The Surfer
Keepers of the flame rekindle Ashes yarns
It was a night to remember at the MCG as old Victorian cricketers from Ashes series spanning 60 years turned back the clock.
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
It was a night to remember at the MCG as old Victorian cricketers from Ashes series spanning 60 years turned back the clock.
Cricketers have longer careers than most sportsfolk, and so its generations are more closely linked. Colin McDonald, 77, remembered a brave century made by his opening partner, the youthful Bill Lawry, on a Lord's pitch made treacherous by a ridge in 1961.
Read the full piece in The Age.
Full postField of his own
When Mike Young, Australia's fielding coach, came to Australia to play for the Queensland baseball team, his first taste of Test cricket was met with a kind of bemusement natural for young Americans
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
When Mike Young, Australia's fielding coach, came to Australia to play for the Queensland baseball team, his first taste of Test cricket was met with a kind of bemusement natural for young Americans.
"It was a Monday or Tuesday and I asked them when it was over. They said Friday. I said 'oh, my God'. We started talking about prizemoney and trophies teams win and they mentioned 'the Ashes'."And I said, 'You play for five days and might only tie or draw and all you win is some ashes'. I thought 'I hope Australian baseball is not like this'."
Well he has come a long way since then, and cricket has compensated what he couldn't achieve with baseball. The Australian players have given him the respect he deserves, chipping in out of their own pockets to pay for his own room during the 2003 World Cup.
Read the full piece by Robert Craddock in The Courier Mail.
Full postThe talented Mr Cricket
Mike Hussey burst on the Test-match scene with an incredible run of scores last season, quickly establishing himself as a key member of Australia's middle order as they rebuilt following the Ashes loss in England
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
Mike Hussey burst on the Test-match scene with an incredible run of scores last season, quickly establishing himself as a key member of Australia's middle order as they rebuilt following the Ashes loss in England. When he made his Test debut, against West Indies at Brisbane, he'd scored over 15,000 first-class runs; it took him just 166 days to register his first 1000 in Tests. Now he his gearing up for the biggest season of his life, seven months of non-stop action that includes the Champions Trophy, Ashes re-match and World Cup. Read David Sygall's interview with him in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Journalists have baited Hussey, expecting him to criticise the selectors for not picking him sooner. He wouldn't bite. But, reflecting on a great year, he reveals his conclusion. "I would have loved to have played a lot earlier," he says. "I probably wouldn't have been 100 per cent ready, but I would have loved the opportunity to make my mistakes and learn that way."
Here's my recipe to stir up England
Mark Waugh plays selector and picks his Australian XI to stir up the Old Enemy in a bid to reclaim the Ashes
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Mark Waugh plays selector and picks his Australian XI to stir up the Old Enemy in a bid to reclaim the Ashes.
I was asked to be an Australian selector a few months ago. Although it would have been a great challenge, I decided to turn it down. I have a few commitments these days that take up a fair bit of my time and the thought of travelling around the world watching cricket every day would've driven me mad.
Read the full piece in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Full postDownhill skiing in Dubai
Writing in supercricket.co.za Neil Manthorp feels that in its efforts to maximise the value of all its 'rights', the ICC may well be forgetting the most basic and important rights of all
Sriram Veera
25-Feb-2013
Writing in supercricket.co.za Neil Manthorp feels that in its efforts to maximise the value of all its 'rights', the ICC may well be forgetting the most basic and important rights of all. Human rights.
ICC should be very careful how far they take the process of signing sponsors. They are currently in the process of renegotiating their rights deal with brokers GCC and I have heard talk that the last number, which was US$550 million, could be nearly doubled for the period between the 2007 World Cup and the one in 2015. The deal will be the most 'inclusive' in sports history, which means that everything the players eat, drink and think will be sponsored or provided by an 'official supplier'. There was even talk, at one stage, of players being required to dress in 'official' casual clothing in their spare time between games during ICC tournaments. At what stage does a player belong to himself? Quite apart from the fact that he may have a personal endorsement with Levis, why should he be forced to wear another brand of jeans?
Dravid is his own man, but has much to do
Only a faint-hearted captain might hand his coach the reins of the team, and all evidence of Dravid is to the contrary , writes Rohit Brijnath, in the Sportstar .
Sriram Veera
25-Feb-2013
Only a faint-hearted captain might hand his coach the reins of the team, and all evidence of Dravid is to the contrary, writes Rohit Brijnath, in the Sportstar.
Fact is, of course, that neither experimentation, nor order shuffling, is the cause of India's recent woes. Merely that lately the batting has had more cracks in it than a Bush argument. In their last 10 innings, India's batsmen, from Dravid (105, 11, 0, 15, 18, 9*, 26, 6, 0, 7) to Raina (6, 7*, 27, 26, 7, 2, 34, 1*, 11, 26) to Dhoni (3, 59, 18, 2, 15, 46*, 14, 2, 18, 23) to Yuvraj (4, 63*, 7, 24, 12, 93, 52, 26, 0, 0) to Sehwag (73, 22, 12, 97, 11, 95, 9, 8, 10) to Pathan (46, 1*, 26, 7*, 1, 14, 1, 8, 64, 0), have been edgy.
Apart from the strains of leading the side through a critical phase, there is pressure on Rahul Dravid to deliver as a batsman, writes S Dinakar in the same magazine.
Full postIndian idyll sets us up for hot summer
Ricky Ponting talks about Australia's preparations during the off-season and about the importance of the Champions Trophy
Sriram Veera
25-Feb-2013
Ricky Ponting talks about Australia's preparations during the off-season and about the importance of the Champions Trophy. Read his column in the Australian here
Full postWill he keep bobbing up like a bad hair day?
R Mohan, writing in the Deccan Chronicle , wonders how the ICC let off Darrell Hair so easily, the man at the centre of the ball-tampering row at The Oval:
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
25-Feb-2013
R Mohan, writing in the Deccan Chronicle, wonders how the ICC let off Darrell Hair so easily, the man at the centre of the ball-tampering row at The Oval:
There have been too many holes in the manner in which the so-called elite umpiring system has been run by a section of the ICC. The Hair imbroglio is a rare instance in which it got its comeuppance. And it was not Asian money and clout that swung the verdict this time as much as the blatant unfairness of one man’s actions being exposed cruelly by expert witnesses and the forensic examination of the ball in question.
Ashes hero Pratt gets another run-out . . . at football
It is not known whether Ricky Ponting follows English non-League football closely, but one fixture in the Arngrove Northern League second division on Wednesday evening may have aroused his interest, writes John Westerby in The Times .
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
It is not known whether Ricky Ponting follows English non-League football closely, but one fixture in the Arngrove Northern League second division on Wednesday evening may have aroused his interest, writes John Westerby in The Times.
Making his debut in the No 10 shirt for Crook Town against Brandon United was none other than Gary Pratt, the substitute fielder who famously riled the Australia captain by running him out in the Ashes Test at Trent Bridge last year. The good news for Ponting is that Pratt is hoping to play the rest of the season for Crook, which means that he will not be carrying out twelfth-man duties for England in Australia.
A to Z of the English summer
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
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In The Times Tim de Lisle goes from A to Z of whats been an eventful summer with more than its fair share of controversy.
C is for captaincy. Complicated, in England’s case. David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, called Andrew Flintoff “the man in possession” last week, when Michael Vaughan was still the official England captain and Andrew Strauss had been in charge for 17 successive matches of various kinds. In Tests, the stand-in for the stand-in did an outstanding job ... L is for Lancashire, nearly men once again. They blamed the weather, with good reason. When they finally refurbish Old Trafford, they should give it a sliding roof.