The Surfer
Out of our league
Cricket is in the midst of a year of seismic changes
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
Cricket is in the midst of a year of seismic changes. Between this summer and the next, the shortest form of the game — Twenty20 — will likely become the dominant product. But with India's early exit from any world tournament is a costly loss to organisers and sponsors. Indian cricket’s sponsors and stakeholders are going to do a rethink, writes Ashok Malik in the Sunday Pioneer.
Already, the IPL authorities are talking of two such tournaments every year — one in India in April, the other overseas, in different countries each year. Where will this leave the world cup? It may see high quality cricket but Indian money will not flow in unless Indian success is assured. That’s the harsh, cynical truth. The point is Indian cricket and the IPL are becoming like English football. The cash, the fans and the frenzy are in the English Premier League, in Manchester United and Arsenal. English clubs are paramount; the England team and its performance in the European Nations Cup or FIFA World Cup is a lesser priority. That’s not always how fans see it. They would love England to win the World Cup every time. Yet, in the absence of that, they’re happy to settle for domestic stars in a domestic league. The sponsors and the very business of sport propel them in that direction. As Dhoni and company come back from their hang-dog T20 world cup campaign, will India too retreat into the League of its own? In 2010, will the IPL dwarf the T20 world cup and, indeed, all international cricket?
England women look to extend dominance
Noting the influence of coaching contracts that allow the England women's team to play full-time, Andy Bull writes in the Guardian that England, for once, are leading the world in the way they run and play a sport
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Noting the influence of coaching contracts that allow the England women's team to play full-time, Andy Bull writes in the Guardian that England, for once, are leading the world in the way they run and play a sport.
When Gordon Brown sidles up to you, perhaps seeking to cadge a little reflected glory, you can be sure you are making the right kind of impression on the public.
In the Sunday Times, Lawrence Booth says that though England start as favourites, concerns remain over the fragility of their batting, especially if the top three flop.
Scyld Berry points out in the Sunday Telegraph that if England women defeat New Zealand in the final, they will become the first international team of either gender to be world champions in all three formats simultaneously.
That the final between the two best sides in women's cricket is being held as a curtain- raiser to the men's final is not simply a gimmick, writes Stephen Brenkley in the Independent on Sunday.
Full postWill Shane Bond get a New Zealand contract?
With New Zealand's contract list is set to be released over the next week, Dylan Cleaver casts his eye at who will make the cut and who won't
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
With New Zealand's contract list is set to be released over the next week, Dylan Cleaver casts his eye at who will make the cut and who won't. He writes in the New Zealand Herald that the sun may have set on Scott Styris' international career, and that Peter McGlashan has slipped down the wicketkeeping pecking order.
Full postWill Shane Bond walk right back into a contract? The criterion is to project the value the player will bring to New Zealand in the next 12 months so logic would say yes, but it still might be a bridge too far for those at NZC disappointed he left for the Indian Cricket League.
A fitting World Twenty20 final
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Vic Marks writes in the Guardian that it's appropriate that Sri Lanka and Pakistan facing each other in the final just three months after the terrorist attack in Lahore. He also lists the similarities in both sides in his preview.
They have spinners who can turn the ball in both directions (Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan for Sri Lanka, Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal for Pakistan) and pace bowlers who are incredibly adept at delivering yorkers to order (Lasith Malinga and Umar Gul) plus a couple of left-armers too young to feel fear (Isuru Udana and Mohammad Aamer). Both sides know how to play "tournament" cricket.
In the Independent on Sunday, Stephen Brenkley writes that both Pakistan and Sri Lanka have shown that bowlers have a major say in Twenty20s and batting needn't be all about thuggish slogging. He also names some of the best features of the tournament: top game (England v Netherlands), top innings (Dilshan's unbeaten 96 in the semi-finals), and more.
Full postPakistan team a throwback to the 80s
Not too many had given Younis Khan's side much of a chance in the World Twenty20, but they are now in the final of the tournament
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Not too many had given Younis Khan's side much of a chance in the World Twenty20, but they are now in the final of the tournament. Kamran Abassi writes in the Dawn that one of the reasons for the success, especially against the favourites South Africa, is that Pakistan have played with passion, pride and fearlessness.
This was how it always used to be. When Imran Khan changed the mentality of Pakistan’s cricketers in the early 1980s, he gave them the confidence to risk everything for victory. That philosophy endured under Wasim Akram, Imran’s disciple, but was lost in the introspective days of Inzamam-ul Haq’s leadership.
And in a blog on the Dawn website, Imran Yusuf has a light-hearted piece doling out advice to Pakistan fans.
Full postTo the die-hard fan with an encyclopedic knowledge of Pakistan cricket who, every match, stares open-mouthed at the selection of Fawad Alam and asks, dumbfounded, ‘What is he doing there?’: Man, just get over it. It’s like the meaning of life, or one of Donald Rumsfeld’s ‘known unknowns’. Just resign yourself to the fact that some things are forever beyond the understanding of us mere mortals.
World Twenty20 a triumph
Ed Smith writes in the Daily Telegraph that the World Twenty20 has been a hit because of the mix of exciting cricket and the sheer unpredictability of the format
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Ed Smith writes in the Daily Telegraph that the World Twenty20 has been a hit because of the mix of exciting cricket and the sheer unpredictability of the format.
Of course, there must be a balance in all sports between fairness and uncertainty. If the better team always win, sport becomes boring. But if sport becomes purely a lottery – if, say, a tennis match was decided by a single tie-breaker or a cricket match by a one-over slog – then the result becomes devalued. Twenty20 treads this tightrope between the dramatic and the silly. In this tournament, the drama has outweighed the silliness.
The tournament also gets a thumbs-up from Duncan Fletcher in the Guardian. He says it has given the game just the wake-up call it needed to be able to compete with other sports.
Full postIndia remain a good side despite early exit
Harsha Bhogle writes in the Indian Express that a good team doesn't become bad overnight
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Harsha Bhogle writes in the Indian Express that a good team doesn't become bad overnight. He says that it was the batting that let India down, and that there were no easy bowlers to target in the World Twenty20 unlike the IPL. He doesn't think fatigue or injuries were the major reasons behind India's abysmal show.
Being on tour for long periods is part of the job now and players must rest and train to counter that. It is a personal responsibility and one that is non-negotiable. South Africa have been one of the best teams in this tournament, and one of the sharpest in the field, and they went into the IPL after draining back-to-back Test and one-day series against Australia. Most of their players were at the IPL too. If India’s players are fatigued they need to look within.
And in a scathing piece on exchange4media, a website that focuses on the media and advertising, BV Rao slams the over-the-top, less-than-nuanced coverage of India's defeat by the country's news channels.
Full postThey [news channels] have to individually feel the pain and grief of each one of those one billion fans (who did the census, I want to know!) and reflect their collective anger on national TV, so we understand. Our channels take any defeat badly but cricket defeats are especially personal. Not only are the endless hours of hype wasted, the channels are shortchanged on easy content by a few days. Criminal dereliction of national duty on the cricketers’ part, I must say.
Lord's lights up but waits on night Tests
Chloe Saltau, writing in the Age , talks to Keith Bradshaw, the MCC’s secretary, about a quiet revolution at Lord’s.
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Chloe Saltau, writing in the Age, talks to Keith Bradshaw, the MCC’s secretary, about a quiet revolution at Lord’s.
The sacred ground will host the Twenty20 final on Sunday under its new retractable floodlights but Bradshaw said Test cricket also needed to move with the times as interest wanes in many parts of the world. As the only truly independent voice in the game, given the International Cricket Council board is comprised of sovereign nations that vote along political lines, he believes the MCC is well-placed to influence those changes.
"At the MCC we are purists and traditionalists and we're doing whatever we can to promote Test cricket. We're looking to stage neutral Test matches, we're looking at the concept of day-night Test cricket," Bradshaw said. "As a purist I think (Test cricket) is the pinnacle, and for the players it is the pinnacle, so it's important that we preserve it and the fact is numbers and interest have been reducing. Whilst I don't think for one minute that Test cricket is in danger of dying, I think we need to look ahead and look at innovative ideas."
Full postDhoni loses the Midas touch
Though India have crashed out of the World Twenty20 without a single win, Kunal Pradhan writes in the Indian Express that says the over-the-top criticism of MS Dhoni must stop
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Though India have crashed out of the World Twenty20 without a single win, Kunal Pradhan writes in the Indian Express that says the over-the-top criticism of MS Dhoni must stop. In a sarcasm-laden piece, he marvels at how quickly fans forget Dhoni's many successes as both captain and batsman over the past 20 months.
His captaincy has been dissected, his mistakes magnified, his effigies burnt (it sounds like a pretty good job in India, making effigies — income guaranteed, even in times of recession). Not because we enjoy parading on the streets with banners and torches but because our national pride (which, 62 years after independence, rides on which side of a three-run result we finish on) has been hurt.
Defending champions India's lacklustre campaign reminds Dileep Premachandran of the insipid performance of holders Argentina at the 1982 football World Cup and France 20 years later. Read on in the Guardian.
Over at Dreamcricket Suresh Menon says India's early exit may have postponed the date on which Twenty20 takes over from Tests. And in the Wisden Cricketer Lawrence Booth says the IPL isn't to blame for India's failings.
Full postTaking the positives and hitting the right areas
Alan Tyers has a hilarious satirical piece in the Wisden Cricketer where he reveals how England players got better and better at interviews over the course of the World Twenty20
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Alan Tyers has a hilarious satirical piece in the Wisden Cricketer where he reveals how England players got better and better at interviews over the course of the World Twenty20.
Full postBroady too – he’s coming on leaps and grounds. He’s a very intelligent cricketer, and he’s not afraid to try different things, running his hand through his hair, slipping in a little joke, dropping the microphone at a key moment. He’s got a massive future ahead of him as a specialist post-match interviewee if he wants it.