The Buzz
Etiquette, Dhoni's calling card
If you were to enlist the numerous challenges of being India captain, you certainly wouldn't have included having to deal with a mobile phone (also being used as a voice recorder) going off in front of you during a press conference
Sidharth Monga
25-Feb-2013
If you were to enlist the numerous challenges of being India captain, you certainly wouldn't have included having to deal with a mobile phone (also being used as a voice recorder) going off in front of you during a press conference. That's exactly what happened during MS Dhoni's pre-match conference in Mohali when a phone went off with a Bollywood song as the ring tone. Dhoni, known for his unique way of dealing with situations, answered the call, suggesting – for a second – that it could have been his own phone that was ringing. “Sir, thodi der baad phone kariyega [Please call in a bit].” Little would the caller have known that the India captain would be answering the call. Also, here's hoping the reporter whose phone it actually was, will put the offline mode to use next time.
Full postFifteen year-old is Britain's youngest umpire
Ethan Peel, a 15-year old schoolboy from Oxfordshire, has entered the record books by becoming Britain’s youngest qualified umpire
Nitin Sundar
25-Feb-2013
Ethan Peel, a 15-year old schoolboy from Oxfordshire, has entered the record books by becoming Britain’s youngest qualified umpire. Peel was studying for an intermediate certificate in umpiring at Oxford Brooks University, part of an initiative by the International Institute of Cricket Umpiring and Scoring (IICUS) to recruit youngsters. He had already completed modules on the laws of the game and field management, man management and duty of care. On Saturday, he completed the final phase of qualification when he independently umpired a friendly match between Tiddington and the London-based Nomads, in Oxfordshire.
"It's a good job that I've got parents who get me to games and a supportive coach who has really helped,” Peel said later. “I hope that what I've achieved will lead on to other young lads getting involved in umpiring. It would be nice to progress on to umpiring professional cricket but I'm taking it all one step at a time."
Full postCross fumble ruins champagne moment
Lancashire wicketkeeper Gareth Cross may have held 18 catches for his county this season but he had an embarrassing case of butterfingers at the county’s end-of-season prize-giving ceremony when he dropped the Champagne Moment award and it smashed
Liam Brickhill
25-Feb-2013
Lancashire wicketkeeper Gareth Cross may have held 18 catches for his county this season but he had an embarrassing case of butterfingers at the county’s end-of-season prize-giving ceremony when he dropped the Champagne Moment award and it smashed into pieces. Cross had been awarded the prize for his role in Lancashire’s Twenty20 win against Warwickshire at Old Trafford in June, in which he struck the penultimate ball for six to seal a dramatic five-wicket win, but his joy turned to embarrassment after he was given the trophy and it slipped from his hands and shattered.
Full postParty, the Gayle way
It’s party time in Guyana
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
It’s party time in Guyana. West Indies captain Chris Gayle turned 31 on September 21 and he plans to celebrate it, in style poolside at the Tower Hotel in Guyana over the weekend. It promises to be the ultimate Caribbean party – or, as the organisers call it, “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” (Featuring Peter Ram & Black Rhyno). “I always wanted to do something different for my special day, plus my son is in Guyana and he always wanted me to come spend sometime with his family,” Gayle told the website GuyanaLive.com. The organisers say several West Indian cricketers are likely to attend the bash and Gayle is likely to be in entertainer mode - singing as well as deejaying. The cost of attending? A cool 5000 Guyanese dollars (US$24.31).
Full postKids still have faith in cricket
It is a glimmer of hope amid the shadow cast by the spot-fixing allegations and controversy
Liam Brickhill
25-Feb-2013
It is a glimmer of hope amid the shadow cast by the spot-fixing allegations and controversy. Most youngsters in England still have faith in cricket despite the damage done to the game’s reputation by the ongoing saga around corruption and illegal betting, a survey of secondary school children has suggested.
In a poll of 510 children aged 11 to 18, nearly two-thirds (63%) say they don’t think all matches are fixed while six in 10 children who watch cricket on TV or go to see games live say they will continue to do so, despite the controversy. Nearly half of children (45%) think ‘cricket is a fair game and trust the people who play it’ compared to a fifth (19%) who disagree.
The negative media reports have been damaging, though, say two thirds of children (51% think ‘quite damaging’, 14% ‘very damaging’) and over half of kids (57%) believe this kind of alleged betting in cricket matches ‘takes place all over the world’, including England (9%). A fifth of children think cricket is now ‘a corrupt game’.
The majority of respondents (61%) think educating children on the values of the Spirit of Cricket - playing hard, playing fair and not cheating – is key. Asked if they would, as an international cricketer, agree to fix a match or an element of a match, in return for money, 68% of children said ‘no’, 12% said ‘yes’, while 20% were unsure.
Full postBracken impressed by little Bolt
Cricket lost Usain Bolt, whose bowling Courtney Walsh described as “Test-match fast”, to athletics, but his brother, Sadeeki Bolt, could have some sort of a career in the game
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Cricket lost Usain Bolt, whose bowling Courtney Walsh described as “Test-match fast”, to athletics, but his brother, Sadeeki Bolt, could have some sort of a career in the game. Sadeeki has played for Jamaica's youth XI and, on a recent trip to Australia, he impressed New South Wales players Nathan Bracken and Burt Cockley during a net session at the SCG. Bracken said he would recommend that his Sydney club, Eastern Suburbs, bring Sadeeki on board as its grade-cricket import.
“He's played for Jamaica, so he obviously has a good skills set, but he also bowled about 120kmh, and I was very impressed by his batting technique,'' Bracken told the Sydney Morning Herald. ''He's an allrounder, and I'm going to talk to Easts [Eastern Suburbs club].''
''Scary, man,'' said 400-metres Commonwealth Games champion, John Steffensen, who faced a few deliveries. ''Sadeeki is fast and scary.''
Full postDaniel Vettori, MS
It’s been raining accolades for New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
It’s been raining accolades for New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori. Earlier this month he won three of New Zealand Cricket's major awards for the 2009-10 season. And on Thursday night he was presented with an honorary Master of Science (Sport and Exercise Science) by Wintec in Hamilton.
Incidentally Vettori, the teenager, had planned to do a first-year course at Waikato University in health science, working towards a pharmacy degree. That was of course, before cricket took a complete hold over his life. "It's been a while since I've had to sit an exam so I'm very glad I haven't had to work too hard to get this,” he said.
Vettori joins Wintec's elite group of honoraries, which includes Sir Edmund Hillary, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, Colin Meads and the Topp Twins.
Full postEngland's camp secret?
England's preparation for the upcoming Ashes series in Australia is on in full swing
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
England's preparation for the upcoming Ashes series in Australia is on in full swing. And we're not just talking about John Buchanan switching sides to help England - nor even listening to headbangers AC/DC to focus while batting. It's the (now-traditional) pre-Ashes bonding trip, which will be held at a secret location later this month, according to The Sun. The players have reportedly been told to keep their schedules clear from September 24-28. The English team had gone to Belgium and visited the World War One battlefields at Flanders just before last year's 2-1 Ashes series victory in England. Last year's trip was cloaked in secrecy and this year it seems to be no different, with only captain Andrew Strauss, coach Andy Flower and a couple of the senior management staff said to be in the know. The focus of the trip is likely to be part-educational, part bonding and will not be cricket-centric. Enough time for that later on!
Full postNo-balls for a good cause?
Every cloud does have a silver lining
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
Every cloud does have a silver lining. Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir may currently be the bad boys of international Cricket but PETA, the US-based animal rights group, wants the cricketers - of "no-ball" infamy - to be part of a positive "fixing attempt". The group said it had written to Butt, Riaz, Asif and Aamir, asking them to feature in a TV and print campaign, aimed at showing that "no-balls", off-the field, can be a lifesaver and not a crime. "No-balls may be a bad thing in cricket, but for dogs and cats, no-balls are a lifesaver," said PETA, in a letter, a copy of which was sent to AFP. The letter goes on to say that "because of unchecked breeding and a lack of good homes, millions of dogs and cats all over the world languish in animal shelters or are euthanised every year and 'fixing' dogs and cats by having them spayed or neutered is the key to ending this suffering."
Full postHadlee not invited for NZC awards
He is one of the finest fast bowlers the world has seen and arguably the greatest cricketer to emerge from New Zealand
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
He is one of the finest fast bowlers the world has seen and arguably the greatest cricketer to emerge from New Zealand. His spell of 9 for 52 that decimated Australia in Brisbane 25 years ago is a part of cricketing legend. Yet none of them seems enough for New Zealand Cricket; according to a report in One News, not only is Hadlee’s Brisbane performance not being honoured at NZC’s annual cricket awards ceremony, he hasn’t even been invited to the event.
When asked about this glaring omission, Justin Vaughan, chief executive of NZC said, “I’m not sure whether he got invited or not. We can’t invite every great player.” Wasn't it an oversight given Hadlee is the only cricketer from New Zealand in the ICC Hall of Fame? Vaughan replied, “No I don’t think so. We do this every year. Sir Richard gets invited to the Chappell-Hadlee games every time which is just fitting considering it is named after the Hadlees.” Ironically, the trophy for ODI batting, named after Walter Hadlee, Richard’s father, will be presented at the ceremony by Ricki Herbert, coach of the All Whites.
Full post