The Surfer
At what cost?
Vodafone's decision to cut its ties with English cricket is unconnected with a desire to save money
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
Vodafone's decision to cut its ties with English cricket is unconnected with a desire to save money. The company is anxious to attract more young customers and is thought to be keener on sponsoring music events. It is also keen on sponsorship with international appeal, which is why, for instance, it preferred to sponsor the Champions League rather than just Manchester United. Ian King in the Times says with the UK accounting for only 4% of Vodafone's global business, the cricket tie-up was thought to have run its course.
Cricket sources pointed out the sport in England needs £53 million “just to stand still” and to safeguard investment in grassroots programmes, including the Chance to Shine campaign to bring competitive cricket back to state schools. Ashling O'Connor in the same paper, believes the task may be tough with Sport England announcing a pot of £37.8 million as cricket's central funding for the next four years.
Full postBrickbats and the wall
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
A lot changed for Rahul Dravid between his two international outings in Chennai this year. In March, after the run-heavy drawn Test against South Africa, he left the city as a man who had made peace with himself. However, a few months older and in the middle of the worst slump of his career, Dravid this time departed with scores of 4 and 3, and Sandeep Dwivedi in the Indian Express feels this is nothing but that inevitable countdown signalling the end of a glorious cricketing career as he takes a look at the period that signalled the fall from bad to worse.
In the past, lots of players have tried to hit out of slumps but Dravid, as was expected from someone as meticulous as him, has opted to take the defensive route. He isn’t hurried in the middle, but he is hesitant. His lbw to Graeme Swann, and his edge off Andrew Flintoff were both examples of a muddled mind caught in indecision.
Crunch time as axeman cometh
When he was a young boy, Peter Siddle got stuck in at a woodchopping competition
Jamie Alter
25-Feb-2013
When he was a young boy, Peter Siddle got stuck in at a woodchopping competition. One trophy and nearly one finger later, the Victorian hung up his axe to pursue a cricket career. Australian cricket can be thankful Siddle still has all his fingers and toes, says Chloe Saltau in the Sydney Morning Herald, because he was given his first tomahawk at the age of two.
Full postRising from the horrors of Mumbai
Sachin Tendulkar's epic century in Chennai coincided with the fourth-highest successful chase in Test history
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Sachin Tendulkar's epic century in Chennai coincided with the fourth-highest successful chase in Test history. It will also go down as among the most significant victories for India in the context of the terror strikes which nearly forced an abandonment of the tour.
In the Guardian, Mike Selvey writes that it was karma that Mumbai's most celebrated figure should secure a famous win for his nation in the first Test. He adds that the result was simply meant to be and England should not be disgraced in defeat.
Full postIt could not have been scripted more perfectly: a boundary to win the match and complete a century. It had to have been preordained. Had to be. And Tendulkar's articulate, measured summary of what it all meant, even as the euphoria reigned all around him and the adrenalin still coursed through his veins, placed it all into a proper context.
The Dravid muddle
For, someone who had held the Indian batting together for almost a decade with his steely resolve and watertight technique, to be now considered the weak link in what is emerging as a champion side is, of course, replete with sadness and irony,
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
For, someone who had held the Indian batting together for almost a decade with his steely resolve and watertight technique, to be now considered the weak link in what is emerging as a champion side is, of course, replete with sadness and irony, writes Ayaz Memon in Daily News and Analysis.
Inexplicably, his form started to wane from the series against South Africa in late 2006 just when he looked set to rule, as batsman and captain, for a long time. It is a moot point whether there was not something on that tour which affected him badly mentally, because clearly, Dravid’s poor run of scores since is located more in the mind than in his technique.
Don't castigate KP or England
Reactions from the British press and experts on England's surprise defeat in Chennai
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Reactions from the British press and experts on England's surprise defeat in Chennai
England critics should acknowledge the extraordinary context in which the Chennai Test was played and should also hold their ire before calling for heads to roll, writes Vic Marks in the Guardian.
Full postWACA bounce is unforgettable
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
It’s impossible to go to Perth for a Test without bounce being a big issue. Even standing near the nets still worries the former Australia captain Kim Hughes, according to Peter Lalor in the Australian.
Hughes saw Dennis Lillee in a marquee on the same spot where they once practised and began to have flashbacks to a dark place. "I always get a bit nervous when I come here," Hughes said. "The sea breeze would be blowing and Dennis would be bowling and I always thought I was pretty lucky to get out of the nets with my head on my shoulders. Because when he did say 'sorry', it was 'sorry I missed your head'."
Sport's high-five hooplas
Andrew Strauss' delicate knuckle-nudge for every boundary scored barely compares to sport's once theatrically rapturous shared celebrations
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Andrew Strauss' delicate knuckle-nudge for every boundary scored barely compares to sport's once theatrically rapturous shared celebrations. Frank Keating, in the Guardian, looks back at history's most over the top celebrations.
The first time a jivingly joyous high five slapped into my consciousness was at the Olympic Games of 1964 in Tokyo. I was working then for ITV and remember our cameras, being British, didn't quite know where to look for embarrassment after, in the blistering blink of the 4x100m relay, US true-great Bob Hayes had hurtled through the last leg to win, his three conferes had leapt upon Hayes in midfield to enact this bewildering foursome-reel and, to me, fantastical impromptu routine of turbulently swaying, smiling, swaggeringly melodic hand-slapping highs, lows, in-their-faces, behind-their-backs, upstairs, downstairs and all.
Also read Osman Samiuddin's piece on the same topic.
Full postNew Zealand Cricket in sorry state
Respected cricket writer Lynn McConnell, writing on sportal.co.nz , says that New Zealand Cricket is in a mess of its own making.
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
Respected cricket writer Lynn McConnell, writing on sportal.co.nz, says that New Zealand Cricket is in a mess of its own making.
It is all to do with the administration of the game and the leadership style of chief executive Justin Vaughan.
In the years since the radical restructuring of the game that occurred as a result of the Hood Report which was produced in the aftermath of the centenary season, it is clear that morale among the administrative staff of NZC has never been lower.
Already a significant number of staff have left the organisation and an ongoing fiasco over the status of New Zealand team manager Lindsay Crocker is holding the organisation up to ridicule.
Full postWatch this space
Oodles of talent, consummate self-confidence and an insatiable hunger for success have enabled Cheteshwar Pujara score hundreds of Bradmanesque proportions in the Indian domestic season
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
Oodles of talent, consummate self-confidence and an insatiable hunger for success have enabled Cheteshwar Pujara score hundreds of Bradmanesque proportions in the Indian domestic season. Having scored 130 and 132 in the Buchi Babu tournament, he followed it up by back-to-back triple hundreds (386 and 309) in the C.K. Nayudu Trophy. Though a double failure followed, against Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy season opener, he came back with three consecutive centuries (302 not out, 189 and 176), and staked his claims for a place in the Test team. Excerpts from an interview to Haresh Pandya in Sportstar.
I don’t believe in comparisons. I don’t think you can have two similar individuals. Though I idolise Dravid, I must say I’ve never tried to imitate him even in my wildest of dreams. It just isn’t possible. He is a great batsman, a living legend. I’m my own man and I always try to be as natural and original as I can.