The Buzz
Cricket at the South Pole
Andrew Strauss recently said England needed to start winning cricket matches in all conditions, all over the world
Abhishek Purohit
25-Feb-2013
Andrew Strauss recently said England needed to start winning cricket matches in all conditions, all over the world. A group of British explorers have taken that rather literally, and have beaten a Rest of the World side at the South Pole, in temperatures as low as -35 degrees Celsius.
The match was organised as a tribute to Robert Falcon Scott, a navy officer who led Britain’s first expedition to the South Pole in 1910-13, which ultimately resulted in his death and the death of the members of his team. Neil Laughton, a Special Air Service officer, who led a group of adventurers to the Pole, told the BBC he organised the match in honour of Scott because cricket was “quintessentially British and I wanted to do something that does not happen down here very often, if at all.”
In sub-zero temperatures, the players had to bat, bowl and field in the kind of gear Jonathan Trott would take a few hours to adjust. “Obviously it was very cold and difficult with all the bulky clothing to bat and bowl and slide around in the field to catch the ball but we managed it fine,” Laughton said.
The good news is that any time a cricketer complains he’s got cramps because of the humidity or that his fingers are numb because of the cold, he can be asked to stop whining and have a look at Laughton and his men. The bad news is that if ever you want to send a particular player to the South Pole, the teams are already full.
Full postCowan gets a cricketing high
Australia opener Ed Cowan is everything but your typical cricketer
Abhishek Purohit
25-Feb-2013
Australia opener Ed Cowan is everything but your typical cricketer. He can write, he can tweet, he can do fancy finance stuff. He’s even fielded in a Test match before he made his first-class debut, against Pakistan in 2005. But he cannot remember walking out to bat in the second innings of his debut Test at the MCG last month. Cowan had been so enthusiastic in doing warm-ups on the second morning of the Boxing Day Test that he got a sore back, which required a generous dose of painkillers. “Having hurt my back, I now know what it is like to bat high, because I had so much codeine in my system I cannot remember walking out to bat,” Cowan told TripleM Sydney radio.
Cowan then went on to reveal that he was also down a few beers down when he was called out of the SCG Members Bar as a substitute Test fielder in 2005. “I had had a few earlier that morning, but that was later that afternoon,” Cowan said. “I was sober - I would have been able to drive home. They did ask me if I had been drinking, I said no. It was only six balls and I did not touch one so there is no need to get too carried away.
“So I have done both. I have fielded with a few beers under the belt, and batted with a few too many Panadeine Fortes in the system.” Now that is an achievement that will take some downing.
Full postBenaud day springs up at SCG
Jane McGrath day is established on day three of the New Year's Test at the SCG to raise awareness of breast cancer but a group of ardent fans want the second day of the match to raise awareness of something quite different.
Alex Winter
25-Feb-2013
Jane McGrath day is established on day three of the New Year's Test at the SCG to raise awareness of breast cancer but a group of ardent fans want the second day of the match to raise awareness of something quite different.
A group of fans hope their efforts can turn day two into a celebration of Richie Benaud. The fan club come decked out in Benaud attire - beige suits, silver wigs - and with microphones in hand, hoping to turn a drinking game into support to honour Benaud.
"Richie was a great cricketer and captain of Australia but also a great journalist and commentator," Michael Hennessy, leader of the fan club, told the Sydney Morning Herald. "I''ve only really seen him at his best commentating but if you look back he was a flamboyant allrounder, great leggie, an aggressive batsman and you just love him more and more."
Full postIndia wait at the gates
As India’s batsmen continue to struggle in Australia, most would agree they could do with a lesson in patience - in ‘playing the waiting game’
Nikita Bastian
25-Feb-2013
As India’s batsmen continue to struggle in Australia, most would agree they could do with a lesson in patience - in ‘playing the waiting game’. Well, the whole team was subjected to one prior to Monday’s pre-match function at the Kirribilli House (the official residence of the Australian Prime Minister in Sydney).
The Indians arrived early for the meet-and-greet with Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the Sydney Morning Herald reported, and were made to wait outside the gates. They turned up at 1.45pm, the newspaper reported, 15 minutes before the function was due to begin. However, it had been pushed to a 2.10pm start, and the receiving room and Gillard were not quite ready. So a short wait in the afternoon sun followed, before the players were cleared by security.
Full postGoodbye team buses, hello helicopters
By Mohammad Isam
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
By Mohammad Isam
Players arriving for Twenty20 matches in a helicopter is an often-used gimmick. But for Shahriar Nafees, Mushfiqur Rahim and Alok Kapali, a chopper will actually be necessary to get them to the logo unveiling ceremony of the Bangladesh Premier League on time.
The three players are icon players for their respective sides in the upcoming Premier League but will all be involved in matches in the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League on December 29, and could have less than an hour to make it to the Radisson hotel in Dhaka for the Premier League event.
Mushfiqur will be playing at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium, 40km south of Dhaka, for Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club while Nafees and Kapali will face off at the BKSP, to the northwest of Dhaka, for Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club and Gazi Tank Cricketers respectively. Since the logo unveiling programme begins at 6:00pm and the Premier Division matches could end as late as 5:30pm, the commute from both venues to Hotel Radisson by road will be impractical given Dhaka’s traffic situation, which is particularly bad on Thursday afternoons.
Full postA bronze Warne at the MCG
It’s hard to imagine that Shane Warne could look any more bronzed than he does at the moment
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
It’s hard to imagine that Shane Warne could look any more bronzed than he does at the moment. But it has been achieved by the sculptor Louis Laumen, whose statue of Warne has been unveiled outside the MCG. The first in a series of statues to be known as the Avenue of Legends, the Warne likeness sits outside the members’ entrance.
Warne was on hand on Thursday to reveal the sculpture, which he had not seen himself until the grand unveiling. The statue shows Warne in his classic delivery stride, ready to let rip with a legbreak. “It looks like a legspinner,” Warne said of his action, “so Daryll [Cullinan] would struggle with it.”
Back in 1997, a much chubbier Warne was unimpressed when asked by a journalist at a touring Madame Tussauds exhibition in Melbourne if he wished he looked a bit more like his slimmer wax likeness. The MCG statue shows Warne at his playing weight, complete with earring, and Warne joked that “It’s 300kg, the statue, so I’m a little bit lighter at 78kg.”
Full postMushy's late turn
Anyone who thinks a cricketer’s life is easy and slow-paced should ask Mushtaq Ahmed
Umar Farooq
25-Feb-2013
Anyone who thinks a cricketer’s life is easy and slow-paced should ask Mushtaq Ahmed. The former Pakistan leggie, currently a part of the England support staff, is now busy organising his wedding banquet – 18 years after he got married! Mushy, as he’s known, married Uzma Jabeen in December 1993 but was soon involved in a whirlwind of cricket, beginning with a home series against Zimbabwe. Four children later, it seems, they’ve finally decided, on the advice of family elders, to have the walima, an important part of Islamic wedding rituals. The kids will all be part of the ceremony, to be held in Lahore on Boxing Day, and so will a lot of team-mates who missed out on the feasting back then – including Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Moin Khan and Inzamam-ul Haq. Better late than never, says Mushy. Perhaps the missus should demand a well justified second honeymoon too!
Full postHayden's painted willow
Matthew Hayden made a splash with his promotion of the Mongoose during the IPL but he’s gone back to the old-fashioned bat for the Big Bash League
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Matthew Hayden made a splash with his promotion of the Mongoose during the IPL but he’s gone back to the old-fashioned bat for the Big Bash League. Well, not quite. Old-fashioned bats don’t cost five-figure sums, which is what Hayden’s bat is worth, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald. The four bats Hayden will use during the BBL have their backs painted by a Tiwi Island artist. And when the tournament is over, they will be auctioned to raise money for a school.
Full postBhajji bats for Punter
Maybe it’s the spirit of the season, maybe it’s age, maybe it’s just empathy, but when Harbhajan Singh asks critics to lay off Ricky Ponting, it does raise eyebrows
Jayaditya Gupta
25-Feb-2013
Maybe it’s the spirit of the season, maybe it’s age, maybe it’s just empathy, but when Harbhajan Singh asks critics to lay off Ricky Ponting, it does raise eyebrows. "I don’t think Ponting is finished and I think people are making a big mistake by writing him off," Harbhajan said in response to calls for Ponting to be dropped for the upcoming Test series against India. "Australian fans should not put pressure on Ponting. He is only one innings away from finding his top form."
Bowler and batsman have previous, of course; Ponting was Harbhajan’s bunny when they were both in their prime and the offpsinner was at the centre of the controversial Sydney Test four years ago that almost led to the tour being called off. Now they are in almost the same boat - Harbhajan is out of the side, dropped for this tour because of poor form, and Ponting’s career is clearly in its last few overs. The true test of the new-found love will come when the festive season is over - or if Harbhajan and Ponting come face to face in the ODIs.
Full postFire brigade calls Warne
Shane Warne’s cooking injury, a burnt finger that has put in doubt his Big Bash participation, has made him one of many who will suffer kitchen-related incidents over the festive season.
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
Shane Warne’s cooking injury, a burnt finger that has put in doubt his Big Bash participation, has made him one of many who will suffer kitchen-related incidents over the festive season.
Springing on the opportunity for some publicity, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) have asked Warne to help push their Christmas safety campaign.
Following his accident, which Warne revealed on Twitter, he posted another message: “Ps no more trying to be a master chef! Stop and by a bacon roll on the way to the ground next time - silly Shane !"
And the LFB responded: “@warne888 we agree you should have got a bacon roll instead! Back our xmas 'Have a takeaway' campaign.”
Full post