The Buzz
Jaffa for Jaffna
High-profile cricket is all set to make its debut in Jaffna after years of a bitter and bloody civil war
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
High-profile cricket is all set to make its debut in Jaffna after years of a bitter and bloody civil war. The Northern Province, of which Jaffna is the capital, is among the seven teams that will be part of the Sri Lankan Premier League (SLPL) Twenty20 tournament beginning on July 19. “The decision to include Northern Province as one of the teams was taken to promote the game in the region, where the talent pool has been largely untapped because of years of fighting,” Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Nishantha Ranatunga told the Indian Express. “Since the end of the war, we have tried to promote the game in the Northern and North-Eastern Province.”
There have been ongoing efforts over the past year to develop cricket in the region with plans to construct two turf wickets at selected Jaffna schools. “Over 20 qualified coaches have been working to promote the game through the Jaffna Schools Cricket Association and the Jaffna District Cricket Association. Former fast bowler Ravindra Pushpakumara has been in charge of coaching in the Northern Province over the past year and the talent is very promising,” Ranatunga said. Sri Lanka’s cricketers have been doing their bit in Jaffna with former batsman Aravinda de Silva having been involved in school cricket training programmes, while the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara were involved in relief efforts when the tsunami struck the region in 2005.
Full postKieswetter's "car tweet"
Craig Kieswetter was forced into damage limitation mode after seemingly posting a picture on twitter while driving on the motorway.
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
Craig Kieswetter was forced into damage limitation mode after seemingly posting a picture on twitter while driving on the motorway.
On Wednesday he tweeted the following message: "My view right now", followed by a link to a picture taken out of the car's windscreen.
The following day Kieswetter had seemingly cleared his twitter account, kiesy22, which showed no followers and though it said 198 tweets were listed none was available to view.
However, a search of the internet brings up archived versions of his tweets, including one where he said: "Just so everyone knows! That picture wasn't taken by me in my car! Mate took it over my shoulder! Very silly."
Full postParore's 'Himalayan' task
Former New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Parore is just days away from scaling the biggest challenge of his sporting career - the Mt
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
Former New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Parore is just days away from scaling the biggest challenge of his sporting career - the Mt. Everest. According to a report in the Dominion Post, Parore, who is is climbing the world's highest mountain to raise funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, left for Nepal on March 27 in a bid to train and acclimatise for the task. However his first attempt to reach the summit ended in disappointment, as the climbing group had to turn back because of 50kph-to-60kph winds and poor weather forecast for what was to have been their summit day, May 14. Parore, who has been regularly updating a Facebook page while trying to scale the 8848m mountain, wrote about the first failed attempt, after the group returned to base camp. "All up a 16-hour day – Sherpa-esque. 1000m up, 2000m down and about 15km covered all up. 100 calories intake, about 20,000 expended. I was a bit tired after that. Unsurprisingly I slept like a dead man. Strangely I woke yesterday morning feeling 100%, like I normally do at sea level. Go figure? I feel better now than before we left for the summit."
However, he posted on Sunday that the the group was heading off at two in the morning "for another crack at the big girl". Parore said the group was expecting to summit about mid-day on Saturday, all things equal. "Same drill as last week except we are hoping the weather window holds this time. I was just thinking that it all seemed a little easy – not any more. Everest the hard way we're calling it. Fingers crossed for blue skys and happy trails," he posted.
Full postThieves steal D'Oliveira medals
Thieves raiding the main members pavilion at New Road have made off with medals and artefacts that had belonged to former England and Worcestershire allrounder Basil D’Oliveira
Liam Brickhill
25-Feb-2013
Thieves raiding the main members pavilion at New Road have made off with medals and artefacts that had belonged to former England and Worcestershire allrounder Basil D’Oliveira. The items, which included D'Oliveira's Man of the Match medal from the 1973 Benson and Hedges Cup final against Kent at Lord's, a silver goblet and a presentation card, were taken from a display highlighting the South African-born D'Oliveira's distinguished career.
"These items are of great sentimental value,” Damien D'Oliveira, Basil’s son who is himself a former Worcestershire player and now the county's academy director, told Press Association Sport. "We were asked by the county's Heritage Society to lend them for a display in the pavilion during the winter. It is a shame someone has done this. The items are not of great value financially and we hope they will be returned."
Full postSeeking divine inspiration
It isn’t often that Himachal Pradesh stages high-profile cricket matches at the picturesque stadium in Dharamsala so the local officials are doing everything possible to make the three upcoming IPL matches there a success
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
It isn’t often that Himachal Pradesh stages high-profile cricket matches at the picturesque stadium in Dharamsala so the local officials are doing everything possible to make the three upcoming IPL matches there a success. There’s only one thing beyond their control – the weather. Last year’s game between the “home” side, Kings XI Punjab, and Chennai Super Kings and was preceded by thundershowers and the weathermen have forecast scattered rain in the area once again. So, ahead of Sunday’s game between Punjab and Delhi Daredevils, the HP cricket association has turned to greater powers to ensure a smooth match.
Apart from fire rituals to appease the weather gods the HPCA has also constructed a big concrete gate dedicated to Lord Indrunag [the rain god in the hills]. During last season the HPCA had organised a yajna [a fire-based religious ceremony] at the Indrunag temple that overlooks the stadium with over 2000 cricket fans participating in it. And there are plans to organise one more such ceremony before the May 15 game. But god helps those who help themselves, so the ground now boasts a more efficient drainage system, four water-sopping machines and a lightweight plastic sheet that can cover the entire ground in five minutes. Time for the cricketers to do their bit.
Full postMaking music is uppermost on Sreesanth's mind
With the IPL heading into crunch time and India’s tour of the West Indies looming on the horizon, you’d expect India’s cricketers to be focused on, well, cricket
Tariq Engineer
25-Feb-2013
With the IPL heading into crunch time and India’s tour of the West Indies looming on the horizon, you’d expect India’s cricketers to be focused on, well, cricket. And that’s true for 99.9% of them. The exception? Sreesanth, whose band S36 (the name tattooed on his neck) are planning a show in Singapore around the end of May and a second show in Dubai early in June. India’s tour of the West Indies starts on June 4.
“After the IPL, if there aren't any matches, then I shall be travelling with my band to do a show in Dubai," Sreesanth told the Times of India. "I am crazy about music and dance, and it has always been a dream to start my own band. And now finally, I have formed one!"
He also said he’d have an arranged marriage once his playing career was over and that he is working on building 8-pack abs, inspired by his elder brother Dipu, who already has an 8-pack and is currently working on a South Indian film.
Full postDressing room or doll’s house?
Rajasthan Royals have a new team member
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Rajasthan Royals have a new team member. No, they’ve not brought in an injury replacement, nor has Shane Warne unearthed another obscure talent and signed him up. The latest addition to the team is about a foot tall, wears pink and comes with a commemorative cap – her name’s Pinky and the plastic doll is Warne’s latest motivational tool – or an innovation to keep his team-mates on their toes. The punishment for anyone breaking a team rule – coming late for a team meeting, for example – is Pinky and a cap with the words ‘you banana’ splashed across the front. The offender then has to wear the cap and carry the doll with him – all the while following “doll rules” – at all times, be it at the ground, on the team bus or on a flight between games, until someone else goofs up.
Ross Taylor was the first to take charge of Pinky, and has been followed by Shaun Tait, Johan Botha and Warne himself. It’s not all bad news, though: Botha took charge of Pinky after refusing to participate in the team’s ‘dancing activities’ but churned out a Man-of-the-Match winning performance against Mumbai Indians while in possession of her. Not enough to convince his team-mate Amit Singh: “I’ve been lucky that I haven’t got Pinky,” he told Mumbai Mirror. “And I don’t want to commit mistakes.”
Full postCommentator rattled by smashing shot
The veteran BBC Wales commentator Edward Bevan felt the full force of Peter Trego’s 59-ball century for Somerset against Glamorgan at Taunton on Monday, when one of the batsman’s six sixes smashed through the commentary box window and struck him in
Andrew Miller
25-Feb-2013
The veteran BBC Wales commentator Edward Bevan felt the full force of Peter Trego’s 59-ball century for Somerset against Glamorgan at Taunton on Monday, when one of the batsman’s six sixes smashed through the commentary box window and struck him in the small of the back.
Bevan, who was on air at the time, had just enough time to say: “It’s coming up towards us, is it going to hit us?” before the sound of smashing glass confirmed his fears. There followed several seconds of silence before Bevan’s co-commentator, Steve James, took over the microphone.
It was the third time in his long career that Bevan’s commentary stint had been interrupted in such a manner, but the first time outside of Cardiff. "It hit me on the back and I was quite shaken for a while," he told the BBC, after briefly losing sight of the ball. "There's a bruise there this morning - in fact I couldn't carry on.”
"Steve next to me turned round and the thing came through the window," he added. “As I turned so it wouldn't hit my face or head, it hit me in the small of the back, which wasn't nice. Had I stayed where I was the consequences would have been much worse.”
Full postThe IPL is now a comic strip
Considering the IPL has a team dressed in purple and orange, and cheerleaders wearing saris, it’s pretty amazing no one has thought of turning the whole hoopla into a comic strip before
Dustin Silgardo
25-Feb-2013
Considering the IPL has a team dressed in purple and orange, and cheerleaders wearing saris, it’s pretty amazing no one has thought of turning the whole hoopla into a comic strip before. Chennai Super Kings have finally clued in and have launched ‘Chennai Super Komics’, based on their team and players, available in stores in India for Rs 40 a copy. The books are aimed at fans under the age of 10 according to their head of marketing Rakesh Singh. In the inaugural edition, Lion of Chepauk, Dhoni rescues a street puppy that goes on to become the team’s lucky mascot.
Full post‘Malaria’ in the Rajasthan Royals dressing room
Shane Warne’s routine of dishing out nicknames to his Rajasthan Royals team-mates continues with Ashok Menaria being christened ‘Doxy’
Nikita Bastian
25-Feb-2013
Shane Warne’s routine of dishing out nicknames to his Rajasthan Royals team-mates continues with Ashok Menaria being christened ‘Doxy’. How did the name come about, you ask? It has everything to do with Warne’s fear of Malaria, and the anti-malarial drug he has stocked up on - Doxycycline. The story goes, Warne, who had trouble pronouncing Menaria’s name, called the allrounder Doxy, as his surname sounded like the mosquito-borne ailment.
“Since Shane is scared of Malaria, when he first met me he jokingly asked if it is Menaria or Malaria,” Menaria said. “When he came here, he brought a lot of medicines, mostly Doxycycline. So, I was named Doxy after the drug.”
Much like in the previous IPL seasons, Warne’s innovative team-building exercises also continue. “Like in the first edition of the IPL, he has nicknamed the players, and also formed groups of three with a leader for every team activity. This helps with infusing confidence, leadership qualities and sense of responsibility in players.”
Full post