The Surfer
Opening salvo
R Mohan , the veteran Indian journalist, has eulogised Rahul Dravid’s decision to open the batting, calling it an "unselfish" move
The Surfer
25-Feb-2013
R Mohan, the veteran Indian journalist, has eulogised Rahul Dravid’s decision to open the batting, calling it an "unselfish" move. Why? "To send Ganguly out to open against Shoaib Akhtar even on this most placid of Lahore pitches would have been sadistic oneupmanship. Regardless of the controversy over Ganguly’s inclusion in the squad, what could not be lost sight of was that team interest could not be sacrificed even as all and sundry kept putting their oar in troubled waters"
Greg Chappell has meanwhile said the opening decision will be reviewed match by match. "I thought the decision of Rahul [Dravid] to open the innings was a courageous one. He made a bold statement not only to the opposition but his own teammates that he will lead from the front. It was a calculated risk that we have taken".
Pakistan have no such worries. Bob Woolmer has given his vote of confidence to Shoaib Malik, the allrounder, to continue to open for Pakistan in the next Test. Woolmer was quoted in the Jung as saying, "There has been a lot of speculation about Pakistan’s opening pair. Shoaib Malik was chosen because he is less likely to get out caught in the slips. For some reason everyone in the media thinks he is more likely to get out caught in the slips. I’m not denigrating any of the past openers we’ve had but they used to get out caught in the slips. Over a period of time in Test history a lot of openers got out caught in slips and I know because I was one myself. Malik is a very fine cricketer — he is a three in one cricketer.
"He can bowl off-spin very well, he is a very fine batsman and he is a brilliant fielder. He doesn't have a permanent place in the side but I think he has done very well against England and batted very well here too. Quite frankly he is a very fine cricketer so let us cut this speculation."
Full postMoles departure shrouded in mystery
The ramifications of the departure of Andy Moles as Scotland’s coach continue to rumble on, with a report in the Scotsman on Sunday claiming that he was sacked rather than resigned, as Cricket Scotland’s media department maintain.
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
The ramifications of the departure of
Andy Moles as Scotland’s coach continue to rumble on, with a report in the Scotsman on Sunday claiming that he was sacked rather than resigned, as Cricket Scotland’s media department maintain.
Following the blandest of media releases on Friday, no-one at Cricket Scotland appears to have been able to give a firm reason for Moles’s departure and few seem to believe that it was of his volition.
But the article by William Dick indicates that it might not have been because of player unrest, as most reports have suggested. “It has emerged that there were concerns about various aspects of the coach's performance from early in his reign, begging the question why it took bosses so long to act.”
Full postMushtaq finally gets bowling coach appointment
The Pakistan Cricket Board has appointed Mushtaq Ahmed, the legspinner, as the bowling coach of the senior team for the home series against India.
The Surfer
25-Feb-2013
The Pakistan Cricket Board has appointed Mushtaq Ahmed, the legspinner, as the bowling coach of the senior team for the home series against India.
PCB seems to be getting its act together. After a bowling a coach, they are now looking to appoint a chief financial controller.
Full postIf I keep scoring, who will have the guts to drop me?
Younis Khan, who continued his love affair with India with a 199 in the first Test, talks about his career, about coming back from being dropped and more
The Surfer
25-Feb-2013
Younis Khan, who continued his love affair with India with a 199 in the first Test, talks about his career, about coming back from being dropped and more. click here to read his interview in the Kolkata based The Telegraph
Full postECB penalisation fears eased
Fears that the ECB - and other cricket boards - would be penalised have eased, following a hearing at the Delhi Supreme Court last week
Will
25-Feb-2013
Fears that the ECB - and other cricket boards - would be penalised have eased, following a hearing at the Delhi Supreme Court last week. The ECB gave Sky, Britain's pay-per-view network, exclusive rights for cricket, ending Channel 4's six-year coverage and ending free-to-air cricket broadcasting for the time being:
The guidelines forced cable and satellite companies like Ten, ESPN-Star Sports and Sony, to share their exclusive rights with the national broadcaster Doordarshan so the public could have cricket free-to-air. It is akin to the British Government forcing Sky to share their exclusive ECB rights with the BBC without compensation.
The art of bat making
Sachin Tendulkar, in a lunch time chat with Dean Jones, talked about his equipment
The Surfer
25-Feb-2013
Sachin Tendulkar, in a lunch time chat with Dean Jones, talked about his equipment. Apparently he carries 8 pairs of gloves and 6 bats on tour. The main criterion of picking his bats was the feel of it. "I go by how it feels when I pick up a bat and the shape of it" He just doesn't stop there, scrapes the bottom of the bat handle, and has it tailor made for him. This brings me to this fascinating article by Sunil Gavaskar on bats.
At the highest level apart from the weight, pick up, balance, the grains on the bat face are important. The closer the grains and if they are about 14 to 18 grains then the longer the bat should last and that is what the professionals will use, especially those who do not have bat contracts. Otherwise in terms of stroke-making, the ideal number of grains on the bat should be about 8 to 10 and nicely and evenly spaced the better.
'Goodness gracious'
John Wright has backed Sourav Ganguly , rubbishing most of Raj Singh Dungarpur’s comments on the former Indian captain
The Surfer
25-Feb-2013
John Wright has backed Sourav Ganguly, rubbishing most of Raj Singh Dungarpur’s comments on the former Indian captain. "He is a colourful man and is sometimes prone to making colourful statements. I saw the news briefly on the internet. I looked at it and said goodness gracious what is happening; because in India cricket almost follows you, in fact it haunts you," he told the Hindi news channel 'Aaj Tak'.
Asked if he thought Ganguly was a lazy fielder, he said, "That is Raj's opinion. I am not involved in that thought process. There were times when I could single out Ganguly and there were times when the same could have been said of [Javagal] Srinath and [Anil] Kumble".
Still on the topic, Deccan Herald, the Bangalore based daily, reports that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have asked TEN Sports to refrain from airing footage of the animated conversation involving Rahul Dravid, Ganguly, with Greg Chappell a silent by-stander, that set several tongues wagging on either side of the Wagah border.
Full postGalli Galli mey Irfan - Not quite says Miandad
Javed Miandad is surprised by the reluctance of the Indians to go on defensive even when Pakistan was on top
The Surfer
25-Feb-2013
Javed Miandad is surprised by the reluctance of the Indians to go on defensive even when Pakistan was on top. Over to Miandad: "You cannot attack all the time in cricket. If things are not going your way, it makes sense to defend and frustrate the batsmen into making mistakes, and you can return to your offensive ways after dismissing them. It is critical for an under-the-pump bowling side to bowl on one side of the stumps and place the field accordingly. Kumble and Harbhajan bowled poorly, and they could have done much better, for there was certainly some turn in the pitch"
Remember, last time India toured Pakistan, there was a quote floating in the press, allegedly made by Miandad, on Irfan – "Your Irfan Pathans are in every galli and mohalla of Pakistan — we don’t even bother to look at them"’. And Irfan had gone on to torment the Pakistan batsmen in that series. Now Miandad takes time out to clear the issue, “I would like to clarify once again that I had never said anything of the sort. What I had actually stated was that it wasn’t easy to become an all-time great overnight. Irfan is a talented young bowler and will surely go places, but it is important that he has good support at the other end. He will improve by leaps and bounds if he gets a potent partner.
On the other hand, he will suffer if he is left to fight a lone battle. I thought India erred by not picking Zaheer Khan, for he is a wicket-taking bowler, and certainly more capable of troubling opposition batsmen on a flat track than Ajit Agarkar."
‘Ordinary’ – That’s the word most typed out in Krishnamachari Srikkanth's key board yesterday. The former dashing opener couldn’t control his disappointment at the Indian bowling performance. Click here to read his piece.
Full postMore to it than just cricket
Mike Marqusee, weeds out the hype, and plants the proper perspective.
The Surfer
25-Feb-2013
Mike Marqusee, weeds out the hype, and plants the proper perspective.
Too often, the glittering prizes associated with cricket are used as an emotional proxy for Indian aspirations for global economic stature. The game is a symbol of new wealth, but also of enduring and widening inequalities. The special quality of cricket in south Asia is not, in the end, its function as a money-spinner but its role in popular culture, its street-level vibrancy. It may sound obvious but it needs to be reiterated that cricket was not invented in order to serve as a bandwagon for businessmen, politicians or military dictators. The game lives because it raises the universal joy of harmless play to a high level of technique and drama, because it displays so effectively the ever-surprising capacity and diversity of the human race.
Click here to read his article.
Full postPakistan's paid fan putting pen to paper
Whenever you watch a match involving Pakistan there will always be at least one familiar face in the crowd, the flag-waving Abdul Jaleel
The Surfer
25-Feb-2013
Whenever you watch a match involving Pakistan there will always be at least one familiar face in the crowd, the flag-waving Abdul Jaleel. He makes a living out of supporting Pakistan and receives a scholarship from the PCB for his efforts. Now, he has decided to write a book about his experiences. The English title will be, unsurprisingly, 'Flag Flying'. It is expected to hit the shelves in August - just as he will be following Pakistan around England.
Full post