No. 38

The match referee and third umpire

Feb 26, 2011: Two officials who appeared on the cricket scene as it grew into a high-stakes sport: one to police it, the other to make it more error-free

It all began in South Africa

Feb 6, 2011: Indian cricket's most successful era was ushered in at the 2003 World Cup, with some effigy-burning, banana-barfing, and sleepless nights for Tendulkar

No. 37

South Africa's readmission

Jan 22, 2011: Their return to international cricket showed that social change could manifest itself in sport

Here comes the flood

Jan 3, 2011: It's set to be a big year for India with Tests in five continents. If only the BCCI and the broadcasters rolled back on the hyper-commercialisation

The decline and fall of Test cricket

Dec 13, 2010: Like children do with video games, as spectators we are going numb watching dull, futile matches and are revelling in the tiny bits of quality on display

When cricketers age

Nov 15, 2010: Do we have the right to call for their retirements or should we let their dramas play themselves out?

Why cricket can't pardon its sinners

Oct 11, 2010: The real world may accept the corrupt, even welcome them, but sport cannot because they break the principle sport hinges on

Video thrills the history fan

Aug 30, 2010: The best of cricket's past can now be watched and marvelled at over and over again, thanks to YouTube

Foxes, lizards and other bowlers

Aug 2, 2010: Amir is a bee, Asif a snake. What are Malinga and Ishant?

No. 26

The first World Cup

Jul 10, 2010: Four years after the birth of ODIs, the format was given validation by what was perhaps the boldest and most ambitious innovation since the legislation of overarm bowling

Cricket, tennis and the loss of immersion

Jun 28, 2010: If you're looking for sport to convey gripping narrative and drama involving human beings under pressure, cricket is probably not the place to look these days

Equality isn't excellence

May 31, 2010: Despite India's early exit from the World Twenty20 for a second time in a row, the BCCI hasn't grasped the harm the IPL's bloated schedule is doing

A blueprint for the IPL

Apr 26, 2010: Corporate partnership rather than ownership might have delivered a much healthier IPL

Aggravated by advertising

Mar 29, 2010: Watching the IPL is like encountering one of those post-modern narratives that seeks to satirise consumerism

Keep it simple

Mar 8, 2010: The more you legislate the game, the more anal it will become

No. 7

The light of the East

Feb 6, 2010: Ranji opened up the region behind square on the leg side as a legitimate area for making runs

What makes a cricketer great?

Feb 1, 2010: You could judge him by stacks of runs and wickets, elegance, or exerting considerable influence on how the game is played

From match-fixing to Modi

Jan 2, 2010: The last decade in Indian cricket was defined by three kinds of madness

Alone in the middle

Dec 1, 2009: Why cricket, it can be argued, is even more of an individual sport than tennis

Man-child superstar

Nov 15, 2009: Tendulkar the cricketer seemingly emerged fully formed when he first picked up a bat. So too perhaps did Tendulkar the luminary

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