The Surfer
Underdone Vaughan under fire
England face a serious uphill battle to reach the World Cup semi-finals after losing to Australia and in The Times Simon Wilde lays some of the blame with the captain.
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
England face a serious uphill battle to reach the World Cup semi-finals after losing to Australia and in The Times Simon Wilde lays some of the blame with the captain.
At the moment, Michael Vaughan's reactions simply don't seem good enough. When he batted, his defensive stroke was undone by Shaun Tait's pace. This was more forgivable than his bad miss in the field when the match was very much in the balance.
Simon Hughes writes in the Daily Telegraph that England seem to find the powerplays a handicap when they bat.
Blogging for the Guardian, Lawrence Booth takes a more positive tack and writes about Ian Bell’s potential as a one-day opener.
Full postHas the BCCI shot itself in the foot?
"Trapped in a circle of fire, the Indian board was of course expected to come out shooting; but nobody really imagined that it would do this: end up shooting at its own feet
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
"Trapped in a circle of fire, the Indian board was of course expected to come out shooting; but nobody really imagined that it would do this: end up shooting at its own feet. It has virtually declared war against the players and the sponsors and advertisers who have clearly made deep inroads into the system," says Bobilli Vijay Kumar in The Times of India.
Full postUpsets do happen
"The upset means South Africa's World Cup dream is now under direct attack and that Bangladesh, who have yet to play England, Ireland and the West Indies, are still in contention for an unlikely semifinals finish," writes Richard Boock in The New
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
"The upset means South Africa's World Cup dream is now under direct attack and that Bangladesh, who have yet to play England, Ireland and the West Indies, are still in contention for an unlikely semifinals finish," writes Richard Boock in The New Zealand Herald. "And whom should we thank for all this uncertainty? Bangladesh of course, for proving once again that there are no certainties in sport, and that upsets do happen."
Full postBig money chases Australia
Australia’s bonus if they win the World Cup will be spare change if they play in a Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies next year, according to Robert Craddock in The Australian .
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Australia’s bonus if they win the World Cup will be spare change if they play in a Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies next year, according to Robert Craddock in The Australian.
American-born, Antiguan-based billionaire Allen Stanford has offered Australia the chance to be part of a Twenty20 competition that he hopes will also draw India, Pakistan and New Zealand and feature prizemoney of more than $20million. Stanford, who is trying to make Twenty20 popular in America, has made a direct proposal to Cricket Australia, which is considering the offer.
In the same paper Jon Pierik writes South Africa’s reputation as chokers is “greater than ever”.
Full postMirror, mirror on the wall
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
"If [Mickey] Arthur, [Graeme] Smith the rest of the senior players and management decide to try and glue the pieces back together the hard way, these may be some of the very difficult issues they could address," writes Neil Manthorp on supercricket.co.za after South Africa's loss against Bangladesh in Guyana.
* If the golden boys of the national team (Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock, Mark Boucher, Herschelle Gibbs and Makhaya Ntini) are untouchable when the team is playing well and winning, why is Andrew Hall still dispensable even when he is in the best form of his life?
England need to blow hot to beat system
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
"England could still reach the semi-finals after losing to Australia, especially if South Africa continue to fall apart after their defeat by Bangladesh. Any feelings of superiority England had after winning the one-day finals in Australia were dissipated when they threw away the warm-up match in St Vincent last month," writes Scyld Berry in The Sunday Telegraph.
Also in The Sunday Telegraph, Ian Chappell says that England's chances of beating Australia depend on whether they dismiss Ricky Ponting cheaply.
Full postBCCI cracks the whip
"First, there was disaster
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
"First, there was disaster. And now, we seem headed for a calamity. Typical of an effete polity whose only agenda is to survive and wreck everything around them, the Indian Board’s reaction to the World Cup disaster puts even logic to shame," says Pradeep Magazine in The Hindustan Times.
What beats me is that the same coach whose team did not even enter the top eight of the World Cup has been rewarded with one of the most important jobs in Indian cricket. He is being offered the job of grooming and guiding youngsters at the National Cricket Academy. If Greg Chappell is thought to be so good, then why remove him as coach of the team in the first place?
Lara's leadership not a patch on his batting
"Many of the qualities that have made Lara the great batsman of the past 15 years - the self-obsession, the ego, the individualism, the outrageous talent - are qualities that often do not transfer to captaincy
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
"Many of the qualities that have made Lara the great batsman of the past 15 years - the self-obsession, the ego, the individualism, the outrageous talent - are qualities that often do not transfer to captaincy. This World Cup has not told us much we did not already know about the Prince of Port of Spain: he is a great batsman who is singularly ill-equipped for leadership," writes Mike Atherton in The Sunday Telegraph.
Full postHit KP in the ribs
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Australia will take aim at Kevin Pietersen’s healing ribs when they face England in the Super Eights match on Sunday, according to Chloe Saltau in the Sunday Age. Pietersen was forced to leave the Australia tour with a fracture after charging Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting would like to inflict some more pain.
"If Glenn could hit him in the ribs, break his ribs and have him retire that would be lovely," Ponting said. But Ponting said the main tactic would be to greet the dangerous Pietersen by bringing Shaun Tait into the attack.
What happened to the man who ran out Ponting?
It’s good to see the Aussies aren’t engaging in any kind of schadenfreude where Gary Pratt - destined to be known as the man who ran out Ricky Ponting - is concerned
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
It’s good to see the Aussies aren’t engaging in any kind of schadenfreude where Gary Pratt - destined to be known as the man who ran out Ricky Ponting - is concerned. The Australian has traced his career path post-Ashes 2005 and found him released by Durham and now playing lower league football. But cricket remains his true love and he has been given a contract with the minor county Cumbria.
For Pratt’s part, it’s good to see that he’s not bitter about being released by Durham, blaming a lack of opportunities on the captain Mike Hussey who is, of course, Australian.
Full post