The Surfer
IPL tested by Harbhajan-Sreesanth row
Harbhajan Singh has been temporarily suspended from the Mumbai Indians side for his on-field altercation with Sreesanth and the Hindustan Times editors wonder if they were wrong in presuming the new professionalism among Indian cricketers would
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
Harbhajan Singh has been temporarily suspended from the Mumbai Indians side for his on-field altercation with Sreesanth and the Hindustan Times editors wonder if they were wrong in presuming the new professionalism among Indian cricketers would actually spur IPL rivals to egg each other on when it comes to playing for India.
According to the Indian Express editorial, the BCCI should be concerned about the iconisation of its cricketers.
It was obviously felt that an Indian icon was required by the squads for a sense of city loyalty to coalesce around each of them. Without the stars, it could be said, the IPL as a summertime entertainer would not be possible.
Harbhajan’s outrageous — though unsurprising — behaviour shows the dangers of nurturing the star system.
Full postWatson stuck on IPL's global glue
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Will Swanton writes in the Sydney Morning Herald on the galvanising effects of the IPL which is bringing global harmony:
The IPL was supposed to divide the cricketing world. Instead, it's bringing an end to racial hostilities. All they need to do now is get Harbhajan Singh to stop slapping his fellow Indians around.
Sacking exposes useless ICC once again
The ICC’s decision to send Malcolm Speed off to tend to his garden for his last couple of months as CEO has hardly met with a wave of approval
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
The ICC’s decision to send Malcolm Speed off to tend to his garden for his last couple of months as CEO has hardly met with a wave of approval. While Speed had his critics, the move is seen as unnecessary muscle-flexing and score-settling by those who run the game but shoulder little of the responsibility when things go wrong.
In the New Zealand Herald, Dylan Cleaver pulls no punches, describing them as “too many small men with large egos who have too much at stake”. He added:
“Only Speed's family would describe his stewardship as flawless but he was at least trying to force an endgame in the thorny issue of Zimbabwe. But trying to out those who run the game there cost him his job. Go figure.”
The Guardian reported that Speed “was known to have grown increasingly uncomfortable with what he considered Mali’s policy of protection for Zimbabwe Cricket, an organisation that has become politicised by Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF regime”.
Full postA new Troy Cooley for England?
England might have a new Troy Cooley on their hands, reckons Steve James in today's Sunday Telegraph , with the appointment of the relatively unknown Richard Halsall as their national fielding coach
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
England might have a new Troy Cooley on their hands, reckons Steve James in today's Sunday Telegraph, with the appointment of the relatively unknown Richard Halsall as their national fielding coach. Inevitably, thoughts turn to England's weakest fielder and what Halsall can do to help Monty Panesar:
Halsall's ideas are refreshing; his thoughts frankly articulated. Take my question about what to do with Monty Panesar, surely his biggest problem child in the England side.
"I will look to overload his practice and put him under more pressure," he says confidently. "I haven't met the bloke yet - only to say hello - but from all the things I've been told, he's got massive hands and never drops the ball in practice. But he obviously drops them in games. At first I'll probably show him clips of him being poor - to give him a reality check. I wouldn't let any practice situation with Monty become comfortable. I do a lot of sensory deprivation stuff where I actually put a patch on the player's eye. My idea is that if Monty is taking catches with me on a Monday before a Test with his non-dominant hand, and with only one eye, then he should be OK in front of thousands on the Thursday."
Full postPakistan not safe - Richardson
Former New Zealand batsman Mark Richardson does not want New Zealand to head to Pakistan for their three-ODI series
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Former New Zealand batsman Mark Richardson does not want New Zealand to head to Pakistan for their three-ODI series. In the New Zealand Herald he writes:
If Pakistan is to host the ICC Champions Trophy, then a three-match, one-day international series between New Zealand and Pakistan in Pakistan just prior to the tournament makes perfect sense - except for the fact that Pakistan should not be hosting the Champions Trophy and New Zealand should not tour there right now.
Children of controversy
Harbhajan Singh is involved in yet another on-field controversy and Times of India 's Bobilli Vijay Kumar wants to know how long have these wounds been festering between these two highly volatile players, what riled Harbhajan so much that he
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
Harbhajan Singh is involved in yet another on-field controversy and Times of India's Bobilli Vijay Kumar wants to know how long have these wounds been festering between these two highly volatile players, what riled Harbhajan so much that he couldn’t keep his fist to himself and whether he has become a chronic case?
Despite having played international cricket for a decade and being one of the more experienced players in the side, Harbhajan is never referred to as one of the senior players, writes Anand Vasu. Kadambari Murali, meanwhile, writes that its difficult to think of Sreesanth and think cricket. What comes to mind is an attention-seeking problem child. Read them in the Hindustan Times.
Full post'I still am the only girl that plays at Karachi GymKhana'
Jamie Alter
25-Feb-2013
 | ||
|
| ||
|
|
|
Ahead of the Women's Asia Cup, scheduled to begin in Sri Lanka on May 2, Pakistan captain Urooj Mumtaz spoke to PakPassion.Net about cricket, her life, fitness, legspin, Jonty Rhodes, why she thinks the Pakistan women's team is a committed unit, and a whole lot more.
Sample some snippets from the exclusive interview:
Even now a lot of the girls still have a lot of problems stemming from society (not from their immediate families), where people talk and this causes complications for them. It's very sad actually because it's such a beautiful sport to play. I think a lot of girls will understand when I say that even if the immediate family are willing, they often get influenced by society and that causes them to object to the girl playing cricket. Hopefully if the media give us more coverage and people get to see women playing cricket all the time, then it will become more acceptable to everyone.
Saluting Shane
He’s been the ‘Sheik of Tweak’ and ‘Hollywood’ for years, but now Shane Warne is the ‘IPL King’, according to the Australian’s Bruce Loudon
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
He’s been the ‘Sheik of Tweak’ and ‘Hollywood’ for years, but now Shane Warne is the ‘IPL King’, according to the Australian’s Bruce Loudon. Warne is not only the captain, coach and match-winner, but he has also picked up some Hindi.
There can be no minimising the reality that the Hollywood ending and high drama of the match against the Chargers shows that Warne is king not just of the Rajasthan Royals but the entire event.
Ron Reed says in the Herald Sun he can’t watch more than 12 overs of an IPL game because there is no emotional attachment, which is “pretty much a must-have ingredient if sport is to be meaningful”.
Who cares if the Deccan Chargers beat the Rajasthan Royals? Not this column, that's for sure. The fans in India might, but if it is Australians doing most of the heavy lifting - as has been the case in most matches so far - does that dilute the dynamics?
IPL what success?
In this great attempt to make the IPL appear the biggest success of the century none of us is being told how the organisers, except perhaps in Kolkata, are struggling to sell tickets and most of the full houses we watched are courtesy generously
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
In this great attempt to make the IPL appear the biggest success of the century none of us is being told how the organisers, except perhaps in Kolkata, are struggling to sell tickets and most of the full houses we watched are courtesy generously distributed passes, writes Pradeep Magazine in the Hindustan Times.
That the media too has lapped up this concept is evident from the amount of space being given to in newspapers and TV channels. What I found baffling was that when the news channels were discussing the issue of cheerleaders, they only harped upon the wrongs of moral policing and how our politicians are 'spolitsports'. No one focused on the fact that the cheerleaders themselves are feeling harassed by the crowd and find themselves the target of appalling, shocking and disgusting comments.
Deccan Chargers are still to win a game and their captain VVS Laxman is copping a lot of flak for their poor show. Sandeep Dwivedi writes in the Indian Express:
When VVS Laxman entered Eden Gardens to play his first Twenty20 game, it was akin to a maestro turning up for a boy-band on a stage that had witnessed his timeless classic.
IPL riches threaten to split England squad
Forget the notion that playing for England is the only thing that matters to Michael Vaughan and his side, says the Independent's Angus Fraser
Jamie Alter
25-Feb-2013
Forget the notion that playing for England is the only thing that matters to Michael Vaughan and his side, says the Independent's Angus Fraser. Taking a look at a recent survey by the Professional Cricketers Association, which shows that 35 per cent of those picked to play Test and one-day cricket would consider retiring from the international game prematurely to sign up for the highly lucrative Indian Premier League, Fraser lends a shoulder to "the hundreds of thousands of cricket fans who continue to spend a small fortune supporting the national side both at home and abroad".
Full postMost Read
Writers