Different Strokes (old)
The power of a six
Rodney Cavalier is chairman of the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust; he once said that cricket is one of the few sports where intensity has its own reward for the spectators
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Rodney Cavalier is chairman of the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust; he once said that cricket is one of the few sports where intensity has its own reward for the spectators. “Each delivery” he said, “has an intrinsic significance which melts into the narrative of the over, the over takes its place in that session, the session becomes a chapter in that day, each day is a volume in the story of a Test, the Test stands alone as a part of the unfolding pageant of the history of the game”. “There is no such thing as a pattern, one moment of glory can fox the compass of rhythm”, sometimes we as fans get lucky enough to witness some of these moments. And then they live on with you for the rest of your life, like cricket tattoos.
During the second day’s play at Gadaffi, a run fest was underway. There is no point in trying to tell you all that happened, too much of it took place at once, if yesterday some one had let the dogs lose, today the whole zoo must have been exposed. This wasn’t, in other words, the kind of day where you would expect any such marvel moments that Rodney Cavalier spoke of. But one over from Harbajjan Singh to Shahid Afridi was something special. 27 came of it, the first 24 off the first four balls; it was the second most expensive over in test cricket history. It’s become a cricket tattoo that’s etched in my mind now; it’s unlikely I’ll ever forget it.
It’s almost an injustice that I have to use the word ‘hit’ for the sixes Afridi hit in this over, because he doesn’t ever hit a cricket ball in my opinion, he bludgeons it. Even his front foot defensive stroke is a bludgeon, a massive bash, straight down the bowler’s face, making him look all helpless and feeble.
After the day’s play Afridi told Ramiz Raza what had really happened in that over. It was the most fascinating mini interview I’ve heard in recent times. ‘Before that over’, Afridi started, beaming in confidence, ‘I went up to Kamran and told him I was going to try and hit six sixes off Harbajjan’. I thought I’d misheard, but he really did say 'try and hit six sixes'.
Full postLahore Test, 2006: 2nd day preview
After a hopelessly one-sided Test-One-Day-One, Indian backs are nearing the wall and The Wall is undergoing a crushing test of limit
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
After a hopelessly one-sided Test-One-Day-One, Indian backs are nearing the wall and The Wall is undergoing a crushing test of limit. If I must mention the scoreline,
--------
India in Pakistan, 2005-06, 1st Test
Pakistan v India
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Day 1: Pakistan 326/2 (Younis Khan 147*, Mohammad Yousuf 95*; 85 overs)
------------
Let’s get down to foreseeing Day 2 straightaway.
Indian Team, plan A: Fire all guns at the overnight batsmen, shut the Pakistani run-machinery down by 450 and later allow themselves to sleepwalk for 50 overs to a sizeable score on a familiar sub-continent pitch at its best. Mantra for the Indian bowlers: Stop straying and start preying (other alternative should be praying).
India’s Plan B (after the ammunition is spent): Restrict the Pakistani session scoring rates to less than 3 runs an over through frequent bowling / fielding changes and strike a balance between the sword and the shield while snaring acceleration-happy Pakistanis into a brake failure. Aim will be to have as few runs to show against the “Pakistani 1st innings total” column as possible when India are finally put in to face the Paki pace for an hour or so at the end of 2nd day.
Full postTo see or not to see live
Rahul Bhatia has a point about the television rights row here
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Rahul Bhatia has a point about the television rights row here. The 3rd paragraph was especially hard-hitting and warns about the consequences of whetting the wrong appetites. It is dreadful short-sightedness on part of the state to even insist on such a thing. No compromises possible there indeed.
Reading through the column though, I had mixed feelings. Mainly from a realisation that in some ways this particular topic is far touchier than the regular commercial issue of rights invasion of some private business houses by a new state policy.
Some of us have no inclinations to win elections or secret desires to be the most popular guy around. (I am at my lowest ebb on that 2nd count at the present time.) But deep down we still would love to see our next generation kids, many hailing from families unable to afford pay channels, to absorb the anticipation in the air, the sudden bustle in the sporting discussions amongst the family elders and to witness live the thrills of their nation taking on its great rivals in the most popular sport of the land.
I find myself agreeing in letter to the SC ruling of allowing TEN sports to dictate the terms of agreement with DD. The judgement was fair, period. But the eventuality that a significant section of young boys and girls in India will now miss out on a chance to fall in love with a wonderful sport somehow weighs heavy on the eve of a potentially cracking and well-contested series.
Full postA slightly different perspective
As I’m beginning to type, the first test at Gadaffi between India and Pakistan is less then 30 hours away
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
As I’m beginning to type, the first test at Gadaffi between India and Pakistan is less then 30 hours away. You can really sense that it’s that close now. Why? Well that’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? Previews, reviews, predictions, so-called expert analysis, and all the other stuff that acts as good space fillers for the media have been flying in from left, right and centre, like bees running after some one who’s tampered their hive.
Every Tom, Dick and Harry has been consulted, from the players, to the ex-players, to the groundsmen, to the board chiefs, journalists have left very few un-interviewed. In short, not one pre-series ritual has been left unaccomplished. Frankly, it’s all been rather dreary and predictable. So, what I’ll do is try and not bore you with all that’s been said already, and instead hopefully give you a slightly different, if not totally relevant, perspective.
It’s quite astonishing to note that for 14 years prior to 2004 India had hadn’t come for a full test and ODI tour to Pakistan, the breakthrough tour in March that year was only possible after the Indian team was finally released by its government to do so, after previously preventing them playing against Pakistan in any bilateral competition. Then there was the long and tedious effort that went into convincing the Indians of the security situation in Pakistan being OK.
From all that, we are now at a stage where this forthcoming series will be either side’s 3rd full tour in the space of the last 20 months! And I’m not even mentioning the plethora of one-day matches played in between, for a variety of reasons, in a variety of places, as diverse as Amsterdam, Birmingham and Calcutta. It’s obvious as day or night for everyone to see that India and Pakistan have over played each other in the recent past.
Full postWhen WWW stood for Wasim Waqar and Wreckages….
Right, we are talking about the England v Pakistan 1992 series, the benchmark event for all subsequent official usage of reverse swing in international cricket.
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Right, we are talking about the England v Pakistan 1992 series, the benchmark event for all subsequent official usage of reverse swing in international cricket.
14 years is a long time in evolution of this eternally self-enriching game and these days it is passé to link the doosra of swing with ball doctoring. Back then though, the return of swerve in the ragged red ball was greeted with an apprehension distinctly reminiscent of the medieval times when likening an unknown craft to black magic and evil powers was preferred to assigning logical explanation to it.
The cricket world outside Pakistan was as much prepared to appreciate this still-obscure bowling skill as the australopithecus would be for invention of the wheel or a 14 year old Lancashire kid going by the name of Andrew Flintoff would be for the 1993 Ashes. ‘Orangutans’, rather than ‘fast bowlers’, would be an expected answer if people were to be asked to link banana with swing.
Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis changed it forever in this crash-bang-thud festival from the summer of ‘92. The disbelievers reacted with prompt criticism and alleged malpractices with the ball. Some leading fast bowlers like Donald (who then went on to master the skill) actually joined the war-cry against ‘ball tampering’. Subsequently the scientific-minded came out with a study of the phenomenon and there was gradual, even grudging acceptance of the possibility that a skillful bowler can reverse-swing an old ball even without scruffing it up on one side with a soft drink bottle cap.
Full postShaken and stirred but licensed to thrill
New Zealand Cricket uncovered a rare gem the day they unleashed a Canterbury policeman on batsmen of the world
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
New Zealand Cricket uncovered a rare gem the day they unleashed a Canterbury policeman on batsmen of the world. Bond……Shane Bond, demonstrated an ability to deliver a cricket ball with extreme pace and accuracy, instantly claiming rights to be named as one of the three fastest bowlers in the world. The Kiwis had a front-man capable of keeping world class batsmen on the back foot and the entire team looked better for it.
But Bond has been only a fleeting name on the Black Caps team sheet since his Test debut at Hobart in 2001. The back injury he sustained during a one day game in Pakistan in 2003 (after taking 2 wickets for 7 runs in 5 overs) ruled Bond out of all cricket for two years. His propensity for attracting serious injury has resulted in the unassuming paceman playing in only 12 out of the 35 Tests played by New Zealand since his debut.
And what a difference there is in a Bond-less New Zealand team. In the 12 Tests that Bond has played, he is yet to taste defeat, with the Kiwis winning 7 and drawing 5. In the other 23 Tests played by New Zealand (since Bond’s debut) where Bond has been unavailable, they have won only 5, lost 11 and drawn 7.
Bond’s contribution to the team is undoubtedly immense. In Tests he is the fastest New Zealander to claim 50 scalps and has a current tally of 56 wickets attained at an average of only 20.6. His one day figures are even more impressive with 77 wickets at an average of only 18.63 with a phenomenal strike rate of a wicket every 26 deliveries.
Full postThe importance of being Rahul Dravid: part one
If an avid follower of cricket were to be asked to sum up 2005 in the context of Indian cricket he would perhaps look into the distance for a few moments, tautly curved eyebrows accentuating his silence, and return with an honest answer: “Hard work.”
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
If an avid follower of cricket were to be asked to sum up 2005 in the context of Indian cricket he would perhaps look into the distance for a few moments, tautly curved eyebrows accentuating his silence, and return with an honest answer: “Hard work.” The reasons require no further elaboration. Uneasiness surrounds the cricket lovers in this country who have been suddenly split into a number of camps. And this time it is an unprecedented split, quite unlike the ‘who’s right between Kapil & Sunil’ or ‘who’s better between Ganguly & Dravid’ squabbles from the past.
Assuming (1) the average Indian cricket fan to reserve an opinion on each of the six key characters – Ganguly, Dravid, Chappell, Kiran More, Dalmiya and Pawar - in the drama unfolding since appointment of the new Indian cricket coach, and (2) three types of opinions to be possible against each name (‘he is right’, ‘he is wrong’ and ‘he is not party to this’), the mad statistician can jolly well claim a possible 729 opinion sets resulting on the issue.
Even considering the unanimity of opinion of all followers regarding the latter three we are still having 27 kinds of statistically probable opinions. Too much? We narrow down further and eliminate the purely theoretical possibilities. The Indian supporters are still left with 8 or 10 palatable schools of thought to take their pick from. Unforeseen, indeed.
In this present state of anarchy my thoughts keep going back to the lone picture of sanity upon whom the fortunes of Indian cricket must depend for the immediate future – Rahul Dravid. His ruthlessness and aggressive decisions have often been assigned to the coach at the expense of credit due to him, just as his deafening silence on an obvious farce has raised concerns.
Full postRahul Dravid: too
(continued from earlier post)
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
(continued from earlier post)
Let us now leave aside the organisational worries of Rahul Dravid the team administrator and analyse Dravid the batsman in a larger context: his claim to the ‘world’s best batsman’ spot.
In his recent piece for The Courier Mail, Jon Pierik nominates Ponting as the best batsman in the world based on his recent form at the toughest batting position, no. 3. Not many can grudge Pierik his views on the Australian all-time great or debate the uncertainties associated with batting one-down. Some impressive career stats on the phenomenal consistency and all-conquering nature of Ponting’s form were quite awe-inspiring. The sole non-negotiable disappointment, however, regarding the point-wise comparison of Ponting with other greats in that story was the glaring absence of Rahul Dravid in the piece.
A look at Rahul’s career summary in Tests can help showcase the Indian's undeniable gems one by one in a familiar manner reminiscent of Dravid’s varied skills embellishing themselves over a typical long innings. To borrow Pierik’s words, any doubters who believe that Dravid should not be in contention for the top batsman’s slot should try a potion of these for a gulp:
Full postPrince makes the grade
Ashwell Prince has generally projected himself well on most outings since the first we saw of him
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Ashwell Prince has generally projected himself well on most outings since the first we saw of him. He was initiated to international cricket during a much-awaited Test series in 2001-02 when South Africa were nightmarishly hammered at home by Adam Gilchrist and Australia. Amid the rubble of demolished reputations Prince managed to stay up to portray the part of this doughty newcomer not born with the silver spoon of phenomenal talent yet prepared to take the hard route to the next level.
Since that debut of his, Prince has done only moderate justice to the opportunities offered to him by the UCBSA. He has looked a better batsman than his average of 32 in Test cricket suggests. His batsmanship, though, is quite a loud shout away from that other Prince of world cricket, Brian Lara. Ashwell is, in some ways, a fill-in for the retired Gary Kirsten at another batting position. An analogy with the pre-2001 Justin Langer would perhaps be as appropriate.
Prince has been shaping up rather well in one-day internationals. The ODI average of 44 appears distinctly healthy if his more-than-fair share of not-outs are discounted. Ashwell's crisp fielding efforts inside the circle help restore competitive edge to the traditionally supreme South African fielding unit that, in the recent past, took a retrograde step from the unearthly 90's regime of Jonty Rhodes Inc.
The big Test scores against leading teams, though, have been late in coming off Ashwell's blade. Quite unsurprising - he hardly ever played a Test against a top side since his debut series. In the current clash Down Under Prince completes a full circle on his spiral way up to the upper tiers. He is back facing the same world beating adversaries and, going by his response to calamity at a key juncture of the Sydney Test, making a stepping stone out of it - in their backyard.
Full postTaped ball cricket musings and then a bit more
Aqib Javed in the exquisitely written Rahul Bhattacharya book, Pundits from Pakistan, talks at length about the effects of taped ball games on cricket in Pakistan
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Aqib Javed in the exquisitely written Rahul Bhattacharya book, Pundits from Pakistan, talks at length about the effects of taped ball games on cricket in Pakistan. It's a topic a few of us used to talk a lot about, in intense post-match discussions in Ottawa. Aqib makes a bunch of interesting points in the course of his treatise. Those will be taken up shortly. But, let me try building up some context first.
Like a lot of other cricket-mad, homesick sub-continental graduate students stuck on North American campuses, we used to play a fair amount of club cricket in Montreal. Which, surprisingly has (or had, I've heard it's down to two now) three divisions of around 10 teams each. Each team had a first division team and then a second division one. The games were played on weekends and on matting. Cricket was fairly intense, with occasional visits by some West Indian second rung first class players. We used to have a West Indian ex-under-20s team player as captain for a while. Methuen Isaac, very talented, I'm sure if he'd kept at cricket, rather than focus on Chemistry, he'd have come very close to senior West Indian team selection. He used to refer to Hooper and Lara as Carl and Brian, and I remember feeling an odd lump in the throat bowling to him. Back to taped ball cricket however.
Montreal didn't have much taped ball cricket, hardly any really. But, Ottawa was different. We had a lot of Pakistani friends, all software engineers inevitably. Ottawa is a bit like Bangalore in that sense. We had all kinds of India-Pakistan games, Nortel (10 Indians, one Pakistani) vs Alcatel (three-fourths Pakistani), a combined India-Pak team vs Jam-E-Umr or just plain India vs Pakistan, all taped ball and mostly in a Nortel parking lot. Taped ball, insulation taped, no slit in the tape as Rahul B describes in his book, but just one layer of tight insulation tape over a new fluffy Wilson tennis ball.
The Nortel parking lot was at a very slight incline, the bowler running up a minor slope. This might have enhanced the feeling that the parking lot pitch was an absolute belter. But, only by a bit. This parking lot surface is easily the toughest pitch any of us ever bowled on. Zero movement off the pitch, obviously, with a ball of no mentionable seam and an absolute rock hard pitching area. This is where you tried to land your front foot as close to the bowling crease as possible. Every centimetre seemed to make a difference.
Full postMost Read
Writers