Could be a useful tool - II

West Indies vs England 2008-09, Day Three, Fourth test, Bridgetown, Barbados

In Part - I we spoke about how players could trivialize it enough to churn up a false debate against an, imprefect though, yet a facility nevertheless.

During the first trial of the system in the India vs Sri lanka series in 2008, it was spectacularly let down by the on-field and off -field umpires. We had raised questions about the bias, mutual egos, and the need for a third umpire then. We had advocated, if it is recalled, a system whereby the on-field umpire has a gadget to replay the section required (with communication with the production manager), control it frame by frame as many times as he wants, and also replay it on the large screen in addition to a boundary-side monitor or a monitor incorporated into the hand-held gadget, to make it better. ^{WTF Billy Doctorve, SL probably have won this}

Needless to say, in the politically charged climate cricket is today, anything wrong done against India is OK. Check out the backdates at public cricket forums, you can read the venom spewed out against India's call (Anil Kumble spoke out against it) for a scrutiny of the referral system. And we are not talking about the days before referrals like Sydney for instance. No, we are just talking about how umpires have manipulated the referral system peculiarly, just as players have attempted to do.

Yesterday the West Indies suffered a couple of adverse decisions.

It is bloody murder today! What a striking contrast between India getting the wrong end and WI being forked! Check out the Muddack owned organ itself for its past headlines and stories! And then check out the West Indian cricket forums. Also check out the England forums. You will see posters floating away from previously held positions like rootless driftwood.(Go back to the archives of August 2008 and compare with present). You might also wish to check out some blogs as well who get carried away.

I agree with the Muddack organ today when it says the first two were not controversial even if Sir Gary momentarily forgot about the straighter one bowled by offies in Devon Smith's case during commentary...they were clear even without the Hawkeye, which anyway umpires are not supposed to enjoy (we don't know if they partake of on the sly though)...and we also agree with the controversy the Muddack organ blares out around the other two.

See this is a clear illustration of what we have been suggesting all along. In the debates in 2007 spilling over to 2008 at the England public forums, we had strongly advocated for such a gadget minus the third umpire. We were told then by some tech-savvy participants in the debate that such a gadget were indeed possible today. We spoke about the problems which a third umpire brings to the table...in fact when technology was used in an India vs South Africa match on India's first tour to SA, Steve Bucknor was the first to interfere with a technological system's objectivity - the shadow of the umpire's hand on technology was cast there and then...we spoke about the need to simultaneously screen it on the big screen as well, so the umpires are conscious of a need to be as accurate as possible rather than think it is some game in which they are god-like figures without accountability.

The follow on is almost saved and will be later today. Which puts England back into the position it usually finds itself in - unable to seal it unless there is a willing opposition. We have been talking about this English inability in previous posts. They had some serious umpiring help in this test match - make no mistake of that, England did, Sir! - yet one feels they will end up short of a win. Which isn't unsurprising really.

But that shouldn't detract from the topic - umpires must be held accountable, especially third umpires. Remove the third umpire system and get those gadgets ICC, to start with. An on-field umpire could make mistakes in difficult cases (different from the easy ones Bucknor-Benson missed at Sydney), we understand, but a third umpire has the same technology we are seeing on TV, if not beter...he has no reason to err. Billy Doctrove was let off back then in Lanka, Harper should be looked into seriously here. The more you let them get away with such manipulations, the worse it gets.

One feels neither the umpires nor the players ( no matter what they say or call for - many are politicians in playing uniform ) really want a system for re-examination and are doing their best to discredit and scuttle the initiative. What other conclusions can one draw from the way both are responding to this initiative?

We call for scrutiny of umpires' performance and institution of changes, including of relevant valid technology, without favour or bias.

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Could be a useful tool

West Indies vs England 2008-09, Day Three, Fourth test, Bridgetown, Barbados

I meant the system of re-examining a decision.

I am watching the England versus West Indies match currently. The Englishmen have some sort of a hold on it - I cannot call it a 'stranglehold' for these days bowling sides fail to wrap up a team if their own batsmen have scored something like 600. Unless a gross difference exists between teams, if one can do in a match, the other can as well - first or second innings.

Coming back, Aleem Dar gave an easy one just now - Devon Smith lbw to Swann. There was nothing wrong with that decision. The ball pitched in line, held it, hit the pad and then went on to hit the bat tucked just a little behind it.

Devon Smith has just scored a rare fifty in his comeback series - there is talk of him going on to score a hundred, Mikey says so, we are almost believing as we see the grim determination on Smith's face behind the grill. And now this shout...

Smith asks for a referral. One is perplexed - why would he want a re-examination? Surely, he, as the batsman, must be aware that the ball hit his pad first and then the bat tucked behind? There was a significant gap of milliseconds between the first and second impact...I guess Devon Smith musn't have been too sure of the line the ball would take.

That's the only plausible reason, otherwise why would players want to trivialize the referral system which could help them? I agree the system needs changes..improvements...but something's better than nothing.

I do not see West Indies winning this one. I do not see England able to bowl West Indies out twice, in time, on this Barbados surface unless they pull a special rabbit out of Swann.

Can't wait for the Saffers vs Ozzie match - it's more interesting, watchable. The saving grace is Sarwan who is in some rare form. He is more attractive to watch than even Chaderpaul, when on song. Another fifty for him and inching to a hundred.

Scorecard

 

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Australia Playing Some Kick A$$ Cricket, but...

Days Three, First Test, Australia vs South Africa 2009

The best test team in the world was just given a wake up call.

Some of my Ozzie friends aren't calling it exactly that. Wake up call is for birds, and the Saffies aren't pretty birds, they're worse...Oz-beaters they are according to mu Australian friends, and we know that's a real baaad species maaan!

Peter Siddle likes to straddle the pitch, if not the game. And he likes to enquire in a really old-fashioned way. We like that, for you could end up looking silly more often than not but there never is a question about the level of involvement even in that case. And his balls fly at a useful rate of knots.

I'm lining up this goatee behind Mitch and alongside North for a closer look this season.

He and Mitch waylaid the Saffers in their own park. Perhaps the afterglow of a champagne series hadn't been shaken away yet. But this is the morning after you know?

The thing is we have seen such excitement from the new Australian boys before - their problem is sustainability.

Mitch has always had a good two innings in a series, but other than that ten-fer at Perth against the Saffers ( Unfortunately for Mitch the Saffers won to dilute his ten-fer) and a nine-fer against the Kiwis at Brisbane recently, these two aberrations aside, Mitchell Johnson has strictly been a one-inning wonder in test match cricket thus far.

The closest Siddle has got to is a eight-fer for the match against the Saffers at Sydney.

Hilfenhaus is a workhorse, not a rapier.

These things make one feel that South Africa haven't yet been tied up in a bundle and thrown into the bottomless well by the Australians in the ongoing test. There is no guarantee that Australia will take many wickets in the second innings quickly enough to matter. A large large target would help, but Australia will also have to threaten with offering plenty of time.

There are good reasons for employing both sources of pressure.

Graeme Smith is one - the man does better in the fourth innings of a test match. Simple.

He got out for a blob in the first, one expects a high hundred in the second. It is not a fantasy to expect so...Smith can do, especially to the Australians for they have just played enough against them. Discount him at your peril.

It will be a test between the Auistralian bowlers inability to be successful twice in the same match (it's not about ten-fers...they just fizzle out if you saw those match per match stats) and South African character in the second innings. Form will have to be overturned twice over...

Scoreboard

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Is England a Tragedy Queen?

Before everyone jumps on my back, let me clarify a few things. England get into horrible positions in a series early and struggle through the rest of it with their best efforts leaving it a little short here or there to wrest back a lost advantage. Sometimes, they manage to pull back one and even it up...when they should probably have gone back home with series win.

Now Bimland Barbados is not quite a St. Johns but it gets close to it having seen two triple hundreds to Antigua's three.

Stuart Broad and Swann almost did it for England back then...but only almost. That's the tragedy. Time slips away in the series and England are playing catch up in what they might have been expected to win on rating.

I see a heartbreak shaping up here again - for the sake of the series and the last match, here's hoping things can be competitive from here.

You see, West Indies are really good at home...barring the odd team, all others haven't done too well here, and they are a rebuilding team...such a challenge is necessary for their growth and development.

One or the other West Indian bowler bowls a good spell but WI would be wishing for a pair pf them at the same time from either end. Strauss really threw away a good hand, but what a ball it was that got him! What might surprise watchers was that it was a long forgotten Powell who bowled it.

England motoring along at the moment in what could well be again a so near but yet so far kind of story. A rate of knots would be just right in this period.

 

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Ozzies should have headed North long ago

Days One and Two, First Test, Australia vs South Africa 2009

If what we saw of North wasn't a fluke or a flash in a pan ( one is not familiar with his usual play, never having watched him do so ), we cannot understand why Australians insisted on going down south with Symo rather than rise up to the North.

Congratulations to him. But also to that man Mitch who is fast becoming my favorite Ozzie of this team.

The lower half of the Ozzies is suddenly becoming appealing to watch while batting. Maybe they should wear it upside down...the batting order I mean.

Today Mitch also bowled with fiyaah! Must be a confidence thing...just having thrashed a scintillating 96* and all that kind of jazz.

Marcus North - Century on debut and Saffers crumbling dramatically.

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Has this Indian team lost the T20 plot or is it just plain arrogant?

WICKETS ARE IMPORTANT even in a T20 game. It's a short game but still there are 120 balls to play. Any team that wants to put a good total on the board can't afford to lose more than 4 wickets upto the 17th or 18th over. But this Indian team has lost 4 or 5 wickets by the 10th over of their innings in the last 4 T20 internationals and lost 3 of those matches. Pathan brothers saved them a match against SL.

Yes T20 is all about scoring quickly but then it is not just all hit and bash. Consolidation is required even in T20's. There is no point attempting a consolidation after 5 or 6 wickets are gone. It must happen at the top as only that can be effective. But for some super effort from late order batsmen I don't see any team crossing 170 mark after losing 4 or 5 wickets in the first ten. Early wickets nullify the higher run rate achieved in the early overs and places more pressure on the tail to deliver. To me a team can afford 2 wickets in ten overs and maximum 4 by 15th over. Even then 180 will be a big task unless someone like Yuvraj plays a blinder.



India's T20 problem is worsened by Dhoni's inability to force the issue. Since the T20 world cup in 5 T20 internationals he has scored 61 runs of 85 balls at a SR of 71.76. There can be two explanations to it. One, he is lost the ability to hit big or loss of early wickets are not helping him. I would say both. Though early wickets have pressurised Dhoni his big hitting has gone backwards. ODIs allow him to spend time at the crease and play reasonable to good knocks but T20's are exposing him. Even his keeping has gone downhill. A good keeper would have saved India some 8 runs today, Dhoni saved none. His keeping to Harbhajan was poor in both matches. He was moving to his leg when Harbhajan bowled Doosras. What on earth was going on? Does he speak to Harbhajan on keeping to him and does he keep in nets?

If there is one player who should be given license to play the shots from the word go then it should be Sehwag. Currently, it seems, everyone has got thr license to hit, hit and hit. It's time to impound them Kirsten. Playing aggressively is different from playing recklessly.

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Tales from the Land of the Silver Fern

The Kiwi and Peacock Fables 2008-09: First T20 India vs New Zealand


This is a peacock.

Resplendent in its shades of blues, oranges, goldens and whites.

This is a snake-eater - relishes a little meal of a Cobra now and then.


 
 
 

This is a Kiwi bird - two actually.

Dull drab and looking very meek.

It looks cute and harmless. "Just an unfortunate looking chick," you'd say.

 
But guess what? The Kiwi pecked the feathers out of the peacock's backsides today. The snake-eater was tamed by the hairy chick.

Were you surprised? But hope remains.

Zak was good, Bhajji was good, Raina was good...and every Kiwi was great. Ishant bowled a lovely first over before he lapsed into the going over - by feet and metres over the lines that shouldn't be crossed.

Brendon the McCallum Monster was just one among the waiting Kiwis.

Well done NZ!

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The Quorn and Pytchley of Cricket

Dem hunting folks mekking dis gizmo -

"The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) will fund Griffith University and Australia’s elite sporting bodies to develop a wearable, real-time electronic sensor to record and monitor the bowling action during delivery" ^{Sportsfeatures.com}

Who'll be da fuss to wear dat?

Who'll be da wuns to make you wear dat?

Who get's to decide who mussee wear dat gizmo?

Ow'll dey mek you wear dat?

Awright, if you tie me dung and mek me wear dat, ah'll bowl with a rod arm and shove it in youse pweffen in de courts later in dat evening.

Better, ah dive into muh burrow before dey come dis way...

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Looking back once last time at 300s

It is possible, rain and Khan's concentration permitting, that the 400s may soon appear more crowded than before in test cricket's individual scoresheets. In the process 300s will diminish to something like a faded colony of millionaires. So it is a good time to take a last look at 300s before the RE prices of that piece come crashing down - 400s it will be in times ahead.

There have been 22 instances of 300s thus far and one instance of 400 scored.³⁰⁰⁺

Three batsmen have scored 300+ or more twice each -

Don Bradman - 334 and 304 versus England.

They were scored four years apart and incidentally both at Leeds against England.

This makes him the only player to have score two triple hundreds away from home.

Brian Lara - 375 and 400* versus England.

He is the only player to have thus far scored 400 runs.

The innings were scored ten years apart and both were against England at St. Johns's Antigua.

This makes him the only player to score 300 or more twice at home.

Like Sir Don Bradman, Brian Lara scored his two against the same opposition at the same ground on each occasion.

Virender Sehwag - 309 vs Pakistan and 319 vs South Africa

The two innings, like Sir Don Bradman, were scored four years apart.

However, unlike Sir Don Bradman or Brian Lara, they were against different opponents.

Also, unlike both Lara and Bradman again, he scored one away from home and one at home.

Sehwag is the only player to have two scores of 300 or more against more than one opposition and at both home and away.

Lara has 775 runs from two innings, Bradman 638 and Sehwag 628. These are the maximum runs scored by a batsman in a pair of innings.^Statsguru

- - -

Seven batsmen have scored a triple century or more away from home. Don Bradman has done it twice.

Fourteen Batsmen have done it at home. Brian Lara has done it twice at home.

Virender Sehwag is the only batsman who has scored triple centuries at home and away.

- - -

The following are the number of triple centuries scored against each team


England has seven against, 4 away and 3 at home

Bangladesh has none scored against it

India has two against it,both away, one in Lanka and the other in England.

NZ has three against, two away and one at home.

Pakistan has three against, two at home and one away

South Africa has three against, all away

SL - Younis Khan has scored the first 300+ score against Sri Lanka

West Indies has two against them at home.

Zim has one against at Perth

Australia has one against at Manchester

- - -

Australia has witnessed two such scores on its soil.

Bangladesh none.

England has witnessed six such scores.

India has hosted one such instance

New Zealand too has one on its soil.

Pakistan has hosted four such scores.

South African spectators haven't seen one at home.

Sri Lanka has been lucky to have two instances and both homeboys.

West Indies takes the crown with seven such scores on its soil.
St. John's Antigua has three (the most recent three), Bridgetown, Barbados and Kingston, Jamaica have two each.

Zimbabwe has yet to see a triple hundred scored on its soil.

- - -

Australia have six 300 or more scores to its credit.
West Indies and England have five each.
Pakistan has three.
India have two.
Sri Lanka have two.
NZ BD SA Zimbos haven't scored a 300+ score yet.

- - -

The continent of Africa hasn't witnessed a triple hundred on its soil.

I tell you, it must be because of those lions of the African grasslands.

Americas and Asia have seven each. Extravagant hosts these.

Europe has six. That's mainly England I presume.

Oceania has three. (Oz + NZ)

- - -

This is the template for 300 or more scores. Play around with it and extract more info as per need.

- - -

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Younis Khan: Just a ribbon away from an incredible prize

Pakistan v Sri Lanka 2008/09 1st Test, Karachi, Day 4

Scoreboard

Pakistan batted well - their coach worried needlessly - and a draw seems likely after Sri Lanka scorched the pitch the other day.

This ground has winessed results in each match played here over the past 11 years on docile looking pitches. This time, unlike in those 11 years, both teams batted splendidly to nullify a result. However, one agrees witht he larger message the coach passed on - pitches should be more even to bowlers and batsmen.

That said, it takes character to concentrate against high quality bowlers like Mendis and Murali, who do not need a pitch to beat you out of shape, and from so far behind both in terms of runs and morale after the slew of records, and ultimately to do it all for so long and yet remain undefeated - Younis Khan, Pakistan Cricket Captain - did it all today carrying on from yesterday to continue tomorrow.

Younis has 306 priceless runs with him thus far and Lara's is a gift waiting to be unwrapped tomorrow. Khan has a hand on the ribbon strings.

Well played Sir!

- - -

Our MendisWatch 2009 - The Second Season - continues with Test match examination this time.

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Is it time to push for a parallel ICC, or ECB, or...?

ICC to seriously push for ICL settlement

ICC, BCCI and ICL talks fail

For some insane reason, ICC, perhaps under the pressure of boards like ECB, PCB and perhaps some player associations, has decided to entertain thoughts about recognizing ICL as a parallel body of cricket in India. It is therefore that it brings the renegade league to the table, and almost forcing BCCI to accept, thereby offering them legitamacy already.

There is nothing but politics being played here.

Let me go back to ICL first.

ICL was formed out of pique.

It was because a businessman felt he was hard done by and decided to hit back. The word hit back has been used in the media at that time...do Google check and examine the news articles...there was plenty of aggression expressed then.

Perhaps the business house was indeed hard done by, but the courts were the proper forum for redressal.

Instead, the business house along with some ex-cricketers decided to break the hegemony of BCCI, ostensibly to teach it a lesson, even if they couched it in different words.


ICC is doing great disservice to its organisation if it were entertaining the division of one of its constituents.

This "Divide and Rule" method is too imperial to succeed in today's world.

The instigation of such a policy is by boards who have their own agenda.

I have some questions to ask of ICC (I refuse to give any credibility to the politically motivated boards egging on the move from behind) -

Does the ICL have a grassroots structure?

If it does have one, can it sustain it?

Has it shown it can sustain all forms of grassroots cricket to top class cricket over a period of time?

Any layman knows it doesn't have an infrastructure, and news reports have mentioned financial crisis within 2-3 years of operations. (check cricinfo news archives or simply google)

Then on what basis has ICC even entertained the idea to such an extent that it actually held talks? Instead of dismissing the petition till such a time that they show they are capable of running cricket at all levels and of all forms other than the picnic hamper variety of T20? How dare ICC even participate against a constituent member so blatantly?

Now IPL came about because ICL chose to take birth and began to threaten on an almost daily basis. You have enough newsbytes of ICL honchos talking about how they will do this and they will do that to cricket in India. If you are attacked, you will also defend unless there is somethign seriously wrong with you. BCCI responded and set up the IPL and revised the domestic system and emoluments.

IPL, being embedded in a structure with a carefully designed system of checks and balances was able to achieve far more utility.

Now as far as achieving any change goes, this is about the best ICL could achieve. That part is appreciated by cricket followers in this country, and it is this part which has earned the jealousy of all who now are poised to topple it.

I say go ahead...topple it. But I will urge those who can to create parallel systems in England or whichever board is covertly encouraging activities.

I will urge for the formation of a parallel ICC on the same arguments the covert supporters of division have used...the poor management of the game by ICC is good enough reason for a parallel body to exist and be recognized.

The same argument is good enough to have a parallel ECB or whatever acronym in respective countries and we shall then call for their recognition too.

Why can't ICL wind up if it cannot run its show after all the big talk? Why because it hurts their business...it hurts their egos to admit the truth?

If they have the balls, they'd quietly go about building their cricketing structure from the grassroots up in all forms of the game and stand as a credible alternative. ICL, You say BCCI has contributed nothing much to the game in India, I say, contribute as much as they have and then stand before the panchayat of countrymen. It must be easy if BCCI hasn't done anything at all or isn't doing anything at all. Don't just expect to buy into Indian cricket...custom and heritage has given the authority to BCCI to run the show. You cannot tear up those and say they man nothing...just for the sake of your interests.

Till then ICLbodies are just short-cut seeking failed cricket-business venture without the vigour to do the hard yards. Just lining up for free lunches they.

In fact by doing so, ICL has only undone any good they did and removed the pressure off BCCI. Now BCCI can revert back to its somnolescence if it so wishes because ICL has shown up as weak, soft and mostly vaporous talk. They are the ghar ke bhedi dividing up the home assets at the behest of outsiders.

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The Slumdog Millrs. Win Some

At the Oscars.

Congrats to the entire crew and special Congratulations to A.R.Rahman, whose fan I have been since back then.

An earlier song of his I really liked...still like.

Well done Danny Boyle and company.

Jai Ho! (trans: Let there be Victory!)

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Record Proportions

Pakistan v Sri Lanka 2008-09, 1st Test, Karachi, 1st and 2nd day

Scorecard



Sri Lanka have once again displayed the ability to stand out from the crowd with a record performance. Thilan Samaraweera and Mahela Jayawerdene punished Pakistan for its fielding lapses with batting records. Below is a list of instances when at least two batsmen have scored 200 or more runs each.


1) D. Bradman (244) and W.H. Ponsford (266), Aus v Eng (The Oval) 1934

2) S.G. Barnes (234) and D. Bradman (234), Aus v Eng (Sydney) 1946-47

3) C.C. Hunte (260) and G. Sobers (365*), WI v Pak (Kingston) 1957-58

4) W.M. Lawry (210) and R.B. Simpson (201), Aus v WI (Bridgetown) 1964-65

5) M. Nazar (231) and J. Miandad (280*), Pak v Ind (Hyderabad, Pak) 1982-83

6) G. Fowler (201) and M. Gatting (207), Eng v Ind (Madras) 1984-85

7) Q. Omar (206) and J. Miandad (203*), Pak v SL (Faisalabad) 1985-86

8) S. Jayasuriya (340) and R. Mahanama (225), SL v Ind (Colombo, RPS) 1997-98

9) I. Ahmed (213) and I. Haq (200*), Pak v SL (Dhaka) 1998-99

10) M. Atapattu (249) and K. Sangakkara (270), SL v Zim (Bulawayo) 2003-04

11) W. Hinds (213) and S. Chanderpaul (203*), WI v SA (Georgetown) 2004-05

12) K. Sangakkara (287) and M. Jayawardene (374), SL v SA (Colombo, SSC) 2006

13) N. McKenzie (226) and G. Smith (232), SA v Ban (Chittagong, DS) 2007-08

14) G. Gambhir (206) and V.V.S. Laxman (200*), Ind v Aus (Delhi) 2008-09

15) M. Jayawardene (240) and TT. Samaraweera (231), SL v Pakistan (Karachi, National Stadium) 2009

There were other records as well after two day's play in the test.


The spirit of record proportions has become embedded in the Sri Lankan psyche. Arjuna Ranatunga was one who actively encouraged seeking records as a means of establishing a crickeing heritage for Sri Lanka from which succeeding generations could continue to draw inspiration from and keep the bar high.

Home team unhappy

Intikhab Alam, Pakistan's coach had this to say "The curator was told that we needed such a wicket but unfortunately it was not made."

What was all that fuss about a few years ago about Ganguly "wanting" certain kind of pitches at home? But I digress...

It was on such a flat wicket that Pakistan managed to overcome a poor start to the match and defeat India in 2006 at the same venue. The pitch was almost similar then, but had a hint of grass.

When they played South Africa, the pitch here was described thus - "The pitch looks fairly dry, with a bit of grass cover, mostly rolled into the turf, except near the crease where a lot of grass has been left, Pakistan spinners will be happy with that" - Pakistan lost that encounter.

Against West Indies the pitch was thus - "Pitch is dry and with no blade of grass left on the wicket, looks like a very good batting track and one more high scoring game on the cards." Pakistan won back then but there were no really high scores.

It appears Karachi in recent times has been this way, so there was nothing unusual done by the groundsman. Then, Pakistan have won whenever a team has played below par on this pitch in comparison. When the opposition has played better, the opposition has won.

The last time they played Sri Lanka here, it was summarized like this - "This was a fantastic Test full of feats of individual brilliance, littered with landmarks and complete with a result that could have gone either way. Pakistan won to square the series, but Sri Lanka - 270 behind on first innings - showed real fighting spirit and might have pulled off an astonishing victory had Sangakkara clung on to an edge offered by Abdul Razzaq when Pakistan were 59 for four in pursuit of 137."

Danish Kaneria bowled 60 overs in one innings of that match.

The last time there wasn't a result possible on this ground was in 1998.

So, this kind of pitch has produced results in the 7 matches since. Teams which played well have won. In fact Pakistan roared back against India on this kind of a strip (You Tube clips are available of that match and there is the same glazy look of the pitch on Day One as Pathan took a hat-trick on it in the first over)in the second innings.

Therefore I am a little surprised with Intikhab Alam's anger even though I agree with the broader message in it for more sporting pitches. I think he just wanted something which would even up the game between his pace attack and strong Lankan batting who always thrive on such surfaces.

But what if Pakistan had been batting on Day One? What if Pakistan had held on to their chances the Lankan batsmen were kind enough to give? There might not have been any record of any sort, and seeing how the batsmen fell away afterwards, the innings may have ended in manageable proportions. Sri Lanka played well under the circumstances it was presented with, it is up to Pakistan to resist Murlai and Mendis now.

At the end of Day Two, instead, Pakistan face a daunting task today with Salman Butt back in the hut.

Mindbending Dismissal

Coming to Salman's dismissal, they showed the replay thrice as per convention of the TV channel immediately after the wicket. As I watched the replays, my mind warped and skewed bit by bit along with each one of them from different angles, though thankfully remaining well within the permissible degrees of flexibility inside my cranium, and whipped out blindingly like an uncoiling sidewinder - I wondered what roooobish Danish and Mallik had been bowling in the long innings ended just before this one after seeing Murali spin it like a top. I wondered what roooobish Intikhab Alam was talking about when he derided the pitch as a dead track. Murali's ball spun from outside Butt's leg, across the pads which were pushed behind, pecked his confused traffic-signalling bat edge outside the off stump and landed safely in the hands of DPMD. It was a tour de force for a combination of quantum physics, fantasy and human physiology - the ability to warp the mind, slow down time, visualise a classic deception, and using the mind like a spring to produce to mechanically effect that vision...!

What a dismissal that was! No chance there for poor Butt.

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The Finger Goes Up

The Jamaica Gleaner reported thus - "Jamaican umpire Steve Bucknor, who has stood in a record 126 Test matches and over 170 one-day internationals (ODIs), is to retire from Test cricket at the conclusion of the upcoming third Test match between South Africa and Australia, which will be played in Cape Town, South Africa, from March 19 to 23."^{Jamaica Gleaner}

Steve Bucknor tells us why -

"The body is feeling quite good and I know I could go on for another two or three years," said Bucknor, who has been an Elite ICC umpire since 2002. "However, something inside me is telling me that it is time to go."

Well, to this long-standing servant of the game upon his retirement, we say "Thaanks Steve. Here's wishing you a comfortable and happy life after umpiring. Some of your mannerisms will be missed."

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Imraan Khan inserts himself

Strategically in the public eye. As also in Australian memories.

Playing for SABP XI against the visiting Australians, Khan rattled up a round hundred in just a 111 balls, all at the expense of hotly tipped Bollingers, Hilfenhauses and McGains. Potchefstroom must be buzzing with the way an invitational XI of youngsters is bathandling the senior Australian team. That too after Tim Neilsen's expressed outrage over Mark Boucher's helpful observations. And there's more in the offing - Heino Kuhn is poised to add another hundred to his youthful team's innings.

DE Bollinger - 13 - 1 - 69 - 0 - 5.30 (2nb)
BW Hilfenhaus - 20 - 2 - 60 - 1 - 3.00 (1nb)
PM Siddle - 11 - 2 - 35 - 1 - 3.18 (1nb)
MG Johnson - 13 - 0 - 56 - 0 - 4.30
BE McGain - 19 - 1 - 126- 2 - 6.63

Four of them will be bowling in the test matches ahead.

I think it is time to cut through the hype; in fact drop the inflation exercise all together.

Siddle and Johnson were the ones who looked most likely to take wickets when SA toured Australia. That is whenever Australia looked threatening. They need some really good young blokes in there.

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Do surprise me England

West Indies vs England 2008-09: Third Test, Days 4 to 5 at ARG

Scorecard


That element is gone - the ability to upset predictions is lost - England are so predictable - one knew they wouldn't be able to make it beyond the post after two declarations. That they'd be hamstrung in the last inch. ^{Antigua Recreation Hospital}

We're talking about the drawn outcome of the third test match between England and West Indies at the ARG in the ongoing test series.

Stats gurus will tell us that's not the case - they'll tell us that in the past 50 test matches in the last four years, Engand has won, lost and drawn almost equally, and that the ratio is no different when it comes to bowling out a fourth innings. Also, they'll point out that not many teams do better, or many draws materialize at the final wicket like yesterday thanks to bad light or bad luck.

But let's be human for a while, let us not be mathematical interpreters, we'll be mere human spectators of the game for a purpose. And when we are that way, I'll ask you to tell me with all sincerity, if that isn't the case with England? That such a prediction is hardly a punt with them?

They just do not know when to declare and how to knock 'em over in the fourth. Invariably, the declaration is delayed or the bowlers pack up in the final yard. And by mistiming their declaration they allow extraneous factors like rain and light to hold them at sword-point if the opposition manage to string together a partnership or two.

500-something was quite unncessary given the glumness in the Windies camp over external happenings. It was unncessary anyway, despite the past history of chase at this ground and the recent history of India's chase against them. All it required was a clean nose - a clean, unclogged nose to smell the scent of victory at the right time in that skippy sea breeze. Somehow England always seems to smell cold doubts in every waft and gust.

When we are mere human spectators, we know, as a graven fact, that England will most likely fail for some reason or the other after an intial sprint in the match. And I'm not talking about the inevitable excuses creating such an impression...if England do manage to win, they'll still find an excuse to explain it away.

At the end of a match, which West Indies finally woke up to save (not many overs were lost by the way), Strauss had this to say -

"We had a few problems really," conceded Strauss. "Steve Harmison was on his death bed in the dressing room; there were problems with Fred, and Graeme Swann had a sore elbow and wasn't sure if he could bowl at all. I certainly have no regrets about it."^{Guardian.co.uk}

Injuries, mental disintegration...they all can happen. They are accidents, but with England you know something like this will always happen.

Swann is a new name there but Harmison and Flintoff fail to surprise you...one almost yawns these days upon hearing they have a physical/psychological problem.

Why does England not move ahead? Both as regards batsmen and bowlers? This constant injury to/inability of body and mind has become too routine and at the cost of team success to be ignored.

One sees the same faces going through the same paces...do surprise us England. That is if you have the inclination and imagination.

Well played West Indies in the end. I wonder what might have happened if they hadn't been "flat", a Gayle said, for most of the match. For starters, he might have batted first and punished England yet again.

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Beyond his brief legacy

The Stanford saga hasn't ended yet. In an earlier blogpost one had examined the beneficial spinoffs of his urge to splurge. But the fact is he was playing Santa with other people's money. I'll leave you to consider that.

There are disastrous aspects of one man's megalomanic manipulation. The impact is felt by the ordinary man in Antigua and Barbuda and nearby countries where he had a presence.

"I don't know what to think. I have my life savings here," said Reinaldo Pinto Ramos, 48..."


"Everything I have is with them, everything that my husband, may he rest in peace, invested is with them - Karina Klinckwort, 38" ^{Huffington Post}

This is just a small illustration of how lives must have been wrecked.

There are people employed, people who put their all into the big bank for safekeeping, pensioners, young men with ambitions, widows...as also some West Indian cricketers.

Now news comes that there could be drug money involved. "Stanford May Have Laundered Drug Money for Mexican Cartel" says ABC news quoting sources.

It is said that some West Indian cricketers are quite shattered by the sudden and unexpected change in their fortunes.

Five West Indian players, including Shivnarine Chanderpaul, are set to lose their million-dollar winnings in the fall-out from the Allen Stanford fraud probe that has left English cricket reeling.

The players - Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Kieron Pollard, Sylvester Joseph and Dave Mohammed - were part of the Stanford Superstars team who thrashed England in Antigua last November in the first of what was supposed to be five Twenty20 matches with a million dollars going to each member of the winning side. ^{Mail Online}

Sylvester Joseph had retired for good after investing the money to look after his family.

And it is particularly poignant that Mohammed, the Trinidadian spinner, is one of those affected because it was his mother who was pictured overcome with joy at the end of the match over what seemed a life-changing experience for her son.

...

Joel Garner, one of the Stanford 'board of legends' sacked in December when the American's problems were first exposed by Sportsmail, is said to have invested his earnings with Stanford, while Lance Gibbs, the Superstars manager, has not been paid the $100,000 he was due for working with the American.


One can only ask a rhetorical "Why", just as one asks everytime a confidence trickster lets one down.

Stanford is in hiding and is unavailable for clarifications.

Greed is such a bytche, and a dutty one at that.

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Tagenarine Chanderpaul

Shiv's son Tagenarine "Brandon" Chanderpaul starts off a journey.

Brandon is selected for the Gerogetown U-15 team.

He is said to be a lefty in the mould of his father.

Gwaan kid!

Kaieteur News

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My Blues Just Got Deeper

Cricketnext.com says that they got deeper for New Zealand, but as I saw the news on TV, my mind couldn't help but rewind to the time nearly two decades ago when India were given (no choice then) uniforms based on the darker blue colour in their flag. I am speaking of the World Cup 1991-92 Down Under.

At that time, I felt they looked like a smarter version of sarkari uniforms, predominantly of Indian Railways. We know how that WC went.

I recall Indian honchos (they were still very small fry then but the Dalmiyas and Bindras among them had just begun to declare a new India) were upset. There were murmurs that they wanted the lighter blue but England took it away from them - the colonial master was still powerful in the set up, and he still ruled.

One of the first things which stood out as proof to me that equations were changing, like the colour change seen on litmus paper while checking for acids and alkalis, was when India had that undone and began to sport the lighter version of blue, which incidentally is its sporting colour for all games. England shifted to the deeper blue which anyway formed a part of their national flag.

Now some wonderbird whizbrain among the planners and doers wants to bring THAT blue back. It doesn't even look gorgeous. The gold has disappeared. It isn't familiar. It does nothing to the looks of the men...in fact, all the highly paid models in the Indian team positively look unglowing.

I don't know if this apery comes from the fact that CA has switched off their brilliant yellow and started wearing green. I don't know...the Indian blue wasn't as "striking" as the Australian yellow. The blue looked cool, elegant, sophisticated...

So whoever it is - perhaps some design subguru in Nike or BCCI who managed to convince, or maybe it is some self-styled fashion expert from Page 3, whom such peeps who matter set great store by - needs to undertake a review and restore the colour scheme and return our sartorially well developed cricketers rather than the striped bandmasters thrust upon us.

And one thing all concerned need to iron out once and for all in their fluffy brains, it is a team representing India and not Sahara. So first, the sponsor's name should be under the country's name and the size of the font used must be significantly lesser than the one used for the country name. We appreciate the sponsor better that way...this way, if it is to be like this, then we can only curse under our breaths and favour services other than Sahara's.

It is a little glossier than the 1991 colour, a shade different, but an eyesore nevertheless.

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Antigua Recreation Hospital

West Indies vs England 2008-09: Third Test, Days 1 to 3 at ARG

Scorecard


The Accident

Jerome Taylor and Suleiman Benn were like Japanese fishermen at Jamaica.

Early morning at the Tsukiji fish market of Tokyo, the fresh catch is cut up and served raw to the ques of early breakfasters lined up outside every fish shop. Chunks of fish meat are spooned off the spines of large tuna fish and served with chopsticks in a plate. People relish it and are willing to pay heavily for the privilige of partaking of the freshness of the morning catch meat.

The two West Indian bowlers did something like that to England at Jamaica - they ran the spoon down the spine of England and scraped off the core of England,and served it up all raw, as a delicacy for all of us to enjoy.

But it must hurt for the fish to have a spoon run down your spine scraping, scooping, off your core - Imagine it, and tell me if you didn't a shudder!

The two teams left Jamaica - one high from the euphoria of having momentarily touched a deep rooted past, and the other barely able to hobble away from this modern chapter of disaster in its cricketing history - and sailed into Antigua. Perhaps not literally, but at certainly metaphorically, into English Harbour at Antigua.


The Coma Breaks

The haemorrhage of the sense of self-worth and ensuing self-doubt being suddenly experienced by the Englishmen was staunched under peculiar circumstances. The 10-ball Sir Vivian Stadium fiasco served to act as a procoagulant; the brief dress rehearsal served to lighten the gloom for England.

The charade afterwards allowed England to shift the blame of incompetence from around their necks and wrap it around somebody else's, in this case the WICB. Getting such a strangulating Anaconda off your body can be reviving. The focus shifted from mindless knee-jerkism of despair to the easier task of pointing fingers at others. The pressure flows out, one is lightened.

ARG

Homer of My two cents asks some valid questions, but England being England, some rules are...how shall we put it... curved around... to accommodate. After all, it is also West Indies we are talking about here, and an England-West Indies series is pretty much above the law for old time's sake, just like the England-Australia series in cricket. Sir Vivian, we are told, will never see cricket again - the stadium stands removed from the roster of the game.

Coming back to game play, the transition from second test to third test within ten balls was a huge leap of faith - the Antiguans quickly dusted off the near abandoned ARG and got it ready, and the English players perhaps felt they have taken an enormous step towards recovery. But major work remained, the healing wasn't complete, Dr.Gayle and his team had plenty of work to do yet.

Transfusion Therapy

After the airway was inserted at Sir Vivian's, the lines were run in and relievf and succour pumped into the English bodies by an alert doctor - Dr. Chris Gayle.

After winning the toss, he asked the Englishmen to bat, on a pitch - albeit with a central football ridge now - on a pitch which saw one man score 775 runs in two innings at an average of 775 in those two innings.

It is true the ground stats would suggest that Dr.Gayle acted with the best historical perspective in mind, it is also true that he acted in complete ignorance of the state of the England team's state of mind.

Now here is a team shattered and rearing to go, to correct the error as quickly as it can, determined to erase the memory from public minds and private fears, a desperate team of men twitching on pure adrenaline - what would you do in such a scenario?

If you ask the gurus of mental disintegration, they would advise you no different from the common wisdom little chits of boys show every evening in the park outside my home.

Prolong the agony - Let the blood drain out of their minds - Let them dry out a little more under the Antigua sun (no not Stanford's newspaper, instead, the real sun...the celestial star shining on Antigua) - are some of the most obvious responses you would encounter.

The kids would yell back instantly in answer to your question in unison - Win toss and and bat first!

But men are more complicated than kids.

In a discussion with some West Indian friends just before the match (third test), I argued as follows - "Even Chris Gayle said there was a ridge on the pitch. Now, who's to know what the sun beating down on it will make it do? Win the toss, concentrate hard, take the blows, but get a big score on the board. Get it up first...then take your chances with the ball.

You mean risk a fourth innings on it, or anticipating the second innings to be large enough to obviate a fourth yet again?"

The popular feeling was to check out the unknown by bowling first on it. Dr.Gayle opted for exactly that.

Perhaps he was being the good doctor and getting the patient back into shape quickly, but if he were playing as a cricketer, it was a poor decision under the circumstances.

Strauss Forge

It mattered...it was necessary, and the England captain selected himself to do the job for the team. An excellent hundred under the cicumstances complemented the necessary alterations he made in the team - Monty was deservingly out, Bell was also deservingly out and Collingwood and Harmison continued due to the TINA factor of an overseas tour. He picked Swann, who impressed us in India, and brought in Owais Shah, which we welcomed. All in all, under pressure, Strauss forged out a workanle plan for revival.

Collingwood weighed in with his skin-of-the-teeth-century yet again. This Delhi Daredeviler-to-be has daredevilry etched into him long before he was picked by 3D. Just when he is teetering on the edge, ready to fall off, he corrects the balance in his favour. This is the summary of his career. I guess somewhere deep down it works enough to keep someone else out of the team besides winning the occasional match for England.

Stuff of Dreams and Nightmares mostly

Well fast-forwarding the story, three days are gone...England chose not to apply the follow-on (nothing unusual that)

And so the almost dead fish already slapped onto the slab has leapt up to assume the proportions of a very very mad shark, poised to bite Dr.Gayle's head off for injecting it with new life. This is the stuff of worst nightmares (if you are the head about to be bitten off), or of dreams (if you are the said fish's mate waiting in the water).

That said, the match technically should not be over - we are talking England here who usually fail to clean up after them (Swann's the new spin on the team though), and we are also talking about Shiv Channapaul, who must as desperately want those big scores coming again as his averages begin to dip from the peak.

WI will look to bat 120 overs minimum to keep that lead intact. England, on the other hand, are banking upon Swann and Broad.

In the Mad Season of Excuses, Anything Goes...

When England is playing, consider the silly season declared open. Some say it is always open, even if England aren't playing they have a master excuse or two ready to fit any upcoming situation.

So flowing with this tradition England has painstakingly, and extremely usefully, crafted, it is said that the West Indian bastmen were in a hurry yesterday to check on their accounts in the bank. News had filtered in that THE bank was freezing up and the West Indieans were terribly distracted just as the IPL had done unto the English minds.

Also, it is said that the Englishmen were allowed to practice bowling to the ridge too close to the real pitch. I didn't see Swann bowl many of that length.

The absence of referral systems has also raised comment - the ire over the dubious umpiring decisions favoring a particular team over the other has raised a stink in the Caribbeans. Buckyman better watch out! Of course, it is quite another matter that Nash was reprieved...the story goes that that reinforces the grouse...and it doesn't quite matter for Nashy isn't quite a dash batting with the tail yet.

Day Four Later Today

England can overdo it...they are the ones who have swung to the highest extreme...it is the West Indies now who is placed for the second wind.

The match isn't over yet - as the ground stats showed 10 of the 21 played here have produced results despite the high scores, and this is the 22nd match in progress at ARG.

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The Stanford Legacy

If it weren't for him, T20 might still have been an English county park game to generate a fistful of pounds for the counties. It is possible that by this time the Englishmen might have run it to ground like other forms of county games, for lack of next level of ideas and perhaps ability to expand it internationally. It might have collapsed under the burden of conservatives and players might still have remained poor. Many talented kids may have given up the game seeing no future in it.

India wouldn't have been ICC T20 WC champions.

India would have been still critical of the format. (Remember, India was the last of the regular countries to accept the format and play a T20 match).

Zee may not have had the readymade model of Stanford's 20/20 success to embolden it to create a parallel structure. ICL would have been non-existent.

And therefore, IPL wouldn't have been created to counter the threats posed by private enterprenuers to cricket as we know it. Twin threats actually India was facing - Zee's ICL and Stanford who wanted to break into Indian cricket.

Well, domestic cricket in India might still have been inching along - players more like peons and clerks rather than professional sportsmen honing their skills to bring greater glory to themselves and their country.

Domestic players might still have been committing suicides in India out of frustration born out of having given their better years to the game for peanuts and no future hope or avenue or job after the playing days are done.

An injured domestic player may have to remain with the consequences of injury for life without proper treatment.

Cricket would have collapsed as a career option, parents in India wouldn't have been looking kindly on their children "wasting" their time playing cricket, and admen wouldn't have roped in the likes it did to replace Sachin etc.

BCCI wouldn't have made all the improvements it has introduced since.

Dhoni may have been given the boot for poor keeping by now. It is only in recent times that he has built up the keeping aspect which, however, still remains dodgy at times. He might never have been captain and might have been caught up in a musical chairs situation with DK and Parthiv rather than the unchallenged position he now enjoys.

Manpreet Goni might have long become a dukaandaar.

There are many such things we can be thankful for as an indirect benefit of Stanford.

The negatives, we might not have had such an acrimonious time as we saw in 2007 onwards between cricket playing nations for the cricketing body of the world would not have been so seriously charged up and riven by a man who wanted to rule all. Motivated media outlets from certain nations played the perfect role of handmaidens to him and went out of their ways to whip up frenzy against certain countries and maintain it.

WICB wouldn't have allowed themselves to be used in a war being fought from behind their backs. In the proces, WICB may have lost the instinctual goodwill and friendship and respect it enjoyed in those countries.

Many men with reputations have ended up making fools of themselves over this dark interlude in cricket.

The Stanford Series @ FT/Alphaville Blogs of Financial Times - complete list of relevant news/blogposts over the past few days

Portfolio.com - Market Movers - The Manhunt Begins


And yes, in the end, Indians wouldn't have been called a 900 lb Gorilla by Stanford. We don't make an issue of it, even if we mind it, but I wonder if he has the guts to call the people he lives in the midst of, on those islands, the same? I really wonder, considering that he has played with all players in Antigua and Barbuda and had them dependent on him,^{Jamaica Gleaner, Attorney-General A&B} ("However, it is about time that Allen Stanford faces the reality that the government changed from the ALP to the United Progressive Party on March 23, 2004." - A&B Prime Minister), if he really would have gone ahead and called them that. That is the man, how he wound up people, and those are the deluded people who felt it was OK for him to call someone else a Gorilla - something for which they would have ripped apart that man if he had dared called them that even in a drunken jest.

- - -

Stanford played the colonial theme of "divide and rule" policy perfectly in cricket.

He first divided the Caribbean people - the WIPA went against WICB advice and joined up with him to make the first 20/20 a success. (you can check archives of Cricinfo and on web for the war between WICB and Stanford then and WICB and WIPA).

Having lost to its players and people (who were starved of success and Caribbean way of cricket), WICB succumbed and accommodated Stanford on it board thereby earning him recognition with ICC.

That was what he needed to get into the ICC - he proceeded to divide it up along "lines" with "persuation" he knew a bloc of people would "understand" and follow, so that he could 1) control the game and 2)get back at India for rebuffing him.

Julian Hunte was his mouthpiece, and together they went around suggesting, insinuating and often misrepresenting facts about India. This was before the ICC appointments/elections. Julian Hunte later apologized about his wrong statements about India, but AFTER the ICC elections and loads of media fire instigated and fanned by such talk. News is all available on the net, will need patient research.

Well, that's all recorded history now. Plenty of people played a manipulative role, and no less by a motivated media hooked onto such dope talk. The very same media and interest groups which are now calling that ICL be recognized etc etc and for BCCI to give in to it and all that kind of nonsense. Some new boards/players, out of their own non-cricketing designs, have taken up the call now.

While Subhash Gupta may not be a Stanford and Zee not a SIB, it is time the world stopped playing petty politics like this...something which was amplified by the Stanford-WICB era in cricket in collusion with other boards...let them conduct their own business as a private entity and leave all talk of recognition till such a time that they have the infrastructure, right from grassroots, better than the existing one in this country.

The problem is West Indies will be hit hard for all this. Cricket is just one aspect. Elections called in Antigua, T&T Cricket is owed money, players may not have been paid.

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Trackball VI - Stanford News Update

Cricinfo reports thus: -


Breaking news

Stanford arrested and charged with fraud

Cricinfo staff

February 17, 2009

- - -

United States Securities and Exchange Commission - Press Release


SEC Charges R. Allen Stanford, Stanford International Bank for Multi-Billion Dollar Investment Scheme
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2009-26

Washington, D.C., Feb. 17, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Robert Allen Stanford and three of his companies for orchestrating a fraudulent, multi-billion dollar investment scheme centering on an $8 billion CD program.^{US SEC- Press Release}

The complaint filed in court (pdf document)

Reuters 1

Reuters 2 - Fears in Antigua over impact on local economy.


A bit of old news which may resurface after the investigations and subsequent examination by the legal system is done. Dunno how this works.

- - -

The Guardian.co.uk

The England and Wales cricket board has suspended sponsorship negotiations with Sir Allen Stanford after the cricket entrepreneur was accused of an $8bn "massive fraud" by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Sir Allen had been expected to become a major backer of the proposed English Premier League Twenty20 tournament from 2010.

Following this, WICB also has suspended association with Stanford.

NY Times makes a case.


 

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Trackball - V : Some Stanford Links Updated

The Wall Street Journal

Bloomberg Update 1

Huffington Post

Points to note - the run on the bank has begun, and two, the run originates from Colombia. What kind of big money industry's there in Colombia which needs offshore banking? I don't know much about the nation.

This link from Trackball I: A post on the run, might be read alongside. (US Treasury NMLS 1999 pdf document)

Earlier sets of links are there in Trackball IV.

One hasn't heard anything yet from the agency. We are waiting eagerly for clarifications and direction.

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Hummer for Dhoni and Harbhajan?

According to Star Cricket, they are soon acquiring one each.

Now, in an age when going green doesn't mean developing jealousy over the other's possession, when USA has elected a man with a name like Barack over Sarah and John...when talking alternative energy is more Yo! than trilling "drill baby drill!"...this is so retro...not in the antique car or 70s music kind of nice way...retro, more like unaware ghetto-fabulous bling-a-bling retrograde kind of way.

The apparently savvy kind of man Dhoni portrays himself to be, ever eager to learn and do better, and being a compulsive motorhead, I would have thought he might have conjured up...or help conjure up...an eco-friendly SUV monster instead, or something better.

Will cost you more as well to help conjure up, if showing-off's the main consideration. And who knows, you might inspire some Indian small-town lad to go even better and develop a vehicle running on gravitational waves and emitting only purified air as a bonus! (remember the man who first spoke about bio-fuels from plants and was sneered at?) Damn, you could even get a Nobel or something for assisting/propagating such research to go along with your Padmas!

Lead the way for the new generation....you are icons of the new generation...show them how change is done...instead you crave for the scraps of the mistaken generation? And if living off imitation is your ambition, then why not emulate those who are doing such or encouraging such things?

Dhoni, Harbhajan...please do not pose for any environmental consciousness advertisements or health conscious advertisements...not even if they pay you 100 crores each to do it...you'll kill an important message for lack of credibility.

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Flirting Outside the Off Stump

In the times when I was growing, Delhi had abundant spaces where one could easily stake out a cricket ground, lay a pitch, form a club and get going with the game. Needless to say, it isn't that way anymore - land is more golden than gold and not an inch remains unaccounted for - kids must play on the streets, if they must play at all.

We had our own, staked out, pitch laid in, a club installed, and we played the game religiously in the nets every evening of the week, and a proper match every Sunday to examine the progress we were making in the nets.

I was junior, really junior when I started out, and the nets were dominated by the big guys of the club and the "fathers" who inevitably crept up to its edge. These "fathers" comprised a group of watchers-cum-commentators-cum-advisors. Some of them were actually parents of club members while others were cricket-crazy "uncles" logging in with their expertise.

The combinbed effect of the big guys of the club and the oracle of watchers was that fundamentals were well known and made clear. There were "proper" ways to play and "innovative" ways to play cricket. Debates abounded, likes and dislikes varied, pronunciations upon the skills of batsman budding in the nets were coloured accordingly.

Many of them spoke of playing with the straight bat - I liked to play square just as I, peculiarly, liked to field close-in or keep wickets. When Indian cricket was Sunny Gavaskar, I chose Vishy.

Yes, even in minor stakeouts such as ours, the off-stump was a clear peg, of what to play and what to leave. Adventures beyond it were not encouraged, because you couldn't be a genius like Vishy, could you? Better play in the V like Sunny.

Somehow I interpreted that as yet another opportunity to rebel against social expectations. I preferred, in those character building days, the game of contradictions offered by the 5ft 4, portly (a paunch was always hovering beneath the cricketing sweaters, it just broke out floridly in the latter part of his career), Elvis sideburned, quiet, blaster through the off side called GR Vishwanath. The creativity of the concept called Vishy was seductive.

The man was never perfect, he was a genius, how could he be perfect? He played that square-cut, you said to yourself "Hah! let's see you do that again," and bowled one a little closer and higher to his body expecting to pick up this 4-by-4, he leaned back a little more, on the top of his toes - "just enough inches in all," you said to yourself afterwards as you watched the late-cut speed to the third-man boundary helplessly. And he would square-cut you again next ball if you chanced him....even if it meant he'd be taken in the gully...the man would simply walk off in a zone of his own....in that "happy, no-regrets" swinging gait of his. One felt he was always humming a favorite tune to himself.



I opted for that. I opted for this cricketing hero in my life, and you know how enduring such early impressions can be.

So I flirted beyond the off peg, in a celebration to my hero, upon the lumpy-bumpy grounds of anonymous cricket.

He epitomized courage for me.

I know what's a fast ball...I've been knocked over so many times by it, from so many angles and so many spots, that I'm quite an expert on "the effects of the fast ball on human anatomy and physiology." I have forensic evidence to prove my conclusions. So, by extention, I know what it means to be a runt (my most serious games were played when I was the younger member of my team and surrounded by bigger players than I...playing cricket gave way to other things as one grew older) facing a fast bowler intent on hurting you by the proxy glove of a cricket ball. I know what it takes to stand up to such bullies without helmet and paraphernalia....I realize what it must take to glide that sidewinder recoiling off the pitch at a rate of knots headed for your throat nonchalantly...as nonchalantly as if it were a tame Snowy lamb being patted away...from the chest towards the square boundary. Cheeka played one such during the Prudential WC '83 finals against Joel Garner I think, but Vishy did it so often and so instinctively. It takes courage and knowledge of self, the conditions, the bowler and a keen eye to do stuff like that. It is a mistake to think it is a diordered mind which can contruct the best angles, the best art comes from geometrical minds who know the best curves and tangents - Vishy was one such. I knew, because I tried to emulate him...believe me, if it doesn't come off as intended, some of those shots can make you look and feel very silly.

I'll disclose another peculiarity here - have you ever wished your idol gave up and retired? I did. I did it a few years before he actually retired. Not out of any ill-will, but with a wish to preserve his glory without the unnecessary smut which adheres from lingering too long. Unfortunately, he did linger...especially when he never lingered at the wicket or tested the umpire.

My fascination for the out of bounds outside the off stump instigated by Vishy continues long after I retired from my own games...perhaps the reason why I appreciate the other great off-side innovator of Indian cricket - Virender Sehwag. Or the annointed god of that side - Sourav Ganguly. Viru's uppercut somehow transports a bit of me back to Vishy at play...there's that same rebellion about it...the avant-gardeness of the original off-side god. It's an addiction, that off side!

Belated Happy Birthday, Gundappa Vishy! When is the Shastipoorthi?

Player Profile

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Why was Antigua awarded a test match at all?

By this time the whole cricketing world is aware of what's happened at Antigua. No point going over that stuff again, you can read it here in the Cricinfo Match Bulletin and on their live blogs.

But some people have been asking questions about the new ground since it came up. It was said to be handicapped by many things beginning from its location.

To add to the unfavourable geographical location and composition, there was another point raised by the cricket knowledgeables among the Caribbean islands. Antigua, they felt, should have forfeited their test match allocation following their refusal to host a regional FC match this season.

Perhaps then this may not have transpired at all.

This "fiasco" has hurt the Englishmen more than most. Not because their team has lost a day in recovering the series, but because many English cricket aficionados plan their holidays and trips around a Caribbean series.

Test Matches in WI are popular worldwide, more so for Englishmen home and abroad. It is something which lingers to the day from the past.

One E-mailer at The Guardian's As it happened coverage raises a point which has been echoed at different places. The suggestion that ICC should take greater responsibility for this is, to put it mildly, misguided.

I do not know the details, but I believe cricket is more federal in structure and member boards are responsible for the grounds they allocate matches to while following the broad guidelines issued by the ICC. I doubt if ICC has a direct say in such matters. Clearly, in this case the WICB slipped over a peel.

There are many wise folks in the Caribbeans who have been wondering at the direction cricket organisational matters have taken, in their part of the country. There are some who believe the old ARG should have continued to be the cricket ground. There are others who ask if the main benefactor of WI cricket - Stanford - couldn't have ensured smarter site selection and ground construction in the better interests of WI cricket. After all, he has the experience gleaned from the construction of his own ground on the island and also has the influence within the board for his ideas to be taken seriously.

It is difficult to say what can be done about the beachside location of the ground and its geological and soil shortcomings. I am sure technology and science can come up with a better solution than abandonment of such a huge investment in a developing part of the island. But what is clear that a far simpler adherence to basic technique could have prevented this fiasco - Antigua could have been penalized by withdrawing the test and allocating it elsewhere in the first place for the reasons mentioned above.

In the West Indies, decisions to host test matches have great significance, because it is closely linked to trade offered by the influx of fans from the visiting countries. Sports tourism is an industry in the West Indies and governments of various constituents sometimes vie for a larger share, especially in times such as the ones we have in 2009. Test match allocations, therefore, have ramifications.

Unfortunately, like in India, it appears match allocation to grounds in West Indies is based on things other than rules, capability and the like.

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Animal Face-off: Tiger vs Kiwi

India's Tour of New Zealand 2009: India vs New Zealand 2008-09

India has been announced in all detail before their crucial journey deep into the souuthern hemisphere. The teams are here and the schedule is here.

New Zealand is a beautiful country but for India it is almost like heading into the mythological netherworld where your fears reign, doubts dominate, and the best are stilled into extreme mediocrity.

India Tests in New Zealand: - Take a good look at those stats. Three decades and a bit more, lie between that Auckland victory and now.

That Auckland test of 1976 was quite remarkable. The designated captain, Bishan Bedi, sat out of that one and Venkat led India onto the field of play.

The Kiwi grass had died away, apparently after being under cover for nine straight days. Conditions were said to simulate subcontinental conditions, and hence beneficial to the visitors. The canny Kiwi captain, Glenn Turner, immediately summoned a player from beyond the given squad - David O'Sullivan - a slow left arm orthodox bowler, who also played for the English county of Hampshire. He was expected to wrest away the unexpected advantage the visitors suddenly appeared to enjoy, but he did nothing as alarming as the Indian spin-brokers appeared to be doing. Sullivan ended wicketless in the match, which is, if you consider, actually not an unusual statistic for opposition spin bowlers bowling to India. Bevan Congdon, instead it was, who shone for New Zealand - and he was far from the ideal bowler for conditions typecast as subcontinental.

Surinder Amarnath, the debutant son of Lala, and older sibling of Mohinder and Rajinder, played a famboyant innings of 124 in the company of Sunny Gavaskar, who himself recorded a valuable hundred, which together, set up India for the win. What they provided, proved enough for Erapalli Prasanna to clean them up within a decent chase.

That was the last of Surinder's hundreds, it was the last of India's test wins in New Zealand, and Bedi, the man who didn't say he'd dunk defeated players into the Pacific, returned to captain in the next test at Christchurch (draw) and later lost the one in Wellington to square a series India led. It was also the last time India were presented with grass that had died under nine days of covers on the pitch - ever since that test match, it has been the lush green variety all the way.

We digressed, but it makes sense to consider the last post of success, the reasons perhaps facilitating it as also those since which left India dancing to the tune of Kiwis.

It makes sense to also consider those factors along with what I said in an earlier blogpost - The Number One Talk - for the team that dreams to be an all-round champion.

The One Day list is even more dismal - in fact, New Zealand has often been the bane of India in large tournaments like the WC, though this list does not include those stats of matches played elsewhere.

The current Kiwi side is competent - make no mistake about that. You may say that's a bit over the top when you consider their performances against teams visiting there in the recent past. I took a look at the past two years.

The Windies series is fresh, it was washed off, and both teams held the edge at various times. We covered the England series so we recall how the Kiwis went limp after a fantastic Southee start. BD, I'm afraid, doesn't yet count as a reagent.

But all that is meaningless....the "relationship" New Zealand enjoys with India in their own den is special.

Till now, the NZ Kiwis has pecked the Indian Tigers' bottom into a sore mess - if this were an animal face-off of the Discovery Channel kinds, we would say that under the described circumstances, and after considering the behaviour patterns of the two, the Kiwi somehow dominates the Indian killer instinct in New Zealand.

It is time to focus on the monumental task at hand, and alter the direction of the scorebook and charts, which are all headed south from India's point of view.

It is indeed time for a major course correction - this team can do it, they are capable and confident, but must guard against overconfidence born out of the hype surrounding their recent successes. Beating Australia and England at home (and away in England's case) doesn't guarantee a win over New Zealand in their own den.

Good luck India! While you play with panache, keep common sense by your side too.

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Are these men Metamorphagii? Can they transform into Kiwi-winners?

Test squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, M Vijay, Amit Mishra, L Balaji, Dhawal Kulkarni, Dinesh Karthik (wk)

ODI squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Pragyan Ojha, Dinesh Karthik (wk)

Twenty20 squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Pragyan Ojha, Dinesh Karthik (wk)

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Individual player selection debates must wait for another post here. However, you can kick off the urgent one at Buzz's (Sam 2) Arm Ball. Dhaval Kulkarni needs to be congratulated for an impressive season, ditto for DK who has now been cast unequivocably as first choice after MSD, and is L. Balaji and inspired move or something like Glenn Turner's David O'Sullivan?

Another post, another day.

Let me bunge in a quick update here - the debates are already on. Rohit Sharma and generally quota, at Arm Ball, L Balaji debate at Ottayan's, Sree Nostalgia at SP's Straight Points and fair dinkum from Kartikeya Date.

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Fixtures

India tour of New Zealand, 2008/09

February 2009

Wed 25
19:00 local, 06:00 GMT 1st T20I - New Zealand v India
AMI Stadium, Christchurch

Fri 27
19:00 local, 06:00 GMT 2nd T20I - New Zealand v India
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Originally scheduled for March 6, 2009

March 2009

Tue 3
14:00 local, 01:00 GMT 1st ODI - New Zealand v India
McLean Park, Napier
Originally scheduled for March 8, 2009

Fri 6
14:00 local, 01:00 GMT 2nd ODI - New Zealand v India
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Originally schedule for March 17, 2009

Sun 8
14:00 local, 01:00 GMT 3rd ODI - New Zealand v India
AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Originally scheduled for March 20, 2009

Wed 11
14:00 local, 01:00 GMT 4th ODI - New Zealand v India
Seddon Park, Hamilton

Sat 14
14:00 local, 01:00 GMT 5th ODI - New Zealand v India
Eden Park, Auckland

Wed 18 - Sun 22
11:00 local, 22:00 GMT 1st Test - New Zealand v India
Seddon Park, Hamilton
Originally scheduled for March 26-30, 2009

Thu 26 - Mon 30
10:30 local, 21:30 GMT 2nd Test - New Zealand v India
McLean Park, Napier

April 2009

Fri 3 - Tue 7
10:30 local, 21:30 GMT 3rd Test - New Zealand v India
Basin Reserve, Wellington

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