The Buzz
Yohan Blake's cricket dreams
Fresh off his silver-winning sprint at the Olympics on Sunday night Yohan Blake declared his next targets
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Fresh off his silver-winning sprint at the Olympics on Sunday night Yohan Blake declared his next targets. Rio 2016 is the obvious one but Blake also spoke of IPL 2013 - where his good friend Chris Gayle stars for Royal Challengers Bangalore. On his way out of the stadium on Sunday Blake spotted an Indian journalist and began talking cricket.
"You know what, I can bowl faster than Zaheer Khan," he said. "I followed the Indian team when they were at the Caribbean last time. My favourite cricketer is Lara. I also like Tendulkar and Dhoni. But Virat is young and a great player. I really love watching him play."
Blake hasn't been to India - he missed the 2010 Commonwealth Games in new Delhi - but perhaps cricket will draw him there. "I want to play in the IPL. I am working hard for it," Blake said. "Chris is a great friend and I follow his side very closely. I also like Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai (Super Kings). But I want to play for Royal Challengers Bangalore because of Chris." Well, he could perhaps start by teaching his good friend how to run.
Full postGold medal stops play?
So you've heard of dogs stopping play and interruptions caused by streakers and missing bails
Nikita Bastian
25-Feb-2013
So you've heard of dogs stopping play and interruptions caused by streakers and missing bails. But how often does the reason for a stoppage lie 4000-odd miles away? That could well be the case at the Kingston Test on Sunday, with a 'drinks break' being scheduled to coincide with the final of the Olympics men's 100m race in faraway London, at 3.20pm Jamaican time.
And who could blame the Jamaicans for wanting to put everything else on hold for what is the showcase event of the Games? Defending Olympic champion Usain Bolt, along with Yohan Blake and Asafa Powell, is in contention for medals following Saturday's heats; it would take any one of them under 10 seconds to secure glory, that too in a week when Jamaica is celebrating the 50th anniversary of their independence from colonial rule. The action from the track will be telecast on the big screen in Sabina Park.
Full postSri Lanka mutes vuvuzelas
Music is an integral part of the cricket experience in Sri Lanka and the beats of the Papare bands do their bit in keeping the crowds in good humour in the heat
Devashish Fuloria
25-Feb-2013
Music is an integral part of the cricket experience in Sri Lanka and the beats of the Papare bands do their bit in keeping the crowds in good humour in the heat. But during the recent ODI between Sri Lanka and India, the sound of music was suppressed in the tumult created by the 'hooters', or as they are known the world over - vuvuzelas.
Commentator Tony Greig expressed his annoyance about the noise while on air and it seems to have perturbed the organisers too as Sri Lanka Cricket announced the ban on all forms of 'portable horns' carried by individuals, citing spectator discomfort as the reason. Vuvuzelas can be upto seven times louder than a chainsaw and could go over the physical pain threshold of 125 decibels.
It is not the first time that vuvuzelas have been muted. After making a deafening debut during the football World Cup in 2010, the horns have been banned from all cricket stadiums in South Africa and Australia, not to mention the Olympics, Wimbledon, English Premier League and UEFA events.
Full postHash's hair-raising honour
Hashim Amla's match-winning triple century at The Oval has won him praise from the most unlikely quarter - the Beard Liberation Front (BLF), a UK-based informal network of the bearded
Devashish Fuloria
25-Feb-2013
Hashim Amla's match-winning triple century at The Oval has won him praise from the most unlikely quarter - the Beard Liberation Front (BLF), a UK-based informal network of the bearded. He has now been made a member of the BLF as an "outstanding example of how a beard can add weight to a sporting performance and make a significant positive impact in the public eye." BLF founder Keith Flett added that with the Olympics due to start soon, Amla had made a statement about the aerodynamic impact of a beard on sporting achievement.
The BLF, which has Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant, Australian musician Rolf Harris and actors Brian Blessed and Bill Oddie as fellow members, is more than a comic venture. It takes beards very seriously, having campaigned in the UK to stop workplace discrimination against those who sport beards for religious reasons.
Full postAmla steamrolls England, pips Els
Sunday bore witness to two South African sporting success stories on British shores, with Hashim Amla's triple century followed later in the day by a surprise victory for Ernie Els at The Open
Alan Gardner
25-Feb-2013
Sunday bore witness to two South African sporting success stories on British shores, with Hashim Amla's triple century followed later in the day by a surprise victory for Ernie Els at The Open. But it was Amla who took top billing on what The New Age called "South Africa's day of champions".
Amla made it on to the front page of the majority of South African dailies, and was shown hugging Jacques Kallis on the front page of The Star above the headline "Mighty Hash lauded after feat".
"Hashim Amla is known as the 'Mighty Hash' on social media websites like Twitter, but yesterday he became the Incredible Hash when he scored the first triple century by a South Africa," the paper said. Els got more of a look in on the back pages, after winning his fourth golf Major.
Perhaps the editorial decision was an easy one - while Els last won The Open in 2002, South Africa have had to wait more than a century for a cricketer to score a Test 300.
Full postIs sledging for winners?
When a team wins as much as Steve Waugh's Australia did, you can't really question their captain's strategies
Abhishek Mukherjee
25-Feb-2013
When a team wins as much as Steve Waugh's Australia did, you can't really question their captain's strategies. But Kieren Perkins, Australia's Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer, doesn't quite believe in Waugh's famed 'mental disintegration' tactics, and has said as much.
Waugh and Perkins, both athlete liaison officers who are involved in the mental conditioning of Australia's athletes at the Games in London, voiced their contradictory views at Australian Olympic Committee press briefing on Saturday.
"There's always a role for sledging," Waugh said. "Cricket is a bit different to most sports because you're out in the field for seven hours, but most of the sports here [at the Olympics] are a lot shorter than that. [But] I'm sure there are mind games, body language, the way you carry yourself, which can have a huge effect on your opponents."
Perkins disagreed: "The people doing the sledging aren't good enough, so they have to find other ways to slow the rest of us down. Those of us that are good enough couldn't care less, we just get on with it. There's not much sledging at all, there's no time."
Full postGanguly fires Olympian's dreams
Sourav Ganguly and Lord's have history
Abhishek Mukherjee
25-Feb-2013
Sourav Ganguly and Lord's have history. He scored a century on Test debut there in 1996 and in 2002 he celebrated the NatWest one-day final victory with a topless, shirt-waving celebration on the balcony. Now his feats are serving as inspiration to some of India's Olympic archers, who are excited to be competing at Lord's - the venue of the Games' archery competition.
"We were excited when we heard that Lord's would host the archery contest. Sourav scored a Test century there on his debut," Rahul Banerjee, a Ganguly fan, told the Indian Express. "Sourav's performance will be at the back of our minds when we step on to the famous ground and we will be inspired by what he did in 1996. Like Sourav, we also want to make our country proud." A similarly successful debut will do, for a start.
Full postDean Jones turns golf pro
Hooking the ball over the boundary was never a problem for Dean Jones during his cricket career but he'll be hoping he never does it is his new profession
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
Hooking the ball over the boundary was never a problem for Dean Jones during his cricket career but he'll be hoping he never does it is his new profession. Jones, 51, has announced his decision to become a professional golfer and join the seniors tour, starting with a tournament on the Gold Coast on July 23.
"If you have a dream and you want to do something, have a dip, don't be 10 years later having a beer saying 'I wish I'd had a go'," Jones told the Age. "My major problem was 'am I good enough'. But I played the Victorian senior open last year and I finished third. It gave me the belief that I can cut the mustard, that I can compete with these guys."
Jones will juggle his new career with his existing cricket duties with the Bangladesh Premier League. He is not the only Australian cricketer to take his golf more than a little seriously: earlier this year Greg Blewett represented South Australia in the Australian Interstate Teams amateur championship.
Full postRyder's 114 seconds of glory
One minute, 54 seconds. That's how long it took for Jesse Ryder to knockout sports-radio host Mark Watson in their much-anticipated boxing match
Nikita Bastian
25-Feb-2013
One minute, 54 seconds. That's how long it took for Jesse Ryder to knockout sports-radio host Mark Watson in their much-anticipated boxing match in Auckland on Thursday night.
Watson, described as a 'relatively unknown but supremely opinionated' radio host in the New Zealand papers, took up Ryder's challenge after former New Zealand batsman Craig McMillan had turned him down. And, possibly, it took him all of 20 seconds in the ring to regret his decision - that's when he was first floored by Ryder, who had the crowd firmly behind him. Another 20 seconds, another encounter with the ring's canvas for Watson.
The next flurry of punches ended the bout and Watson had words of admiration for Ryder soon after. "That was a great experience to be perfectly honest and that's why I did it," Watson was quoted as saying by Fairfax NZ News. "He [Ryder] was the genius and I saw the floor. It's a dark, ugly, terrible place and I haven't been there for a long time."
Ryder, expectedly, was pumped up. "What a rush. I've never felt anything like that before," he said. "I've trained pretty hard for this and I stuck to what I knew. I'm pretty glad it's over and now I can get on with my life."
Full postSix in six balls, then out of the attack
Kieran Gray is only 11 years old and yet he might already have enjoyed the most memorable day of his cricketing life.
David Hopps
25-Feb-2013
Kieran Gray is only 11 years old and yet he might already have enjoyed the most memorable day of his cricketing life.
Kieran, who plays for Maidenhead & Bray's U13 side, a picturesque Berkshire ground on the banks of the River Thames, took a wicket with every ball of an over - inviting speculation from club officials that the feat might never have been achieved before in a competitive match.
He was surely the first bowler to be removed from the attack after taking six wickets in an over. As other juniors got a chance to bowl, he preserved remarkable figures of 1-1-0-6.
The first five batsmen from Taplow CC were all bowled and, with tension rising on the banks of the Thames, his sixth ball was struck straight to cover. Taplow, 0-6 after one over, were all out for 21 and lost by 131 runs.
Full post