India's cricket coach - what else?

If you're sick and tired of reading articles about who should replace John Wright, look away and move on to the next post.

Peter Roebuck gets his point across that the BCCI should not appoint a past player merely because of his past exploits, obviously alluding to Richards, Dean Jones, Steve Waugh and Greg Chappell.

He could spare us phrases like: Concentration and determination arrived with their mother's milk and have remained intact ever since.

Harsha Bhogle refers to Wright's comments on the selection process and wonders about how many selectors on the panel etc. but is also surprised that the BCCI is not really being pro-active on the issue. Harsha Bhai, apun ne bola na. Tension kaiko lene ka?

Meanwhile, Ajit Wadekar, India's coach through the early 90s when so many victories were achieved at home, is also apparently interested in the job!

Greg Chappell, possibly irritated by the lack of response from the BCCI, is looking south of India for a coaching job, now that John Dyson has quit.

Labels: bcci

Thus spake Jagadish @ 7:59 pm | Sledge/Read 1 sledge(s)
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A hundred centuries ... and counting

If its the English cricket season, it must be Graeme Hick bullying all the bowling attacks. Nearly four years after he last played a test, cricket followers are unable to understand why he did not quite measure up to international cricket.

Hick though has obviously put the past behind him (can you ever put it in front of you?) and he scored his 127th first-class century, which puts him ahead of WG Grace and into the top 10 of all-time.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 7:40 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Aussies' behaviour has improved: Ponting

Even as fellow Aussies leap to Warne's defence, Ricky Ponting has claimed that his side's behaviour has been excellent over the last year or so. I'm certain that the Australian team's behaviour has improved when he's been in charge. You dont really expect good behaviour when Steve Waugh is the skipper, do you? Sunil Gavaskar spoke about this when he delivered the Spirit of Cricket lecture a couple of years ago.

Evidently the likes of Darren Lehmann, Symonds, Gilchrist, Langer and McGrath don't play for Australia. All these players had charges of dissent or poor conduct etc. brought against them in 2003 and 2004. Some got away scot-free. Some got away lightly.

Labels: spirit of cricket

Thus spake Jagadish @ 7:01 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Pakistan's experiment with Twenty20 in jeopardy

Just a day after I wrote about Twenty20 in Pakistan, the tournament was thrown into a tizzy when it was revealed that Shoaib Malik deliberately ensured that his team, Sialkot Stallions, did not win against Karachi Zebras. The Stallions only required 20 to win with more than 3 overs in hand. Malik's go-slow was to ensure that Lahore Eagles did not go through to the next round. He was peeved about the fact that his side was, in his opinion, wrongly penalized runs for a slow over-rate in a game against Lahore Eagles. Effectively he threw away the game, although you could just as well use the word in the context of his bowling action.

The PCB has taken a dim view of what happened. But by declaring the match null & void, Karachi Zebras, who would have gone through had the match been awarded to them, were knocked out while Lahore Eagles progressed. Malik's strategy obviously failed. In a further twist, after run-rate calculations, had Sialkot won, they would have progressed to the next round!

There're a few quotes in those reports about Malik being looked at as a potential Pakistan captain. These miscalculations would have done his case no good.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 6:45 pm | Sledge/Read 2 sledge(s)
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Happy birthday to ... us!

Exactly a year ago, when we started off with this blog, it was just an experimental venture.

Jagadish:
I had been blogging for over a year. I did write on a fair amount of cricket there but I felt the need to have a channel exclusively for me to rant on cricket. Ganesh & I have a few common interests, the primary one among them being passionate for cricket.

We both admire the way Ganguly & Wright have turned the Indian team around with help from Tendulkar, Kumble and Dravid, in spite of the BCCI. We're both (who isn't?) in awe of the likes of Gilchrist and McGrath. We also share a contempt for the English cricket team and to some extent, for New Zealand cricket.

Of course we have our differences as well. While he thinks highly of Mahela Jayawardene and Damien Martyn, I do not. He has lost faith in VVS Laxman while I have not. He is exasperated with Brian Lara. I am in awe of him. He doesn't really believe that Bradman would have been as great as he turned out to be if he played in the modern era. I am unconvinced by his arguments, I feel Bradman would have averaged 70, not 99.94. While we both agree on the issue of chucking, he feels stronger than me that Murali chucks.

Ganesh:
Jagadish has said it all. I wasn't having a proper blog before this one, but my cricket passion can be seen in my first ever post in any blog. Still, in this partnership between Jagadish & me, its he who blogs most of the time - well, yes giving the cake to the better eater!

Its really been very nice to have a blog for a game which we love very much. We have also got unknown friends from various parts of the globe, thanks to this blog. Actually, in recent times, my job, though related to internet, has been taking all my time and I haven't had the time to update the blog as frequently as I'd have liked to. Jagadish keeps cribbing and rightly so. I hope I start to contribute more now that this blog is a year old.

One thing that has clearly changed between this day last year and today is that we both were just husbands then, but now, dads too.

---

Now when we go back and see our posts of a year ago, we get the feeling nothing much has changed.

Tendulkar is still being interviewed about his career, England is dreaming about the 'Ashes', the BCCI is still goofing up while the only thing which has changed from April 29, 2004 is the fact that Wright has confirmed that he's done with being the Indian cricket coach.

Labels: birthday

Thus spake Jagadish @ 3:00 pm | Sledge/Read 3 sledge(s)
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Dean Jones' take on Warne's sledging

This Warne-Adams sledging thingie refuses to die a natural death. Dean Jones, self-confessed Indophile, and a former captain of Derbyshire, especially when they narrowly defeated Australia in a 1997 tour game, feels that Warne obviously tried to get on Prior's nerves to see if he snapped.

Warne successfully did that to Mark Ramprakash during the 2001 Ashes.

Thus spake Jagadish @ 8:29 pm | Sledge/Read 1 sledge(s)
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That extra 1 or 5 percent improvement

Rohit Brijnath, who, in my opinion, writes superbly, does it yet again. This time its about whether India's cricketers constantly strive for improvement.

Obviously the entire team needs to, but this chap is eager to comeback into the one-day side after being left out repeatedly. VVS Laxman feels the need for flexibility in the game plan in one-dayers.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 8:05 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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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

Thus spake Jagadish @ 7:24 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Someone get that helmet out for me please

I am not sure there is a consensus on which cricketer introduced wearing helmets. Graham Yallop is widely credited with being the first to wear one in a test match. Other sources credit David Hookes with having worn a helmet. The helmet Hookes wore seems to be a replica of a motorcycle helmet.

Dennis Amiss talks about the helmet he wore during World Series Cricket. I have to make an awful pun here. Imagine, if he hadn't wore a helmet, something would have been amiss!
Thus spake Jagadish @ 4:37 pm | Sledge/Read 1 sledge(s)
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Steve Waugh will not coach India

In the wake of earlier reports suggesting that he was one of the contenders to replace John Wright as India's coach, Steve Waugh clarified today that at this point in time, he could not consider any such offer. However he did say that he was open to future temporary mentoring and advisory assignments, adding at the same time that he had huge respect for the Indian cricket team and the fanatic levels of passion for the game in India.

Mid-Day then looks at the remaining contenders and tries to evaluate who the best option is. With Whatmore no longer a candidate, at present, given his allegiance to Bangladesh and Dean Jones' non-existent coaching skills, it seems like a straight shootout yet again between Chappell and Moody.

I am undecided on who to support. The BCCI is happy to drag its feet on the issue until three days before the new season starts. Perhaps we should follow their methods too. Tension kaiko lene ka?

Labels: bcci

Thus spake Jagadish @ 4:23 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Pakistan's experiment with Twenty20

In a last-ditch attempt to revive domestic cricket, the Pakistan Cricket Board had launched a Twenty20 competition. Preliminary indications are that it is a resounding success. The question though is whether Twenty20 will rescue the domestic game there, just as it has in England?
Thus spake Jagadish @ 3:53 pm | Sledge/Read 1 sledge(s)
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Michael Clarke, England's chances and an abbreviated Ashes tour

Andrew Miller is a little skeptical about England's chances as the day of reckoning draws nearer. Michael Clarke, on the other hand, is terribly excited about his first Ashes series. Peter English though thinks about the years gone by when Ashes tours lasted six months.
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Warne hits back at Chris Adams over sledging claims

Shane Warne, accused by Chris Adams of sledging away to glory during a county game between Hampshire and Sussex, has responded to the allegations by claiming that Matt Prior chested Simon Katich.

It is worth mentioning that Warne and Ronnie Irani were involved in a row last year.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 8:21 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Too much of India-Pakistan cricket is also perhaps a bad thing

India and Pakistan have played very frequently in tests and one-dayers ever since the two countries decided to re-establish cricket relations.

The PCB, and not the BCCI, is concerned that this could amount to killing the geese which laid the golden eggs since spectators, audiences and cricket followers would become sick and tired of watching these two teams in action.

Read my comments at the Corridor of Uncertainty when reports first came out about the possibility of the two countries playing test (and ODI obviously!) series on an annual basis.

Labels: burnout, fatigue

Thus spake Jagadish @ 7:15 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Sachin Tendulkar happy about quality of Indian domestic cricket, unhappy about facilities and travel

Sachin Tendulkar, who turned 32 a few days back, was in Delhi to play in a benefit match for former Indian player Gursharan Singh.

Some Indian cricket followers may be aware of Gursharan Singh being a fine fielder. He played one test and one one-dayer, both in New Zealand, as part of Raj Singh Dungarpur's "Team of the 90s", led by Azharuddin. I dont think its fair to blame Dungarpur for that. After all, he probably meant "Team of 1990" and was most certainly misquoted, given that quite a few of the newcomers who played on that tour didn't last beyond 1990. Atul Wassan, Gursharan Singh, M Venkatramana (who shares a birthday with Tendulkar), VB Chandrasekhar, etc. That match in with Gursharan Singh debuted is more famous for Ian Smith's blitzkrieg century. Smith came in with the score reading 85/6. When he was out, New Zealand had made a match-winning total of 391.

Ok enough of digressing from what Tendulkar actually spoke about after the benefit match. He talked about the changes to his batting, his role in the team, injuries, changes to domestic cricket, etc. What he spoke about is more or less identical to what he said six months ago.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 11:40 am | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Ian Botham's visit to Sri Lanka, Tendulkar & Lara to captain at Lord's

Ian Botham was in Sri Lanka recently to do his bit for victims of the tsunami. Andrew Longmore finds out, for The Times, what Beefy was upto there.

Meanwhile the MCC announced that Tendulkar and Lara would skipper the MCC XI and International XI respectively in the tsunami relief game at Lord's.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 8:17 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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ICC considering ignoring Kookaburra for Super Series

The ICC is reportedly wondering about procuring cricket balls for the Super Series from suppliers other than Kookaburra, who manufacture Australian captain Ricky Ponting's bat, which has been the matter of debate for the last few days.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 8:12 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Inzamam appointed captain for another year

The unthinkable has happened in Pakistani cricket. An incumbent captain has had his term extended by a year!

Kamran Abbasi doesnt seem too impressed with the way Inzi handled the presentation ceremony at Delhi and is all praise for the way Dravid thanked Pakistan for a wonderful series.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 8:08 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Shane Warne angers Chris Adams with sledging

Chris Adams, who is unlikely to have been sledged too much at international level, simply because he has hardly played any test or one-day cricket, has accused Shane Warne of repeatedly sledging his players, especially Matt Prior, who is among the half-dozen wicket-keeper batsmen hoping to wrest the big gloves from the incumbent.

The crass class of the man and his headline making skills continue to baffle and enthrall me.

The Corridor of Uncertainty is all for more sledging in county cricket, obviously anticipating that if English cricketers were sledged often enough and really badly enough, they would actually become good enough to win the Ashes.

Big fella Merv Hughes, on the other hand, is quite convinced that English players either lack talent or mental strength.

Tim de Lisle is completely in awe of Australia's bowling riches.

I am convinced there're some deeper problems in English domestic cricket when there is an open admission of ball tampering in the game, by someone who represented the cricketers' association!
Thus spake Jagadish @ 7:33 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Lara returns to rankings apogee while West Indies becomes an apology

Even as Brian Lara reclaimed his #1 spot in the official LG Test cricket rankings, West Indies were thrashed by an innings and plenty at Barbados. This means that South Africa have won the four test series with one more test remaining, at Antigua. South Africa came into this test 1-0 ahead after 2 tests.

Chanderpaul won the toss yet again and opted to bat. The top order failed once again and it was left to Lara and Chanderpaul to re-enact what happened in the second test. The two added nearly 150 runs before Chanderpaul was out for 53. Meanwhile, Lara showed that he was in some amazing form, belting just about every bowler all around the ground. Only Andre Nel kept him quiet, relatively speaking. Lara was out for a superb 176 just before the close of play and West Indies lost Bravo shortly thereafter. The next morning, the tail folded hopelessly and West Indies were all out for 296, when they should really have scored well over 350 given the way Lara was batting. Nel ended up with 4/56 while Zondeki had 4/50.

South Africa then took their own sweet time to bat West Indies out of the game. Smith and de Villiers had a huge opening stand and West Indies were effectively gasping from then onwards. Smith was out for 103 while de Villiers went on to make 176. Dippenaar and Kallis rubbed it in with scores in the 70s. South Africa's tail fared marginally better than West Indies' and Smith declared with a lead of 252. Gayle took 3 wickets to rattle the middle-order while Powell's 3 wickets were all tail-enders.

Andre Nel then stepped up for South Africa, once again ripping through the top order. West Indies lost 3 wickets with the score on 17 and in spite of Lara and Chanderpaul trying to rescue things, they were bowled out for 166. Nel took 6/32 and that gives you an idea of how crappy the batting was.

West Indies have been criticized by several ex-cricketers and their media and rightly so. Their batting has failed miserably, especially the top order. Lara and Chanderpaul have propped them up so often. Of course, the other way to look at this is that West Indies drew the game where Lara, Gayle and Sarwan did not play. So perhaps it was a mistake bringing them back!
Thus spake Jagadish @ 6:05 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Dean Jones and Steve Waugh also in the running to replace John Wright

Given that there is hardly any cricket being played, with a few exceptions, it is but natural that most of the action is off the field. So a few days after Wright talks about how it was to coach India, there're a couple of Aussie hats which have been thrown in the ring. Steve Waugh and Dean Jones are the newest entrants to the "I want to coach India" club.

While Steve Waugh has been linked up with Sri Lanka, having coached the ICC XI against the Asian XI at Melbourne, Dean Jones is a total newcomer. That is not a problem, Deano said, even as he proudly displayed all his disembarkation cards and multiple entry visas stamped at Mumbai and Chennai to indicate how much in love he is with India.

The BCCI is very much at peace with itself. It reckons that with India's next international assignment more than four months away, it can afford to take its own sweet time. Bishen Singh Bedi is fuming, and rightly so. The board continues with its slog overs mentality.

Labels: bcci

Thus spake Jagadish @ 3:03 pm | Sledge/Read 1 sledge(s)
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Ganguly gets support from Ranatunga

Indian skipper (or is there a "former" missing there?) Sourav Ganguly has got support from someone whose style of captaincy and functioning has obviously rubbed off on him, Ranatunga, who declares him the world's best captain.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 7:55 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Is Matthew Hayden on a downhill slope?

Scyld Berry wonders the effect the forthcoming series will have on Hayden's career, given that he averages a shockingly low 32 in his last 10 tests. If he was an Indian captain, there'd be clarion calls for him to quit or be sacked. Of course, the Aussie selectors back him to the hilt.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 7:40 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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More about coaches and more from coaches: Fletcher, Wright, Whatmore, Viv Richards, Woolmer etc.

Ian Chappell, whose dislike for coaches is well known, would choke on his breakfast if he read the number of articles written about cricket coaches right now.

John Wright talks to the Asian Age about why he does not like the selection process in Indian cricket.

Harsha Bhogle says good-bye to Wright.

West Indian great Viv Richards praises Tendulkar and made a lot of Indian cricket followers happy but then set the alarm bells ringing when he expressed interest in being India's coach. I hope the BCCI didn't even bother about this. I really hope we're past the days of "I played good enough cricket, so I would make a great coach". Perhaps Viv was saying it so that he'd not miss Masaba and Neena.

Duncan Fletcher has been contacted by the ECB to ensure that he stays with England, amidst rumours that he was planning to quit after the Ashes. Meanwhile, the man in question is busy identifying spinners and all-rounders in English domestic cricket. What're the chances none of the people he'll find have English passports?

Aamer Sohail has launched a broadside at Bob Woolmer for comments he made to an Indian newspaper claiming that Shoaib Akhtar was no longer an integral part of the Pakistani team.

Dav Whatmore, who signed on the dotted line last week, is totally thrilled about taking on England. Perhaps he reckons his boys can soften up England in time for Australia to do their thing.

Labels: bcci

Thus spake Jagadish @ 7:10 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Galle stadium to be reconstructed

Despite reports of a couple of months ago indicating that Galle's cricket stadium, ravaged by the tsunami which hit the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004, would not be rebuilt, there is now confirmation from Sri Lanka that there has been a go-ahead from the cricket board to reconstruct the stadium.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 11:04 am | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Whatmore sticks to coaching Bangladesh

In spite of recent reports suggesting he was in the running to be India's new coach, Dav Whatmore has signed on the dotted line with Bangladesh for a two year term. Apparently even though Whatmore was very keen on the opportunity to coach India, the money offered to him was a significant factor in him sticking with Bangladesh.

Oddly enough, coaching is not the only thing he will be doing when Bangladesh tour England this summer. He will also be doing commentary work for Test Match Special.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 6:43 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Ponting's bat gets him into trouble

Cricket bats have been one of the aspects of the game which have been experimented with quite a lot. Without going too far back into history, there was Dennis Lillee with his aluminium bat at the WACA during the 1978/79 Ashes. Nothing much happened after that but 2-3 years ago, a new type of bat, the Woodworm, was introduced. The shape was very different from standard bats and now quite a few players use this bat.

Last month, there was a report on more help for the Australian team, this time from an Aussie university which aimed to make a better bat.

The latest instance of a bat making waves is that of Ricky Ponting's bat not meeting the MCC's standards since the graphite on the back of the bat apparently gave Ponting an unfair advantage since shots became that much better and powerful. Jon Pirek is convinced that this is just a paranoid English response to the fact that they're going to be whipped again.

Something tells me paranoia has struck Jon as well. "Oh no, those effing Poms are after us. Next thing they'll say is that Lee is not allowed to bowl at 160 kmph since that gives him an unfair advantage. These bloody Poms have no other job. They're shite scared of losing. Who else is going to be hauled up by the MCC?"

BBC Sport's report on this issue indicates that there're other cricketers who could experiment with graphite enhanced bats as well. In a sense, I think this is a case of cricket evolving. Tennis evolved from using wooden racquets to steel/aluminium to graphite & now composite/carbon fiber racquets. Cricket also possibly needs to evolve, at least to ensure that trees aren't cut down to facilitate a sport!
Thus spake Jagadish @ 5:51 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Time to revamp India's batting order in one-dayers?

Last week, I wrote briefly about why I thought Dhoni was batting at the wrong position. As the series progressed, it struck me that the Indian batting order was quite imbalanced. Woolmer's views on Tendulkar and Sehwag trying to outscore each other made me wonder about an alternate batting order, possibly more balanced than the current one.

Assuming Ganguly is playing, the order currently reads: Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dhoni, Ganguly, Dravid, Yuvraj & Kaif. Dhoni only came in at #3 in the second game, but since the team has continued with him there, I assume that he would bat at that position in the future as well. However, the top three are players with the ability to really belt the ball. Make that top four when Ganguly is in form. Kaif and Dravid cannot slog while Yuvraj can. So, if by some chance India entered the 44th over or so with Dravid and Kaif at the crease, it'd be a bonus if they scored at 8-9 an over.

So I came up with two alternate batting orders. The first one reads Sehwag, Dhoni, Ganguly, Tendulkar, Dravid, Kaif & Yuvraj while the second one is Sehwag, Ganguly, Kaif, Tendulkar, Dravid, Yuvraj & Dhoni.

Essentially in the first scenario, Dhoni goes in to open while Tendulkar moves to #4 while Kaif and Yuvraj swap places. This order more or less guarantees an electric start, not that common nowadays with Tendulkar rarely providing the exhilaration he used to. I do not really see too much value in Tendulkar opening the innings. If he is not going to bat explosively, I'd rather have him bat in the middle order during the boring stages of the game where he can score lots of singles. Yuvraj and Kaif swap places simply because Kaif cannot score rapidly for nuts.

Some hunting around indicates that since he made his debut, there've only been 3 occasions when he has scored more than 25 runs at a strike rate well over 100, the famous NatWest Series final, against West Indies in 2002 and against Kenya in the ICC Champions Trophy last year. I'm going to exclude that last knock. So it has been nearly two and a half years since Kaif contributed any sort of a decent slog. Add in his inconsistency and obviously he is either batting at the wrong position or in the wrong team.

In the second option, Ganguly would open along with Sehwag. Ganguly's ability as a one-day opener is beyond debate. As far as I remember, he and Sehwag were doing a pretty decent job, especially during 2002. But Tendulkar "preferred" opening and that is what ended up happening. Ganguly has never really been secretive of his preference to open in one-dayers. Perhaps that is the break he needs to get his form back. Kaif would bat at #3 because his batting style is more suited to bat in the top order. If he hangs around till the 35th over or so, he would have squeezed in a lot of singles and twos, which would really impact the total. He has been successful batting higher up in the order, especially during the 2003 World Cup, in crucial situations against Pakistan and New Zealand.

The rest of the order pretty much falls into place, with Yuvraj and Dhoni responsible for the slog overs. It is perhaps an indicator of the kind of form Dravid and Sehwag are in that they're the only two who haven't been moved around from their normal batting slots.

In fact, I'd suggest that every 4-5 games, Yuvraj and Kaif must be made to bat at #3, #4 and #5 because these are obviously the key batting positions in the middle order. If these two, along with Sehwag, are to form the core of India's batting once Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid and Laxman quit, they must have the experience of batting in all sorts of situations. After all, it is but natural that they will occupy those batting slots 2-3 years from now.

Oh, and when it comes to the bowling, I think its time Kumble and Nehra were excluded from one-day sides. I've already written about Kumble earlier. We must never play Nehra in one-dayers. He may take wickets, but 4/73 in 10 overs looks really bad in comparison to 1/46 in 10. Despite his direct hits at Ahmedabad, he is a poor fielder. Agarkar is a much better alternative for one-dayers. He can bat and field better while his bowling is at worst as profligate as Nehra's.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 6:43 pm | Sledge/Read 2 sledge(s)
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Adieu from Pearson

With the Ashes just round the corner, it comes as a shock to the English team and supporters that their pace bowling spearhead has decided to call it a day from all cricket, including book cricket. Now, England will have to find a new spearhead for the fight against Australia.

Labels: book cricket, retire

Thus spake Ganesh @ 3:46 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Columns by Inzamam, Srinath, Woolmer, Ganguly and Greg Chappell

Inzamam feels that Pakistan's victory was primarily due to hard work & working as a team.

Srinath is concerned about the showing by India's quick bowlers and is aghast at the unprofessionalism wherein the coach has quit and nobody has a clue about who the captain is. Come on, Sri. You dont expect the BCCI to have a modicum of professionalism, do you?!

Bob Woolmer is all praise for Sehwag and talks in depth about his technique and his ability to dominate opponents. He does compare him to some pretty big names in the game. I think he is quite surprised about how Sehwag's performances in one-day cricket do not reflect his test cricket performances. Perhaps he's asked for it. We'll find out in Jan 2006.

Ganguly is in favour of having better wickets for one-day games in India, which would be useful to the Indian bowlers and batsmen since they will have to adapt accordingly.

Greg Chappell, whose hat is very much in the ring, not surprisingly says things similar to Ganguly, about not having a knee-jerk reaction, and instead feels that a period of rest would do the Indian team a lot of good. Not if the BCCI has its way, Greg!
Thus spake Jagadish @ 10:15 am | Sledge/Read 1 sledge(s)
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Ganguly - neither a deity nor a demon

Nirmal Shekar, contrary to his usual ways, puts forth valid points and almost deifies Sourav Ganguly by giving him all the credit, though he starts out saying he may not be deified, but shouldn't be demonised too.
Thus spake Ganesh @ 7:44 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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ECB reveals strategy for English cricket

The English Cricket Board has announced how it plans to strengthen English cricket through leadership, a vibrant domestic circuit, getting the participation & following of the youth and creating successful English teams. Something to be noted though is the fact that the goal of becoming the best test team was postponed to 2009, presumably since neither Warne nor McGrath would be bowling then. Mike Selvey compares the 2001 and 2005 vision documents. Christopher Martin-Jenkins notes that the plan was announced at a predominantly Asian school in Southall. Derek Pringle points out that the domestic game could suffer in spite of counties getting incentives if they produced national players.

Last year, the domestic calendar was given a working over.

The theme though, of "From playground to Test arena", is too similar to Cricket Australia's "Backyard to Baggy Green" strategic plan.

I know visionary statements need not be taken too seriously all the time. But why cant the BCCI have even half the transparency other boards have?

Labels: bcci

Thus spake Jagadish @ 5:12 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Woolmer criticizes Kotla pitch and praises his team

Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, writing on his website, is critical of the pitch at the New Delhi and is all praise for the likes of Afridi, Younis Khan, Inzamam, Shoaib Malik & Naved-ul-Hasan. He also has a few nice things to say about John Wright.

Labels: pitch

Thus spake Jagadish @ 1:49 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Cricket Australia announces contracted players list

After reaching an agreement with the players, Cricket Australia announced the list of players who have been awarded contracts for the next 12 months. Prominent among those who have not been offered a contract are Darren Lehmann, Ian Harvey and Matthew Elliott. The new faces are Daniel Cullen and Michael Lewis.

It does seem very obvious that the selectors had the 2007 World Cup in mind while deciding the contracts list. There're quite a few players aged under 25 in that list. But the inclusion of 30 year old Michael Lewis is beyond my understanding. He'd be 32-33 in a couple of years' time when McGrath and Kasprowicz leave the scene. Shaun Tait would be the natural permanent inclusion in the fast bowling roster when that happens. I dont really see a career for Lewis, given that he is not a spring chicken.

Labels: contracts

Thus spake Jagadish @ 12:44 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Gough lets it rip at Thommo

A few days after Jeff Thomson dismissed England's chances, Darren Gough has stood up for his team and questioned Thommo's intelligence.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 10:26 am | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Ganguly's appeal dismissed, ban upheld

The ICC Appeals Commissioner, Michael Beloff, upheld the ban imposed on Ganguly. He said that he did not see any reason in the arguments put forward by Ganguly's representatives to overturn Chris Broad's decision. However, it seems likely that Ganguly's team will appeal against the decision. To who, I dont know, since the ICC explicitly says that there is no appeal procedure against Beloff's decision. Perhaps a judicial appeal?

The only respite for Ganguly is that the two one-dayers he missed at Kanpur and Delhi will count as being part of the six matches. I think the BCCI would do well to urgently invite Bangladesh or Zimbabwe (or perhaps both) for a series (or triangular tournament) sometime in June or July, before touring Sri Lanka for the triangular series, and ensure that Ganguly is available to play the first important match which crops up during the season.

Tanya Aldred compares the personalities of Chris Broad and David Shepherd. They've both been in the news for totally different reasons.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 8:17 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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South Africa and Sri Lanka looking for new coaches

It is very likely an Aussie, possibly even Steve Waugh, as the Sri Lankan board looks at the contenders to take over John Dyson's job.

Meanwhile, The Guardian reveals that Rod Marsh is favoured to replace Ray Jennings as South Africa's coach.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 8:12 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Australian board and cricketers reach agreement

Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association have agreed on a 25% share for the national team. It appeared last month that the two sides were on different planets but obviously they've now come together to work out a solution.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 8:08 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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John Wright quits in disgust

John Wright's tenure as India's coach ended yesterday in defeat. Amidst all the questions about who his successor will be, lets spare a thought on what he and the Indian team achieved. In an interview, he talks about his coaching stint and what changes need to be made to make Indian cricket better.

Amit Varma, on what moved him at Wright's press conference. BBC Sport and AFP on what he did Wright. Sorry about that awful pun, just got carried away by so many such headlines. A statistical look at Wright's tenure as coach. Ajit Wadekar, on saluting Wright and whether Wright should have gone public with his decision so early. Anand Vasu, on how a coach's contribution can be measured.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 8:00 pm | Sledge/Read 1 sledge(s)
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Pakistan win series 4-2 at Delhi

It was quite predictable that India would fold up pathetically, giving Pakistan a 4-2 series win. This comeback victory will most certainly be the stuff of legend, given that the hosts were 2-0 up.

Without describing too much of the gory details, very briefly this is what happened. Ashish Nehra fed Afridi some real hit-me balls to get Pakistan away to a great start. Zaheer was bowling quite well at the other end. Shoaib Malik is becoming as much of a pain in the arse for India as Javed Miandad used to be. In fact, yesterday's game was played almost 19 years to the day Miandad hit that sixer. His batting is almost anonymous when Afridi is around and by the time Afridi was out, Malik was well settled in, boriya bistar samet. Youhana came in at #4 and these two ran superbly between the wickets and Pakistan's runrate never really went too much below 5.5 at any stage. In fact it slowed down noticeably after Afridi got out, slipping from the giddy heights of 8 an over to just over 6 an over when Youhana got out, thanks to a hopeless decision by the third umpire.

Pakistan continued to have wonderful partnerships, with Malik teaming up with Inzamam for around 40 runs. He was out for 72, bowled off his pads by Agarkar, who was playing his first game of the series. Inzamam and Younis Khan then continued the fun, with the runrate gradually increasing and Pakistan had reached 250 in the 45th over. A flurry of wickets fell towards the end as Agarkar had Inzamam caught behind off an edge that was non-existent while Nehra took two wickets in two balls to make his analysis look a lot better than he actually deserved. Pakistan ended up with 303, a total which was very likely to be beyond India's reach on a wicket being played on for the first time, in a must-win situation.

India's reply lasted all of six overs. Sehwag and Tendulkar started off cautiously, possibly with the intent of hanging around together till the seamers were off. They were out in quick succession, Sehwag in the 6th over caught by Afridi at slip who must have mistaken the batsman to have been coach Woolmer giving catching practice at nets. Tendulkar was out soon thereafter as the Pakistani seamers bowled superbly, barely erring in line and length. Dravid and Dhoni took ages to score their runs and Youhana's direct hit put Dravid out of his misery. Yuvraj followed a few runs later thanks to another Youhana special.

Pakistan's fielding has not been spectacular this series. India have also almost fielded as well. But Pakistan's close-in fielders have pulled off several crucial direct hits this series while India have faltered big-time, especially yesterday when Afridi took several quick singles and not a single throw hit the stumps. Dhoni, Kaif and Mongia followed their more established teammates in the span of one run and two overs. A section of the crowd showed its class as it threw bottles on the field, provoking a brief stoppage of play. They certainly got what they deserved as the last four batsmen put on 50 runs, just delaying the prize distribution ceremony. Shoaib Malik was the man of the match while Naved-ul-Hasan Rana was the man of the series. I'm fairly sure Inzamam and Afridi would have run him close. My choice would have been Afridi, because his blitzes ensured that Pakistan won three out of the last four games. Yes, Rana was consistent and he got his wickets on absolutely placid wickets. He also did take Sehwag's and Tendulkar's wickets a few times. But if it was anyone who turned the series around, it was Afridi.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 11:40 am | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Homesick Harmison on touring, the Ashes etc.

What is common to Lawrence Rowe and Stephen Harmison? Nothing much, except they share an allergy to things cricketers really should never be allergic to: grass, in Rowe's case and touring, in Harmison's case. He also talks about, what else(?), the Ashes!
Thus spake Jagadish @ 11:19 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Afridi blasts rapidfire century as Pakistan take the lead at Kanpur

The one-day series has more or less mirrored the way the test series progressed. India held the upper hand on all but one day at Mohali and won convincingly at Calcutta only for Pakistan to hand out a thrashing at Bangalore. In the one-dayers, India won easily at Kochi and Vishakapatnam. Pakistan then turned the series around with an easy win at Jamshedpur and held their nerve at Ahmedabad. India's woes had already multiplied manifold with Ganguly's ban, his appeal, the appointment of the appeal commissioner and the needless confusion over whether he would play.

Despite all what the Indian team management would have liked us to believe, the momentum was well and truly with Pakistan. Today they cashed in on an inept performance by India's top order and some hopeless bowling to post another convincing win, this time at Kanpur, to go 3-2 up in the series with the last one-dayer to be played at New Delhi, hopefully.

Pakistan's heroes were a couple of blokes who've harassed India repeatedly in this series, Naved-ul-Hassan and Shahid Afridi. India were reduced to 26/3 by the 7th over thanks to some superb bowling by Rana and stupid batting by Tendulkar, Sehwag and Dhoni. Yuvraj then came in and crashed four boundaries to suggest that he'd help pull some of those chestnuts out of the fire but besides that, he did little and was cleaned up by a Razzaq delivery which kept a little low. At 59/4 and the game just over an hour old, it was left to Dravid and Kaif to do something about the derailed train. For the next 25 overs, they eliminated the risky shots and added nearly 140 runs, with a lot of singles and boundaries every now and then, especially off the part-time bowlers.

The total reached 100 in the 28th over and 150 nine overs later. Kaif got to his half-century first and was followed by Dravid in the same over. The runs started to flow a little more easily with both batsmen sweeping very well against the spinners. The run-rate had reached 4.5 when Kaif pulled a short one from Razzaq straight to mid-wicket. He was out for 78, made in just 88 deliveries. In came Dinesh Mongia, making a one-day appearance after India's ignominious loss to Bangladesh last year. He batted superbly, scoring at a rapid pace with the help of two sixes to ensure that there was some sort of run-rate acceleration during the slog overs. The 200 came up in the 44th over but India only managed to capitalize on two poor overs, the 46th (Arshad Khan) and 48th (Iftikhar Rao) yielding 15 and 12 runs respectively. Dravid was run out in the last over for a superb 86, taking up 115 deliveries. India had managed to reach 249, which would have been around 49 more than they would have settled for when the score was 59/4.

I have no idea why Dhoni is sent in at #3 every game. I'd have thought that having someone like him, who can belt the ball, gives the team a surprise weapon, whereby they could promote him to #3 or #4 in the odd match or two when a flying start is required. If he comes in at #3 every game, there's absolutely no surprise element in it, even if he does turn up without his dreadlocks. I'd like to believe that had the batting order been a little more flexible, Dhoni could have come in around the 45th over and done a better job along with Mongia compared to what Dravid did, because clearly Dravid has never been a slogger, despite his antics less than two years ago. Moreover, the kind of conditions these games are being played in, Dravid would have obviously been tired in addition to being aware of the need to go through various arithmetic tables during the lunch break which would have told him the maximum number of minutes each of Zaheer, Balaji, Harbhajan and Kumble could take to go through the motions, err ... overs.

Pakistan's reply was in abeyance for all of thirteen balls. For the next twelve overs, it bordered on what Manjrekar wrote in a column in a previous edition of Wisden Asia Cricket, badtameez. Salman Butt was almost a non-entity, as much as Kaluwitharana had been around nine years ago, as Afridi took control from the third over onwards. It was maniacal, impudent and extremely thrilling to watch as he first took apart Balaji with a sequence of 6 2lb 4 6 4. Salman Butt, clearly overawed, batted out a maiden over. Enter Anil Kumble, recalled after a while, to replace Balaji. Exit Anil Kumble, after conceding 23 runs, including three sixes. The game was over at this point with the rest of the proceedings primarily to focus on if Afridi would beat his own record to reach a century. He got to his fifty off 20 deliveries, even as he turned his attention to Zaheer, who had thus far bowled his 3 overs for only 5 runs and belted him for a few fours and sixes as well, just to ensure that he abided by the Indian Constitution's promise of equality for all.

Dinesh Mongia came in to bowl the 11th over, and Harbhajan had not bowled yet, and after accepting the same treatment (6 4 6), he had Afridi caught at short fineleg by Yuvraj, only to see the umpire declare that it was a no-ball. The umpire might as well have said it was a "no-contest" and stopped the proceedings. Pakistan reached 100 in that over. In spite of the treatment he got from Afridi, including being swatted to bring up 200 sixers in one-dayers, Zaheer was the best bowler once again conceding 35 runs in 7 overs, including 28 from three overs. Harbhajan's introduction finally got Afridi out bowled, but he had reached his century off just 45 balls. A few million Indian fans sighed in relief. Salman Butt, clearly overawed by his opening partner's exploits, promptly got out in the next over and now the optimists started wondering about a spectacular collapse. Youhana and Shoaib Malik just kept the scoreboard moving, playing some totally boring cricket. Their partnership of 58 came in nearly 16 overs, Afridi would have made those runs in six overs. Youhana was out to a breathtaking diving catch by Kaif, running back from his position at cover. Inzamam came in and hit a few boundaries early on to show 'em who the boss was. Tendulkar, brought on to bowl quite late in the game, struck almost immediately when he had Shoaib Malik caught by Zaheer at mid-off. Younis Khan then speeded up the proceedings with a flurry of boundaries and was out bowled, to Sehwag. A game that should really have been done and dusted with in 35 overs was finally over in the 43rd over. I suppose that means India can claim a moral victory.

The man(iac) of the match award was obviously Afridi's. The Indian team management and the BCCI have denied reports that Javagal Srinath is being approached to stop being an arm-chair critic and join the team for the New Delhi one-dayer.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 6:46 pm | Sledge/Read 1 sledge(s)
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BCCI pondering about television channel

Last month, IS Bindra, head of the Punjab Cricket Association, revealed his wishlist for Indian cricket. It contained, curiously enough, a need for the BCCI to venture into starting its own television channel in order to ensure that the mess it got into on the TV rights issue is not repeated.

Last year, he had dared to ask for a little more professionalism in the BCCI and treat the fans who turn up in droves at stadiums in a much better manner.

One part of his wishlist seems to have been answered now with him teaming up with the head of the Rajasthan Cricket Association in coming up with a feasibility report of the BCCI floating its own tv channel. Rick has more details, including a link to the actual presentation.

Apparently, there're Rs. 16,000 crores up for grabs over a five year period. How many zeroes in that, anyone? There're zero zeroes in five, obviously. I was talking about the crores thingy! They're talking of Rs. 3200 crores in revenue per year.

I dont understand how they reached that number in the first place. Zee's bid, the highest for a three year contract, was for Rs. 1200 crores. This works out to Rs. 400 crores per year, on an average. If the BCCI's channel wins the rights to telecast all of India's tours, they would have need to now fork out more than the Rs. 672 crores ESPN-Star shelled out three years ago, at 2002 exchange rates, when it bought rights for five years of international cricket in Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe. That'd make it an average of Rs. 130 crores per annum

Add in what TEN Sports bid for five years of cricket in Pakistan, Rs. 200 crores, which means Rs. 40 crores per year. Assuming they got the West Indies rights, paying Rs. 90 crores, for five years, that works out to at most Rs. 20 crores per year. The Sri Lankan rights were acquired for Rs. 225 crores for four years, working out to Rs. 60 crores per year.

SET got the rights for various ICC events, including World Cups and the Champions Trophy tournaments, for Rs. 1200 crores, the period of the contract being 6 years. Effectively, the expenses per year being Rs. 200 crores.

If we excluded the rights for the ICC organized events, then the absolute minimum the BCCI must spend per year in order to acquire the rights is Rs. 650 crores. Obviously the stakes are higher than they were two or three years ago, perhaps say 10% higher at least. This means Rs. 715 crores. I would seriously doubt if the BCCI could earn Rs. 3200 crores per annum on rights acquisition costs of Rs. 715 crores. Mind you, we have not included the actual content production & telecast costs. I dont want to guess what they might be. Even if they were equal to the cost of acquiring the rights, it means they're aiming at making a 100% profit. I seriously doubt that. Besides, in spite of the fact that they are not exactly a "company", the amount of money they'd be dealing in could attract the attention of regulatory authorities and force them to spin off the television channel as a separate company. Once they did that, and if they had telecast rights for quite a few countries, they could be considered a monopoly and suitable action could be taken against the channel.

Feel free to comment and correct if I've got my arithmetic wrong somewhere. For what its worth, I used an exchange rate of Rs. 48 to the US dollar for 2002 and 2003 and for figures related to 2004 and 2005, I used Rs. 45 to the dollar.

Labels: bcci, tv rights

Thus spake Jagadish @ 5:54 pm | Sledge/Read 3 sledge(s)
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South Africa win at Trinidad and take the lead against West Indies

West Indies collapsed horribly for 194 in their second innings, thus setting South Africa a target of 144, which they went past easily to win the second test at Trinidad. The first one at Guyana was drawn.

Chanderpaul won the toss and elected to bat and when the score was 13/2 he must have been wondering about why he was saddled with the job in the first place. Enter Brian Lara, the man he replaced as captain. Brian, at his brilliant best, made it appear as though he was never really away from the game as he thrashed the bowling all around the ground. racing to his 50 off just 75 balls.

It certainly does seem like he needs some sort of crisis to fire himself up, for most of his great knocks have come at a time when either the crisis was of his own making or when others had screwed up. All out for 51? Ok, take this: 213, 153 and an 84-ball 100. West Indies 3-0 down and looking at a whitewash? Ok, would you mind if I scored a quadruple century? Murali causing havoc? Here, take 688 runs in 3 tests, with a lowest score of 40. I'm fairly sure there're quite a few other instances.

In any case, returning to the test match we were talking about, Hinds gave Lara support for a while, as did Chanderpaul. Lara got to his 27th test century, beating Sobers' previous West Indian record of 26. Enroute, he also went past Sunil Gavaskar's run aggregate and is now in third place. The race between him and Tendulkar will be as watchable as the one between Warne and Murali. West Indies ended the first day on 281/6 with Lara not out on 159 and the tail for company. The next morning, even as Ntini and Nel were cleaning up the tail, Lara marched on towards his double century. But a superb delivery from Nel squared him up completely and flicked the off-bail on its route to the keeper, ending Lara's knock on 196. Ntini ended up with 6 wickets.

South Africa's reply was typically unentertaining, but they had a good opening stand between Smith and de Villiers. Smith got past 3000 test runs and reached his fifty off 126 deliveries. Kallis' dismissal in the last over of the second day was a crucial strike for West Indies. He was out for 39 painstaking runs. The next day, Smith carried on from where he left off, to reach his 9th test century even as nightwatchman Zondeki hung around for a while, frustrating the West Indians. South Africa were then helped by a couple of useful partnerships, between Gibbs & Prince and Prince & Boucher and ended the third day on 370/6. They would have hoped for a lead of around 150 but Gayle blew away the tail, pun intended, giving South Africa a lead of only 51.

West Indies' second innings was a total disaster. They first lost too many wickets to the new ball and then couldnt put together any decent partnerships. Hinds and Sarwan put on 65 but once that stand was broken, the middle order caved in, Lara & Chanderpaul included. The talented Dwayne Bravo hung around with Sarwan until stumps on the fourth day with Sarwan not out on 93. The next day, nothing went right for West Indies, except perhaps Sarwan reaching his 7th test hundred. The tail did not contribute much as Ntini helped himself to a 7 wicket haul, giving him match figures of 13/132, the best ever for South Africa.

South Africa had to only ensure that they did not lose early wickets and they did so thanks to some largesse from the West Indian bowlers and fielders, who bowled wicket taking no-balls and dropped catches. Batting must have been so easy for South Africa, for they scored at the unimaginable rate of 3.2 runs an over. Ntini was the obvious choice for man of the match. The next test is at Barbados.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 6:00 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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India recall Kumble and Sriram for the rest of the series

Following Ganguly's exclusion, unless of course the ban is overruled through an express quick hearing & judgement, Rahul Dravid will captain India in the remaining two games. Anil Kumble, dropped at the start and reduced to making a case through the media has been recalled. There is also yet another call-up for Sridharan Sriram, who has been among the runs (and wickets) in various domestic one-day tournaments.

Irfan Pathan has been left out of the squad. I have no idea what Ajit Agarkar is doing in the side. The scarier bit is that Sehwag is vice-captain, which means we can expect his name to be discussed if Ganguly is sacked. He has already captained India once, in Bangladesh.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 4:45 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Sourav Ganguly banned for six one-dayers

Match referee Chris Broad announced that Indian captain Sourav Ganguly had been banned for six one-day internationals for violating sections of the ICC Code of Conduct since his bowlers did not complete their quota of 48 overs within the prescribed time limits during yesterday's close match at Ahmedabad. It may be recalled that he was fined 70% of his match fee at Jamshedpur.

Seen in isolation, Ganguly copped the fine because he was clearly unable to ensure that his bowlers and fielders wasted as little time as possible during Pakistan's innings. The fact that he did not question Broad's decision or offer excuses means that he knew he was at fault. Well, lets put it this way: The Indian team was at fault and since the captain is responsible for the actions of his team members, he will have to take the blame. Ganguly is not a first-time offender and he knows the repercussions of a slow over-rate, having come very close to being banned last year. The ICC went by its rules, and in any mature system, what is of paramount importance is following the rule of law. I completely support the decision because I have also earlier argued in these columns the need for teams to bowl more overs in a day's play. Rod Marsh has expressed concern about falling over rates and his issues need to be addressed in a firm manner by the ICC.

That said, my concerns on the ICC's inherent inconsistencies still remain. I can think of a few instances in the recent past which bolster my argument that the ICC's officials and systems do not act consistently.

During the second one-dayer at Vishakapatnam, Inzamam and Razzaq were involved in a mixup which caused Inzamam's runout, and thereby possibly ensured that Pakistan lost the game. People who saw Inzamam's reaction when he returned to the pavillion are convinced that he actually did throw his bat, in spite of his coach's assertions that the bat slipped out of his hands. For what he did, Inzamam got away with a reprimand. Perhaps Broad was nostalgic about his playing days.

There's of course the ongoing saga of Harbhajan being called for chucking again in spite of the ICC clearing him.

Michael Vaughan was fined his entire match fee for implying that the umpires were inconsistent in deciding about bad light conditions when England were on tour in South Africa.

Danish Kaneria was fined his entire match fee in spite of not having any history of being called up by the match referee in total contrast to Andrew Hall being let off even though he had been invited by the match referee on a couple of occassions, presumably to discuss the weather.

Sehwag copped a 65% fine for showing displeasure at being given out lbw when there was an obvious inside edge. But in discovering the new spirit of walking, a few Australian cricketers obviously did not agree to the umpire ruling them not-out. Nothing was done about those instances.

Glenn McGrath's past history did not come into the picture at all when he was let off with a paltry fine for swearing after an lbw appeal was turned down.

Then you have Darren Lehmann saying that he was disappointed with the way his racial abuse issue was handled.

Once again, the ICC's choice of match referees is totally bizarre. Chris Broad adjudicates on equipment abuse while Clive Lloyd rules on slow over-rates.

The ICC definitely needs to clean its own stables. If it continues to be inconsistent, it is bound to lose the respect of the players, commentators and fans.

Labels: match referee, over rates

Thus spake Jagadish @ 3:20 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Allan Border quits as selector while Jeff Thomson praises England

Australian great Allan Border, who has been a national selector for a while now has resigned to pursue worldly pleasures. In an interview to The Sun-Herald, he talks about the tough decisions he took and how he enjoyed the job.

Just when you wondered if the Aussies were getting way too friendly, with Warne saying a few nice things and Dean Jones talking about the pitches, here comes Thommo. He lets it rip on England and feels that the scoreline will be 3-0, if it rained.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 3:00 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Tsunami relief game organized by Surrey

After Lord's announced a game to benefit victims of the tsunami on June 14, a whole bunch of cricketers will be playing a similar game at The Brit Oval on June 20.
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Warne caught with trousers down and fag in mouth

A few days after landing up in England, Shane Warne discovered how the tabloid press operates when a photographer caught him with a cigarette in his mouth and his trousers at his knees. I'm fairly sure he will regret moving there. Given that it has been over two weeks since he last got into trouble, this latest act of his is perhaps long overdue.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 1:26 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Pakistan level series in a thriller at Ahmedabad

Sachin Tendulkar nearly repeated his heroics of a decade ago by conceding just two runs in the first five balls he bowled to Inzamam in the final over of Pakistan's innings. When the over began, Pakistan needed just three to win. Inzamam however broke the hearts of millions of Indian cricket fans and a toss related jinx this series by smacking the final delivery for a boundary, ensuring that the series was still up for grabs. Pakistan's successful chase of India's total of 315 is certainly among the top efforts in one-day history. The bandwagon moves on to Kanpur for the fifth one-dayer on Friday.

Ganguly won the toss and elected to bat first. The start of the game had been delayed for an hour due to some over-enthusiastic ground staff watering some areas on the pitch. The game was then declared to be a 48 over farce. Sehwag and Tendulkar got off the blocks quickly with Sami and Rana being hit around the place. The fifty came up in the 8th over and both batsmen were scoring at nearly the same rate. Sehwag was then out to a brilliant piece of fielding by Younis Khan whose direct hit ended a promising knock at 29. Dhoni came in and then almost immediately started playing his shots to ensure that the run-rate did not drop. Razzaq was the only bowler who got away without punishment as India went past 100 and then reached 150 in the 26th over of the innings, bowled by Kaneria. It was Kaneria's first over and Dhoni greeted him with a six over long-off. Tendulkar, at this stage, had been warned a couple of times for running on the wicket. That did not seem to disturb him too much as he reverse swept Kaneria nearly for six and then went one better by belting the ball over long-on, thereby hitting a cameraman on his head and putting him out of action.

Dhoni's breezy innings ended on 47 when he was caught down the legside by keeper Akmal off Shoaib, a few deliveries after Akmal had messed up a stumping opportunity. Ganguly then came in, determined to end his run drought. Tendulkar got to his 38th one-day century even as Ganguly struggled to bat anywhere as fluently as he is capable of. After reaching the milestone, he suffered from cramps and Sehwag came out as a runner. Ganguly was then run-out, attempting to take a non-existent single when the ball had only gone as far as short fine-leg. Tendulkar was too tired at this stage and inevitably, he got out the very next over, attempting to sweep one from Shoaib Malik. It ended a superb knock of 124 in 130 balls. At this stage, India were 248/4 in the 42nd over. Dravid and Yuvraj combined in a superb partnership of 40 runs in just around 4 overs combining quick running and big shots. Dravid was out attempting to hit a six, the ball landing with the deep midwicket fielder. He made 19 in just 13 deliveries. Kaif came in and barring a boundary, didnt contribute much. Yuvraj capitalized on some crappy bowling from Shoaib Malik in the last over of the innings, ending up with 35 off 26 and India reached 315. Surely Pakistan could not chase that!

Afridi and Butt certainly had other ideas as after a quiet start, Afridi went berserk, hitting Nehra and Balaji, who had replaced Pathan in the side, at will. The fifty came up in the sixth over but he carried on in his own uniquely mad ways. It was too good to last and a few wild heaves later, he lofted a ball from Balaji straight to Tendulkar at mid-off. Salman Butt, in good form, hit some nice shots on both sides of the wicket, especially the legside through squareleg as Pakistan reached the 100 mark in the 14th over. Murali Kartik, who was playing instead of Harbhajan, trapped him lbw in his very first over. Inzamam had still not come out to bat, with Razzaq batting at #3 and Shoaib Malik coming in at #4. Then followed the partnership which ensured that Pakistan were on track for a victory. The two put on 76 runs, maintaining a runrate in excess of 6 an over. They were content to take a few singles and twos and also hit a boundary now and then to relieve the pressure. Razzaq then got out, hitting a full-toss from Tendulkar straight to Murali Kartik on the deep-midwicket boundary.

One over later, Yuvraj dropped a simple catch off Shoaib Malik, who was on 34 at that time. Inzamam had come in to bat following Razzaq's wicket and looked in great nick. Malik's fifty came at more than a run-a-ball and he had only hit two boundaries till then. Murali Kartik got the much needed breakthrough for India when he had Malik caught by Balaji on the long-off boundary. At this stage, Pakistan needed 63 to win in just over 9 overs. Youhana came in and didnt last too long, pulling a short one from Zaheer to Balaji at fine-leg. Pakistan began to panic at this stage and Younis Khan was run out a couple of overs later. Thirty five were now needed off six overs with Kamran Akmal, Sami, Rana and Kaneria left to bat along with Inzamam, who was steadily marching towards his fifty. Ashish Nehra's fielding skills are rather well known. So perhaps even he would not have bargained for playing a part in two runouts, the second one being a direct hit to end Akmal's tenure. At this stage, all India needed to do was to get Sami out to put more pressure on Inzamam to hit the runs. Instead, the bowlers bowled a few wides and no-balls, in addition to the batsmen being lucky with a few edges. Inzamam reached his half-century in the 46th over and Nehra bowled a horrible 47th over, leaking 7 runs when Pakistan needed 10 to win. Tendulkar's heroics with the bat, and ball, were ultimately not enough.

Inzamam got the man of the match award for the way he got Pakistan to the target. I think Shoaib Malik would have been a good choice, considering he took three wickets as well. Ganguly's choice of bowlers at various stages in the game was quite bizarre. Nehra had never looked like taking a wicket and he bowled 9 overs for 75 runs, including conceding 13 runs in his last two overs. In contrast, Sehwag bowled just one over. If the team cannot defend 315, there must be something wrong with the bowling and fielding. When India were at 194 in the 32nd over, they really should have got a score around 325-330. Yet, Ganguly pottered around for a while and India lost some crucial momentum. I would not be surprised if the series ended at 3-3.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 5:56 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Ladies and gentlemen, Shane Warne is in town!

You know Shane Warne is in England and there's an Ashes series around the corner when he either waxes lyrical about his forthcoming opponents, praises those who've been selected to play for Australia or declares that he will unravel a new delivery which will pitch near mid-wicket and turn enough to hit the pads and get an lbw decision.

But hang on. If he isnt revealing a new delivery and has a few nice things to say about England's latest and greatest hope, Pietersen, then surely this cant be the same old Warnie. Well, not entirely. He does make it obvious that England are the team facing the pressure, in contrast to what Vaughan thinks.
Thus spake Jagadish @ 1:05 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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