The Buzz
Lee looks to the next generation
It would be easy enough for players at the World Cup to get bogged down in planning for their next game, without looking at life outside the tournament
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
It would be easy enough for players at the World Cup to get bogged down in planning for their next game, without looking at life outside the tournament. Not Brett Lee. This week in Bangalore the Australians had two matches within four days, but in between the games Lee found time to spend an hour chatting about cricket with Dev Alimchandani.
Dev is completing the first level of the Cricket Education Program, a schools-based cricket coaching course that guides children aged up to 14 through six levels of cricket skills work. Lee is the ambassador for the program, which was developed by Cricket Australia, and he says there’s more to it than just sport.
“With the CEP, to me it’s all about giving kids an opportunity,” Lee says. “You just see the way these young kids can actually benefit from the program, but it’s not just about cricket, it’s about education as well, and about life skills.
Full postSouth Africa’s food for thought
South Africa are not tangled up in the tension of Group B as the league stage nears it’s end, but that doesn’t mean that they want to - or can - stay away from all the stress
Firdose Moonda
25-Feb-2013
South Africa are not tangled up in the tension of Group B as the league stage nears it’s end, but that doesn’t mean that they want to - or can - stay away from all the stress. While the decisive match between the West Indies and England was playing out, South Africa were in the gym and in a team meeting but they couldn’t help stopping to see the score.
As they were making their way back up to their rooms, Robin Peterson, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Wayne Parnell and assistant coach Vincent Barnes stopped at their Dhaka hotel’s coffee shop to check on the score. Chris Gayle was unleashing his thunderbolt 43 and the foursome were in awe. A few muttered about how happy Bangladesh would be if the West Indies pulled through (because a West Indies win would guarantee Bangladesh a place in the quarters).
Minutes later, Morne van Wyk and Colin Ingram strolled through, also with an eye for the latest on the match. The procession continued, oohs and aahs were made and they disappeared into the lift. They were on their way somewhere quite special. The team’s social committee of Morne Morkel, JP Duminy and fitness coach Rob Walter had organised a supper from Nandos for the boys. The fast-food chicken chain is a favourite back in South Africa, the first signs that the team may be missing home.
Full postPrime Minister Key takes on Warne
More than half a million dollars was raised for those affected by last month’s earthquake in New Zealand, as movie stars, cricketers and the New Zealand Prime Minister took the field in the Fill the Basin Twenty20 appeal match in Wellington on
Nikita Bastian
25-Feb-2013
More than half a million dollars was raised for those affected by last month’s earthquake in New Zealand, as movie stars, cricketers and the New Zealand Prime Minister took the field in the Fill the Basin Twenty20 appeal match in Wellington on Sunday.
Among the big silver screen names present were actor – and cousin of former New Zealand captains Martin and Jeff Crowe – Russell Crowe and Ian McKellen, who shares a close association with New Zealand as part of the Lord of the Rings cast. As for the cricketers, Richard Hadlee, Stephen Fleming, Bruce Edgar, Andrew Jones, Nathan Astle, Mark Greatbatch, Geoff Allott, Rod Latham and Ewen Chatfield were all there.
The main attraction of the day though remained an over bowled between innings by Shane Warne to Prime Minister John Key. Key, who had supposedly had a ‘secret nets session’ on Saturday, whipped a low full toss for a boundary, for which $100,000 were donated to the cause. Well played Prime Minister!
Full postCricket’s healing power
The healing power of sport is well-documented – charity games following a natural disaster are as much about raising smiles as about raising money
Jayaditya Gupta
25-Feb-2013
The healing power of sport is well-documented – charity games following a natural disaster are as much about raising smiles as about raising money. And so it proved for a group of Indians living in Yokohama. Terrified by the earthquake and traumatised by the news of the tsunami’s devastation in Sendai, a dozen men and women came together at a Yokohama stadium on Saturday to play a Twenty20 game as thanksgiving.
“On Saturday morning, we were relieved to hear that the tsunami warning was off. We were yet to recover from Friday’s nightmare. So, we decided to organise a cricket match,” Sriram Balasubramanyam, a techie from Bangalore, told Bangalore Mirror. “As the batsmen started hitting fours and sixes, we began to forget what happened just a few hours ago.” A sliver of good news in tragic times.
Full postRyan's Dutch disease
Cricket's 'flagship' event, especially when it's got the Associates enjoying the spotlights, throws up a mix of nationalities, cultures, religions, languages and accents in a wondrous we-are-the-world kind of way.
Sharda Ugra
25-Feb-2013
Cricket's 'flagship' event, especially when it's got the Associates enjoying the spotlights, throws up a mix of nationalities, cultures, religions, languages and accents in a wondrous we-are-the-world kind of way.
So when the Dutch turned up, it was time for cricket to feel slightly European and think not just of the Oranje but all that they represent - Vincent van Gogh, Ajax Amsterdam and, in some part of his sport's insular world, Ryan ten Doeschate,
In massive demand wherever he goes at this Cup, ten Doeschate, the only Associate who will turn up at the IPL next month (which corporate klutz missed out putting Kevin O'Brien in that auction?!), was paraded out along with his captain Peter Borren for the 25-TV camera-strong media scrum at the Ferozshah Kotla on the eve of the game against India.
ten Doeschate was quick to say he had said not exchanged notes with Gautam Gambhir, him of India and Kolkata Knight Riders, before the cultural question arrived. Could he speak in Dutch, he was asked by a TV reporter? "Yes", ten Doeschate responded instantly. Yippee. So for our viewers, could you just tell us what your ambitions and inspirations are when you play in this World Cup? In an even shorter instant, ten Doeschate replied, "No".
Full postOne team, two countries, no 'national' anthem
When Ireland turned out for the national anthems before the start of the match, what played over the Chinnaswamy speakers was not actually a ‘national anthem' and what represented them was not the flag of a nation
Sharda Ugra
25-Feb-2013
When Ireland turned out for the national anthems before the start of the match, what played over the Chinnaswamy speakers was not actually a ‘national anthem' and what represented them was not the flag of a nation. It couldn't. Ireland's cricket extends beyond the political boundaries of 'country'. It includes a larger, deeper Irish cultural identity, the team including cricketers both from the Republic of Ireland, as well as Northern Ireland, which belongs to the United Kingdom. Players within the team called Ireland share two flags and two anthems. The Republic of Ireland's tricolour of green, white and orange and the Union Jack. Their anthems are Amhrán na bhFiann (Soldiers’ Song) and Northern Ireland's God Save The Queen. Naturally the team could hardly choose.
The flag the Irish team used ahead of the game contained Cricket Ireland's official logo and the song that played in Bangalore was Ireland's Call. It is now the official sporting anthem of a united Ireland, which was first commissioned in 1995 by the Irish Rugby Football Union and now plays across all sports in which the 'clan' fields a single team. There is only one major team sport in which the Irish are still divided into two - football. But at this World Cup, Ireland aren't the only team without political flag and anthem. The West Indies are made up of multiple nations and their cricket song, which was first played for them in the 2003 World Cup, is Rally 'Round the West Indies, written by David Rudder, a Trinidadian calypso musician.
Full postHow Hayden found out about his broken record
Matthew Hayden, who held the record for the fastest World Cup hundred before Kevin O’Brien decided it was open season on England’s bowlers, was possibly the last man to hear about it
Tariq Engineer
25-Feb-2013
Matthew Hayden, who held the record for the fastest World Cup hundred before Kevin O’Brien decided it was open season on England’s bowlers, was possibly the last man to hear about it. Hayden was working with a remote and isolated community in the Tropical Top End called Tiwi Island, and had no idea he had been relegated to second-best in the history books until five minutes before the start of the Tiwi Island Land Council meeting. That’s when, Hayden writes in DNA, the chairman of the council, Cyril Rioli, stood up and said, “Hey Matty, did you hear about the Irish fella who broke your record overnight?”
“No, I didn’t, tell me more.”
“This bloke almost single-handedly beat the English, scoring 113 in the game and getting them out of trouble. Pity about your record too. He smashed your record, beating it by 10 balls or something.”
At first, Hayden couldn’t process the news. England had buried Australia in the Ashes and here was this guy telling him that some Irish bloke had not only smashed his record, but smashed England as well. It just didn’t seem possible. But once he accepted that it had, in fact, happened, Hayden said he was “delighted for Kevin and that I wish I could get a note out to him, reflecting my thoughts to that effect at first convenient opportunity.”
Full postO’Brien halts Munaf’s movie
Ireland’s reputation for being giant killers has claimed another victim - that gentle giant Munaf Patel
Abhishek Purohit
25-Feb-2013
Ireland’s reputation for being giant killers has claimed another victim - that gentle giant Munaf Patel. Taking advantage of India’s week-long break between games, Munaf and his wife went to the cinema, to watch the Bollywood thriller Saat Khoon Maaf (literally, “Seven Murders Forgiven”, about a woman who murders seven husbands). It was the evening England were playing Ireland and the murders on screen coincided with the mauling in the stadium. Just after the second murder, Munaf got an emergency call from the team camp – get back to the hotel and get your eyes on the game.
“I was called back to the hotel to watch Ireland (as they beat England). I saw only two murders in the theatre, but ended up watching many more during the Ireland-England game,” Munaf told The Indian Express, referring to Kevin O’Brien’s innings. Given that India take on Ireland on Sunday, Munaf would have been forewarned of the damage O’Brien can do – and maybe claim a few on-field victims of his own.
Full postIreland bask in the attention
Irish eyes are not smiling
Sharda Ugra
25-Feb-2013
Irish eyes are not smiling. That would be too sedate for a country whose cricket team is not shy of wearing pink and purple hair. They are grinning, they are beaming and for a day, they cannot be stopped. This includes all those involved in, witness to and following at a distance the greatest moment in Ireland's cricketing history at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday night.
Radio and television stations and other diversions kept the team and management awake after the victory over England at the World Cup. Kevin O'Brien went to bed at about 4am on Thursday, but there were reports that many were up until dawn - no doubt doing interviews. Messages poured in as quickly and copiously as the Guinness may have a thousand miles away, with the country's president, the heads of the Northern Ireland government in Belfast and the Irish Rugby Football Union among others, in sending on a chorus of "sláinte" (cheers). The IRFU even put up Kevin O'Brien's photograph on their home page.
Many of the greats of Irish sport got through to William Porterfield's team, including legendary rugby captain Brian O'Driscoll and footballer Ronnie Whelan. Niall O'Brien, the only one among the team sporting dark glasses this morning said they had been saluted by many rugby players whom he described as, "they are like the Dhonis and Sachin out there for Ireland."
Full postForty-five weddings and a World Cup
We’ve heard of restaurant menus customised to include ‘World Cup’ specials, but have you ever heard of a wedding with the cricket World Cup as its theme
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
We’ve heard of restaurant menus customised to include ‘World Cup’ specials, but have you ever heard of a wedding with the cricket World Cup as its theme? Yes, this is cricket fever at its peak. Forty-five couples, who tied the knot in a mass wedding in the Indian city of Udaipur, chose to pay obeisance to cricket in what was a World Cup themed wedding. The grooms, who arrived on horses, chose to carry cricket bats, instead of the customary swords. The venue too, was designed with a cricketing theme: posters of Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni adorned the walls. Couples went around the holy fire holding cricket bats and balls. Finally, after the ceremony was over with the Vedic chants, the brides were asked to bowl to their grooms. And not surprisingly, the slogan for the wedding was: let India win the World Cup.
Full post