Guest Spot
Missing: the thrill of upsets
Cricket is not hospitable to its minnows, thus depriving fans of witnessing fairy-tale victories. But T20 could fix that
Akarsh Sharma
11-Aug-2013
Only a couple of years ago, Kevin O'Brien's sensational 113-run assault in Bangalore helped Ireland chase down England's mammoth 327 from a nigh- impossible scenario. This, the greatest upset in ODI history both in manner and magnitude, even attracted interest from the United States, where comparisons to the NFL's greatest comeback were made to help gauge the scale of the result.
That is the beauty of fairy tales. They inspire, they travel and they spread the game. They also remind you that sport's greatest gift is of glorious uncertainties: of minnows finding unearthly resolve to overthrow the masters, of viewers finding solace and hope in the meteoric rise of the ordinary, and of stories to which you can point and say: "That's why we love this game."
Which is why, at times, cricket fans feel short-changed.
Full postWhy is everyone talking about cricket?
It's odd when those around you start taking an interest in your lifelong passion
Sam Blackledge
27-Jul-2013
When you have been obsessed with a particular subject for as long as you can remember, what do you do when everybody else starts taking an interest too?
During the summer of 2005, many English cricket fans who thought they were part of a small, elite group suddenly realised they were not alone. For so long football had dominated the back pages - and often the front pages too - as we griped and moaned about how the real beautiful game never gets a look in. When Ashes fever gripped the nation, everything was different. Jonathan Agnew recently observed that the way people watch cricket in this country changed that summer.
Luckily for us precious die-hard fans, those nice people from Sky were kind enough to come along and remove cricket from "normal" TV, restoring once more the sport's long-held image of elitism that it had worked so long and hard to shed.
Full postRecalling India's collective vow of silence
The nation's greatest series win had more than a tinge of controversy, which nobody in India really wanted to talk about
Akarsh Sharma
23-Jul-2013
Dave Richardson, the ICC chief executive, has called for the debate on neutral umpires to be reopened. It is a logical step too, since the nations that produce the best officials are unfairly deprived of the highest standards in officiating.
Umpires, their decisions, the DRS, and general human competence in the face of technology - all have come under the scanner during the ongoing Ashes series.
Ah, the Ashes! The fourth sequel to the greatest series ever - a title that is vehemently contested in India.
Full postThe fan who became a pressman
A lifelong fan crosses over to the neutral side and quite enjoys the experience (while stifling his cheers)
Subash Jayaraman
23-Jul-2013
I am not sure exactly when I was introduced to cricket. I don't remember the first time I picked up a cricket bat or a ball. The game was just always there. All I can remember from my childhood are the many hours we spent in our backyard, using a giant stone that we used to wash clothes on as the wicket, a Sunny Tonny bat, and a cork ball that my oldest brother would chuck down while sitting on a concrete parapet.
Surely cricket must be in my blood, like for millions before me and after me. The company of brothers - of varying skill levels who played regularly in weekend games and tournaments - and the Philips shortwave radio ensured cricket was a constant presence in my growing up.
I became a fan when I saw, without really understanding, the joy and pride with which my brothers strutted around in the summer of 1983. I was six.
Full postOut of range
Where were you during the most exciting moments of the 2005 Ashes? This correspondent managed to miss most of them
Sam Blackledge
20-Jul-2013
Sometimes it's the things we don't witness, rather than the things we do, that stick in the memory. On the final day of the second Test at Edgbaston in 2005, I was standing outside a small theatre in Edinburgh, waiting to take part in a dress rehearsal for a play. Glued to my portable radio, I was beckoned inside as Australia got within 12 runs of victory with one wicket remaining. That's that, I thought. While the greatest Test finish of the modern age was playing out in my home town, I was prancing around a dark Scottish studio, pretending to be Franz Kafka.
A week later, I missed the entire final day of the Old Trafford Test. Having avoided the score, I sought out an Edinburgh sports bar for the soundless highlights as the Aussies scraped a draw. I still see Ricky Ponting's giant plasma face looming over me in my dreams.
I heard the end of that year's Trent Bridge Test perching on a steep cliff in deepest Cornwall, before actually managing to find a screen - this time back at university in Hull - for the last rites.
Full postI heart Siddle
Here's a man every captain would want in his side, especially when he desperately seeks a breakthrough
Subash Jayaraman
11-Jul-2013
Peter Siddle. Siddles. Sizzle. Sid Vicious. Siddlers. Siddleshwar. P Siddy. Call him any name you want, this is the man a captain would want with the ball in hand when a breakthrough is desperately sought.
Siddle is the fifth-best bowler in the world, the third-best fast bowler, behind the South Africans Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander, according to the ICC rankings, but not many cricket fans would put his name among the top three fast bowlers currently going around. Jimmy Anderson, Morne Morkel, Steven Finn, Kemar Roach, and Siddle's Victoria team-mate James Pattinson would probably be pencilled in before him.
Yet the piston legs, pumping arms, purposeful run-up and passionate appeals combine to form a prototypical fast bowler of the sort every team could use. The scowl creasing his countenance shows he means business - and that's when he is happy.
Full postAre teams affected by their past?
Reputations, whether of invincibility or choking, remain burned in the minds of fans for years. Do players feel the same way?
Sahil Dutta
04-Jul-2013
History matters to those who love cricket. Fans and commentators obsess over statistics and old stories, while TV analysts and tweeters thrill themselves with footage from the past.
But what about the players? With old failures and successes just a laptop away, it is harder than ever for them to escape their history. If one particular team or cricketer struggles, we're quick to pounce on weaknesses. Think choking South Africans or Kevin Pietersen and left-arm spin.
Are tropes like these just commentary clichés or is there something more? Do past defeats haunt future performances? Can teams even remember together, or does each individual carry their burdens alone? These are the questions all teams confront, and ones Michael Clarke's Australians will need to answer before the Ashes double header begins in July.
Full postIt's not you, it's me
The way England have dumped Nick Compton seems to show they regard temperament as more important than first-class runs
Peter Miller
29-Jun-2013
Some relationships aren't meant to be. Things can be going along great, and one day you are happily shopping for picture frames at your local IKEA when you realise that this isn't what you want anymore. Telling the other person who is oblivious to your concerns is never easy. Andy Flower and the England management have exactly this problem.
Nick Compton has been dropped from the England Test team. This announcement may not have been made officially but we all know what is going to happen. There are six places in the England top order, and Kevin Pietersen has swaggered back from injury. His blistering 177 not out on his return for Surrey was a subtle reminder of what he is capable of. The England management have had their heads turned by their volatile but exciting ex. Pietersen's relationship with England has never been easy, but they can't live without each other.
Someone needs to make way for his return. The choice appeared to be between Jonny Bairstow and Compton. If Compton were to make way then Joe Root would be chosen to open the innings with Alastair Cook for the first Ashes Test. With the decision to exclude Compton from the England side to face Essex in the Ashes warm-up, these points are moot. England have made the call. Young Joe Root will be opening the batting with Cook when England take on Australia at Trent Bridge. Geoff Miller has said that Root is "currently the best opening partner for Alastair Cook". The question that you have to ask yourself is: what has Compton done wrong?
Full postWho's an Australian then?
England gets stick for playing "overseas" players. It's time the old enemy got some
Scott Oliver
28-Jun-2013
Excuse me a minute while I… yaaaaawnnnn. Right, now then… No, need another. Hang on. YAAAAAWN.
Phew, that's a bit better. Touch cream-crackered. See, I've been chin-wagging - at ridiculous, excruciating length - to a couple of carping Australians about cricket. More specifically, about English cricket. On and on and on they went about how "England" (their speech marks) can only win by plundering the Commonwealth ("a-bloody-gain"); about how there will be times in the Ashes when there isn't an Englishman on the paddock ("KP, Trott and 11 blokes in the baggy green"); about… sorry, going to have to yawn again.
YAAAWN.
Full postDanger: Batsmen at play
Batsmen have protected themselves with helmets and all sorts of padding. What can bowlers do?
Andrew Ramsey
28-Apr-2013
As we all secretly know, the internet is nothing if not a toxic waste dump for snatches of video footage that contribute precisely nought to the sum total of human knowledge.
But occasionally, tucked amid the asinine camera rolls of cats playing pianos, drunk men chowing down on incendiary chillies, and yet another duplicate set of highlights from the never-ending IPL, there emerges Zapruder-esque footage that not only tells us how far civilisation has progressed but also succinctly poses some timely questions about where we are bound.
Try browsing an online video repository using the search terms "Michael Holding" and "Brian Close" and then devoting three or four minutes of your day to the results.
Full postMost Read
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