Samir Chopra
The insidious allure of spot-fixing
Another cricketing scandal is upon us.Well, the incorrigibility of Pakistan cricket is not new, so let us stop flogging that particular dead horse (after all, we know the usual round of bans, cover-ups, appeals, and reinstatements awaits us down
Samir Chopra
25-Feb-2013
Another cricketing scandal is upon us.Well, the incorrigibility of Pakistan cricket is not new, so let us stop flogging that particular dead horse (after all, we know the usual round of bans, cover-ups, appeals, and reinstatements awaits us down the line) and move on to thinking about why spot-fixing is even more dangerous than match-fixing in many ways.
Most importantly, spot-fixing promises a wonderful two-fer for the morally wavering cricketer: a chance to get rich while preserving one's sense of integrity. For in spot-fixing, you don't throw the game. As Cricinfo's helpful guide to spot-fixing points out,
Spot fixing is about getting players/officials to act in a specified predefined manner at a particular time or during a particular session of a match, with or without adversely affecting the overall outcome of the game.
Aggression and the loss of focus
I'm writing a follow-up to my article on Stuart Broad to respond to a contrary note struck by a few readers in the comments section
Samir Chopra
25-Feb-2013
I'm writing a follow-up to my article on Stuart Broad to respond to a contrary note struck by a few readers in the comments section. In doing so, I will briefly stray from cricket but I think the exercise is worth it, because it will illustrate a point of relevance to cricketers: the relationship between temperament and on-field performance.
Recall then, that in response to my claim that "Sportsmen, mediocre ones especially, have a tendency to get frustrated when they are under pressure from their opponents", some readers said that even champion sportsmen were prone to petulance. The poster child for this claim is John McEnroe.
First, it should be noted that I was not suggesting expressions of frustration under pressure are the exclusive province of mediocre sportsmen. Rather, my claim was that what distinguishes the mediocre from the great, by and large, is that the former have failed to master the art of grace under pressure. The Zidane, Cantona, and Ponting examples provided by readers are all instances where the player's behaviour was an aberration that cost him and his team dearly, and they will be the first ones to acknowledge that their behaviour was deeply counterproductive. In each case, the player's behaviour was a sign of weakness, not strength.
Full postIn appreciation of Mohammad Amir
In February 1999, as the Asian Test Championship got underway, India took on Pakistan in Calcutta (now Kolkata)
Samir Chopra
25-Feb-2013
In February 1999, as the Asian Test Championship got underway, India took on Pakistan in Calcutta (now Kolkata). On the very first day, I found out, much to my delight, that a Bangladeshi restaurant in Manhattan was showing the game live - on a large screen television, no less. The timings were still inconvenient though; New York was in the grip of a typically freezing winter, and my venue of choice was a half-hour walk from home. Company would be nice in my cricket watching endeavours.
So, I asked my good Australian friend and housemate, David, if he'd like to join me for the first session of play on the second day. He sounded unenthusiastic in his response: he didn't have a dog in this particular race, and why would he want to go out on a cold winter's night? Sensing his hesitation, I played my trump card: "You know, there's a new Pakistani quick that's playing - I've heard he's bloody fast". At this, David's ears perked up, and a few minutes later, loaded down with heavy jackets, scarves and gloves, we stepped out to make that long walk. (Shoaib Akhtar did do a lot of damage that day)
Eleven years on, a new Pakistani quick is still occasion for excitement. Wahab Riaz's debut was spectacular all right, but to be honest, I'm writing because in all the cricket I've watched this year, some of the most thrilling moments have been provided by Mohammed Amir, Pakistan's latest production from its mysterious factory dedicated to producing pacemen (its location hasn't been reliably ascertained, but there is some suspicion it is located in the Punjab).
Full postWhen the going is easy, the tough get going
Some time ago, on this blog , I'd written that one of the aims in my posts was to pay tributes to (what seemed to me) unheralded cricketing achievements
Samir Chopra
25-Feb-2013
Some time ago, on this blog, I'd written that one of the aims in my posts was to pay tributes to (what seemed to me) unheralded cricketing achievements. Another of my plans was to try and provide counter-arguments to claims commonly made in the heat of a cricketing debate. Here is one example: "this innings by batsman X is worthless because it was made on an easy pitch against a substandard attack."
The sentiment at the heart of this claim is admirable. It is typically made in the context of comparing two players' records, and the intention is to establish a distinction between innings made in more trying circumstances and those made in situations where the batsman is, to put it mildly, not taxed excessively. That sort of difference is often crucial, and it is an interesting example of how the numerical marker of an innings is not enough to judge its quality.
There are times, however, when this claim shades into a more extreme claim, one that would want to completely discount all large scores made in this fashion, to the extent that they are taken to not provide any evidence whatsoever of the batsman's abilities.
Full postAggression or just plain petulance?
I'm not huge fan of coaches, and I have said so on this blog
Samir Chopra
25-Feb-2013
I'm not huge fan of coaches, and I have said so on this blog. Part of the reason is the
mind-numbingly inane remarks that pepper most of their conversations with the press. After reading Duncan Fletcher's pronouncements on the latest tantrum thrown by Stuart Broad, I think I've been entirely justified in the snappiness of my remarks (ok, he is an ex-coach, but you catch my drift).
Consider for instance, Fletcher's claim that, in throwing the ball at Haider, "Broad was responding to frustration, not pressure. They are completely different things." This sounds like a very sophisticated distinction but in point of fact, it's a sophistical one. Broad was frustrated precisely because he was under pressure. Sportsmen, mediocre ones especially, have a tendency to get frustrated when they are under pressure from their opponents. That's why they slam rackets, curse umpires, or pick fights with spectators and/or other players. It's a sign of weakness, not aggression and it is what distinguishes the greats from the also-rans.
Even more confusing in some ways is Fletcher's suggestion that we not judge Broad on the basis of his on-field displays; that indeed, a "true" picture of his character will be better formed by having access to his dressing-room demeanour. This is again, a vacuous claim couched in the garb of a seemingly holistic approach. Why spectators, who only have access to a player's public performances, and who are engaged in critiquing a player's publicpersona should be be concerned with a player's dressing-room behavior is beyond me. We are critiquing a player's public behavior, aren't we?
Full postThe UDRS and Test cricket
Recently the just-retired Rudi Koertzen opined that the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) should be implemented world-wide in all Test cricket
Samir Chopra
25-Feb-2013
Recently the just-retired Rudi Koertzen opined that the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) should be implemented world-wide in all Test cricket. I personally don't like the UDRS (as it stands) for a variety of reasons: the technology does not work as well as it should; it has been introduced prematurely into the highest form of the game without adequate trials at lower levels; and more sentimentally, it injects a form of second-guessing into the game that robs one of the elements that makes the game what it is - the dreaded finality of the umpire's raised finger. But I agree with Rudi anyway.
For if the UDRS is to be implemented, and certainly, as matters stand, it will be, then I suggest that it either be implemented in every single test played anywhere in the world, or not at all. This piece-meal implementation, subject to the whims of individual boards and the local availability of technology, is an incoherent state of affairs for a very simple reason. When the UDRS is used in a game of cricket, you simply aren't playing the same game as one in which it is not used.
A game is constituted, and more strongly, defined, by its set of rules. To call a game basketball it is not enough that you play on a court, which has nets on both ends, and is of the right dimensions; the players' activities must be constrained so that what they do on the court is recognisable as 'basketball'. Otherwise (say if contact with the foot was allowed), they are playing some variant, possibly an interesting game in its own right, but it has lost the right to be called basketball.
Full postBegging for mercy
Sometimes, even the cricket-fan-in-exile can be spoiled for choice when it comes to live cricket
Samir Chopra
25-Feb-2013
Sometimes, even the cricket-fan-in-exile can be spoiled for choice when it comes to live cricket. Today, I was presented with the opportunity to watch not one, but two Test matches: India v Sri Lanka and Pakistan v England. So what's an Indian fan like me to do? Watch Pakistan v England of course.
The reason for that goes back some thirty odd years to the late seventies. That's when I became aware that there were an awful lot of drawn games played in India (they were also the years that India played host to a couple of promising, but severely World Series Cricket-weakened teams). But nothing quite drilled that message home like the snorefest of the 1981-82 series against England. I don't think I'm alone in saying that something in me died that year.
Since then, the subcontinent has seen its share of exciting cricket but it's also provided some of the most pointless and turgid games in the history of the game. While it might seem that there have been more of these in recent times (I'm thinking in particular of the India-Pakistan series of 2005-06), I suspect the proportion of drawn games has remained roughly the same over the years. It's just that our collective patience has run out.
Full postViru the Incorrigible
Perhaps he will set himself some new target
Samir Chopra
25-Feb-2013
On 26 December 2003, sitting high up in the stands of the still-under-construction MCG, I watched with dismay as Virender Sehwag, after having gone to 195 with a six off Simon Katich, holed out in an attempt to go for the double-century-clinching six. At that moment, I wasn't sure what I was more upset about: an Indian batsman getting out, missing out on a chance to see a Boxing Day double-hundred scored by an Indian, or even more importantly, the anxiety over a possible collapse. India slid from 278 for 1 to 366 all out [India were 311 for 3 when Sehwag was dismissed]; Australia racked up a huge lead in response, and by the end of the match India had surrendered a precious 1-0 lead in the series. With that, India's best chance of ever winning a series in Australia went down the proverbial drain.
This morning, I woke to find out that Sehwag had gone for 99, rushing out to a spinner to get a six and his ton, and merely earning himself a stumping in the process. India were 165 for no loss (in response to a Sri Lankan score of 642 for 4) and promptly subsided to 173 for 3). Thanks to the Tendulkar-Raina stand, all is not lost for India yet but there is still plenty of time left in this game. They could still go down 0-2 by the game's end.
So, shall we all do a Boycott, and ask for a look at Viru's cranium to see if there is anything in there? I might but if I did, my interests would lie in the direction of checking to see if there was anything in there that I could possibly emulate. I wouldn't mind being in a position where I get to score Test centuries thrice in a row, and miss out on the fourth one by a solitary run.
Full postCricket and the World Cup
The sights and sounds of a World Cup football game are among the most enthralling in sport
Samir Chopra
25-Feb-2013
The sights and sounds of a World Cup football game are among the most enthralling in sport
© Getty ImagesI read Rahul Bhattacharya's "where is my love for cricket gone" piece with great interest. Like him, in recent times, I've experienced a rather dismaying loss of interest in the great game.
Last year, I could not be bothered to pay attention to the India-West Indies one-day internationals, and this year, I barely took note of the Asia Cup. Given the Asia Cup involved India playing Pakistan, I should have been more enthused, but the emotional roller-coaster that I associate with those encounters was missing. And it is not just with ODIs that I'm finding it hard to get excited about. The South Africa-West Indies series also failed to evoke serious interest on my part: I had subscribed for a broadband video package but spent most of this last Test thinking about, and watching football.
I mention football deliberately because La Copa Mundial brought me two things that I've been missing (rather desperately) in a lot of recent international cricket: a physical environment that places the game in an appropriately dramatic setting and a meaningfulness associated with each game. (I know a lot of folks aren't happy with the number of goals scored and the refereeing, but that for now, is besides the point).
Full postCricket in gator country
The significance of the Sri Lanka versus New Zealand bilateral T20 series, which is due to kick off on May 22nd, is considerably enhanced by a quick look at the location of their clash: Central Broward Regional Park, Lauderhill, Florida; a classic
Samir Chopra
25-Feb-2013
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| The New Zealand - Sri Lanka series could open the door for cricket to take root in the US © CCUSA |
The significance of the Sri Lanka versus New Zealand bilateral T20 series, which is due to kick off on May 22nd, is considerably enhanced by a quick look at the location of their clash: Central Broward Regional Park, Lauderhill, Florida; a classic "no-bad-seats-in-the-house" ballpark common in the minor-league baseball world.
International cricket has finally arrived in the US. And unsurprisingly it is the T20 variant that has breached the ramparts and made it over the top.
There are several reasons why this development should be of interest. Firstly, a new international venue in a minor cricketing country always holds the potential to broaden cricket's player and fan base (success in Florida might see the development of a parallel situation in California).
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