The Heavy Ball
Chicken Soup for the IPL Cricketer's Soul
The popular series makes its way into franchise cricket, with moving accounts from Bhajji, Gayle and others
R Rajkumar
07-Apr-2012
The creators of the bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series have announced the publication of a special IPL edition of the popular inspirational book.
In the pipeline for many years, the release of the book had suffered lengthy delays due to a number of controversial technicalities, the first of which was when a few vegetarian cricketers (led by an unusually vociferous Virender Sehwag) expressed outrage at the thought of their souls developing a taste for meat.
The bigger problem, however, was the raging debate as to whether IPL cricketers qualified to have a Chicken Soup for the Soul book devoted to them at all, seeing as how they were rumoured not to be in possession of their souls anymore, having long since sold them at a premium.
Full postEngland cricket's game of moans: winter is coming
The county grounds are alive with the sounds of griping about the cold. Must be the start of the season then
Alan Tyers
05-Apr-2012
In a routine about the nature of England and the English, the great comedian Bill Bailey said: "Fifty-two per cent of our days are overcast, so as a nation we're infused with a wistful melancholy. But we remain a relentlessly chipper population, prone to mild eccentricity, binge drinking and casual violence."
For cricket fans, the forecast of snow on the opening day of the County Championship season is a heaven-sent opportunity to enjoy both a bit of wistful melancholy, and our other go-to emotional state: exasperation.
The cricket season has not even begun, and already things ain't what they used to be. Already we are dreaming of those halcyon days back in balmy March, the sun on our backs, a simpler, happier time when all ahead was promise, thoughts of warm beer, wrestling with a deckchair, and lazy afternoons reading yet another article about the indefatigable Mark Ramprakash.
Now we're foregoing warm beer in favour of hot soup at Grace Road. We're trapped in a snowdrift in the Headingley car park, shivering, ripping out pages of the Playfair Cricket Annual to fashion into a makeshift blanket. We lost a lot of good men out there, perambulating in the luncheon interval on the frozen tundra that is the County Ground, Derby. Now is the summer of our discontent.
Naturally, someone is to blame for this bad weather. It's the ECB. It's the IPL. It's the BCCI. It's the BBC's Michael Fish. The reason the season has started so early is to finish in time for the Mickey Mouse Champions' League in September, the bastard child of a capricious false god. Selfish India: it's hot all the time there, isn't it? Why can't they play their games in the winter, let us get out of this freezing cold? This sort of anger gets the blood flowing, raises the body temperature, and could be the difference between losing just a toe or two to frostbite during a Joe Sayers rearguard at Scarborough and actual hypothermia.
Full postBoycott b Holding 0
Our commentators argue over how fans reacted to the greatest over ever bowled
Alex Bowden
02-Apr-2012
Stuart: Michael Holding to open the bowling. Geoffrey Boycott to take strike.
Ash: Holding looks like he means business, Stu.
Stuart: Well, the crowd will be hoping he doesn't inflict any damage this over. They're here to see the great Geoffrey Boycott bat.
Full postA for Ashes, B for burn
A cricket glossary which may or may not change the way you view the game. This week's theme: England v Australia
Steve Coleman
30-Mar-2012
Ashes Tournament for which the world revolves around for England and Australia. All non-Ashes cricket is merely an extended warm-up. Ringed in the diary of every other country as the three-month block where they can score 700 for 1 in a 50-over game and be point-blank ignored by the world media because it clashed with a rain-affected draw between Australia and the Queen's Under-11 Ladies XI. Despite the fact that one team usually pulls the pants down off the other, the hype machine judders to life around the time that the confetti is swept up from the previous series.
Waugh, Steve Australian captain who sweats acid rain. Well known for shining a giant spotlight on just how awful his opposition were during the 1990s, he once outscored the whole England team despite having lost both arms and a foot. In his pomp, he managed to pair compact batting with a stare that gives more children nightmares than Freddie Krueger did. He has also managed to become the only successful Ashes captain of all time not to join the commentary gravy train.
Urn Battered, ugly receptacle that would have been taken to the tip the last time the MCC cleaned out their back cupboard, had it not been for Australia and England fawning over it. Watch as grown men get emotional about the remnants of a manky old bail, which probably aren't in there anyway. Also the focal point of the most hilarious winner's ceremony in the world, as the successful captain tries to look manly and heroic while waving a pepper pot around.
Full postA Sri Lanka v England game you can play
Take up a position in the ground, in the fort if a ticket refusenik, or at home on the Sofa Dawn Patrol, and award yourself points when…
Alan Tyers
27-Mar-2012
English batsman is bowled by mystery spinner - one point.
English batsman gives interview admitting that he has no idea which way the ball was going to turn - two points.
Replay confirms that ball did not turn at all; English batsman simply befuddled by twirlyman's action - five points.
Full postA ready-to-use tribute for any retiring great
Let's face it, there are going to be plenty of players bidding goodbye soon. This article will come in handy
Sidin Vadukut
26-Mar-2012
If you've been following international cricket as keenly as I have over the last few months -- and I have been following all matches involving India, and therefore Sri Lanka, very closely indeed -- then you are well aware of a crippling problem that is facing the sport.
Yes, readers, I am referring to the fact that match after match our cricketers are not getting any younger. Indeed, as each year goes by all of them, except one Pakistani, are ageing commensurately. Just five years ago Mahendra Singh Dhoni was a strapping young lad of 25. But today, alas, he is 30 years old.
There is no way cricket can stop or reverse this trend. These players will keep getting older. And this poses a nearly insurmountable challenge for cricket columnists, cricket bloggers, cricket tweeters, cricket podcasters, Indians and other well-informed cricketing experts everywhere.
Full postTendulkar hit by mid-life crisis
Batsman's behaviour turns erratic after reaching milestone
R Rajkumar
20-Mar-2012
Not only is Sachin Tendulkar supposedly batting with more freedom after finally achieving the long-awaited milestone of a hundred hundreds, he appears to have taken his new-found lease on life off the pitch as well, in ways that some observers warn resembles a mid-life crisis.
Tendulkar was recently sighted at a tattoo parlour in one of Dhaka's largest malls. "I feel like a new man," he said, clapping his hands and addressing no one in particular. "It's like this huge weight has been lifted off my chest, and now I get to tattoo it."
Then, despite none in the assembled crowd of mostly horrified teenagers requesting him to do anything of the sort, Tendulkar removed his Metallica t-shirt to reveal the tattoo of what appeared to be a screaming eagle astride a flaming comet from hell on his freshly waxed chest. Tendulkar revealed the design had been suggested to him by new best friend Virat Kohli.
Full postFire in My Babycham
Rolling back the years with a new film about England
Alan Tyers
16-Mar-2012
British TV viewers had a first chance to see acclaimed cricket documentary Fire In My Babycham on free-to-air television last week. The film, directed by Ted Dexter and executive-produced by the team responsible for Swanny's Video Diaries told the inspirational story of the period in English cricket between the mid-1980s and 1999.
From the unpromising position of being the oldest, most supported and best-funded cricket nation in the world, England doggedly managed to plunge further and further down the Test rankings to their sensational nadir of a series defeat at home to New Zealand by the end of the millennium.
The film tells the story of how the team's inspirational leader, Chris Cowdrey, turned an unlikely bunch of talented and experienced professional cricketers into a finely tuned laughing stock.
Full postVictorious in absentia
Cases from history when excusing yourself from the game worked better than playing it
Alex Bowden
15-Mar-2012
England recently retained their No. 1 spot in the Test rankings because a match between New Zealand and South Africa was rained off. This is just the latest example of cricket triumph in absentia, a phenomenon that reached its pinnacle with England's 2005 Ashes victory, which was marked by a weird stump-withdrawing ceremony carried out by the umpires with neither team present. There have been other, less well-known examples, however.
Calcutta XI v England XI, 1892
Those complaining about the excessive use of substitute fielders in the modern game would do well to read the reports of this fixture. The England XI batted slowly until tea on the first day, at which point they had reached 72 for 2. The not-out batsmen, ATB Henderson and TBC Sanderson, returned to the dressing room to find that their team-mates had retired to Calcutta Polo Club for drinks. Not wanting to miss out, the pair persuaded the opposition to supply them with two stand-ins for the evening session.
Those complaining about the excessive use of substitute fielders in the modern game would do well to read the reports of this fixture. The England XI batted slowly until tea on the first day, at which point they had reached 72 for 2. The not-out batsmen, ATB Henderson and TBC Sanderson, returned to the dressing room to find that their team-mates had retired to Calcutta Polo Club for drinks. Not wanting to miss out, the pair persuaded the opposition to supply them with two stand-ins for the evening session.
Not wanting to offend their guests, the Calcutta XI provided their two finest batsmen, meaning they themselves were down to nine men. When the England XI turned up for the second day's play, they were delighted to find that they had reached 282-8 and had gained another six players. With things going so well, they headed straight to Calcutta Polo Club for a morning glass of port.
Full postA newly retired cricketer writes
What's life like once you quit the game? Challenging
As discovered by Samantha Pendergrast
12-Mar-2012
March 10
Wake up. No training, no practice, no work. I could get used to this.
Wake up. No training, no practice, no work. I could get used to this.
Sit down to read the paper. The tributes are pouring in. "Team man Tendulkar rubbishes retirement rumours", "Tendulkar will bring Asian glory to India", "Sachin sizzles at practice".
Doorbell. (Now that I'm home, got to get used to answering the door.) Some people asking for donations for the needy. I have plenty to give. Bats for those who need to dig deep, gloves for those need to get a grip, pads for… uh they left at that.
Full post