The Surfer
A made-for-TV movie
Andrea Nagel in the Times is not too impressed by Hansie , the movie based on the life of former South African captain Cronje.
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Andrea Nagel in the Times is not too impressed by Hansie, the movie based on the life of former South African captain Cronje.
We never really get an insight into the deep motivations behind Hansie’s behaviour. His fall from grace is treated in a fairly straightforward way. The sporting moments’ slow-motion sentimental scenes are, quite frankly, irritating. The film makers should have known that such obvious emotional ploys would reek of filmic manipulation.
...
Hansie belongs on the Hallmark channel. It’s a made-for-TV movie that is dramatic, sentimental and of limited global interest.
The Don would not have approved
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Mark Smit, in the Business Day, says the recent quest by a group of statisticians to find four more Test runs for Donald Bradman - in order to push his career average to 100 - would have been ridiculed by the Don himself.
Why did they find four runs and not a different number? Surely, in their rudimentary Australian way, they would have felt that finding more runs would make it all look just a little more kosher.
The rise of Stanford
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
In an in-depth profile on Allen Stanford, the business magazine Forbes looks at how he became a billionaire, his attempts to revive cricket in the West Indies and foster its growth in the United States. It also lists the controversies that have inevitably followed his success, and the mixed opinion people have of him. A friend calls him "a modern-day Howard Hughes without the weird stuff" while Antigua's prime minister casts him as a modern-day colonialist.
He wants to introduce a TV-friendly version of cricket (called Stanford 20/20) to the U.S. Stanford loves cricket now, but pleasure is only half of the equation here. He stands to bring in around US$10 million selling the international broadcast rights for this year's game, which could draw a global audience of 700 million viewers. He's also hoping to exploit cricket as an international branding tool for his company, Stanford Financial Group.
Warne remains a busy man
Shane Warne has just completed his new book in which he ranks the top 100 players of his time
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Shane Warne has just completed his new book in which he ranks the top 100 players of his time. Alyson Rudd of the Times finds that though Warne has retired, he has his hands full: looking after his kids, playing poker, and his commitments with Cricket Australia.
Full postBCCI's office 'befitting their status'
In 2004, the Mumbai-based Mid Day ran a story on the ramshackle offices the BCCI operated out of
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
In 2004, the Mumbai-based Mid Day ran a story on the ramshackle offices the BCCI operated out of. The paper's sports editor Clayton Murzello revisits the BCCI's headquarters and finds that India's richest sporting body now has a plush, modern office. He now wants the BCCI to build a state-of-the-art rehabilitation centre to help players recuperate from injuries.
Full postThe Dazzler accepts the dying of his light
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
With the career of one of cricket's colourful characters, Darren Gough, coming to an end, the tributes continue to pour in. In the Times, Michael Atherton hails him as England's most important and influential fast bowler since Ian Botham.
Gough does not stray too far from the classic caricature, the look-at-me-aren't-I-great school of Yorkshire cricket, but in the most important aspect of his game, his bowling, he soaked up information so that he became, within five years, an unrecognisable performer from the one who embarked on a first-class career just as Australia's 16-year domination of the Ashes began.
In the Guardian, Mike Selvey says: "In his going I can see Turner's wonderfully evocative painting of the Fighting Temeraire, battle deeds done, being towed to the breakers' yard in Rotherhithe."
Full postSurrey's most miserable season
Surrey have been relegated to the County Championship second division after a grim campaign in which they have so far failed to win a single game
Jamie Alter
25-Feb-2013
Surrey have been relegated to the County Championship second division after a grim campaign in which they have so far failed to win a single game. A meeting of the Surrey Cricket Management Board on Monday is now expected to confirm the departure of manager Alan Butcher, assistant Nadeem Shahid and bowling coach Geoff Arnold. The Third Umpire blog has a review of Surrey's season, in which it is written:
It is axiomatic that Surrey are a club in need of big changes, with the appointment of Graham Thorpe as batting coach appearing a shrewd start. But years of muddled thinking and short-termism will not be easy to rectify, especially with so many serial under-performers still contracted.
Cricket`s long-lost phrasebook
Cricket365's Tim Ellis enlightens us on the meaning of some cricket phrases which have gone out of fashion.If you want to know what a "full moon" or a "lobster" is, head here
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Cricket365's Tim Ellis enlightens us on the meaning of some cricket phrases which have gone out of fashion.If you want to know what a "full moon" or a "lobster" is, head here.
"WATCH OUT" A truly marvellous old term meaning "to field". What better way to imagine halcyon days of yore on the green fields than revisit this scene from an 18th century letter by one Reverend White:
"Little Tom Clement is visiting at Petersfield, where he plays much at cricket: Tom bats; his grandmother bowls; and his great-grandmother watches out!!"
Full postAnd the award goes to...
As the County Championship draws to a nailbiting close, the PCA have named a four-man shortlist for the PCA Player of the Year award, encompassing Marcus Trescothick, Ravi Bopara, Steve Harmison and Martin van Jaarsveld
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
As the County Championship draws to a nailbiting close, the PCA have named a four-man shortlist for the PCA Player of the Year award, encompassing Marcus Trescothick, Ravi Bopara, Steve Harmison and Martin van Jaarsveld. The panel at The Wisden Cricketer draws up its 'hit' list as well from this season and debates the PCA's picks for Player of the Year.
Full postIndia yet to take off after Twenty20 show
Siddhartha Talya
25-Feb-2013
Amid much celebration in the Indian media on the first anniversary of their team’s World Twenty20 triumph, Daily News and Analysis' Ayaz Memon feels it is time for a reality check, for India’s performances in Test and ODI cricket over the past year have been a mixed bag.
In that context, I find that Indian cricket has not really taken off to the extent the T20 triumph promised. In saying this, I am obviously not referring to the quantum of money made by the BCCI or the phenomenal clout it currently enjoys internationally, but about performance on the field.