The Surfer
A tale of two captains
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
While Australian captain Ricky Ponting had a short stay at the crease, Daniel Vettori was unavailable for New Zealand in the final of the Champions Trophy. However, Ayaz Memon in his column in Daily News & Analysis takes nothing away from the fact that both have instrumental in ensuring their respective teams' success in the tournament.
It could be argued that since neither Ricky Ponting nor Daniel Vettori had a tangible role to play in the final, the importance of a captain has been exaggerated. But that is mistaking a one-off performance for leadership, which is what captaincy in cricket is all about.
What to do with McCullum?
In the New Zealand Herald , David Leggat writes that New Zealand's effort at the Champions Trophy bodes well for the future, but not every aspect of team composition is settled.
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
In the New Zealand Herald, David Leggat writes that New Zealand's effort at the Champions Trophy bodes well for the future, but not every aspect of team composition is settled.
Out of the tournament New Zealand saw Guptill reinforce his value in the top three; Elliott show he should stay in the middle order for the cool head he brings to the crease; Franklin suggest he is not a frontline first or second-change ODI bowler; and Taylor show he is a top class slip catcher. The key performers? Vettori, Elliott, Guptill, Mills and Bond. Those they needed more from? Taylor, McCullum, Broom, Franklin and Butler.
The biggest question remains what to do with McCullum. It boils down to this: do Vettori and coach Andy Moles - remember, that's now half the national selection panel - want two dashers at the top in a high risk, high reward approach, or move one of McCullum or Ryder down the order in favour of a more measured policy.
Full postCricket no longer the only game in Australian towns
Cricket in Australia faces an unprecedented challenge to make itself heard this season, writes Peter Hanlon in the Age .
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Cricket in Australia faces an unprecedented challenge to make itself heard this season, writes Peter Hanlon in the Age.
A scan of the sporting landscape in the months ahead does little to quell the suspicion there will be louder noises heard than willow striking leather ...
Interest in football's round-ball code is building, both towards next year's World Cup in South Africa and a domestic competition whose roots are deepening. And even the indigenous footy code won't back off its dominance of the back - and front - pages before taking a parting slap at the flannelled game; the AFL national draft will take place on November 26, day one of the first Test against West Indies. No prizes for guessing which will dominate the November 27 headlines.
Which brings us to cricket's other problem: after a hat-trick of home summers that offered up England, India and South Africa - the most marketable opponents in the modern game - the 2009-10 fixture groans with the prospect of three Tests each against the West Indies and Pakistan.
Full postThe Evert effect
Tennis legend Chris Evert is single again, and taking a note of how the sporting performance of each man in her life has improved significantly since partnering with her, Patrick Kidd urges England board chairman Giles Clarke hook up with her in
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
Tennis legend Chris Evert is single again, and taking a note of how the sporting performance of each man in her life has improved significantly since partnering with her, Patrick Kidd urges England board chairman Giles Clarke hook up with her in order to work wonders with English cricket. He writes in the Times:
Most noticeably, the Evert Effect worked on Jimmy Connors. Within months of them getting engaged in 1973, Connors went from being a quarter-finals-at-best competitor to winning three grand slams in a row. They broke up before getting married, but the first Mr Evert was John Lloyd, a Brit on the downslope of his career before he married Chrissie in 1979. Three months later, he reached the final of a tournament for the first time in two years and he went on to win three grand-slam doubles titles as well as getting to two singles grand-slam quarter-finals in his thirties. Then came Andy Mill, the second Mr Evert after she and Lloyd divorced in 1987. Mill had retired from Olympic skiing by the time he married Evert in 1988, but he took up fishing and went on to be regarded as one of the best fly fishermen in the world.
Hodge hasn't given up on lawn bowls
Brad Hodge hasn't had the best of relationships with the national selectors
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Brad Hodge hasn't had the best of relationships with the national selectors. But he insists he holds no grudge against them these days. In India with the Victorian side for the Champions League, Hodge talks to Arghya Ganguly of the Times of India on his sarcastic comment on lawn bowls, his sports management interests and more.
I obviously wish that I play for my country again but there will be no love lost if I didn't. You think I can get in? That's nice. Pick the squad, put me in and give me a call again. And we shall sit and chat for a long time. But you are not going to pick the side? Are you?
Horses for courses
In a piece in the Dawn written before Pakistan were ousted from the ICC Champions Trophy, Saad Shafqat says they have reaffirmed their resilient fibre, notching a group-match victory against India that will be remembered through the ages
Jamie Alter
25-Feb-2013
In a piece in the Dawn written before Pakistan were ousted from the ICC Champions Trophy, Saad Shafqat says they have reaffirmed their resilient fibre, notching a group-match victory against India that will be remembered through the ages. It was the kind of match that you remember not for actions but for reactions and now that times are tough, a quietly confident and competent leader like Younis Khan has risen from the debris.
Full postAfter the Lahore terror attacks of March 2009, many observers – both within Pakistan and overseas – had virtually written Pakistan cricket’s obituary. We had misunderstood the vigour and determination of our cricket ethos. Now Pakistan is the numero uno team in Twenty20 cricket, and has also excelled on the world stage in ODIs. A full schedule of Test cricket – in Australia later this year and all of next summer in England, including two Tests against Australia that the English are eager to host for us – lies immediately ahead.
Victorians seething, bowled by Nannes' choice
In the Age , Darren Berry, director of coaching with the Rajasthan Royals, looks at the situation facing fast bowler Dirk Nannes
Jamie Alter
25-Feb-2013
In the Age, Darren Berry, director of coaching with the Rajasthan Royals, looks at the situation facing fast bowler Dirk Nannes. In the upcoming Champions League Twenty20, Nannes will turn out for the Delhi Daredevils and open the bowling against his Victorian team-mates next week. How could this happen? Why is it allowed? All these questions have been posed by Nannes' Victorian team-mates over recent weeks and many of them are seething about it. Victoria's best chance of winning is with Nannes on board as opposed to hurling thunderbolts at them, says Berry.
Full postTalk up England and they’ll always let you down
Not every England supporter takes the view that following their team should involve mindless chanting and making sure that the beer consumption never dips far below an asking rate of six an over, but they at least share the belief that being barmy is
Jamie Alter
25-Feb-2013
Not every England supporter takes the view that following their team should involve mindless chanting and making sure that the beer consumption never dips far below an asking rate of six an over, but they at least share the belief that being barmy is a minimum requirement. In the Sunday Times, Martin Johnson says England's Champions Trophy exit was the kind of gung-ho death so redolent of the Light Brigade that the England captain’s nickname can now be officially altered from Lord Brocket to Lord Cardigan.
You could also say that reaching the semi-final was an achievement in itself, although if you believe the cliché about a good team not becoming a bad one overnight, the opposite is also true. In recent times selection, in personnel and batting order, appears to have involved heavy reliance on a pin and a blindfold, while historically, they haven’t played enough of this type of cricket to make consistently clear decisions in different situations.
In the Sunday Telegraph, Scyld Berry looks at England's probable squads for the upcoming South Africa tour and says that Owais Shah's erratic form leaves his spot under threat from Jonathan Trott. If England's selectors hold their meeting on Tuesday at Lord's, Shah might decide to use his position as a Middlesex player to rummage through the rubbish bins afterward.
The Observer's David Hopps writes that the England hierarchy believe that the side must be rigorous and decisive in what they want. Whether England have the ability to play with attacking intent remains questionable, but what is clear is that for it to have maximum chance of success the selectors must embrace the concept by choosing those most suited to it.
Full postIs Sangakkara doing too much?
Following their Champions Trophy exit, Sri Lanka have a year ahead of one-day cricket before the World Cup in 2011
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
Following their Champions Trophy exit, Sri Lanka have a year ahead of one-day cricket before the World Cup in 2011. While their middle order looks settled, there are concerns about Nos. 1 to 3. Is Kumar Sangakkara taking on too much as wicketkeeper, captain and No. 3 batsman, asks SR Pathiravithana in Sri Lanka's Sunday Times.
Sangakkara on his own is one of the most organized and erudite cricketers in the entire cricketing world. More than once he also has been rated the best batsman in the accepted norm of Test cricket. Even in the ODI version of the game, his exploits though not the same, has been more good than bad. But, in his last eleven outings his contributions have been 36, 2, 37 not out, 39 and 16 against Pakistan, 18 vs New Zealand, 5 vs India, 33 vs India 54 vs South Africa, 1 vs England and 11 vs New Zealand. As captain this performance with the bat is not at all impressive. At the same time did his on-field tantrums cost Sri Lanka the ICC spirit of the game award this time?
New Zealand's semi-final hoodoo
And once again New Zealand meet ther old friends Pakistan a big tournament semi-final
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
And once again New Zealand meet ther old friends Pakistan a big tournament semi-final. Take your mind back to Eden Park 1992 and Old Trafford 1999. David Leggat of the New Zealand Herald does a walkthrough of past defeats.
Pakistan were behind the play until a large, and largely unknown, young man put down his cream doughnut, ambled out and belted 60 in 37 balls to rip the game from a shattered home side. The legend of Inzamam-ul-Haq, wonderful batsman, hopeless runner between the wickets and champion eater, was born.
Most Read
Writers