The Surfer
Brett Lee - the bowling allrounder
Australia’s desperate search for an allrounder this summer may have overlooked Brett Lee
The Surfer
25-Feb-2013
Australia’s desperate search for an allrounder this summer may have overlooked Brett Lee. The Australian’s Andrew Ramsey writes Lee is eyeing a maiden Test century after his career-best 57 in the VB Series against South Africa on Sunday.
I would like to be considered as a handy tail-end batsman and if that developed into a bowling allrounder then that would be great. That's definitely what I'm aiming at.
Is it right to put the blame on me?
Inzamam-ul-Haq has blasted the pitch at Lahore and rubbishes claims that he had asked for a batting wicket
The Surfer
25-Feb-2013
Inzamam-ul-Haq has blasted the pitch at Lahore and rubbishes claims that he had asked for a batting wicket.
I had asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) curator to prepare sporting pitches. ...In spite of my demands, if someone goes on and prepares ‘batting paradise’ wickets, is it right to put the blame on me?Bob Woolmer, doesn't blame anyone. In his article published in The Indian Express he wrote, "Why blame?". After all, the ground staff are inhibited by two things: (a) the weather and (b) the amount of cricket played on the square." He went on to give reasons why Brisbane(Gabba) is his favourite pitchFull post
Club offers £200 reward for info on pitch vandalism
A club's cricket square near Cowbridge, South Wales, was vandalised last week , and the club is offering a £200 reward to anyone who can help prosecute the vandals responsible
Will
25-Feb-2013
A club's cricket square near Cowbridge, South Wales, was vandalised last week, and the club is offering a £200 reward to anyone who can help prosecute the vandals responsible. Anyone with information should contact Cowbridge police station, quoting incident number 305.
Full post'Highest paid Test under-achiever in the Indian firmament'
R Mohan believes Ajit Agarkar is past his sell date in Test cricket and suggests alternatives
The Surfer
25-Feb-2013
R Mohan believes Ajit Agarkar is past his sell date in Test cricket and suggests alternatives.
Full postThe cynics believe that he is the highest paid Test under-achiever in the Indian firmament. ...The law of declining returns has caught up with him, much as it catches up with ageing sportsmen, most particularly with fast bowlers who lose the nip. To believe he can use the red ball to help Team India win matches is to believe in miracles. With the white ball that moves a lot more, Agarkar has his uses. To see him continue in the Test arena raises the question of whether the nation has any pace bowlers of caliber at all.
Sehwag's ignorance - 'nothing short of shocking'
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Dilip Vengsarkar, former India captains, are shocked that Virender Sehwag hadn't heard of Pankaj Roy and Vinoo Mankad, who hold the world-record opening partnership
The Surfer
25-Feb-2013
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Dilip Vengsarkar, former India captains, are shocked that Virender Sehwag hadn't heard of Pankaj Roy and Vinoo Mankad, who hold the world-record opening partnership. Pataudi in his column in DNA, the Mumbai-based daily, wrote, "...that Sehwag had never heard of Pankaj Roy [India’s first captain from Bengal] or Mankad, an all-rounder in the same league as Kapil Dev, is very disconcerting. I can only hope that it is an example of some obscure humour".
Dilip Vengsarkar is shocked. "That Sehwag doesn't know who Pankaj Roy and Vinoo Mankad are, is nothing short of shocking. It shows the growing lack of knowledge and awareness about Indian cricketing history and tradition. We knew of them since our teens. It was told to us by our coaches. It was the Mumbai tradition."
Vengsarkar had mooted a theory paper at the National Cricket Academy which dealt with Indian and world cricketing history. "We would grade the players on the basis of what they knew. It helps inculcate a regard for history."
Pataudi also offers a similar suggestion. "If this [Sehwag's comments]is true then are we to assume that today’s cricketers are so ill-informed and uninterested in the traditions, and history of the game. If that is so, Chappell had better introduce another element into their daily regimen of practice and push-ups."
Full postWhen Kiwis were roasted in Madras dust
Trevor Chesterfield recalls listening on crackling radio in faraway New Zealand as Indian openers set the record.
The Surfer
25-Feb-2013
Trevor Chesterfield recalls listening on crackling radio in faraway New Zealand as Indian openers set the record.
...The commentary kept on fading. There was a jaunty sound from the Madras commentator. The end of Day One: a century for Roy and one for Mankad. India 234 without loss. Kiwis being roasted in the Madras dust. Fortunately Day Two coincided with a move into digs and, with batteries charged, able to listen to the continued torture. ...For a brief while the record was under siege; happily history turned its back on this latest effort. It wouldn’t have quite been the same.
Also read a tribute piece on the famous partnership
Full postImran picks his Sehwag moment
His quick eye just allows him to hit the ball on the up
The Surfer
25-Feb-2013
His quick eye just allows him to hit the ball on the up. He was late-cutting even fast bowlers and it was quite amazing to watching him pick his spot for the endless boundaries he hit. My standout shot was off Rana Naved, when he hit a perfect good length ball for a straight drive. It went like a bullet to the fence and nobody, including Sehwag, moved.Click here to read Imran Khan's article.
Sunil Gavaskar is all praise for Sehwag and Dravid and believes India might well have hit upon a opening pair to reckon with.
Full postIt’s a perfect combo as well. For, if there’s an attacking player at one end there’s rock solidity at the other end. So, on the one hand the bowlers trying to blast their way find a steel wall to get through and at the other end they get hit back as fast as they bowl.
Simpson attacks Australia culture of sledging
Bob Simpson, Australia's former coach, has taken aim at Ricky Ponting and Australia's attitude towards sledging which reminds him "of the behaviour of small children and the bravado they use to disguise their own fallibilities".
Will
25-Feb-2013
Bob Simpson, Australia's former coach, has taken aim at Ricky Ponting and Australia's attitude towards sledging which reminds him "of the behaviour of small children and the bravado they use to disguise their own fallibilities".
"While present-day cricketers promote the need for the spirit of cricket to be adhered to, many of them do not follow in action this norm, which they publicly endorse in words," Simpson said.
"This, of course, not only includes sledging but excessive appealing, disrespecting the umpiring decisions and using their well-paid, generally ghost-written columns to bait opposition teams and players.
"I find all of this rather distasteful and not in the better interests of the game.
Full postThe secret behind Sehwag's return to form
There’s a scientific explanation for Virender Sehwag's return to form
The Surfer
25-Feb-2013
There’s a scientific explanation for Virender Sehwag's return to form.
It’s a simple schoolyard exercise devised to test and sharpen reflexes. But Ian Frazer, India’s biomechanist, has a more respectable name for it: Repositioning, or "neural stimuli". Frazer, with physio John Gloster and trainer Greg King, has been working hard on the opener’s batting over the past few weeks.
Full postIt's costly filling Shoaib's boots
Shoaib Akhtar in a bid to maintain his fitness at the optimum level and avoid any foot injuries uses specially made boots, each pair costing 500 pounds (about 53,000 Pakistani rupees), and he carries five pairs in his kit bag.
The Surfer
25-Feb-2013
Shoaib Akhtar in a bid to maintain his fitness at the optimum level and avoid any foot injuries uses specially made boots, each pair costing 500 pounds (about 53,000 Pakistani rupees), and he carries five pairs in his kit bag.
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