Australia vs India 2009-10 ODI series, Third ODI, Ferozeshah Kotla, Delhi
Scorecard
We now are engrossed in watching two instinctively attacking players, two young pillars of the team, attempting to play according to the needs of the situation and trying to win it from here.
We take it up from that statement from the previous blog - the two young pillars won it from there on a difficult pitch and a determined Australian side.
Yuvraj had emerged as the powerhouse of the Indian ODI team a few years ago. For me, Dhoni has stepped up to that platform finally. I could be late in this realization, but I needed to see Dhoni play in a variety of conditions and situations. The man has played two innings of demanding character on the trot.
Yuvraj and Dhoni and Raina must now step up to join them.
Well played both teams. India won a good game here.
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Related blogs
India making a hash of it
Hussey's a good player and Ravi Jadeja's coming along fine
Sehwag will matter at Delhi
Saturday, 31 October 2009
Sehwag didn't quite matter at Delhi but Yuvi and Dhoni did.
India making a hash of it
Australia vs India 2009-10 ODI series, Third ODI, Ferozeshah Kotla, Delhi
Scorecard
I type just as MSD walks in to replace Gautam Gambhir who was bowled playing impatiently to Nathan Hauritz. Trying too much too soon. India are three wickets down for 53.
I mentioned that the Australian team will field a little more tigerishly than the Indians did to supplement the pressure created by line and length stuff on this pitch.
The impatience of Sachin and Gambhir were resultant of that in combination with tight bowling. Sehwag got a beauty.
This is a game of patience and India needed to take it to the closing stages with wickets in hand for new players will find it difficult to attack on this pitch.
India has just one more recognized bat left and Jadeja. The point is moot if Harbhajan and co. can be trusted on this pitch.
We also talked about habits in older posts. About teams carrying the tailwinds of the previous games into the next one. India's bowling+fielding effort, while good wasn't quite what it should have been on this helpful pitch. Something was less...something says the best use of conditions wasn't made....something says enough pressure wasn't created on Hussey.
One would also have liked Dhoni to come closer to the stumps before the sixes were struck but all this history now.
We now are engrossed in watching two instinctively attacking players, two young pillars of the team, attempting to play according to the needs of the situation and trying to win it from here.
Hussey's a good player and Ravi Jadeja's coming along fine
Australia vs India 2009-10 ODI series, Third ODI, Ferozeshah Kotla, Delhi
Scorecard
At the end of the first innings, the score on the board shows Australia at 229/5. This is a good score. Make no mistake about that. It could have been 20-30 up but still a good score.
The pitch turned out as anticipated. Punter won the toss, much to his relief, and this time he wasn't experimenting and straightaway opted to bat.
Both openers began as they should have and Australia was off to a start which should have seen them finish at around 260-270. If they didn't get there, it was because they lost wickets of set batsmen at inopportune times. Yuvraj-Dhoni first netted Watson who, having measured things up, was beginning to get into the launch mode.
Punter played a mature knock till that point when Ravindra Jadeja befooled him. A terrific lapse of concentration or miscalculation, for Ponting was the key man having built up a head of steam. These two wickets substantially cut down the chances of a very large Australian score.
The man who plays best on such surfaces in Michael Hussey. It is not his fault that he plays in an era when there aren't basketfulls of deadly bowlers prowling in every continent and country. Given the circumstances he plays in, he does an excellent job for his team. If at all something makes us stop short of placing him alongside the likes of Steve Waugh, it is perhaps he doesn't have the startling kind of innings under his belt as Waugh Sr. has. At least not glaringly as many in all forms of the game. But he's a very good cricketer indeed. I'd like to judge him finally when he hangs up his boots.
Indian bowlers did well to limit Australia to 229. Yes, it was a good effort but not entirely a perfect effort. Today some easy singles/runs were given away....watch how Australia will make it difficult and induce risk-taking from Indians as a result.
Ravindra Jadeja bore the brunt of a defeat a few months ago. The ire towards MSD, who sent him up when spectators felt he shouldn't have been at that stage, was shrilly vocal. This player is capable and could be the all-rounder at no. 7 we are looking for. The thing is he is a capable bat and his bowling is what impresses me now. In the U19 WC, he played well, but that was age-group cricket. In the senior league he had shown that he could bat and field, but to see him take his bowling up a nitch from age-group cricket is pleasing.
I'll put him as India's no.1 all rounder in th true sense of the word. Yusuf Pathan doesn't quite fall into that category. He is a powerful hitter if he can connect and a restrictive bowler rather than an attacking bowler. His fielding is average. We only hope Irfan Pathan comes back, for he has the qualities of being a true all rounder. Abhishek Nayar is another capable all rounder but his medium pace can go for a toss at times. He is a good batsman though.
I'd like to see someday Pandey, Mukund and Pujara tested out too.
Indian bowlers didn't bowl them out because Australia played well enough to prevent that on this pitch, but the Indian bowlers also bowled well enough to peg them to this score.
India has its work cut out in the chase. The task isn't easy. Sehwag will have to stay to pump it up from time to time. Sachin neeeds to play a big one today....this pitch requires his expertise and concentration.
Friday, 30 October 2009
Sehwag will matter at Delhi
Australia vs India 2009-10 ODI series, Third ODI, Ferozeshah Kotla, Delhi
The last match was played ten days ago on the newly laid pitches at Kotla. During the CLT20 tournament, the pitches demanded application from the batsmen. Only few batsmen could tame the new pitches there. Among the few who did, Sehwag perhaps played with the greatest ease. There was a nonchalance about him when most batsmen were being puzzled by the pitches. The other successful batsmen however did dig in a bit before overcoming their hesitation and taking the bowling apart.
Ten days of rolling and light watering and baking might have compacted the surface. The moisture rising up and dew at this time would have helped in binding the surface too. But can all this change the nature of pitches in ten short days?
Let us presume what will be presented today will be a little better version compared to the CLT20 pitches. That said, it will prove to be a pitch which will be tamed by those who pay their initial respects to it.
Teams batting first have won here more often in the CLT20, but Victoria did win chasing and Eagles were winning smoothly batting second till they surprisingly landed in a tie and super over situation against the Sharks.
Most teams hovered just under 6 rpo though some did exceed that on a few occasions. So it is curious to note that despite its sticky nature, teams were able to score well over 5.5 rpo.
In a 50 over game, patience and 15 overs of PP could net scores between 260-280 for teams but expect things to be about 20 runs lower than that.
Holding wickets will be key...good, wicketless starts will have to be the wheels of progress for bating teams.
Ten days could change things. Maybe some pitches on the strip were not used in CLT20 and will now be used. Whatever it is, batting first, and batting sensibly to put the runs up, could be the recommended method to maximise chances of winning here. For the surface could slow down further in the second innings.
There will be plenty of dew in the morning and enough in the evening....I can see it already on grassy patches and in flower beds near and about my house...the early mornings and nights are cool to cooler even though afternoons are warm. The skin stinging kind of winter heat.
In this day/night encounter, it will be a great idea to bat first despite the fear of dew later in the evening, but it will be a greater idea to spend a few balls to settle in on this pitch. Singles and rotation will be useful. We do not know if the surface will hold through 100 overs, even if the late evening dew will actually prevent further breaking up, that moisture could make the surface sticky while preventing further break up of the top layer.
Will Mishra play here? I doubt if Dhoni will make this move.
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Peeking into a detective's diary left unattended on the side table and a quick scribble of our own in it
Sidthegnomenator is investigating the mystery of Tim Paine's injury and his return to Down Under. One had a chance to look at her notes on the puzzle...according to her, The plot thickens ...
She has identified the motive as well; I quote Sid -Oh yeah, Sunshine Paine has a broken finger ... or has he? Cricket Australia has obviously decided to send Paine home to separate him and Brett Lee.
Even Crapinfo has "Tim Paine appears to be in discomfort" as the caption for this photo, so they're suspicious as well.
The image Sid is speaking about is available on her blog but we'll link up to it anyway.
We managed a peek into the investigative diary of Sid, so others too must have had a look as well. I mean, if a lady detective is going to leave her diary around, chaps are bound to flip through it despite chivalry and such stuff. Anyway, among others, MS Dhoni too appears to have had a look at it.
You can see, during a brief lull in the match at Nagpur, he's enquiring of Mitch Johnson about the veracity of Sid's deductions.
It is not clear what Mitch Johnson is revealing to MSD, but Dhoni certainly appears struck by it.
When Brett Lee himself was asked, this is what part of his reply was -"There has to be a controlled aggression on the field. There has to be some excitement or else you would end up looking like robots on the cricket field and you don't want that."
Brett Lee then expands further on this excitement, and we read on with a stiff upper lip in this age of PC."It is the way we play our game.." he says, and goes on to draw everyone into the mischief - .."and it is the way they play. They will come very hard at us. I have no problems with guys playing hard on the field. I have always said that. I have always been one of the players very hard on the field."
Controlled aggression...."playing" hard...everybody going at each other...but Lee emphasizes his preference for dominating this race on the field. Poor Paine.
You have to say, Indo-Ozzie match-ups lend excitement beyond the boundary as well.
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Rolling the tongue out...to catch a cup
India had a top-class score backing them, its bowlers bowled better for most part of the Australian innings, ditto for the fielding, yet they couldn't demolish the opposition in a sense. Sure, Australia are not going to roll over and die, but all the three combinations required for restricting the opposition to a low score were there yesterday...and in favour of India for a change.
In Penetration is key to success, we had bemoaned the erosion of India's ability to choo-choo teams out of their stations for under 250 scores unless the pitch and conditions are greatly in favour. Yes, the exact words we employed were something like this - India has lost the art of keeping batting sides penned between 220 to 240. Forget about defending totals lower than 200.
Yesterday, this inability to wind it up was stark. The Australian tail put up enough partnerships to unspool the taut game India played till then.
I agree with Sunny Gavaskar on this; ruthlessness has to be made a habit. And the way it becomes a habit is by practising it at every given opportunity.
Sometimes the tail gets stuck in, sure, but winding it up is something teams aiming to someday becoming champions must practise.
You carry the tailwind of your previous game into the next game....as India went easy on the gas pedal, their fielding standards dropped back to usual levels, some bowling lost the imagination it had earlier in the evening...in fact most of the determination India took the field with earlier in the day was frittered away. Sometimes these can be crucial.
I also agree with Sunny that India should have used this opportunity to practice the right lengths and lines to bowl to tailenders so they can be employed in the next match. India ended up giving batting practice to the tailenders while losing the good intentions they carried in their minds to bolster their game.
(calling good friend Homer to come in here)
When it comes to tournament play, these things will matter. Bilateral series may cover up many flaws just as they reveal some; tournament play strips you bare, down to the bone and with no place to hide. The points carry-forward system reinforces that. Miracles are then needed for fig leafs to transpire on demand.
India suffers in large tournament play as against bilateral series or triangular series.
Too many bad habits are carried into tournament play. Good habits are not well formed for they haven't been practised often enough outside tournament opportunites, and therefore cannot be summoned, or summoned in their full blown avatars, with the mere snap of fingers.
India has to make "ruthlessness" a habit.
1) To take the field - batting or bowling or fielding - from warmed up positions. Batsmen to follow would be better served to have a short session of knocking around rather than sit on the benches through a long partnership and come out stiff limbed and with dulled mind and reflexes. Too often, India has been pushed onto the backfoot during tournament play because their engines are not tuned and chugging well. To recover points from there is difficult.
2) Preparation - meaningful gathering of knowledge and a meaningful discussion on methods to be employed, with perhaps one alternative strategy, and a meaningful practice of the same.
3) Practice of principles must not be limited to the nets. Doing so in every match you play, sets it into a firm habit. Better reflex circuits become established. There is then space left for adaptation to a circumstance unforseen in preparation. From anticipation of a single or a second run to anticipating the batsman's mind by the bowler to anticipating the ball as a fielder...these have to be honed in as instincts through practice in nets and in matches.
It is no secret that India is thirsting for a World Cup win (not the T20 variety). It has been for at least a decade and a half now. After 1987, it was only ahead of 1996 World Cup that India began to seriously internalize a World Cup win into its cricketing philosophy and begin working along those lines. That has been the continuing trend till today.
It is this philosophy that has caused different changes, in the nature of structural improvements taking place. From coaches to technical staff to scouting for good young players, or the experiment with sportier pitches, it has been this win-the-next-world-cup philosophy which has dictated change from within an otherwise stodgy BCCI.
One may argue that only World Cup is an erroneous target to focus on - playing good all round cricket in all forms from grassroots up should be the way to go instead - but whether it is the trickle down philosophy of BCCI or a more Gandhian grassroots up philosophy, or a sensible combination of the two hoped for by theorists like us, the meeting point has to be the same - good standards of cricket play in India.
The end points of these philosophies may be different though - a world cup win could satisfy the trickle down philosophy, just as the micro version World Cup 2007 almost stalled the progress on the path to World Cup 2011, while the other two philosophies may see world cup winning as part of the whole...a strong cricketing nation.
But all this investment and the force of whatever philosophy has ultimately to be applied by the eleven selected men on the field. It is through them - through their skills, through their talent, through their intellect, through their courage and through their desire that such can be fructified.
Talking about bilateral series giving you greater opportunity to bounce back, while valid, is not what one should be talking about any longer. Not after almost two decades of investment in changing the cricketing culture of India. The trickle down effect may not have reached the grassroots in two decades but at the top of the heap, where all resources are focussed, it is time to stop the chalta hai-ness of losing a game (because it is a bilateral long series) or slowing down in a game you are clearly winning.
The Indian team must not happen to be at the throats of opponents by chance or in a fit of competitiveness a bilateral series engenders, but through careful design, anticipation, planning, purpose, training with a clear view of what to do next with the throats in hand, irrespective of whether it is Australia's or Ireland's or Bangladesh's or Bermuda's. India should be in such a habit...alert always. Not waking up after a kick on the backsides and waiting for someone else to decide your fate later, or create a very difficult mountain to overcome.
India's saga of tournament disasters in the past decade (including the fantastic run to the finals in 2003) is because of this...because mediocrity is practised more often than ruthlessness. Excellence is often a reactive surge of adrenaline rather than a sustaining level of daily dose of glucose in the blood. Mediocrity is therefore more likely to leaden the limbs, freeze the mind and capture one's courage. And often at times and in situations you wouldn't want. Summoning excellence becomes an effort, which may or may not transpire.
India needs to flip this around and that can be done only by 1) not looking at excellence as creative surges of reaction to A particular opponent or situation but more a way of living and playing 2) applying your defined principles of excellence at all times in every match from before the toss to after the presentation ceremony, irrespective of match situation, opponent, points tally or lead status.
If you want to follow the BCCI philosophy of trickle down benefits, and win the next world cup, then you will have to apply all the above in every match irrespective of match situation. You may still lose some matches but that should be because the opponent was able to overpower you through his better efforts and not through your succumbing to mediocrity.
If you want to follow the other two philosophies, even then the above aspects will have to be practised as discussed. Only, the starting point for the grassroots version will have to begin there...at the grassroots...and in the minds of the boards while the third version would see such practices being applied on both fronts - from the top and from the grassroots.
Ruthlessness need not be a word with bad connotation - it could also mean the rigorousness with which a practised and ingrained discipline is constantly applied at work and play. India will need to do that whether they have 350 on the board or 250.
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Australia vs India 2009-10 ODI series
Good Stuff Ishant Sharma!
At the moment of typing this post, Ishant is O 4.2 M 0 R 18 W 1 Eco 4.15. Importantly, he is running in with purpose, hurling them down at 140s, bringing them in to right handers and taking them away from left handers, the way he used to. His follow-through is complete, and one can see 'dum' on his face.
This is the stuff we wanted to see from him. Variations must be slipped in unexpectedly. Anticipation...of what the batsman is thinking...should be logged onto like this.
It took an MSD nuke and a record score to get that confidence back. Hitting the deck, is Ishant, today.
Looks better for his confidence and sense of purpose.
And oh, the fielding was like how it should be when an international team is playing. Keeping my fingers crossed though. Too often, it hasn't been a sustainable effort.
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Other match related blog - Bolti Band declared by MS Dhoni (see below)
Bolti Band declared by MS Dhoni
Australia vs India 2009-10 ODI series, Second ODI, Nagpur
Scorecard
That's the raaga-alaap MSD chose for the day. Along with the gurus of yesteryears, with whom he had a pre-concert discussion upon how to render this particularly effervescent, pulsating and difficult composition. Polite disagreement with them followed.
He came in at his posish (thereby making his point) and played almost 35 overs to score a pile of runs - thereby conceding a point to commentators.
In the process, not only were some stats and records readjusted, MSD also played a mean tabla on our frequent provocation of him. Go ahead, we don't mind dancing to your tune if you do this kind of stuff even 1 out of 7 times. But our criticism has been in test matches mostly! :)
Raina needs to get over the psychological seizure the shortball brings to him. Today he kept a window open for reason to prevail and managed them akwardly. He should realize that a confident Raina is a sight to behold....and he must play confidently.
Gambo came good second time on the trot...good sign that...but that run out...tchah!...buckle up your running and backing up folks!
I expect the Ozzies to go for it on this flat pitch with fast outfield.
The test for Indian bowlers begins now...can they record a big win, or will they scrimp one? Not talking about losing it yet!
MSD has led well thus far - 'not by percept but by example' as RH Davies put it in his introduction to Cardus on Cricket. He must rally the troops when the counter-charge commences.
Monday, 26 October 2009
Australia open their account first
Australia vs India 2009-10 ODI series, First ODI, Vadodra
Four solid innings and the match was set up for Australia. With a body like that, a loss was the farthest from anyone's mind. Yet, the almost boiled down to that.
The lack of penetration in the Indian bowling, coupled with magnanimous eco rates and fielding has been worrying us for some time now. In Penetration is key to success, we emphasized on these aspects and a few others.
Ishant bowled like a boy with a new bag of tricks eager to test them all out at the same time....but he bowled with marginally better results than in recent times. What troubles us is that he has eschewed his stock ball almost completely for greater variety. The fast inswinger, usually touching early 140s, was missing totally. In its place, he was trying to bowl a different ball everytime...all variations of slower deliveries.
Now I am happy Ishant wants to learrn variety - in future he will be better for knowing how to bowl them - but he must slip them in as surprise weapons. His main ball....that stupendous inswinging ball should not be lost/sacrificed.
One saw him move a ball or two away from the batsman. No...not the straighter one among inswingers but balls which actually cut away from the batsman after pitching. There wasn't much swing in air though.
All this is good but when embedded in his basic bowling mode. He didn't achieve early penetration...but then he came in as the third seamer.
Nehra got one early but couldn't follow it up. Praveen Kumar was bowling nonsense often at the other end. He is a limited bowler and his kinds thrive with superb control of all their faculties and their line and length, backed up by good fielding. This fellow isn't even as good as Mohinder Amarnath was as a bowler simply because he doesn't have the bowling intellect and work ethic of Jimmy Amarnath. Then he isn't even half as good a fielder as Jimmy was - Praveen Kumar leapfrogs above the ball, around the ball and often below the ball when the batsman has backdriven it...he and his limbs are all over the place and nowhere near the ball...one player who has mastered the act of looking busy despite being ineffectual in th field.
Forget his 40* - it was a thukka...a fluke - if he is a Jimmy Amarnath kind of player in this team, then he isn't a patch on the man in terms of batting.
Praveen Kumar is a player who will have to constantly work hard on the field...better he does that, focuses his energies to where required, than waste them all in exprssions and leaping about like a frog with a sore bottom.
Harbhajan shifts gear very easily these days. From and attacking line to the defensively flat and down middle and leg one. His doosra doesn't roll often enough as well from those lines these days. He gets up picked off without any fear of losing a wicket.
The Australians played well...while Ponting and Hussey commanded, Paine and White were not pressured enough when they showed vulnerability at the start of their innings. Praveen Kumar must warm up for five overs before India's bowling innings commences if he is to open the bowling.
Lack of early penetration meant there was enough for a late acceleration.
When India takes to the field these days, it appears a killer swarm of Navjyot Sidhus have descended on the field to destroy any chances India has of attacking through good fielding. They are everywhere leaping here and there, long after the ball has passed them. Or you'll find them escorting the ball to the boundary without a hint of a dive. And when they do dive, it looks like they are imitating a baby's belly flops. What use all the fielding tips handed down since the hiring of the first overseas coach?
Gautam Gambhir recorded a substantial score. We felt he must step up from the mediocrity he had lapsed into of late. But he must also lead the way as a senior decorated player and must finish the game once he has built up a start.
Australia won by four runs - they should have won by many more. No doubt Harbhajan and Praveen Kumar were batting in an inspired fashion but they are tailenders and a champion team should be expectant of such things and be able to snuff out such challenges before they take shape.
In the end, the team which made one mistake fewer won.
Australia will take heart and play more confidently. India must keep the pressure up right through on the Australians with meaningful bowling and fielding supported by stout batting by the top order.
Wasim and Huma Akram
Our condolences to Wasim Akram and his family. The news was shocking and sudden.
Wasim bhai has been our favourite bowler.
Saturday, 24 October 2009
Cricketing of To=Day
Yesterday, New South Wales won an inaugural tournament in cricketing manners of today. And some of the players from the victorious team stay on here in India to play another series rooted in relatively recent manners of cricket play. On this Saturday afternoon before the next series commences, what better tribute and pasttime than to read a chapter written by a famous NSWman - Monty Noble - who I'm sure might have been proud to be a Blue today.
Following is the chapter titled Cricketing of To=Day written by him in Cricket by T.C Collings, courtesy Google Books.
Friday, 23 October 2009
NSW Blues win the first CLT20 title
The blues were waiting for the exuberant red round the final corner. Soca steel was taught a different rhythm. I'll confess though that I'm scratching my head to name one well-known mentionable beat coming out of Down Under other than Lee's heel clicks...
Both teams boasted enough players with international experience to be considered almost second-string teams for their senior teams. Both teams have fought many battles to reach the finals. They were well-knit as a result and oiled for perfect function.
Ganga Sr. won the toss, and as part of their strategy, opted to chase a total yet again. Yet again he opened with Ganga Jr.
Dave Warner began to blaze from the word go, he had the TTies on the run and looked to be taking advantage of their predictable strategy, but was consumed quickly. At 83-6 in the twelfth over, it appeared that TTies were re-enacting a familiarly successful fishing expedition. Then Brett Lee chanced upon their trawler and ripped apart their nets to free the Blues. Marginally...but a little freer nevertheless. 159 was something to bowl at.
Lee wasn't quite finished yet...after laying his bat into the TTie strategy with abandon, the blonde Ozzie with dancing shoes blew away two big engineheads of the TTie boat of dreams - Perkins and Simmons in the bag for next to nothing, and with Adrian Barath squeezed inbetween by the other star performer of the day - SPD Smith.
Then Stuart Clark took over...as long as it isn't the Indian team he's bowling to, Clark can tie up teams AND pick wickets rather easily. Pollard continued to pull hard in this tournament of much personal glory, but this day was to be an exception. Soca frenzy had to give way to the blues and thus ended the first CLT20.
Brett Lee flew away with all the accolades - MOM and MOS.
Personally speaking, I felt the concept was good. I would prefer all participating teams to be state teams or all be franchises, but that is just a POV. The teams appeared subdued except in flashes...the consistently brightest of all were the TTies who brought enthusiasm to every match they played in as if that was the match they were waiting long to play. I think people will warm up to this tournament. It gives us a look at players who made teams champions in other countries.
TnT may now be seriously considering going it alone at least for the Olympics format of T20 (as and when that comes about) for that is a certain gold medal beckoning, and TnT are after all an independent nation like Usain Bolt's Jamaica. I'm kidding of course, but I suspect many in TTland are talking something similar in all seriousness!
IPL teams flagging out was a downer for sure. Perhaps it is time homegrown talent in these franchises truly make attempts to take their games and fielding to the next level to keep IPL a sustainable exercise. I doubt any league can prosper for long only on talent acquired for the day, or a few weeks at most. Better local talent will have to be the bed and seed...the sown field which will reap a plentiful crop. Imports can only be fertilizer.
Scorecard
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Penetration is key to success
Australia vs India 2009-10, ODI series
The visitors are here. The touring Australian team has been spotted by us on our television screens and in the sports pages of our newspapers.The Hindu
October generally signifies the emergence of good cricket playing weather from the final tail-flicks of the receding monsoons, and heralds the commencement of prime test match season in India which usually lasts till the lip of March and April. The serious Ranji hopefuls too begin to limber up in squads in the mornings, upon freshly dewed cricket fields around this time of the year, in preparation for the winter fest of domestic full-length cricket drama. They test out various roles and perfect their chosen ones in readiness. An Australian team visiting at this time always promises excitement - to the spectators in India waking up to smell a new season, to the state associations conducting the matches, to the starved media mill, and also to the India cricket players - there is always a something extra when pitting oneself against the best in the business (or nearly so). But this will once again be a strange season like the one two years ago - where a slew of skits will have to suffice in place of the complete drama in multiple acts.
Australia are climbing back up the greasy pole; India continues to scrabble - a few hands up and many slips down - to end up with little change in its position.
Australian batsmen are chipping in, their bowlers are beginning to pull their weight, whereas India continues to be rebuilding resources after fumbling them in the field.
There is no doubt that Indian batsmen will have their work cut out. There is every chance that they could be required to post 330+ scores every time batting first or chase something similar batting second. For it is the bowling which holds the key but remains mercurial. Their economy rates are high enough to suggest this scenario and will have to be offset by wicket taking ability.
India has lost the art of keeping batting sides penned between 220 to 240. Forget about defending totals lower than 200.
Agreed, batting methods have changed, power plays have been introduced and free hits have been sanctioned, but teams are still able to make opponents fight every ball along the way. Indian bowling too can make that happen but increasingly fails to keep up the pressure during reprisals. The ability to strike frequently and quickly often makes this happen. The ability to lock up bowling ends makes that happening come about more certainly. Indian bowling has been just adequate in this regard of late...Australia will demand better.
The Indian squad boasts the following bowlers - Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Sudeep Tyagi, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh.
What is their penetration like?
The overall best Strike Rates (with minimum 1000 balls bowled) list reveals that the majority of Indians in that list are not in playing contention. The only two who are, are Ishant Sharma (third for Indians after Sreesanth - 25th position and best for Indian bowler - and Agarkar), and Zak right at the bottom.
We decided to change the params into more meaningful ones - past two years and balls more than 200 bowled, gave us this list of leading strike rates.
Comeback Nehra leaps to the top of Indian bowlers under these criteria, and third among all comers. He figures also in the squad to play Australia.
Sreesanth, Hayden's nonsense bowler, remains high and next on the list at seventh, but he's not in the squad.
Ishant comes in next at 39...these are the only three Indian bowlers in the top 50 strike rates of past two years of bowlers who have bowled at least 200 balls. Two of them are in the squad. And also the reason why so much rides on Ishant shaping up well.
On the next page, Praveen Kumar comes in next at 69th in this list. He is in the squad as well. He is followed at 70th by Zak. Zaheer is coping with injuries and recovery. Harbhajan and Yuvraj follow other non-playing Indians in the top 100.
Munaf Patel comes in on the page after this one.
These are the men who will land all the fatal blows along the road to victory.
Regular and quick wickets are the only way scores can be tamped down in this age when batsmen keep flogging away even as wickets are falling.
Harbhajan will have to strike better than his average, and for that to happen, surgical strikes at the top will have to happen up front.
Bhajji and Munaf are the most economical Indians in that list. At least one another Indian will have to join them at less than 5 rpo without sacrificing strikeability.
I feel penetrative ability of Indian bowlers will decide the series. Quick and regular Australian wickets will be needed to cut the scores. Good catching, running-outs and fielding will have to back up the bowling. This Australian line-up has been in these parts for a while on some pretext or the other, and can get away in these conditions if allowed to.
The Indian batting is capable of countering the ever improving Siddle, the crafty Hilfenhaus, the pumped up Lee and other capable sidekicks, and will be bolstered further if Gautam Gambhir can drag himself out of the extended slump (relative terms) he is suffering for a while now.
Sunday, 18 October 2009
Staggering out Ishant
S Rajesh in his Numbers Game at Cricinfo dissects out Ishant Sharma with a statistical scalpel and lays Sharma's ODI career out in an informative display. This exhibition of his minute details in numerical terms is a most useful adjunct to our own collective hacking at the problem called LOI Ishant and the larger question of Indian quicks.
But two things first - Firstly, I have a sneaky feeling that a similar dissection of other significant Indian bowlers (pace or spin) over the past year or two, who have also played consistently for India in this period, will reveal a startling fact that they are all almost same deep inside. Well, not so startling in fact...
Second, India hasn't played enough test matches in this, his second/third year, to really arrive at conclusions, but I feel that as and when India does, a similar picture may begin to emerge there as well. Unless Mr.Sharma indulges in useful course correction.
That said, my attention in that article is mainly focussed on to a portion of it, and to one particular comment below it.
The year 2009 hasn't been as kind, though: the pace has dropped, as has the confidence, seemingly, and the ball has been sprayed around far too often for the captain's liking.
...
Dig a little deeper, though, and some worrying signs emerge. In the first 18 months of his career, Ishant specialised in dismissing top-order batsmen early in the innings in ODIs, thus giving India an attacking option in the first 20 overs, and making it easier for the spinners to exercise control during the middle overs
I wish if we could have access to his pace graph in the period. To the naked eye, there is an evident drop in pace. Greyblazer remarked as much in response to an earlier article here. And it is not because he is attempting more Prasad-like slower balls from the back of his hand, or, the almost Venky-patented, slow loopy bouncers. It appears he is failing to hit the deck with his top speeds over three-four consecutive balls outside the restrictions of a subtle and superior strategy. If we had the match situation readings, they'd be instructive.
And that next point S Rajesh makes is highly significant. It was that that India began missing consequent to the fade-out of Irfan Pathan. RP and others occasionally did the job, but the predictable early breakthrough went missing. Ishant brought that to the table even if he was almost always expensive. He gave something for the likes of Yuvi, Sehwag and Bhajji to work upon. It is another matter whether they always did justice...not within the scope of this post. It is perhaps the loss of this vital weaponry more than lack of coaching effort that cost Venky Prasad his position.
Just diverting briefly, three Venky Prasad moments to savour - vs Aamir Sohail, vs South Africa at Durban and vs England at Lords. Venky is a bowler whose contributions are worth remembering.
The other thing which caught my eye on that page was this comment beneath it from a gentleman called Nampally.
Posted by Nampally on (October 17 2009, 23:43 PM GMT)
Ishant needs to warm up properly before he takes the field so that he is fully loosened. Secondly, he needs to focus more on a plan of action for each batsman that he bowls.Thirdly he must bowl to the field set. These are important aspects for every bowler. Currently, Ishant is not doing any of these. His very first ball is a loose one which shows that he does not warn up properly. His direction is often erratic & he is not bowling to the field set for him. Ishant should practice bowling at marked areas and learn to hit the target consistently. This is what great bowler like McGrath does. Pace bowling is not just bowling fast but learning to control length, direction and swing. This is expected of any test fast bowler.Unless Ishant learns to do this he will never be a good bowler. This applies to all Indian pace bowlers who have been very poor. RP Singh, Kumar, Sreesanth, Munaf and Irfan should all be focusing on these fundamentals so that India is well supplier with good bowlers.
Since we were discussing recently about the blunting of India's latest weaponry, and were also speaking about Venkatesh Prasad's ouster in the paragrapgh above, we can bring them all together again in questions peeling off from the above-quoted comment - Doesn't Ishant do all those things? If he does, what keeps him from learning and applying the learned principles with his own judgement? If he doesn't do all of those things, why? Are we all jumping too hard on the joys of a recent ex-teenager by shaping him too hard with our keyboards, or are we sharing constructive foresight with a young man finding his way up in life?
Maybe we should remember, thus far this blight is limited only to LOIs and our expectations of him are relatively safe as far as test matches are concerned. At least till either Ishant himself, or another statistical analysis, pricks that hopeful balloon of ours too. Let us perhaps, like Javagal Srinath said, stagger out our balloons and let him grow in the spaces that creates...but Venky said that last year.
Thursday, 15 October 2009
The Emergency Man of Indian Cricket
By Three Runs
"The most thrilling finish of all the test matches ever fought at Old Trafford happened on the Saturday afternoon of July 26th, 1902. It was the decisive game of the rubber, and Australia won it by three runs, snatching the spoils from the lion's mouth. The match at the end seemed to get right out of control of the men that were making it; it seemed to take on a being of its own, a volition of its own, and the mightiest cricketers in the land looked as though they were in the grip of a power of which they could feel the presence but whose ends they could not understand. As events rushed them to crisis even McLaren, Ranjitsinhji, Trumper, Noble and Darling - most regal of cricketers - could only utter: 'Here we do but as we may; no further dare.' The game, in Kipling's term, was more than the player of the game."
The TnTs vs Chargers game in the CL 2009 last night may not be what Neville Cardus had in mind when he wrote that beneath a title - By Three Runs - in his book Days in the Sun; the players out in the field and in the dugouts, bar one or two, may not quite read like that parade of great players he enumerates; but in many ways, yesterday's game and the tragedy of Chargers defeat had as much drama, if not more.
Not just Gilly, sitting helplessly in the dugout bemused, but every Charger player and fan, in the stadium and around the world, plainly felt the coils of circumstance about them; was plainly aware of the demon of conflict that had the game in grip: itals- words of Cardus premonition was gnawing at all that the first home game won was not won at all.
Was it Rohit Sharma who gave it away, or was it Venu Rao? Was it the Chargers fielding which wasted their fight? Or, was it simply weak courage and weaker Indian talent?
The TnTs fought well and prevailed by three runs.
-------
The IPL 2009 Champs went home and TnTs were a prouder red as they moved to top the table.
The following thought is not as a consequence but one I have raised before here when IPL 2009 became the basis for selection to ICC T20 WC.
Has IPL replaced India's domestic T20? Have franchises replaced stae cricket associations?
Why are franchises vying with state/country teams and not Indian state teams?
We have been clear about the productive role of IPL and its limits franchises will have player pools to suit their philosophy, often completely bypassing India's own pool development system. Four spots are lost in such external competitions to promote homegrown talent. And India needs them! In fact will need them even more desperately in time to come.
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Glenda was an inspiration.
One hopes Ishant Sharma was watching from his high clouds and knowing what makes a champion bowler.
Speaking about Ishant, readers may recall my unease at some rumours recently blowing my way all the way from B'lore regarding young India players. I hoped they'd be puffs of gossip and would quickly scatter under scrutiny. Ratnakar Shetty made them rain down hard instead.
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Diamond Eagles won over Sussex through an Eliminator.
It was thrilling stuff, the Sharks putting up a total one didn't expect from them, and then going on to almost pickpocket the game away from the perpetually grinning South African side on a Rilee Rossouw high. Then they all fell down...the Eagles and the Sharks...when the dust settled, it was a tie!
What transpired eventually went along with our layman hypothesis - the English "choke" a little more than South Africans over cricket tournaments. We now extend it to other South African teams and other English teams for a tease.
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Some stunning catches in the CLT20 2009.
Fielding was key to some stunning snapshots of the tournament.
Robin Singh ( or Robbing Singh as good friend SP likes to call him ) was finally asked to leave by BCCI. Not surprising at all.
A little more surprising...but only just a wee amount of "little more"...is the inability of Venky to fire up a bowling nous in the swamps called Indian pacemen. Or able to help retain their existing bowling skills - forget about improvement. This failure to blossom the bowling intellects behind the arms of India cost him it.
Both may have worked hard personally, but if you cannot make the STARS undergo the protocol then that is also a black mark against you. Their almost contemporary status proved more a handicap than a communication asset. They had to go...perhaps for being duller than the glitter of stars.
The fitness gurus must also be looked at.
And someone's got to crack the whip on poor perspirative interest from players.
Monday, 12 October 2009
A rather longish reply..
Blogger doesn't always accept my longwinded ways, hence the need for a separate post as a reply to a comment.
Dear Som,
I am deeply familiar with your line into this debate. The "Tiger Woods dun it so we must also..." is the staunchly same I have read in your posts in different discussions on the same topic, here and on other blogs...including, I think, yours. I am totally familiar with your argument and admire its singlemindedness.
But, if you have observed through our discusions here, I have tried to go beyond this he/she-done-it-so-we-must-follow-or-be-rascals benchmark you set, and tried to evoke a debate by producing existing evidence towards a discussion in a scientific manner...ONLY to examine IF a better method is available.
I know you swear by WADA and love the Indian-cricketers-are-brat-boys phrase...it does have a certain ring to it...you may be right at the end of it, but it does appear more of an ism when you perhaps do not even consider the evidence for debate on the topic brought before you and repeat the same line everywhere with little more than he dun so, so we do same or be rascals.
I have said the WADA system is not perfect.
I have shown different ways it isn't via my posts here and links therein.
We all know we must have a stronger method to root out this cancer of dope in sports.
Now presuming you have a basic foundation in science (at least upto class X or XII), with the plentifulness of your well-developed logic, I ask you to go through this article - Jamaica Gleaner.
This illutrates another loophole in the WADA system even if it is written by an interested party.
Isomers are not differentiated and their different biological effects are not considered.
It is amusing to see that WADA itself was caught up in its possible bloomer after it called out the athletes. As a face-saving/time-earning measure, First, it called only for a measly three month ban and not more as for dope abuses. Second, it called back the files for review....
Now, it may or may not turn out upon review that the incorrect isomers were involved/not involved. But the loophole in its established procedure/methods/database is exposed. It also needs to include biological behaviour and effects of isomers of the same chemical structures. I hope you understand isomers and the different types that can be there...
Coming back...I know you have another staunch line of argument...without evidence of course..,that WADA is a foolproof computerized system etc etc called ADAMS. That its NADOs simply cannot be cracked.
I will recall to you the evidence I had provided that these are vulnerable in my discussion on the security aspect. I am sure you have read through..including the links in that post and discussion carefully rather than cursorily.
Now I'll show you another security breach in the very same Jamaica I used as example in my security related argument..please do go back to read my older posts.
The judge who upheld the bans on the athletes mentioned above (he only went by existing data..for the data regarding different biological effects of isomers is perhaps not available with WADA), went on to chide the local NADO with this -
On the matter of confidentiality related to the athletes' names being leaked to the local and international press, McCook was also critical of JADCO.
"Apparently the whole chain of information was wrong and this is something that has to be prevented... because previously when there was a problem with Jamaican athletes and it comes to the JAAA, we've never had any leak, and this is unfortunate.
"But sometimes in new organisations people don't realise the responsibility that they have or the burden that's placed on them as far as confidentiality is concerned. I hope it won't occur again," he added.
Asked whether someone should lose their job over the leak, McCook responded:
"This is something that the JADCO board will have to decide."
Jamaica Observer
In my argument over security...this was the exact scenario I had supposed...curiously I had used Jamaica as an example for security breach!...And long before all this happened!
For drama, I had visualized a Jamaican drug lord with links to Dawood Ibrahim's narcotic network putting the cold steel of one of the weapons they employ in the everyday streetfights of Jamaica to the head of a NADO employee when say Sachin or MSD is touring those parts. They then have "jurisdiction" over the players and hence access to their advance data...or when they travel to Pakistan...or even in the difference-ridden India. Needless to say better informed sources and agencies than you or I know that Dawood is an essential logistical link in the Al-Qaeda-LeT/JuD-ISI-HuJi network, and at least three of the organisations mentioned have sought the blood of some Indian cricketers publicly. Your continued denial of this aspect is amazing.
I will continue to try and encourage a scientific relook for betterment of WADA methods..a relook at constitutional issues for better honorability of an important issue...to relook at possible security leaks, for the safety of athletes.
I shall refrain from baulking at examining a new idea when some substance for dialogue is offered, the cricketers are raising them, or a friendly prodding to reconsider some aspects through constructive debate, and shall try not to be hidebound inside some ism of any kind.
If Indian athletes have failed to examine things, that is no reason why others should follow. If the security threat perception isn't a factor with some Indian athletes, there is no reason why other Indian athletes must have a similar low perception to accommodate WADA and the anti-cricketalism cadres.
It is just possible that if we shed these dark shades we could spot more points to make WADA a nano-accurate body without bias, infringement or leak, rather than be a bull elephant raging about without sense and in fact being more harm than help to the mahout.
As far as they being brats is concerned, you definitely know these Indian cricketers better and more closely than I do through your journalistic status...I'll take your word for it till I meet them...but let me suggest to you that perhaps they are not brats on this account.
Finally, my apologies for delay in reply, and perhaps withdrawal from the blog scene, because things are not smooth with my elbow and general health, and it is exhausting pecking the keyboard with my left hand.
Warmest regards
Soulberry
For quick reference:
Isomers - Wiki
Chirality and its biological effects. Chapter 1 should set one off on the road.
This article describes two very common drugs which are isomers and have different effects.
Friday, 9 October 2009
Engaging in Constructive Debate
ICC suspends WADA's whereabouts clause, so reports PTI.
Well, ICC does have guts after all!
To have suggested to WADA, to expend some collective intellect in finding a better solution than what they are offering, without infringing upon player rights, security, or compromising the sensitivity and specificity of the dope tests, is commendable. In trying to root out a mortal problem afflicting sports, WADA had adopted the simplest logistical solution - a dictatorial approach to the issue. ICC says that's not the way to go.
If all states could be run that way wouldn't governance be easy? Wouldn't all people of USA have complete access to all their health problems, for instance?
But this model isn't the most popular. We have democracies, UN ans such...where people discuss and try and find better ways to do things...to co-exist.
There is no science involved in a dictatorial approach...it is musclebound.
We raised here the issue of Article 21 (please search for WADA label)...and appended the white paper on it in our amateur analysis, and asked questions...well, the Attorney-General of India went on to confirm our amateur opinions.
Later, other nations joined in to question, and were keen to discuss and find a solution which doesn't compromise either its purpose or any security and/or individual rights.
The source I quoted twice above debated from the other side...arguing/directing panels againt the points put out by the cricketers from the position of moderator, when all cricketers asked for was simply a proper consideration.
Everybody wants the dope sickness to be rooted out of sports. Justice must, however, also be seen to be done.
There never was any harm in talking...in examining concerns and re-examining one's own methods towards improvement...but WADA made it all appear harmful. Aided and abetted by a slew of motivated agencies and individuals in this country who have lived their lives entirely practising anti-cricketalism, with opportunistic blasting of the game, its players and followers whenever one came by their uselessly regressive hideouts.
Some of those individuals and agencies, who spoke very loudly, truculently and as if cricketers were not citizens of this country, could neither look after one whose cause they appear to propound nor could they help themselves smirking at the valiant athlete's troubles while washing their hands off on TV. PT Usha could only shed tears.
At least India's cricket board doesn't function that way all the time.
Where's Krab?
Champions League 2009, Match Two, NSW vs Diamond Eagles
Scorecard
The Simon on display in the first innings was quite another Katich. The Captain powers NSW to fighting total in their match with Diamond Eagles.
I missed the initial half of the innings thanks to a sudden power cut. But we are back on song and viewing well.
NSW have their task cut out on this flat pitch. But they have Brett Lee...
More later...
Thursday, 8 October 2009
Cobra Strikes !
Champions League 2009, Match One, Cape Cobras v BRC
Scorecard
JP Duminy, the man who also evokes Laraesque nostalgia from within my memories, bent low on his leading knee and tilted out his torso towards the off side, just enough to include the Vinay Kumar ball, originally intended for the space between first slip and keeper by the bowler, right in the midships, and brought his bat down in a complex serpentine arc from high over his batting shoulder in such a way that it bit the ball at just the correct spot, under and on the outside cheek of it, to send it soaring into the region between square leg and fine leg for a one bounce four. The Cobra had struck! The Cape star, Duminy, had just declared his dominance...over the game and the games being played by Kallis and Boucher in the middle.
That scooping smite by the dimunitive JPD hissed in a chilling realisation into the BRC and their fans that this game set alight by Robin U and R Taylor was far from doesed and won. Kumble has never been so rattled on TV as to call out to the batsman to "Hit that!" - a rare dot ball and one quite distinctly going further away from off. It was an admission long before it actually transpired. Such was the spell Cobra Duminy wound with his coiling bat and serpentine footwork.
Even purists might have been tempted to watch this 'marshmallow' version of the game, in which one of the most elegant and quick-witted innings of batsmanship was displayed..if they didn't 'catch' this skillful innings, the loss is their deeply-congealed-in-time one. What did that ancient author once say while writing about the fledgeling game of cricket...that cricket was a game played not by those with just broad shoulders, but better played by those who wore sufficient wit upon them....or words to that effect?
The Challengers tried to cramp him around the legs - JPD simply stepped around them, made appropriate space and whipped through with his cane of willow on either side of the fielders placed in the leg-side field. Or he'd step out to those closer to his feet and play the most exquisite on drives. If they squeezed him close to the stumps on the off side, he crouched...and then sprung high on his toes to cut from unforeseen angles.
Whenever the bowlers attacked his crown, whether out of frustration or in accordance with laming up tactics, Duminy pulled. With all the ferocity of a disturbed cobra...
Praveen Kumar made bold to plunge his arm into that pit...the fact that he didn't have the pace or stealth to elude a strike never occurred to him...the fangs bit deep, the strike hurt - worse, watching the ball welling up over the ropes for four.
If Robin U and Taylor cooked up the atmosphere, Duminy sizzled it to perfection.
Following a nice opening ceremony and dinner, the first match has set the tone. Duminy has shown us how marshmallows can be included in a complicated cuisine. T20 is here to stay for a long while. Get used to it foljs!
A Show
There has been a voice in cricket for very long all of us are familiar with. We have all heard it in our different ways - from admiration at the smooth quality it has, to patience with the extreme slipperiness of the same. The 'Voice' spoke once again the other day sliding up and down a wide range, without a care for or fear of limits which may stumble.
Let us hear The Voice once again.
Of specific interest to us, as The Voice skates around in gay abandon, are those moves of it which lend the article its title - 'India is the catalyst for the freelancer crisis'.
Let us examine the portion of the transcript printed under the topic - Why the modern cricketer prefers freelancing at Cricinfo - where the most carefree swivels are made by the unbridled skater.
England's Andrew Flintoff has refused an ECB central contract and chosen, instead, to become what is being described as a freelance player. What Flintoff is saying to the ECB is that he doesn't want to be bound to the terms of this type of contract, which naturally requires the player to make himself available to play in all of England's games. Flintoff no longer needs the security of a guaranteed wage because he has made enough cash, and now he wants to be able to pick and choose when he will be available to play for England.
There is a good reason why he has decided to go down this path. He has made enough money to dictate to the ECB, and he wants to make more by seeing to it that he is available for the IPL and every other money-spinning Twenty20 tournament going.
The coming English summer, England will possibly have matches that clash with the IPL, so obviously he will not be available for England. But when the IPL is over he may then let it be known that he is available again. Alternatively he may choose to have a break or go off and play elsewhere. The ECB have no option other than to treat Flintoff as if he has retired. If they don't, they run the risk of other England players doing the same.
The England authorities could refuse to grant him the letter of consent required for him to take part in the IPL, but they will be hesitant to take a firm stand against Flintoff for fear of once again being taken to court and beaten. This happened in the late seventies when the Australian board tried to stop Kerry Packer's World Series players from earning a living.
Mind you, this is different in so much as in those days our problem was that we were paid so badly that we were justified in seeking to secure our futures. Flintoff, on the other hand, could retire tomorrow and be financially secure. It won't be long now before many of the cricket boards around the world realise that they had better come up with a formula that accommodates all those with a vested interest in the game. When this happens they will realise that India is the catalyst for the crisis and they will have to find a way of seeing to it that India is part of the plan to ensure that players remain loyal to their respective boards.
West Indies are the first to seriously feel the impact of the security offered by the IPL. This guarantee of big money for only two months work has fortified the West Indies players, who in the past have been inclined to compromise with the WICB. Now the WICB have players who aren't any longer financially dependent on playing Tests, ODIs or Twenty/20 matches for West Indies.
I would be highly surprised if quite a few cricket boards around the world aren't already ganging up in an effort to extract from India further undertakings regarding the participation of non-Indian players in the IPL. These undertakings will not only relate to firming up on the letter-of-consent process, but also some form of reimbursement by India for the use of players from other countries. After all, why should India be allowed to profit from the assets of the other cricket boards in the world? This is not fair and simply can't last.
Let us go back in time, and read from an archival edition of The Age of March 20, 1978.
Tony's future clearly lay elsewhere for his very good reasons.
Of course the same reasons do not apply for any other. The skater continues to offer his justification even today, perhaps to preempt longer memories.
While one agrees in principle that cricketers are a poorly paid lot in comparison with other sportsmen and the times they play in, it is no secret that some cricket nations pay more than others. There really wasn't any need for the highest paid cricketers of that era - the English - to scout for more money in Australia. But Greig did.
In comparison, players from say, India, were paid a pittance of what an English cricket pro earned (even today tis the same).
That needs to change today even as Tony felt it neeed to change then.
Tony throws in WICB...just to create an illusion of strength about his argument. WICB, it is now public knowledge, has been inconsistent with payments and contracts, and the row is over that. The players who hadn't been paid by WICB and hadn't a contract, thrust an unplanned series upon players. Then there is a fight over individual rights and team rights. Tony, in his biased mind wishes to use any available driftwood to beat India with.
I will let Joe Pesci, acting as Vinny, describe this skater's moves -
Vinny: Let me show you something. (he holds up a playing card, with the face toward Billy) He's going to show you the bricks. He'll show you they got straight sides. He'll show you how they got the right shape. He'll show them to you in a very special way, so that they appear to have everything a brick should have. But there's one thing he's not gonna show you. (turns the card, so that its edge is toward Billy) When you look at the bricks from the right angle, they're as thin as this playing card. His whole case is an illusion, a magic trick
Tony is in fact recycling stuff from his age but twisting things around to suit his current pupose - The Age, Oct 27, 1977 and The Age, Oct 5, 1977.
The best paid cricketers of that time (England still have them at both domestic and international level) scrabbling in courts and hopping around in Australia in pyjamas for even more money. TG being the prime mover of them. If he had fought on behalf of really underpaid cricketers like Pakistanis or Indians, he'd have more credibility.
Getting back to that era, let us read some more.
EW Swanton wrote in The Cricketer, and we quote from a copy available at Cricinfo -
Faced with this united front of utter reasonableness Packer then emerged in his true colours by demanding that on the expiry of the Australian Cricket Board's present contract for the televising of Test cricket with the ABC in 1978-79 his companies should be accorded the exclusive rights. Granted these, Packer was apparently prepared either to stage a short face-saving programme or to settle with his performers and call the thing off.
So much for the protestations that he had come into cricket to improve the lot of the downtrodden first-class cricketer! His players, one and all, and not least his truculent spokesman, Tony Greig, were seen to be mere pawns in a local commercial dogfight.
Let us also read from the archives of TIME -
What drove many fans to fury was the fact that a major defector to Packer was none other than the colorful captain of England's own international team: gangling (6 ft. 7 in.) South African-born Tony Greig, who justified his action by saying that he was fighting "for a principle."
The real difference, and not the faux ones the skater executes in erecting his illusion, is that IPL and BCCI have been more inclusive over a wide range and depth, to not only improve player worth, but also to provide an international stage for the poor county pro, or any domestic player, slogging it out without any hope of wider recognition.
The skater and his mentor's vision was narrow to the self (dunno why but after all these years the skater again aligned with a TV tycoon for the same selfish reasons of personal broadcast rights..).
He tries to again create an illusion by suggesting that IPL's move to insist that IPL players told to furnish two-year NOCs as a method of preserving existing structures, came about because of a ganging up of sorts.
While we do not deny that rogues have always ganged up against BCCI and India, unlike Tony G, who went about destabilizing cricket structures then and again by supporting ICL, without any concern for preserving test cricket or any accommodation in pusuit of their individual contracts with treasure, IPL, BCCI and India has at least kept a wide door open to allow concerns to easily flow in for honest consideration. This is because IPL is more a collaborative movement than a dash for the pot of treasure by a handful of renegades.
While Kerry Packer later amended his personal agenda to this broader vision, it was not before he first, with the assistance and abetment of TG, held all boards and cricket to ransom and then extracted his personal pot of gold. After that he became charitable and expanded on a hastily constructed vision of convenience. TG colluded/supported again in another's assault on another cricket board.
Read Swanton again..read the news archives again. And read this about William Clarke's All England Eleven.
The All-England Eleven
In 1845, Clarke had become a ground bowler at Lord's as an MCC employee. Another ground bowler then was William Lillywhite. Clarke had a great season in 1845 and few batsmen could play him well. Although most MCC ground staff were satisfied with their pay, Clarke was not and in 1846 he decided to take matters into his own hands. In August 1846, when the MCC season finished, he formed the All-England Eleven (AEE) as a touring team of leading players to play matches at big city venues, mainly in the "unfashionable but prosperous" North of England. The team played three matches in 1846 against 22 of Sheffield, 18 of Manchester and 18 of Yorkshire. Clarke's team was indeed a top-class side worthy of its title and the matches in Sheffield, Manchester and Leeds were a huge success.
Clarke's touring team continued for several years to showcase the best players of the day and the venture became very profitable, especially for the entrepreneurial Clarke, who was careful to pay his players more than MCC did in order to keep them interested. He kept the surplus for himself and became very wealthy. John Arlott wrote of him: "He was the first man to make a fortune out of cricket; he was, also, the first to see that a fortune was to be made out of it." Because of its strength, the AEE generally played sides composed of twenty-two men, though these odds were reduced when opposed to such sides as Sheffield, Manchester, some county teams and the rival United All-England Eleven.
This skating showman has had his run...the Voice of vaseline slipperiness speaks for no one but himself and those who pander to his rather large...persona.
________________
The Vaseline non sense by Tony Greig upon the allegation... Chaper 16...page 79. The fellow's a sportsman all right...plays sport with many things.
Read More......
India's quick problem - 2
TEN MONTHS AGO I made a post titled India's quick problem and it has only worsened since then. By using the word 'Quick' I am not referring to a tear away fast bowler but someone who can consistently bowl at 135+ with good control and wicket taking ability. Despite blooding many promising and good quicks in the millennium, Indian cricket is still lurking in the dark for a quick to rescue them forever from the clutches of it's perennial problem, 'quick bowling'. Sorry if you find me exaggerating things a bit. I have come to this state because both the bowlers (Zak and Ishant) whom I, in the above linked post, felt will last together for a while (3 years or so) are not in good shape (or should I just say 'shape') today. However return of Nehra has given me something to hope for.
1) India's 'quick' problem Read More......
