The Buzz
Burning the scone-sheets
If Hazel Smith had started her cricketing career in a different era, she may well have made a mark with her on-field exploits
Nitin Sundar
25-Feb-2013
If Hazel Smith had started her cricketing career in a different era, she may well have made a mark with her on-field exploits. She was all of 15 when took to cricket in the 1930s, however family commitments nipped her career in the bud and she quit playing five years later. "I was married when I was 20 and in those days you never kept going with your own things, you stopped," she reminisced on her decision.
Relinquishing the whites however did not deter Ms. Smith, who went on to earn her bread in a different field and script her own recipe for success. For 35 years, she has fed boys at the Cameron Cricket Club near Melbourne with home-baked scones and sandwiches. Though scorers have not kept track of her progress, she is believed to have made around 27,000 sandwiches and 20,000 scones over the years. Her efforts were recognized during the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne where she was awarded with an International Cricket Council (ICC) Centenary Volunteer Medal, not in recognition of runs scored or wickets taken, but of scones and sandwiches baked.
Full postA boon or a ban for Dhoni
Everything happens for a reason in MS Dhoni’s life, even a ban for two ODIs due to slow over-rates
Nitin Sundar
25-Feb-2013
Everything happens for a reason in MS Dhoni’s life, even a ban for two ODIs due to slow over-rates. In a cricket-packed calendar, India's wicketkeeper-captain has been on the road interminably, without getting a chance to rest. Where the selectors failed, the match referee Jeff Crowe did not, putting Dhoni out of the action for two matches. Timed perfectly to coincide with his completion of five years in international cricket, the ban gave Dhoni an opportunity to visit Devri temple, about 65 kms from his home-town Ranchi, as a gesture of gratitude to the divine for what has so far been a prosperous and, on most occasions, fortunate career. "He came here to pray for his good luck in international cricket and on the completion of his five years in international cricket," said Amit Panda, a priest. Surely, Dhoni would have also had a word of thanks for the ban – he got a breather while India went on to win both matches comfortably.
Full postYou've got rail
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
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Their ‘track’ records seem to keep getting better. Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly have been presented with lifetime golden family passes by India’s railway minister Mamata Banerjee for their achievements and contribution to Indian cricket.
Presenting the AC first-class passes at a function in Kolkata, where Tendulkar was honoured for completing 20 years in international cricket, Banerjee congratulated the duo for their achievements. She also hoped that Tendulkar would win many more laurels for the country.
"We are giving Sachin a lifetime achievement card from the Railways,” said Banerjee. “He and his family can now travel free all over India throughout their lives in AC first-class coaches.”
Full postPakistan cricketers seek thirst-aid
Funds shortages in Pakistan’s cricketing establishment have affected people in different ways, even during the final of the showpiece domestic tournament, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy
Nitin Sundar
25-Feb-2013
Funds shortages in Pakistan’s cricketing establishment have affected people in different ways, even during the final of the showpiece domestic tournament, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. The Times of India reports that mineral water is off the menu for the players during the five-day game in Karachi; they will instead have to make do with filtered water. That has apparently alarmed Younis Khan, the former Pakistan captain, who is recovering from a stomach bug – he brought along his own water. Similarly discomfited are the match scorers, the custodians of cricket’s most important facts and figures. They have reportedly been denied scoring books by the administrators and are expected to purchase their own stationery.
Full postRicky Ponting and the chamber of secrets
There are not many times Ricky Ponting has been left speechless over his long career
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
There are not many times Ricky Ponting has been left speechless over his long career. But when a reporter put it to him after the Perth Test that he had spent the previous evening in a hyperbaric chamber in an effort to boost his recovery from an elbow tendon injury, Ponting feigned surprise.
"Was I?" he replied. The cogs were turning and he was trying to work out how that little secret might have escaped the dressing-room. The journalist responded: "Apparently. Justin Langer said it on the radio this morning".
For a few seconds Ponting was genuinely lost for words. Eventually, he couldn't keep up the charade, and conceded with a smile: "Yeah, I was actually. Secret's safe with Lang, isn't it, by the sound of things."
Langer is the Australian Test team's batting coach but during his home Test at the WACA he was doubling as a special comments man on the ABC radio commentary. Ponting wasn't thrilled that his treatment was made public, but took it all in good humour. "I'll probably have a few more of those treatments over the next couple of days and if you want to know if I am, just ring Lang and he'll tell you."
Full postNo fourth floor please, we're Indians
Sreesanth has the uncanny knack of attracting attention even when he’s not actually trying
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Sreesanth has the uncanny knack of attracting attention even when he’s not actually trying. The modified itinerary of the Sri Lanka ODI series meant another stop at Nagpur, which hosted the first Twenty20 international.
But when the Indians returned to their team hotel in the city, they made an unusual request not to be booked on the fourth floor because that was where Sreesanth apparently picked up the swine flu virus which confined him to bed while his team-mates were getting hammered on featherbeds.
The Kolkata-based Telegraph has quoted a senior Indian player saying that the team insisted on being booked elsewhere. Apparently, the floor was later allotted to the Sri Lankans, who may have avoided swine flu, but seem to have attracted a plague of injuries instead.
Full postMandela's tribute to Ntini
Tributes continue to pour in for Makhaya Ntini during his 100th Test, but the one he received on the third morning at Centurion Park probably trumps them all, as Nelson Mandela, the former South Africa president, sent him a personal letter.
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
Tributes continue to pour in for Makhaya Ntini during his 100th Test, but the one he received on the third morning at Centurion Park probably trumps them all, as Nelson Mandela, the former South Africa president, sent him a personal letter.
“Hearty congratulations as you play your one hundredth cricket Test,” the letter began. “What you have achieved goes beyond the number of matches you played; you have demonstrated, especially to the youth of our country, that everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do. We are proud of you!”
Ntini received the note shortly before he went out to begin play and said: “I don’t want to get too emotional as I go out to play.”
It certainly didn’t appear to affect him, as in his third over of the morning he extracted Andrew Strauss with a ball that scooted low and took out the off stump. The wicket meant everyone in the crowd was able to go and claim their free beer which was promised by a sponsor whenever Ntini opened his account.
Full postBreaking new ground in umpiring
Once a male bastion, cricket today has made rapid strides in the women’s game, though one aspect of it still remains, perhaps not necessarily intended that way, an exclusive preserve of men – Umpiring
Siddhartha Talya
25-Feb-2013
Once a male bastion, cricket today has made rapid strides in the women’s game, though one aspect of it still remains, perhaps not necessarily intended that way, an exclusive preserve of men – Umpiring. But that too is changing. On Thursday, Shah Praveen Kausar became the first woman from Pakistan to umpire in a competitive game in England. Kausar stood as a field umpire in the Saddleworth and District Cricket League game between Shaw and Friamere Second XI at Holebottom Clough.
Apart from the ease and authority she displayed in her role, her presence on the field also drew courtesy from the players, sparing her umpiring partner the verbal assault he was generally accustomed to hear. “The players were a bit surprised, but they were very courteous towards her and there was no bad language — not even directed at me which was unusual,” Peter Lilley, her co-umpire, told the Oldham Evening Chronicle.
“Shah did very well. She was very competent in everything she did and I think she enjoyed herself,” Lilley said. “She didn’t just stand at square leg, she did a full job.”
Kausar, 50, has umpired both men’s and women’s games in Pakistan. She is expected to umpire a full season in England next year.
Full postBarabati bees get the bird
With sixes flying around at an alarming rate in the India-Sri Lanka series, spectators and fielders alike already have their hands full in trying to stay clear of danger
Nitin Sundar
25-Feb-2013
With sixes flying around at an alarming rate in the India-Sri Lanka series, spectators and fielders alike already have their hands full in trying to stay clear of danger. Those attending the third ODI at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack will be relieved to know they have one less peril to worry about during the game. The stadium has been cleared of bee hives by experts. It’s a chronic problem that first made its presence felt during a Ranji fixture in 2007, forcing the players to lie face down on the ground as the bees passed by, before interrupting the India-England ODI last year. The menace is now a thing of the past - the Orissa Cricket Association assures us that the sting has been removed from their attack.
Full postYounis the coach?
What’s the best way to get back into your national side if the selectors overlook you
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
What’s the best way to get back into your national side if the selectors overlook you? Become a coach. That seems to be the route former Pakistan captain Younis Khan has taken. Passed over for Pakistan’s upcoming tour of Australia, Younis, who is currently on a self-imposed break from cricket, made a surprise appearance at a coaching camp in Lahore on Tuesday. He refused to speak to the media after he completed his course but a “friend” quoted by AFP was more revealing. “Younis wants to get more educated in the game and this doesn't mean he will start coaching,” the friend said. “Younis will be back in international cricket after completing the well-deserved rest.”
But Younis’ commitment to returning to international cricket has been questioned after he failed to appear in domestic games. He was unreachable after the PCB appointed Mohammed Yousuf as his replacement on the Australian tour and had reportedly gone fishing according to the local media. Looks like the hunt for greener pastures is definitely on.
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