Different Strokes (old)
Marketing first class cricket: BCCI should adopt two-pronged approach
India are not the top team in the official ICC rankings for Tests and ODIs
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
India are not the top team in the official ICC rankings for Tests and ODIs. Nor are Sri Lanka for that matter. Yet a huge wave of near-spontaneous publicity flooded the media when these two teams clashed in a recent one-day series. An appreciable level of popular interest surrounded the outcome of the remaining matches even after India had wrapped up the series in the first four.
The recently completed Test series between the same sides was decidedly more competitive to begin with. After the Lankan dominance in that drawn 1st Test at Chennai the least I was expecting was an appetising publicity across the media for the remaining Tests. I didn’t see much of that, ocular soundness notwithstanding. Test cricket once again got a go-slow from the BCCI.
It may be relevant to first make a couple of specific observations here regarding preferences of general cricket-loving folk of India. Things would perhaps not be fetched too far if these preferences are extended to the sub-continent or the ‘new world’ Test nations in general.
Old world cricketing nations, England and Australia in particular, had soaked in numerous decades of competitive first-class cricket and quality Test cricket before the One Day matches arrived. On the other hand new teams like India, Pakistan and New Zealand started making their presence felt in the 60's and early 70's, an era when the new form of the game was gaining ascendancy. The love for ODI's (or the even shorter form, by recent accounts) is immense in these nations as many of them sealed their arrival in world cricket mainly through success in one-day cricket. The story is same with cricket following in Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Criticising or reprimanding people of these countries for the ‘offence’ of treating the shorter version as their darling would not go down as the finest display of sensitivity.
Full postA day out with a dazzler, and the season of batting gifts
Just finished watching an episode of a new cricket show where they revisited the watershed innings of a fringe player from the outskirts of Delhi named Virender Sehwag
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Just finished watching an episode of a new cricket show where they revisited the watershed innings of a fringe player from the outskirts of Delhi named Virender Sehwag. He chose this particular tri-series match against New Zealand in Sri Lanka 2001 to announce his arrival. The Sachin-less Indian skipper Sourav came out to chase the Kiwis’ respectable 260+ with this new all-rounder (haunting term that) in tow who till then had just this one ODI fifty and a batting average of 15 to show for his prowess.
Watching a replay is that much more fun when your favourite players are known to have done well in it. It is a dream come true for you as their success now has the inevitability of a Marvan Atapattu run-out. Sehwag rattled off a 68-ball hundred (as far as I recall) and left the irksome show host gasping for a ‘break’, 82% of Viru's runs coming in boundaries.
When viewed in retrospect an aspect of the match that grabs your attention is the number of boundaries he peppered the on-side fence with. The New Zealanders erred on the leg-stump of this unknown Tendulkar-like entity and had already conceded 10 odd fours through lofted flicks and rasping on-drives even before Stephen Fleming could cry ‘Correction’. The first forcing shot on the off-side, a trademark ‘Viru cut’, was so uncharacteristically late in the innings that it brought up his 50, and he was impartial to all hoardings thereon. [By 'late' I only signified its place in the sequence of boundaries.]
This took me back to Newlands 1997 when Azharuddin, coming in at 58/5 to accompany skipper Sachin in response to South Africa’s 500 plus and playing himself in to a sedate 27 at lunch 3rd day, came out like a man asked to personify Fury by Nelson Mandela over their post-lunch handshake and carted the best fast bowling attack of the era for 12 boundaries in no time. The first 2 mind-blowers were towards his favoured on side fence, followed quite uniquely by a sequence of 10 successive off-side scorchers. It remains the most unparalleled hour of Test Match batting retrievable from recent memory.
Full postWhat makes Dhoni tick
Reading through Zainub's musings on cricketing hair-styles, the following thought came back to me:
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Reading through Zainub's musings on cricketing hair-styles, the following thought came back to me:
Looking at Dhoni sometimes, you get the feeling he's waiting for the ball to go past him, say, to short third man, so that, he can take off after it, cap slipping off, hair flying all over, him sliding, all flourish, turning with the slide, head thrown back, hair everywhere again, and then the final hurl of the ball. It's a bit like Rene Higuita, it was not the goalkeeping he was really after, it was the dribble past a couple of forwards, dreadlocks flying.
Full postA googly for Murali
Shane Warne, that genius of a leg-spinner, is proving to be a far better exponent of the googly in real life
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Shane Warne, that genius of a leg-spinner, is proving to be a far better exponent of the googly in real life. The googly is half-truth of a delivery, where the leg spinner leads batsmen to believe that the ball would be bowled normally. But at the last moment he subtly alters the release to impart a reverse spin on it. It resembles the hoax of a magician, or an unverifiable statement from a crooked political man. Precisely the imagery invoked by his latest controversial statement expressing disgust for the lack of opportunities for him to pick up cheap wickets unlike ‘some blokes’.
The comment was disguised so as to communicate a loathing for such wickets, but the bitterness of expression betrays an underlying insinuation that he has started wanting them badly in order to stay ahead of all (or maybe one) competition. Forever.
Warne has needlessly raised the issue. Perhaps he craves to lose a few inches of lofty standing. The point was triggered off with intent reminiscent of launching a missile that seeks its designated target and signals the beginning of a war. It must have been as delicious a taunt to the itching tongue of Shane as it was useless to his knowledgeable admirers who check out on such stats for themselves while rating the two - Shane Warne and the intended target of his gibe, Muttiah Muralitharan.
In the process Warne conveniently forgot the flip side of it. A look at the direct comparison provided in the above link tells the story. After Warne's salvo there will always be enough Murali supporters eager to rattle off a number of key areas where Warne has been found short of Murali’s achievements.
Full postTwinge For Alien Game (7)
There was an interesting article in The Guardian, by their crossword editor, Hugh Stephenson, on cryptic crosswords
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
There was an interesting article in The Guardian, by their crossword editor, Hugh Stephenson, on cryptic crosswords. The full article is here, but what set me thinking was this quote:-
"cryptic crosswords are like cricket. Playing the game is more important than the result. Hours, days even, can end in a draw, with everyone still happy. Perhaps it is no accident that the flowering of the cryptic crossword in the past 50 years has been in the English-speaking, cricket-playing world. It has never taken hold in the US..."
Interesting, most interesting. I love cricket, I love cryptic crosswords, and I do know enough people who share the same noble interests. And yes, we all know that those Americans think cricket is a character in a Disney movie. As for their crosswords, anyone who has been brought up on stuff like The Hindu or the Guardian crosswords would recoil with horror on seeing the New York Times Crossword. Think about it- Dog (4) is ASTA, and Medieval Slave (4) is ESNE. Straightforward, direct, and soulless.
I ran a quick Google search for cryptic crosswords, which turned up some rather interesting results- most of the first few entries were British or Australian websites. India starts to come in around Page 2 or 3... and what sport do England, Australia and India all play?
Full postThe Official TAFHCA Select 2005 Bad Hair XI: Out now
The New Year’s on the horizon now
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
The New Year’s on the horizon now. I can see 2005 beckoning ta-ta and 2006 saying hello. I’ll do a series of year-end reviews, mostly trivial ones, between now and new year’s eve. Today, I present you the official TAFHCA (The Anti Foolish Hair Cut Association) select Bad Hair XI for the year 2005, a collection of the worse haired cricketers to have played cricket in the past 12 months.
Opening the innings with his repellent dreadlocks is the Jamaican lefthander, Christopher Gayle. Opening with him, in over grown natural curls, will be the Kiwi youngster James Marshall, who made his test debut earlier in April against Australia.
At 3 will be his twin brother Hamish, who took devotion to retro to new heights with his 'If this doesn't scare you, I don't know what will' look sported in the historic circus act of the first ever 20 Twenty International between trans Tasman rivals Australia and New Zealand.
At four will be the skipper Younis Khan and his disturbing bangs, and his vice captain KP Skunk will be accommodated at 5. Shahid Afridi will take the all rounder's spot at 6 whilst M. S. Dhoni and his atrocious red highlights will win the battle for the wicket keeper's slot despite the best attempts of Sangakkara.
Full postYour cric-tattoos can be fun
Some rare days when you have no work, play or resources at hand you need to invent pastimes
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Some rare days when you have no work, play or resources at hand you need to invent pastimes. I can suggest one for you. Ever tried to erase a tattoo?
Throw that knife away, for heaven's sake!
Sit down, calm your thoughts and just try to follow instructions. I was referring to the tattoos etched on your mind. Think of a lofted straight drive off a fast bowler without visualising Sachin Tendulkar hitting them off Mike Kasprowicz at Sharjah 1998. Found it tough? Then play on with the stubborn cric-tattoos inside your head.
Recall some batsman you have seen premeditating a cut to the vacant square third man. Your dare this time will be to blank out the opener who was the player of the series in a World Cup with a 7-year career batting average barely kissing 20 (at the time). The ‘vacant’ was needless there, as Jayasuriya generally prefers hitting them into the stands.
Full postMemorabilia gone mad
There’s a shirt for sale at Sportsonline.com signed by the Australian team and the members of the World XI (remember them?) The price……a tad over $4,000 of your finest Australian dollars.
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
There’s a shirt for sale at Sportsonline.com signed by the Australian team and the members of the World XI (remember them?) The price……a tad over $4,000 of your finest Australian dollars.
Perhaps I missed the 21 carat gold edging on the shirt, or perhaps it’s made of the latest in tank resistant Kevlar, but failing that, this shirt strikes me as perhaps a tad overpriced.
On the same site, $200 will get you a ceramic cricket ball, which under the terms of the Fair Trading Act should really come with a warning along the lines of “will break into a thousand pieces if used on a hard surface”
A few minutes on the site will uncover a myriad of magically commercialised moments of cricket history to invest your hard earned dollars, pounds or rupees in.
Full postNtini should not tamper with his winning formula
From what we have seen so far of South Africa in Australia, there has been a definite change in South Africa's bowling attack, and that is that Makhaya Ntini is now clearly the most penetrative option in Graeme Smith's hand
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
From what we have seen so far of South Africa in Australia, there has been a definite change in South Africa's bowling attack, and that is that Makhaya Ntini is now clearly the most penetrative option in Graeme Smith's hand. Shaun Pollock remains as a fine bowler who can keep things tight, but Ntini does appear to be the bowler more likely to take a wicket.
Ntini has come a long way since I first saw him in Australia as a youngster in South Africa's 1997/98 tour. He was just one of a group of young 'players of colour' that had been fast-tracked by the South African cricket authorities. However, he has taken advantage of that 'fast-tracking' to be a very fine bowler; maybe not of the very first rank, but certainly there is nothing 'token' about him now; he would be one of the first men picked in the South African side. He certainly showed his worth in the First Test against Australia, taking 5 for 64- moreover, those five wickets were all in Australia's top seven.
But in Australia's second innings, he was notably less effective, only taking 1 for 113, and that wicket was more from Ricky Ponting playing a rather lazy shot to a wide delivery. It was not Ntini's best day at the office.
Being a Test bowler is a hard way to make a living. You need everything to go right, and sometimes, even that is not enough. But to make matters worse, someone in the South African team decided to change Ntini's run up, and it seemed to me that it unsettled him.
Full postIt had me at “Hello”
I’ve loved the game of cricket ever since my father invented ‘roof-catch’
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
I’ve loved the game of cricket ever since my father invented ‘roof-catch’. He would stand in the back garden of our house and send me to the front garden to wait expectantly for a tennis ball to appear in the skyline. The challenge was simple. Catch the ball.
I would hear his cricket bat thwack with a sound that I still love today and look up in wonder at how high that tennis ball could climb. I would spend an eternity shuffling my feet while the ball was in flight to have the best chance of getting my small hands to clasp around the ball as it thundered towards me after sailing over the roof of our house. A caught ball was a magnificent feeling.
From these early roots a love for cricket sprang. Inevitably, Botham was my hero and Willis was the subject of my bowling impersonations. A mini marathon of a run up that would leave me exhausted by the time my flailing arms would windmill wildly in emulation.
In many ways, I feel as though my early love of bat and ball, came to a kind of climax in September of this year. I had heroes once again. The test matches I watched in the Ashes series rekindled a very childlike idolisation of the game that I hadn’t realised had been missing for many years.
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