The Surfer
Moody future in store for England?
Tom Moody’s tenure as Sri Lanka coach is proving to be a good one
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Tom Moody’s tenure as Sri Lanka coach is proving to be a good one. And, says Richard Hobson in The Times, he is shaping up to be a decent future candidate for the role of England coach.
Full postTendulkar's decision lamentable
Jamie Alter
25-Feb-2013
Sachin Tendulkar began his comeback from shoulder surgery at Fenners - Cambridge University's ground - by scoring a gorgeous 91-ball hundred for the Lashings World XI side in a match against the university. However, not everyone was impressed by his decision to 'ease' himself back into cricket by playing five matches for Lashings.
Far from advancing his rehabilitation, these appearances may set him back, writes Peter Roebuck in The Hindu.
Full postFight's over for Budhi
It was a fight till the very end for Budhi Kunderan, the former India wicketkeeper who succumbed to cancer yesterday
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
It was a fight till the very end for Budhi Kunderan, the former India wicketkeeper who succumbed to cancer yesterday. Clayton Murzello pays a tribute, with touching quotes from family and Kunderan's friends.Read the full piece in Mid-Day.
"In the age of the Internet, Budhi Kunderan did not give it any space. He used his hands to write letters to his dear ones."
Jail over fatal cricket bat blow
It's a tough world
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
It's a tough world. The Daily Telegraph in Sydney reports that 22-year-old Daniel Kling has been sentenced to eight years jail for fatally bashing a work colleague on the head with a cricket bat. The two argued and fought at work and their boss sent them home to
"sort their shit out".
"However, after things calmed down, an intoxicated Swain called Andrew Kling a "dickhead" as he left the house, prompting his son to follow him outside. The prosection said after Swain said "let's go" and put his fists up, Kling whacked him across the left side of his head with the bat in a single, heavy blow."
Pressure? What pressure? Not enough, apparently
Even though lots of one-day cricket is played in England, the international side isn’t what it could be
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Even though lots of one-day cricket is played in England, the international side isn’t what it could be. But rather than that be a surprise, it’s actually quite understandable, says Mike Selvey in The Guardian.
Full postI'm a journalist, get me out of here
It’s not all glamour being a cricket reporter ploughing your way round the county circuit
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
It’s not all glamour being a cricket reporter ploughing your way round the county circuit. The Daily Telegraph’s Charles Randall seemed to have had more than enough of Canterbury, where a combination of some dreadfully dull batting from Kent and a pitch with as much life as a cadaver finally did for him.
“A huge total on an easy-paced strip should impose fatigue and 'scoreboard pressure' on the opposition, though this ponderous exercise at the St Lawrence Ground proved unedifying as neither side gained maximum batting or bowling points.
Kent's cynical effort provided minimal personal development value, minimal entertainment and very little advantage in the table against one of the lowest counties.”
Full postIs it really 'for the good for the game'?
Food for thought for the ICC
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
Food for thought for the ICC. An article in The New Yorker, talks about why governing bodies of international sport often turn out so badly. It’s subject is FIFA, football’s kindly ruler which is currently under the media spotlight after various allegations were made by the BBC.
“It rules impartially, concerned only with “the good of the game,” as the organisation likes to say … [but] “the good of the game” seems to get subordinated to the good of FIFA. Why, when global governing bodies have such noble aims, are the results so consistently bad?
“Since Blatter [FIFA’s president] took office, FIFA has channelled tens of millions of dollars in grants to developing countries to promote soccer, while seeming not to pay too much attention to how the money gets spent. Perhaps coincidentally, this tends to make representatives from these countries very grateful, and very unwilling to change the status quo.”
No-one is suggesting that the ICC is anything like FIFA, but it is a warning of how things can go so very awry, even when the original intentions are good.
Full postThank God for the football
England’s cricketers will be happy that the World Cup is on
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
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You have to burrow into the twilight zone of the sports’ pages to find even a passing reference to the 2nd ODI, and almost universally Michael Owen’s knee occupies more column inches than the entire match.
“If there was one place to bury all the Ashes nostalgia for once and for all, then this was surely it,” wrote Colin Bateman in The Daily Express “ and Sri Lanka dug the deepest of holes for England and dumped them in it. You can only live on past glories for so long …”
Even the broadsheets, who normally give England’s international matches their full attention, seem to have had one eye on Cologne. Only Mike Selvey in The Guardian attempted analysis, and he spelt out some home truths about Sajid Mahmood. “There came a point yesterday when even the most hard-hearted spectators must have felt like running on to give him a hug. His was a dismal experience, his bowling stripped bare by a withering, calculated assault from Jayasuriya and Jayawardene at the outset, from which he was never able to recover.”
Full postMichael Clarke involved in hotel scuffle
Michael Clarke’s off-season has involved what the Daily Telegraph called a “bar room scuffle” with a Parramatta rugby league player in Sydney.
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Michael Clarke’s off-season has involved what the Daily Telegraph called a “bar room scuffle” with a Parramatta rugby league player in Sydney.
Clarke's manager Lisa Stallard yesterday confirmed the pair had been involved in an incident at Northies. "There was a bit of mucking around that got out of hand," she said. "The bouncers weren't happy with it and Tim Smith got the raw end of the stick and got thrown out."
Stumped as to why they keep selecting Jones
In The Times , Pat Gibson raises the much-discussed issue of England's wicketkeeper:-
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
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"Not a day goes by at a county ground without someone, be it a player or a coach, a spectator or even a tea lady, asking the same question. 'Why,' they want to know, 'do the England selectors persist in picking Geraint Jones?'"
Gibson believes it comes down to Duncan Fletcher.
"The suspicion is that only Fletcher, the allpowerful coach, knows the answer to that because his colleagues, David Graveney, the chairman, and Geoff Miller watch enough domestic cricket and canvass enough opinions to know that there are many better wicketkeepers than Jones, some of whom can also bat at least as well as he can."