The Surfer
Tributes for David Shepherd
"While the hopping and skipping of a large man attracted a fair bit of attention, it was Shepherd's skill as an umpire – both in terms of decision-making and man management – that earned praise around the cricket world
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
"While the hopping and skipping of a large man attracted a fair bit of attention, it was Shepherd's skill as an umpire – both in terms of decision-making and man management – that earned praise around the cricket world. He made his international debut at the 1983 World Cup, in England, and stood in 92 Tests as well as 172 one-day internationals before retiring in 2005. He was in the middle for three consecutive World Cup finals – in 1996, 1999 and 2003 – and at the end of his final Test, between the West Indies and Pakistan in Jamaica, he was presented with a cricket bat by the home captain, Brian Lara. On the bat was a message which earned approval throughout the game: 'Thank you for the service, the memories and the professionalism'," writes David Lloyd in the Independent.
"David Shepherd and I shared a marvellous friendship over more than four decades. It began when he joined Gloucestershire in the mid-1960s, and it continued all the way up to this terribly sad news. I truly believe that David and I saw the best days of umpiring," writes former umpire Dickie Bird in the Telegraph.
"Shepherd loved cricket. It was his life, and as a player, umpire and ambassador he epitomised everything that is good in the game. The ruddy face, rotund figure and cuddly, jovial Father Christmas-like appearance may have given many the feeling he was something of a soft touch. He was not. When standing, Shepherd insisted that games under his control were played in the correct spirit," writes Angus Fraser in the Independent.
"I played against him once, in 1979 at Fenner's, for Cambridge against the mighty 'Glos', as you could call them back then. As he strolled to the crease, all pot belly and mutton-chop sideburns, he looked like the picture on a Toby jug. But while the entrance was comic, his shots packed power and any sideways sniggers on our part soon turned to bruise-handed admiration," writes Derek Pringle in the Telegraph.
Full postCassell's back in town
A fast bowler who has suffered with injury several times, Rob Cassell found the jump from the Melbourne club competition to the state level a tough one
Jamie Alter
25-Feb-2013
A fast bowler who has suffered with injury several times, Rob Cassell found the jump from the Melbourne club competition to the state level a tough one. Failing to break into Victoria's side after an initial run, he lost his Bushrangers contract in 2007 and went to Europe in the winter of 2008 to get a few things out of his system. He travelled for five months with two old schoolmates, hiring a car in France and driving into Spain. Cassell was done with cricket, or so it seemed. On a cathartic trip, his significant moment came in an Aussie bar in Barcelona, he tells the Age.
Full postA little more than a year on and the journey is far from done. But Cassell, 26, might well be on track for the best comeback cricket has seen in years. Seven years after he last pulled on a Bushrangers shirt, he is playing Premier Cricket for Melbourne with conspicuous success, meaning he is only a step away from state colours. Bowling with an action remodelled over four months at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane during the winter, he took four top-order wickets for the Demons in the first round, and backed up with a career-first hat-trick against Camberwell in round two, employing reverse swing with an old ball.
Luke knows too much cricket isn't Wright
The Champions League, it seems, has caused quite a stir
Jamie Alter
25-Feb-2013
The Champions League, it seems, has caused quite a stir. The success of sides such as Trinidad & Tobago, New South Wales and the Cape Cobras outdid what the two English counties, Somerset and Sussex, achieved in the tournament. One likely reason, as is being muttered in hushed tones across England, is the amount of cricket those two counties played. As Lawrence Booth writes on the Wisden Cricketer website, the men who run English cricket need to address the problem soon.
Full postThe thoughts of the engaging Wright, whose career is still at the make-or-break stage, should be cut and pasted into an email to the England and Wales Cricket Board. “From the county cricket point of view, it is hard and you don’t get the time to prepare as, say, people in Australia do, to work up to a game,” he said. “You go from a four-day game and travel at night to a one-day game, and you try to differentiate between the formats. You find yourself practising the skills in the games themselves rather than having it nailed down ready to play. You almost use some of the games as practice.”
A rundown of Strauss' side
After moving to the Daily Mail from the Guardian , Lawrence Booth has started off a new weekly mail called 'Top Spin'
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
After moving to the Daily Mail from the Guardian, Lawrence Booth has started off a new weekly mail called 'Top Spin'. The first installment is out, in which Booth profiles England's players making the tour of South Africa.
Stuart Broad
The beginning of the rest of his career? Possibly, although his Ashes-winning five-for at The Brit Oval has raised the bar to an unfair degree. The talent is there, but he needs direction too. Those close to him say Broad is not the enforcer England crave: his bouncers go for too many runs. He himself nominates Glenn McGrath – the human-form-made-metronome – as his role model. But will the management listen? As for his batting, No 8 seems perfect, especially in the land of Shaun Pollock, who averaged nearly 31 in that slot.
Full postA widely respected and well-loved umpire
David Shepherd, the former umpire, died on Wednesday aged 68 after a long struggle with cancer
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
David Shepherd, the former umpire, died on Wednesday aged 68 after a long struggle with cancer. Read his obituary of one of cricket's most popular figures in the Guardian, written by David Foot.
Humour was never far away. He was mischievously ever ready to relate tales of those celebratory evenings when, inexplicably, he lost both his car and his shoes. The umpires on the county circuit and those of higher international rankings liked him, too. They approved of the way he dealt with blustering troublemakers at the crease. They were aware how much he detested batsmen, some famous, who affected an air of innocence when they knew well enough that they had got a touch.
But even the finest of umpires make mistakes. He always owned up and later in the match might have a confidential chat with the batsman he had ruled out leg before.
The Daily Telegraph calls Shepherd "one of the best and fairest officials in the game". The obituary also has an account of how he decided to take up umpiring when a friend suggested it would offer him "the best seat in the house."
Shepherd had the hearty frame and smiling, ruddy face of a West Country landlord. But once he donned the umpire's white coat, he became a formidable adjudicator, as a generation of batsman will testify. He had a sharp eye and an exceptional rapport with the players – virtues that the International Cricket Council recognised when they appointed him for three successive World Cup finals.
In his blog in the Times, Patrick Kidd wonders why umpires aren't loved these days as they used to be in Shepherd's prime.
An obituary in the Times praises Shepherd for his calm deliberations and un-obtrusive control of the game, traits which made him one of the best and most respected umpires of his time.
Full postHave I got this entirely right, Mr Majola?
In Independent Online , Kevin McCallum tries to get his head around the innovations in South Africa's new and improved domestic one-day competition, the MTN40, which has two Powerplays (with strings attached), a strategic break and a rolling
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
In Independent Online, Kevin McCallum tries to get his head around the innovations in South Africa's new and improved domestic one-day competition, the MTN40, which has two Powerplays (with strings attached), a strategic break and a rolling substitute.
There will be three Power Plays, which have capital letters in the official press release, thus making them more powerful than playful. The first PP must be taken during the first 10 overs and the final two by the batting side at any time except from the 35th over onwards ... Teams will be able to use all 12 players at, if I have got this entirely right, any time during the match. So, if, say, Albie Morkel is chucking down juicy beef pies, the coach or captain can call him off the field and replace him with the 12th man, who will be wearing an armband to let every one know that he is indeed the 12th man.
England sleepwalking to an Alastair Cook captaincy
Maybe I am missing something – a shrewd tactical contribution from the gully, a tendency for stirring dressing-room speeches, or a deep and meaningful appreciation of the game and its place in English history, but the thought of Alastair Cook as
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Maybe I am missing something – a shrewd tactical contribution from the gully, a tendency for stirring dressing-room speeches, or a deep and meaningful appreciation of the game and its place in English history, but the thought of Alastair Cook as England captain so far leaves me cold, writes David Hopps in the Guardian.
England have been blessed by three excellent captains in the past decade. Nasser Hussain was feisty, impatient, demanding. Michael Vaughan, shrewd and self-possessed, inherited a more capable side and taught England to relax and back their ability. Then came Andrew Strauss, appointed later than he should have been, and a diplomat for troubled times. Cook's qualities, outside the dressing room at least, remain a mystery. He might be vice-captain in name but it is Paul Collingwood, as senior pro and Twenty20 captain, who the media, subconsciously perhaps, assumes fulfils that role.
Who could be New Zealand's coach?
As New Zealand Cricket begin the search for a replacement for the departed Andy Moles, the first thing they must do is settle on the type of person they want, writes David Leggat in the New Zealand Herald .
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
As New Zealand Cricket begin the search for a replacement for the departed Andy Moles, the first thing they must do is settle on the type of person they want, writes David Leggat in the New Zealand Herald.
Tom Moody, if they are starting at the top, and not just because the former Australian allrounder stands an imposing 1.98m. He took over Sri Lanka in 2005 and led them to the World Cup final two years later before heading back to West Australia. He's signed a three-year deal until 2010, and would want serious money. Well worth a hard look.
John Wright, the only New Zealander in the hunt. Would be a popular public choice, a laconic front masking a hard-minded competitor, who made the most of his abilities as a test batsman. Has worked with the batsmen before, and heads the NZC high performance unit. Suggestions he would not be senior players' first choice, but anyone who can keep India on track, as he did for several years, can't be a bad man manager.
Full postWhat’s on Merv Hughes’ TV? Not Australia’s tour games
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
When he's at home the selector Merv Hughes can’t watch Australia’s overseas matches or the country’s domestic fixtures because he doesn’t have pay television. The Age’s Chloe Saltau speaks to Hughes about his not-all-seeing role.
''I think I follow the game closely enough anyway,'' Hughes said. ''If it is from overseas, all the Australian games are covered by another selector. While I saw the highlights on Sunday [against India], and while I followed it on the internet because I don't have pay TV, I have full confidence in the selector on duty, which in this case is David Boon. 'When you've got a selector actually covering the games I don't think it's a problem because we get feedback from him.''
As for fielding, our servants can do that for us
To understand the mind of the Indian cricketer, it is necessary to borrow from the 19th century French writer Villiers de l’Isle Adams, writes Suresh Menon in Mumbai Mirror
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
To understand the mind of the Indian cricketer, it is necessary to borrow from the 19th century French writer Villiers de l’Isle Adams, writes Suresh Menon in Mumbai Mirror. In his dramatic poem Axel, the lovers decide to kill themselves because the alternative is so trivial. “As for living,” says Axel, “our servants can do that for us.” And that’s the connection between French Symbolist literature and Indian cricket. Our players seem to be saying, “As for fielding, our servants can do that for us.”
Why do young, fit athletes struggle to bend so much? Or appear off balance when throwing? Is it time the Indian team laid down some qualifying rules – speed of foot, ability to hit the stumps and so on – before a player is considered for selection? Fielding is crucial in all forms of the game, especially the shorter versions, and India’s approach is embarrassing.
The reluctance to run shows itself while batting too. Well as Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar batted towards the end, they certainly sacrificed more than four runs while admiring their shots or assuming that the ball would go to the boundary or running only a single when with better planning they could have run two.
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