The Surfer
Canada’s Globe and Mail looks at how cricket is catching on in Toronto
“People are very bullish about the appeal of the sport. It's going to catch on in Canada. The beauty of the game is it's such a great way to bring people together. Lennon said, ‘All you need is love.' I say, all you need is cricket.”
In the Weekend Australian , Peter Lalor writes that although a Test comeback for Shane Warne seems positively ridiculous, that has never stopped the legspinner before.
Love him or hate him, you just cannot ignore him. Most former Test champions fade quietly into retirement. At best they adopt a blazer and a polished media persona, at worst they man the machine guns for hacking attacks on the game and players who have diminished so much for their absence.
In the Herald Sun , Ben Dorries reports from Jamaica that one year on from the death of Bob Woolmer, the place where he died has become something of a tourist drawcard.
Room 374 of the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica, has been refurbished since the Pakistan coach was found dead in its white-tiled bathroom. But that hasn't stopped curious cricket fans and business travellers from ringing the hotel and requesting to stay in the 12th floor executive room.
A mix of articles on offer from the England papers
Like all new sports clothing the kit features a whole range of exciting technological breakthroughs including Formotion™, Climacool® and Flowmapping™. Some readers may detect a big whiff of what scientists in my own secret laboratories call Bulshitt™. I would be tempted to take that line myself, were it not for Clarke's assurances that this is not just a marketing gimmick. Since nobody in sport would tell the public a fib, we will take his word for it.
Alex Brown reports in the Sydney Morning Herald that Andrew Symonds took the chance in Jamaica to catch up with another sporting superstar, Asafa Powell.
On a sweltering morning in Kingston, Symonds and Stuart Karppinen, Australia's strength and conditioning trainer, assumed the roles of spectator as Powell continued his comeback from a chest injury in the shadows of Long Mountain. Both snapped photographs and compared observational notes as the Commonwealth Games gold medallist - who has broken 10 seconds for the 100m a staggering 33 times and holds the world record at 9.74 - went through his paces.
Mike Selvey considers the position that young England international players find themselves in and when, if ever, it would be better (financially at least) for them to take the IPL money and run
What concerns me, though, is how long a player in Bopara's situation, having sworn loyalty to the cause, would give it in reality were success not to come his way in a relatively short time span and with the increasing Lorelei lure of riches elsewhere. Would a Ryan Sidebottom, say, hang around for six years honing the skills that make him the cricketer he is today had there been an IPL, or indeed ICL ,back then to draw him in. It is a difficult one. Which do you think Ryan himself would choose: a million or two in the bank and recognition as a one-Test wonder; or the success he has now and the prospects that go with it?
The Kolkata Knight Riders may have underachieved through the IPL, but on the bright side, have managed to draw the maximum supporters throughout the country
While a cricket crazy Kolkata is firmly behind SRK’s team, he has managed to charm followers across cities to root for his team rather than their ‘home’ franchisees. KKR is the first choice team for nearly a third of cricket followers across India. Fans even in big metros, which have strong corporate-backed teams of their own, seem to be cheering for eastern side with greater gusto. While just 21% of Mumbaikars supported the Reliance-owned Mumbai Indian’s, 30% backed SRK’s team.
As the bowler began his run to the wicket my mind began to race and the noise inside my head became distracting. I need a boundary; the run rate is going up; this game is getting away from us; what is a good total to set under these conditions? Where can one possibly get a boundary? I had better take some chances.
The cricketers who won India's first World Cup in 1983 should be lauded not ignored by the BCCI, writes Dileep Premachandran in the Guardian .
As things stand, the month of June, monsoon time in the south, will witness four six-a-side games featuring the squad of 1983. Soon after that, there will be a dinner in Dubai, following which the Long Room at Lord's will host the big bash on the 25th. "Let them do whatever they're doing," said Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI's chief administrative officer. "We haven't got any invitation from them or any intimation."
"The cricketers who won India's first World Cup in 1983 should be lauded not ignored by the BCCI," writes Dileep Premachandran in the Guardian blog .
Over the past few months, Kapil, Madan Lal (who dismissed Viv Richards in the final) and Balwinder Sandhu (that inswinger to Gordon Greenidge) have been treated like the untouchables were in the pre-Gandhi days because of their involvement in the Indian Cricket League, the so-called rebel league. The ICL was the first to come up with the idea of city-based franchises, but is now in danger of being run out of town by the infinitely more powerful and rich IPL. By taking on the BCCI, whose attitude to cricket seems to be little different from that of the mafia to a protection racket, all those involved with the ICL have become pariahs. Sadly, that includes talented young players who might otherwise have thrived in the IPL.
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Ricky Ponting is excited about the Test series starting in the West Indies, but he also uses his column in the Australian to justify the cap controversy of the opening tour match. A sponsor’s hat was worn instead of the white floppy or baggy green.
Some former players were upset that we did not wear the cap during our warm-up game, but they do not understand what happened or why. There has been an evolution in what the baggy green means to the Australian team and I would argue that there has never been a time when it was more respected.
In the Herald Sun Ian Chappell says too much is made of the baggy green and it is a “$5 bit of cloth”.