Will Cummins ever be fit enough to show what he can do?
Roy's 78 sets up England charge to final
Reader: jmcilhinney
Before the tournament, many England fans, myself included, thought that England's batting was good enough to match anyone, if a bit inconsistent, but that it would likely be their bowling that let them down and possibly their fielding too. England's batting has been a little inconsistent but hopefully they have that out of their system now. The bowling has improved over the course of the tournament and their death bowling has been very good lately and their fielding was exemplary here. I'd rate them underdogs for the final regardless of who they play but not by a big margin and I give them a good chance of winning if they can continue to play as they have been.
Simmons' four innings silence the Mumbai madness
Reader: samroy
Well written Jarrod. I remember telling Ma (that's what I call my mother) at the innings break that India didn't hit enough 6s on a six-hitting ground and were about 20-22 runs short. I still remember England chasing 230 here 10 days back and Mumbai Indians chasing 200 in 14 overs in 2014. I had mentioned about short boundaries and belter of a pitch. And I suspected that WI will probably target Jadeja and Pandya and except Gayle all others would also target Ashwin. I had mentioned on another forum yesterday that Simmons coming back at Wankhede and Yuvraj going out (canny left-arm spin unlike Jadeja who is very predictable on a non-turner IMO) was big advantage for WI. What I did not suspect was India bowling those no balls and not enough awareness from Jadeja when he took that catch. But India lost to WI because of lack of 6 hitting power in Indian Team compared to WI on a good pitch with small boundaries apart from the no-ball gaffes.
Reader: typo
I was saddened to hear of the passing of Rangy. He was an idol of mine growing up. Many a time I would cut school, head down to the QPO to see T&T playing against Barbados or whoever, not because of Tony Gray or Kelvin Williams but because of Rangy and Larry Gomes when he was available. I remember 1985 as a big year when we won the Shell Shield after a long time; I think Rangy was the captain, he certainly played a huge role....no pun intended. Often described by commentators as 'burly' my fondest moment of him was once when he fielded at short leg (as captain he placed himself there!) and diving low down, he miraculously held on to a catch. He made us Trinis proud before Brian came on the scene. RIP Rangy. Thanks for the memories.
White-ball Steyn train running out of steam
Reader: JohnTheKiwi
It is tough as a fan of truly great players, regardless of their nation, to watch them splutter at the end and dilute the quality of the memories. Tendulkar and Dev stayed on way too long. A few like Gower, Hayden, Sanga etc. left when they still had a little in the tank. Considering the batsman friendly epoch we are now into almost the second decade of and the number of wickets he got on moribund SC wickets Steyn was as great as it gets. But the last time I thought he looked menacing was against the Aussies in SA a couple of years back now. Injuries, age and lots and lots of white ball paydays have taken their toll. I would love to see him step away from 20:20 and ODIs and try and hold it together for another year and show up down under either side of Christmas to take on Oz and my lot. Quick bowling is a brutal and short-lived vocation and nowadays when money drives all you might be better off as a kid learning to roll your wrist over rather than run in hard and give max effort.
Siddle keeps Cricket Australia contract
Reader: dunger.bob
I think Sids is a bit lucky but they obviously rate him highly and rightly so imo. A lot was said about his lack of pace but now I think we know why. It's hard to really put in when your back is breaking. It also explains why he was walking around like an old man at the ripe old age of 31. I hope he mends well and comes back better. .. with Cummins I'm straddling the fence atm. He's a lot of work that's for sure. So far he's returned about 1% of the investment but I can also see why they are so obsessed with him. He can swing the ball all right, and seam it, all at really nice pace. What he needs is 12 months or more injury free to build some match fitness and game awareness. If he does that, I'm pretty sure most people will be going 'wow' about then. The big question is, will he ever be fit enough to show us what he can do? I sincerely hope so but am also starting to get my doubts.
Reader: prikand
Wonderful article. Yes we grew up watching Mendis and Roy Dias. Every corner of the country where ever there is a free space you may see people playing cricket. Home-made bats, soft balls and old chairs as wickets but the spirit is the same. Our childhood memories are filled with matches we played in street corners and backyards and so proud to see that our little Island has added an extra flare to world cricket.
Reader: us_indian
Thanks for the column. I can vividly remember my under-13 and under-16 days and we used to be ball boys that is what the budding young cricketers used to do to watch their idols in flesh and in action. Guys like me who studied in a school almost 3 minutes run and maybe 10 minutes walk from chepauk used to sneak in without any trouble. I can clearly remember many names and visualise their strokes this writer has mentioned Roy diaz was srilanka's gavaskar and Duleep mendis was vishu and in between throw siddarth wettimuny. lalith kaliperuma, the d'silva's and ratnayake with his head band they had a formidable team. Then came the likes of gurusinhe, aravinda, ranatunga, mahanama etc who were followed by mahela, sanga etc and they had a pretty decent bowling too.