The Heavy Ball
ICC to act to curb rash of wickets
As many as 15 batsmen being dismissed in a day? The madness has got to stop
Alan Tyers
29-Dec-2011
With 55 wickets falling in three days across the two Boxing Day Tests, the ICC has acted swiftly to counter this "increasingly unacceptable bias" in favour of bowling.
After day three at the MCG saw 15 batsmen dismissed, the ICC released a statement condemning a development it said was "contrary to the spirit of cricket".
"What fans want to see is batsmen smashing the ball around, ideally for six," said the statement. "And if the six is accompanied by Ravi Shastri shouting or somebody name-checking an official ICC corporate partner, then so much the better.
Full postTest cricket's finished. What next?
Part two of our sports administration saga. Some tough decisions must be made
Alex Bowden
26-Dec-2011
The nameless man again sat at the board table with his colleagues. The optimisation of cricket was not going as smoothly as had been anticipated.
"I still think we made the right move," said the man in the ill-fitting suit. "Test cricket was the past. We're not in a rosy position now, but who knows how much worse it would be if we still had the same overkill in the fixture lists."
The fat-necked man with the straining collar concurred. "It's the market that's changed," he said. "Look at all the top-rated sports events and you see they're the biggest, most high-profile match-ups. No one's interested in the lesser fixtures any more. They don't have time for them. They want the football World Cup final, the Super Bowl, or to hell with it."
Full postSourav and Greg to share commentary box
And other ways to spice up this dull Australia-India series
Deepak Gopalakrishnan
25-Dec-2011
Considering the lack of the staple pre-series inter-team banter - such as Dougie Bollinger threatening to blow Rohit Sharma's head off, or Phillip Hughes publicly stating that he intends to put that upstart R Ashwin in his place - the marketing gurus for the upcoming Australia-India Test series have decided to take some measures to liven things up.
One of these includes an almost Baldrick-level cunning plan to team up old nemeses in the commentary box, starting with the rather cheerful ex-coach-captain duo of Greg Chappell and Sourav Ganguly.
"They're going at each other like schoolkids, ya!" gushed the marketing manager of the series broadcaster. "Ganguly called Greg 'mad'. Greg said that Ganguly used to fake injuries. Ganguly called him a failure as a coach. Greg said he was prone to self-doubt. Imagine what putting them together in an enclosed space will do for TRPs!" When asked whether, prior to sports, he worked in reality TV, our man looked surprised and said, "Why, yes! How did you know?"
Full postHow to deal with too much cricket
Part one of an episodic story about the thrilling world of sports administration
Alex Bowden
23-Dec-2011
The nameless man took a moment to concentrate on his breathing. Dubai Sports City frightened him and made him feel alienated. As he looked at the tall, glistening buildings, he couldn't help but think of the thousands of people within them. They all seemed so at home here, bustling about, getting things done, driving their respective sports into a future they already embraced. Despite the sheer volume of humanity, the nameless man felt entirely alone.
By focusing on his breathing, he managed to address his heart rate somewhat. It had plateaued, but would not fall. Maybe once he was inside, he would feel better. He could focus on what was in front of him then. He could focus on what he had come to do.
He reminded himself why he was putting himself through this; why he had climbed the ladder within his organisation, defying his own nature and reluctance. He had done it so that he could now attend a meeting of the International Cricket Council and present his proposal - the proposal he had been working on for years; the proposal that would save the sport he had loved since he first held a cricket bat as a small boy.
Full postSymonds delivers Harbhajan Oration
Former cricket and current reality TV star pays tribute to old bud
R Rajkumar
22-Dec-2011
Not to be outdone by all the plaudits and acclaim Rahul Dravid received for his stirring Bradman Oration at the Australian War Memorial recently, Andrew Symonds, Page 2 has learnt from reliable sources, delivered a legendary speech of his own, at the first annual Harbhajan Oration held in Chandigarh.
According to reports, Symonds addressed a gala dinner crowd at the local franchise of Bhajji Da Dhaba, the restaurant chain Harbhajan Singh part-owns, and waxed eloquent on a range of topics appropriate to the event. The guests, made up mostly of past and present luminaries of the franchise-restaurant business, listened in rapt attention as Symonds spoke with charming non-self-deprecating humour and offered cavernous insights into the sport he once dominated in a match against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup and never again.
Other noted personalities at the black-tie event included adult-film star Sunny Leone and a few other contestants from Bigg Boss, the Indian version of the Big Brother TV series, in which Symonds was recently a house guest. Also present was Harbhajan, who could be seen clutching his personal belongings close to his chest at all times, and somewhere in a corner rubbing his cheek and weeping silently, Sreesanth.
Full postWarnie tells Lizzie
After Shane Warne's disappointing Big Bash debut, the stars collide via the modern language of love and mutual profile-enhancement, Twitter
Alan Tyers
20-Dec-2011
@LizzyHurley: Luvvd seeing @Warnie doing his cricket playing today.
@Warnie: Thanks babe. U were looking well hot LOL. Good work with the tossing ha ha ha.
@LizzyHurley: Shane! You'll make my parrot blush.
Full postCricket eats into ad time
Consumers are being subjected to more play than products. This has to stop
R Rajkumar
15-Dec-2011
A troubling new study has found that instances of live cricket telecasts interrupting and cutting short advertisements on television are on the rise. According to the report, viewers in India especially are having their growth as passive consumers compromised as more and more advertisements continue to be thwarted by the sudden and gratuitous resumption of play, often during breaks between overs.
In what the report describes as a form of exploitation and greed not seen since the days of the gold rush, increasing numbers of products being promoted by hideously catchy jingles that forcibly enter and then fester in your head are being forced to take a back seat to the market-driven demands of cricket broadcasting.
"People just want to come back home from a hard day's work, be able to kick their feet up and watch the latest male-fairness-cream ad being promoted by Shah Rukh Khan," said a spokesman for the Advertising Rights Commission, which conducted the report and describes itself as a body set up to investigate, promote and protect the rights of exploited advertisers.
Full postSR Tendulkar 200 not out
Yes, it was a first in the game but he could have done better, couldn't he?
Alex Bowden
13-Dec-2011
Stuart: Well, I'm quite breathless after that. It was so exciting that my slice of battenburg is still sitting in front of me, untouched. Sachin Tendulkar has become the first batsman to hit 200 in a one-day international. A staggering performance, Ash.
Ash: Very impressive. I mean there's a few things he needs to work on, but today he's come good. On his day, he's a top, top batsman.
Stuart: It's a bit odd to qualify your praise at a time like this, Ash.
Full postThe secret diary of Monty Panesar
In which the England offspinner prepares for his comeback and for producing some cool vids
Alan Tyers
12-Dec-2011
After a ferocious two-figure bidding war involving some of biggest names in the publishing including What Spinner?, Beard Monthly and Asian Babes, ESPNcricinfo is delighted to announce exclusive serialisation rights to The Secret Made-Up Diary of Monty Panesar.
Here, Monty expresses his delight at his recall to the England Test squad and vows to come roaring back against Pakistan.
Thursday
Apparently they're making the announcement about the squad soon. During the past few weeks I have focused on doing the simple things well: checking the letterbox every morning in case there's a letter, watching Swanny's tweets carefully for any clues, keeping my phone fully charged and in the right areas (i.e. pocket of my favourite cagoule). Like anything, waiting for a phone call is about having a good repeatable routine and focusing on your skill sets.
Full postApparently they're making the announcement about the squad soon. During the past few weeks I have focused on doing the simple things well: checking the letterbox every morning in case there's a letter, watching Swanny's tweets carefully for any clues, keeping my phone fully charged and in the right areas (i.e. pocket of my favourite cagoule). Like anything, waiting for a phone call is about having a good repeatable routine and focusing on your skill sets.
