The Buzz
BBC apologise for Boycott outburst
Even when not on air commentators need to be careful about what they say
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
Even when not on air commentators need to be careful about what they say. The BBC has been forced to apologise after a foul-mouthed outburst from Geoff Boycott was heard by listeners to Test Match Special during the fourth one-day international at Port Elizabeth.
Boycott was picked up shouting “f****** t****r'' at about the time England took their sixth wicket while bowling out South Africa for 119. It’s unclear whether it was a comment on the batting, bowler or nothing related to the match.
A Radio 5 Live spokesman said: “An off-air comment made by Geoffrey Boycott
In a live broadcast was heard by some listeners which we apologised for as soon
As we realised it had been audible.''
Full postRevel without a cause
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
Ryder's in the storm, yet again. Jesse Ryder made the front page of the Dominion Post on Thursday after his neighbours in Lower Hutt complained he was hosting noisy parties where guests vomited and urinated on their property. The report also also said the neighbours were kept awake by party-goers doing burnouts on the street, and that festivities often continued from Thursday to Sunday.
While Ryder doesn't have a good-boy reputation - fined an unspecified amount last month for verbally abusing team manager Dave Currie after being dismissed in the 2009 Champions Trophy match against Sri Lanka, a highly publicised drunken incident during his debut ODI series against England in February last year, punching a pub window before abusing hospital staff after a match in Christchurch, standing down for an ODI against West Indies after sleeping through a team meeting - this latest incident would certainly be a cause for alarm for New Zealand Cricket (NZC), which has looked to keep a tight rein on him
Full postBotham set to mark tsunami anniversary
Sir Ian Botham is set to take a break from his commentary duties in South Africa to return to Sri Lanka with the Laureus Sport for Good foundation, where he will mark the fifth anniversary of the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004.
Andrew Miller
25-Feb-2013
Sir Ian Botham is set to take a break from his commentary duties in South Africa to return to Sri Lanka with the Laureus Sport for Good foundation, where he will mark the fifth anniversary of the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004.
In early 2005, Botham was one of the first high-profile cricketers to travel to the worst-affected areas on the south of the island to assess the damage and raise awareness. “Nothing prepared me for what I saw there,” he writes in his Laureus blog. “What made it even more horrifying was that I had been to these places before. In 2003 when I was covering cricket for Sky TV, I stayed at a house just along the beach from Galle – it wasn’t there anymore!
“The fishermen, the market stalls along the road, the other houses on the coast, they had all gone. The cricket ground looked like the surface of the moon. I can still recall the clock on the old Test ground in Galle frozen at ‘9.25am’ on December 26.”
Full postWell bald, Shane!
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
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Shane Warne looks to be heading towards another controversy, this time over his latest campaign for a hair replacement company. Advanced Hair Studio's advertisements have, down the years, focused on Warne and Graham Gooch's strand-by-strand replacement success, but the new ad implied that laser hair treatments produced the same results.
The advertisements have been banned by an advertising watchdog over their misleading content, Eurosport reported. It featured Warne with the line: ‘I stopped worrying about my hair when I heeded the Warne-ing signs [it should have been banned for that pun alone] and saw Advanced Hair Studio’, and was found contentious by the Advertising Standards Agency. Well bald, Shane!
Full postThe Friends Provident Strimmer
Andrew Miller
25-Feb-2013
A group of financial advisors were given an unexpected surprise at a seminar in Leeds on Tuesday, when the centrepiece of a presentation by the cricket-sponsoring insurance company, Friends Provident, was accidentally switched in transit.
Delegates at the Tenet Group Annual Conference at the Queens Hotel in the city centre had been expecting to view the FP Trophy itself, which was won by Hampshire in last season’s final at Lord’s. Instead they were offered ... a strimmer.
Full postWaiting for Ganguly
Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, and Sourav Ganguly will arrive late
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, and Sourav Ganguly will arrive late. His aversion for punctuality made news when he kept Steve Waugh waiting at the toss during Australia’s 2001 tour and, in Bengal’s ongoing Ranji Trophy match against Saurashtra, Ganguly kept his team-mates waiting at Eden Gardens for over an hour.
This time, however, it was not to irk anybody for Ganguly was receiving treatment for a back spasm he suffered in the morning. The umpires did not allow a substitute and Bengal fielded with ten men for an hour and were even reduced to nine at one point when bowler Ashok Dinda went off the field for an over.
Full postTwenty20 - the new weapon in crime-fighting
Twenty20 cricket has been accused of all sorts of crimes against civilised behaviour in its short but eventful existence, but now - in a bizarre development - a police chief in England has held the format up as the perfect role-model in the fight
Andrew Miller
25-Feb-2013
Twenty20 cricket has been accused of all sorts of crimes against civilised behaviour in its short but eventful existence, but now - in a bizarre development - a police chief in England has held the format up as the perfect role-model in the fight against anti-social behaviour.
“Twenty20 games are exciting and stimulating and that's what we want for our staff," said Julia Hodson, Nottinghamshire’s chief constable, at the launch of the force’s Policing for You with 20/20 Vision project.
Quite what all this has to do with fours, sixes and Powerplays remains to be explained. According to the Nottingham Evening Post, the project involves 70 Notts policemen being recruited to tackle serious volume crime and anti-social behaviour across the county.
The officers normally deal with such issues as firearms offences, public order, crowd control, suspect and illegal property searches and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology. They will now work alongside colleagues dealing with day-to-day violence, burglary, robbery and Duckworth/Lewis calculations.
Full postKP is the daddy ... soon
Kevin Pietersen is set to become a father for the first time next summer, after it was confirmed on Monday night that his pop-star wife, Jessica Taylor, is three months’ pregnant.
Andrew Miller
25-Feb-2013
Kevin Pietersen is set to become a father for the first time next summer, after it was confirmed on Monday night that his pop-star wife, Jessica Taylor, is three months’ pregnant.
Pietersen, who has just returned to international action after a four-month lay-off for Achilles surgery, said to be “ecstatic and thrilled” at the news. He and Taylor, a former singer with Liberty X, have been known as the “Posh and Becks of cricket” since their wedding in December 2007.
“They are both very excited about the news and have told families and friends that they don’t want to know the baby’s sex in advance,” a friend told The Daily Mail. “All is well, and they are looking forward to next summer.”
The timing of the arrival could prove problematic for England, however. The birth is due to coincide with England’s home Test series against Bangladesh in late May.
Full postChanders preparing for bouncer barrage
Maybe Shivnarine Chanderpaul reads the paper, maybe he doesn’t
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Maybe Shivnarine Chanderpaul reads the paper, maybe he doesn’t. But a couple of hours after comments from Ricky Ponting and Peter Siddle that Chanderpaul might not cope with the short ball on the bouncier Australian pitches, the left-hander was in the nets at Allan Border Field being peppered by bouncers.
There was no danger – it was tennis balls flying from the bowling machine - but tiny Chanderpaul was increasing his reaction time by standing a couple of metres outside the crease. His footwork was sharp and he was generally untroubled, mostly ducking but also playing the occasional pull. He looked ready.
After 121 Tests Chanderpaul knows what he is doing and has proved himself a man for any surface. The Australians are desperate to find a weakness because he batted for more than 18 hours the last time the sides met in a three-Test series.
Full postRazzaq beaten in flight
Cricketers have stated some unusual excuses for missing games
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Cricketers have stated some unusual excuses for missing games. Pakistan’s Abdul Razzaq had one of his own when he didn’t show up at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur for Abahani’s Premier Division Cricket League match against Gazi Tank. The allrounder apparently failed to get on the flight to Dhaka for the match thanks to a false tip-off from an anonymous caller that the match was cancelled due to Eid holidays.
"What we learnt is that someone from Dhaka, in the name of an Abahani official, gave him a call and told that the league matches will resume after the Eid vacation and that's why he cancelled his ticket,” Jalal Yunus, vice-chairman of Abahani's cricket committee, told the Daily Star. “He took the decision from the airport but surprisingly he didn't even check with the agent.”
Yunus added that the identity of that caller is still a mystery, and that attempts to get Razzaq in the next available flight had failed. Timed out.
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