Kumble's 88 wickets @ 27.17, Harbhajan's 56 wickets @ 24.17, Murali's 50 wickets @ 31.42 and Vettori's 51 wickets @ 33.45. Over their careers, Kumble has taken just over six wickets per test against Australia, Harbhajan averages seven, Murali takes five and Vettori fails to even take four. While Murali, Kumble and Harbhajan have taken over 35 wickets in their last five tests against Australia. Vettori has taken half that number and he isn't even the most economical of the lot (Murali is). This stinks of tokenism to me! Unless of course the selectors felt that Australia are vulnerable to left-arm spin bowling. Hey, we know of another exponent of the art!

My guess is that there will be some rotation of players in the three one-dayers. So it would be tough to pin down the first XI.

As an aside, I wonder why the obviously successful marketing men in the ICC, given that they've roped in so many sponsors, have not been able to find sponsors for players' abdomen guards. I'd guess the only reason is because those aren't displayed on television. I eagerly await the next ICC code of conduct upgrade which requires players to wear their abdomen guards outside their pyjamas/flannels/trousers failing which they will be charged with a Level B (below the belt) offence.

Labels: super series 2005

Thus spake Jagadish @ 12:53 pm | Sledge/Read 5 sledge(s)
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PCB says no to Johnnie Walker logos for Super Series

Earlier this month, the ICC announced squads of 20 players to represent the World XI against Australia in the Super Series in October. In May, a bigger squad had been announced containing virtually everyone who could hold a bat or throw/bowl a ball.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has now decided to throw a spanner in the ICC's works. With well known whisky brand Johnnie Walker being the title sponsor, and given strict Islamic laws on alcohol, the PCB has made it clear that if any of its players is picked for the game, they will not not wear or display the sponsor's logos. Shoaib Akhtar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi and Abdur Razzaq are on the selectors' shortlist.

My guess is that the ICC will find this hard to resolve. They could take a way out and use some surrogate advertising by perhaps featuring "Johnnie Walker mineral water". Three years ago, the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka had a mini-crisis as the ICC ruled that the Indian team could not display the Sahara Group's brand/image/logo since an official sponsor, South African Airways, complained about Sahara's airlines business being in direct competition, ignoring the point that Sahara Airlines was a domestic airline. This was after the ICC allowed usage of 'Subrata' rather than 'Sahara' but South African Airways protested (too much!) over the colour scheme, which incidentally incorporated colours from the Indian flag. So if Sahara could not adopt a different name to sponsor its team, should Johnnie Walker be allowed to do so?

Labels: super series 2005

Thus spake Jagadish @ 10:56 am | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Inzamam wants to skipper World XI

Inzamam is very keen to skipper the World XI in the Super Series games against Australia. He obviously found himself in the test and one-day squads. He reckons that a good performance by his team in the West Indies will bolster his claims for the job.

Labels: super series 2005

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ICC World XI squads for Super Series to be announced on May 9

The ICC revealed today that two 30-player probable test and one-day squads to take on Australia in this year's whisky drinking competition will be announced on May 9. I suppose the selectors must be having a real hard time picking 30 decent players out of the remaining 9-10 test/one-day cricket playing countries for each form of the game. This is just a waste of time. Why cant they just go straightaway to a squad of 20 or 15?

Labels: super series 2005

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Who will make the XI?

BBC Sport lines up the candidates for the Rest of the World XI who will play in the Badruddin Qazi ICC Super Series. This is what they say about Kumble [well right now, they could fix this soon]

Anil Kumble (Ind)
India's slow left-armer was the world's leading wicket-taker in 2004 with 74 wickets from 12 Tests.

Imagine, if Kumble could get 74 wickets in just 12 tests bowling left arm spin, what he could do bowling right arm legspin!

Labels: super series 2005

Thus spake Jagadish @ 5:43 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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