Fraser discovers pace and Ishant stands out

	Ishant Sharma sits for a change, after years of having to stand out © Getty Images Enlarge

Obama, Clinton and cricket
Slate magazine recently asked readers to come up with a sporting metaphor for the Clinton-Obama battle and guess what the global winner was? Cricket. And the explanation? A match includes several rounds and goes on forever, and the team that seems to be ahead can nevertheless be declared the loser at the end. One respondent even saw parallels between Obama v Clinton and "the former colony teams that battle endlessly with teams representing the former countries of empire".

Fraser hits 90
Angus Fraser, the former England seamer who is now correspondent for The Independent in London, has had a run-in with the New Zealand police. The Daily Mail's Paul Newman reports how Fraser's reaction, when he was caught speeding with another reporter, was as if he had been "mullered by Brian Lara at Lord's". The incident caused a bit of mirth among the English press corps, "so much so that one wag said afterwards that it was the first time during this tour that an England fast bowler had touched 90 miles an hour".

Out-standing Ishant
His recent exploits in Australia may have ensured Ishant Sharma is mobbed wherever he goes in Delhi, but Babita Mann, a teacher of accounts to classes XI and XII at the Ganga International School, hasn't forgotten the two years during which she kept throwing the lad out of class. "I never wanted him in my class," Mann told the press last week. "I was sick of his low attendance. Even if Ishant came, I asked him to stand out. It was not fair on the students who attended regularly. I remember scolding him everyday and he would always give me the excuse that he was out playing cricket."

Grounds for disappointment
The last-minute decision to move the MTN domestic championship semi-final match from the Sahara St George's Oval to East London has fans in Port Elizabeth seething. Irate Perridgevale resident Gordon Upton said he had arranged a babysitter for his daughters so he could treat his wife to her first big match at St George's for her birthday. "I thought with the latest selection debate that CSA could not sink lower. They are certainly trawling the depths of the ocean now."

A family dilemma
The two-day club cricket final in New Zealand this weekend posed a dilemma for one family recently. The problem? Tim Mackle is the wicketkeeper-batsman for the Timaru Cricket Club, while his parents Brian and Judith are stalwarts of the Temuka Cricket Club. Judith is the club's secretary and Brian a life member and groundsman who still serves on the committee, and the pair have been involved for over two decades.

The parents diplomatically said they were happy for the game to go either way, as long as it was a good contest. Another shining instance of cricket emerging the winner, then.

A fan's lot
Pakistan has asked India for an explanation about the fate of a fan who travelled to India to watch a match in 2005. Khalid Mahmood was arrested while in India and later died in prison in February this year, according to a foreign ministry spokesman. "The death of Mr Khalid Mahmood in custody should be condemned in the strongest terms," the spokesman, Mohammad Sadiq, said. "We approached ... Indian authorities to give us a detailed report of the circumstances, the reasons for which he was arrested, the circumstances of his death."

California dreamin'
Hemant Buch, an Indian expatriate in the USA, has approached the authorities in San Jose, Santa Clara and Cupertino about creating Northern California's first regulation-size cricket field, complete with extra-fine grass and special clay for a premier turf. Buch dreams of inviting guests from his native India, or Australia or the West Indies to compete in the wildly popular game of his youth.

Joke at your peril
A throwaway jest by an expat British sports journalist recently became the hottest topic of debate in Bermuda's House of Assembly. Adrian Robson, sports editor at the Royal Gazette, assessing the poor performance of Bermuda's Under-19 cricket team at the World Cup, quipped that the players should be put on the "stop list". That opened up a can of worms, with MPs from both parties lining up to brand the comment "disgraceful," and "outrageous". The Works and Engineering Minister even called for a full-scale youth revolt to have Robson shipped off Bermuda.

Quotehanger
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