The Buzz
Everest match drowns in red tape
It's good to know that the prevalence and strength of red tape isn't affected by altitude
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
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It's good to know that the prevalence and strength of red tape isn't affected by altitude. The British group that was flying, driving and trekking for 11 days to play cricket on Mount Everest – see the Buzz entry two blogs ago – has been turned away by Nepalese conservation officials.
They were aiming to play a Twenty20 match more than three miles above sea level in what would be the highest altitude recorded for an organised field sport. But the touring party has been refused access to the Sagarmatha National Park and was told nobody was allowed to play cricket inside the protected area.
It seems the Brits have been caught in the middle of a power struggle between the Minister for Forest and Land Conservation, who said they could play, and the national park’s management, which said they couldn’t. The match was due to go ahead next week, which means the players have a few days to try and sort out the bungle.
Full postDirty Harry to be at IPL opening ceremony?
The celebrity quotient during the opening ceremony of the inaugural IPL may have been provided by biggies from Bollywood but the tournament's shift to South Africa could lend it an international flavour this time around.
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
The celebrity quotient during the opening ceremony of the inaugural IPL may have been provided by biggies from Bollywood but the tournament's shift to South Africa could lend it an international flavour this time around.
Reports suggest Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman - who are working on the Human Factor, a film on how Nelson Mandela used the 1995 rugby World Cup win to help heal post-apartheid race relations - are among the headliners at this year’s ceremony. If true, one of the organisers’ tasks will be to stop them from doing a Groucho Marx (asking “When does the game itself begin?” while watching the match). Pop star George Michael and alternative rock band Snow Patrol are other names being bandied about - though curiously no mention has been made of cricket's biggest rockstar fans, Mick Jagger and his fellow Rolling Stones. Ah well, you can't always get what you want...
Full postCricket on Everest
How far would you go to play cricket
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
How far would you go to play cricket? A group of 50 people set out from Lord’s on Friday to play a Twenty20 match on Mount Everest in the Himalayas, the Times reported. They’ll get to their venue, a frozen lake near an Everest base camp called Gorak Shep (“dead raven” in the Sherpas' language), after 11 days of flying, driving and trekking to reach a plateau more than three miles above sea level - the highest altitude recorded for a field sport.
The teams – appropriately named Hillary and Tenzing – will use wooden stumps and bats, a pink leather ball, and an artificial pitch. The thin air is expected to make the player’s hearts beat 30% faster than usual and after their efforts they will take a proper British cricket tea and raise the Union Jack in the Queen’s honour. And oh, the game is being played for charity, with over £250,000 expected to be raised for the Himalayan Trust and the Lord's Taverners.
Full postIs that a pirate at Lord's?
Spectators are going to be allowed to wear fancy dress at Lord’s for the first time ever during the World Twenty20 in June and some of the MCC members are not happy about it
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Spectators are going to be allowed to wear fancy dress at Lord’s for the first time ever during the World Twenty20 in June and some of the MCC members are not happy about it. Lord’s will relax its strict regulations on attire, in effect since the 18th century, and will join other fancy-dress friendly venues such as the Oval, Trent Bridge and Taunton.
“The Aussie guys can come with yellow wigs, the South Africans can come dressed all in green,” Steve Elworthy, the tournament director, told the Times. “We want to encourage that and we want people to have fun. If they come in a costume, that will be allowed.”
The move is aimed at attracting a younger audience and some of the old timers are bristling. “It's bloody ridiculous,” said Len Osborn, 83 and a member of MCC for more than 30 years. “They will lower the tone of the place.” He need not worry though, for once the World Twenty20 is over, Lord’s will once again not permit pirates, super heroes and fairy-tale characters through its gates.
Full postRight on cue
Snooker has been one of sport's more traditional games, which is perhaps why it's taken the cue from another traditional sport to reinvent itself
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
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Snooker has been one of sport's more traditional games, which is perhaps why it's taken the cue from another traditional sport to reinvent itself. Impressed by the success of cricket's Twenty20 format, World Snooker chairman Rodney Walker is adapting the principles to draw new fans to the green baize tables. Outlining his plans in the Guardian he said the new format - tentatively dubbed 'Super6s' - would feature balls of only six colours (as opposed to eight), with games intended to last an average of six or seven minutes.
The game is due to be trialled at this month's World Championships in Sheffield with a ‘Legends v Rising Stars’ tournament.
"As an observer of snooker you cannot churn out the same diet year after year,” Walker said. “Look at what Twenty20 has done for cricket. It has brought in a whole new audience so what we have in mind we think would be appealing to a younger audience.”
Full postA field of dreams left incomplete
The 1980’s film Arthur’s Hallowed Ground tells the story of a possessive curator who has tended the same school cricket field for half a century and strives to bring to fruition his idea of a perfect pitch, against the wishes of his seniors who
Siddhartha Talya
25-Feb-2013
The 1980’s film Arthur’s Hallowed Ground tells the story of a possessive curator who has tended the same school cricket field for half a century and strives to bring to fruition his idea of a perfect pitch, against the wishes of his seniors who want him to create a track which suits the struggling home team. Auckland businessman Derek Evennett faces no such obstacles, for he owns the Coatesville Cricket Ground, the realisation of his own ambition to create the ideal cricketing venue.
Bought at a price of NZ$1.06 million, the ground was built to international specifications, with 70-metre boundaries, and has played host to several club and school-level matches. However, Evennett, who has spent a lifetime playing and umpiring the game around the world, has regrettably stopped short of taking the next step – building a pavilion. He has instead put it up on sale, hoping for another “fanatic” to step in and complete the task. Arthur didn’t own his ground but his devotion to it imbued him with a sense of ownership. Evennett, on the other hand, has opted to relinquish his own prized possession and left his dream incomplete.
Full postJesse Ryder's new weapon
Jesse Ryder has a new weapon with which to attack the Indian bowlers but he isn’t planning on using it just yet
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Jesse Ryder has a new weapon with which to attack the Indian bowlers but he isn’t planning on using it just yet. His new sponsor Gray-Nicolls gave Ryder a double-sided bat and some space-age helmets on Wednesday, the Dominion Post reported.
The bats, according to Gray-Nicolls' Cameron Black, “created quite a storm” in Australia after David Warner hit Shaun Tait on to the roof of an Adelaide Oval grandstand. Ryder, however, wasn’t so keen and did not plan to bat with it just yet. “I'm not the best player to be reverse-sweeping, so I don't practise it,” he said. “But I'll give it a go in the nets and see how it goes."
Full postIntroducing ... the Mekong Cricket Ground
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
If the ICC is keen to expand into the Chinese market this might be a good start. According to a report on the Herald Sun website the Melbourne Cricket Ground was to be rebranded the Mekong Cricket Ground “following an audacious naming rights bid by a Chinese construction giant”.
After Melbourne’s other major stadium, the Docklands ground, was renamed Etihad Stadium earlier this year the new MCG moniker was just a bit too much for the patriotic pride of some readers. More than 200 comments had been posted on the story by midday Melbourne time.
Full postKP's dance show request
Players leave tours for plenty of reasons, a common one being the birth of a child, but Kevin Pietersen had a novel one for wanting to leave the Caribbean during the Test series against West Indies
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Players leave tours for plenty of reasons, a common one being the birth of a child, but Kevin Pietersen had a novel one for wanting to leave the Caribbean during the Test series against West Indies. The Sunday Telegraph reported that Pietersen had asked for permission to return home between the third and fourth Tests in order to watch his wife Jessica Taylor, a former Liberty X singer, take part in the television show Dancing on Ice.
He only wanted to go home for 48 hours but his request was refused by the team management. “It was deemed best that he stayed on tour,” said an ECB spokesman. Perhaps it contributed to Pietersen being at the “end of his tether” by the time the ODIs arrived.
Full postWhat’s in a name?
Don Bradman seemingly knew everything about Australian cricket during decades as a player, administrator, selector and national hero, but he had no idea about the value of his surname
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Don Bradman seemingly knew everything about Australian cricket during decades as a player, administrator, selector and national hero, but he had no idea about the value of his surname. The issue has been discussed in the Supreme Court, with Bradman’s son John suing a law firm for using his father’s eight-letter moniker as "a brand name, like Mickey Mouse".
"He said that he really had no idea that his name would have the commercial value, which it apparently has, and agreed that a fair benefit should flow to the family," the Australian reported John Bradman writing to the firm in 1998. "He also said that while he can contain the use of his name during his lifetime, after his death he would like the family to have a fair say in its use."
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