The Buzz
Sourav's second innings
What was probably the cricket world’s worst kept secret became public knowledge on Wednesday: Sourav Ganguly will join the ranks of former players-turned-commentators during the World Twenty20
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
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What was probably the cricket world’s worst kept secret became public knowledge on Wednesday: Sourav Ganguly will join the ranks of former players-turned-commentators during the World Twenty20. Ganguly, among the most controversial, colourful and outspoken cricketers of his generation, will be part of ESPN-Star’s heavyweight panel for the tournament and will be doing commentary stints in the knockout stages. His new colleagues will include Nasser Hussain, a sparring partner from Ganguly’s glory days as India captain – on the same day that Ganguly twirled his shirt on the Lord’s Balcony, Hussain had pointed his bat, well, rather pointedly at the media – and Ian Chappell, a critic of Ganguly’s captaincy style but not of course to the extent his brother was. Ganguly can be both petulant and charming but the hope is that he speaks his mind, as has been his wont.
Full postOpen slather on redhead Ronnie
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
It’s one thing for an Australian cricketer to take jibes from the English press but from an Australian selector? Andrew McDonald was recently compared to Ronald McDonald by Bob Willis and the Sun accordingly mocked up a photo of the allrounder with the fast-food clown’s head.
McDonald has been nicknamed Ronnie for years and he thinks the least Willis could do would be to come up with a more inventive taunt. “Pretty original, Bob, obviously over six foot tall, redhead and last name McDonald,” he told AAP. “It's quite original, I've never heard it before.”
Full postEngland wear a good cause on their sleeves
With no shirt branding permitted during the ICC World Twenty20, England’s cricketers have chosen instead to wear a good cause on their sleeves for the duration of the tournament.
Andrew Miller
25-Feb-2013
With no shirt branding permitted during the ICC World Twenty20, England’s cricketers have chosen instead to wear a good cause on their sleeves for the duration of the tournament.
“Cricket Against Hunger” is a partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), whose aim is to raise awareness of the problem of global hunger.
England’s teams have frequently been involved with the WFP on recent tours, most notably in Sri Lanka two years ago, when they attended a coaching session in Galle, ahead of the first Test to be held in the region since the devastating tsunami of December 2004.
Full postDeath in flight
Given the amount of time birds spend lounging on the outfields of the world’s cricket grounds, it’s a surprise that more don’t get killed by flying balls or speedy fielders.
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
Given the amount of time birds spend lounging on the outfields of the world’s cricket grounds, it’s a surprise that more don’t get killed by flying balls or speedy fielders.
A few do prove too slow to take evasive action - one, a sparrow killed in flight at Lord’s in 1936, was stuffed and is on display in the museum there. Only last season a pigeon was culled by a Matt Nicholson late cut while dozing down at third man at The Oval.
But few have been as unlucky as the bird splattered while flying across the pitch at Headingley during last weekend’s Twenty20 Roses match. One moment it was contemplating the next statue to perch on, the next it was brought down by a deadly-accurate throw from Jacques Rudolph. Its final ignominy came when it was picked up by Rudolph and dumped on the boundary edge, awaiting collection by the cleaning staff, or the local fox.
The bird may be gone but not forgotten. Its last moments live on thanks to YouTube.
Full postTopley junior drops his chance
For young cricketers the chance to be asked to bowl in the nets at an international team is a dream come true, but for Reece Topley his encounter with Kevin Pietersen had a nasty end.
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
For young cricketers the chance to be asked to bowl in the nets at an international team is a dream come true, but for Reece Topley his encounter with Kevin Pietersen had a nasty end.
During England’s net session at Loughborough a straight drive from Pietersen hit Reece on the ear and left him needing stitches.
Now, if the surname rings a bell you’d be right. Reece’s father is Don Topley, the former Essex cricketer, who became famous when he almost took a brilliant catch while on as substitute against West Indies at Lord’s in 1984 but put his foot on the boundary. He later claimed to know of matches that had been fixed but nothing was proved.
And he showed his caring side when asked about his son’s mishap. “I did suggest to Reece that he might have dropped a catch – to which he replied he had stopped it going for six.”
Full postBy hook or crook
It was hardly a dangerous sequence, but actor John Abraham would have wished he used a body double
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
It was hardly a dangerous sequence, but actor John Abraham would have wished he used a body double. Abraham and India fast bowler L Balaji were filming a cricket training camp scene for the movie Hook Ya Crook when a yorker from Balaji broke the actor’s ankle.
But like a true professional, Abraham continued to shoot. It was much later that an X-ray revealed a fracture. The injury will keep Abraham out of action for 15 days but he has no shooting scheduling during that period.
Abraham received a thumbs-up from Balaji. “The wicket was a bit uneven and the ball hit his ankle, but he was a complete sport, he immediately went back to the pitch and played his next shot. I was very impressed with the kind of shots he played to my bowling,'' Balaji said.
Champion stuff from the ‘reel’ batsman.
Full postMarmite turns red
Marston’s Pedigree, the official beer of the England cricket team, have teamed up with Britain’s favourite bitter-sweet breakfast spread, Marmite
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
Marston’s Pedigree, the official beer of the England cricket team, have teamed up with Britain’s favourite bitter-sweet breakfast spread, Marmite. Out goes the traditional black jar with a yellow lid; in comes a dark-red colour resembling, to our minds at least, a cricket ball.
The “salty spread”, as the Daily Telegraph reported with outstanding elegant variation, have previously produced limited edition versions including one flavoured with champagne, and a Guinness version in 2007.
Who, though, could possibly comment on such a radical change for Britons’ favourite sticky yeast product? Who other than Dickie Bird? "Cricket is like Marmite, entirely eccentric; wholly British and something the rest of the world will never truly understand," he said.
Full postICC's predictions out of this world
The ability of sporting bodies to hype their own products should never be underestimated
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
The ability of sporting bodies to hype their own products should never be underestimated. Rarely does an event seem to pass without it being heralded as the “most watched” in history.
In 2007, the organisers of F1 claimed a global audience of several squillion before someone noted that appeared to assume that everyone in China watched the brief clips on the evening news rather than sat glued to the entire race.
Now Stephen Brenkley in the Independent has pulled up the ICC. Earlier this week it gushed that the World Twenty20 will be seen in 218 countries around the world. He noted that there are only 194 recognised countries on the planet.
Perhaps any readers in Burkina Faso or Tuvalu would let us know how they are enjoying the event?
Full postI can see clearly now ...
It seems that England’s secret weapon against the Australians this summer won’t be the super substitutes of the Duncan Fletcher era
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
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Before the inevitable jibes about the sun never shining in England, there’s a mini heatwave on at the moment (OK, it’s still chilly for most visitors but the British have low heat tolerance) and the forecasters are predicting a hot summer. And scientists have found that the right type of sunglasses could improve catching ability by up to 28%.
Most sunglasses worn by cricketers are too dark, so some clearly underutilised boffins decided after months of painstaking research carried out in bars next to cricket grounds the length and breadth of the land. As a result, players have been told how to optimise their vision by wearing the right coloured lenses for the conditions from a selection of yellow, red, gold, silver and orange.
Alarmingly, the researchers said that one of the people asked to test the sunglasses to assess the impact they made was … er … Monty Panesar. “We wanted to see what improvement they made to their performance and were put through their paces by fielding machines under a range of different lighting conditions,” said an aforementioned boffin.
Full postRed tape alive and well in England
The petty bureaucracy that still blights English cricket reared its ugly head again last month when Ryan Sidebottom’s comeback attempts were blocked by red tape
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
The petty bureaucracy that still blights English cricket reared its ugly head again last month when Ryan Sidebottom’s comeback attempts were blocked by red tape. Recovering from a long-term injury, Sidebottom tried to test his fitness with an outing for Nottinghamshire Premier League side Plumtree, only to be turned down by league officials on the grounds that his appearance would infringe their rules governing player registration.
“I wasn’t ready for a Championship match but I was desperate for a game,” Sidebottom told the Mail on Sunday. “I did find it a bit strange that I couldn’t get a game in my own county.”
He eventually did find someone willing to allow an England international to take to the field and he played for Leek in the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire League. He said he would do so again “given the chance”.
Back down in Surrey, it took endless debates to persuade the people running the Surrey Championship that a teenager good enough to play for his country, a resident for six years and still qualified for Surrey and England, was eligible to play in their league.
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