Would it work?
I have been gripped by this thought for sometime, and Mr.Memon's Twittering provoked them out again.
What if one transplanted Lalit Modi, IS Bindra, Jagmohan Dalmiya, Sharad Pawar, and Srinivasan (pardon me if I have missed a few names - you can pick them up from here or the entire list itself), from the verdant fields of Indian Cricket to the semi-arid tropics of Indian Hockey management structure - will these green shoots thrive and change the landscape or wither away, unable to overcome the unmerciful environment of Indian Hockey?
I have known, personally, scientists who have succeeded in such challenges of transformation, implemented through ICRISAT.
They could seek assistance from those scientists for required genetic manipulation and mutations to apply within IHF.
Sunday, 28 February 2010
To Transplant a Working Philosophy
Surely, this must have been sooo boring to watch !
I'm talking about this match - New Zealand vs Australia 2010, Second T20 at Christchurch.
The Scorecard.
It's a T20 after all. A batsman dominated game.
Seeing the scores, must have been a flat as dead track with bowlers reduced to being bowling machines.
Even the ropes might have been pulled in...even on the small and assymetrical Kiwi grounds.
All so boring...let's have a more even contest between bat and ball!
Cute References:
2) Zimbos haven't Forgotten How to Win
1) A new Twit on the branch
Zimbos Haven't Forgotten How to Win
Zimbabwe in West Indies 2010, T20I Match, Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad
Scorecard
Cricket in Zimbabwe is in doldrums. Has been for long. Andy Flower, their one time superhero, along with his robin - Grant Flower - is now an Englishman for all practical purposes. I've almost lost track of Heath Streak, Wishart, Campbell, Marillier, the dreadlocked Henry Olonga with so much joy in his stride...Pommie Mbwanga is seen on TV...but they have withdrawn themselves from Test status.
However, there have been people like Taibu, Brendan Taylor, Masakadza, Coventry, Sibanda, and others who have kept it going. Prosper Utseya is probably total world class and we might have heard and seen more of him if the country were playing regularly.
They have been doing their things off and on in not letting Zimbo cricket spiral down like it has in some countries with great heritage of the game.
In 2009, we missed Coventry's feat, and only caught up with it a little later.
Partly also because Zimbos have also fallen off from the television radar - international cricket telecast in India from outside India, is almost a monopoly of one ownership through multiple bought out channels - and while we get gluttonous portions of domestic Ozzie and English cricket, and all those where Ozzies and Englishmen are participating, one is never quite certain about the rest of the cricket. "Which channels are showing what," is a perpetual question in out minds.
So, in a nutshell, we missed watching Zimbos registering another win for the land in self-imposed cricketing exile. And over a better ranked team than they - the West Indies. We don't even know if there was telecast...as exciting a T20 match as the one between Kiwis and Ozzies on the same day was missed by us.
The Zimbos put up a poor score, Benn and Roach having stunned and tied them up. 105 should have been a walk to the podium, but with West Indies, you never know these days.
Prosper Utseya, Ray Price and Alex Cremer - three spinners, not only added a new dimension to T20 playing philosophy, but also added a page in the record books by bundling West Indies out for a lower total, in the process both teams registering their lowest ever totals.
Players Make a Contest - Not, simply or only, the nature of conditions and structure
Just the other day, I mentioned that the Twittering Tree was very worried, with many established birds Tweeting plaintively from their respective branches upon the "batting disaster" that the game of LOIs had turned cricket into. At the same time bemoaning the fact that it was pushing bowlers into the future worlds of cybernetics and robotics, well ahead of time - by making bowling machines out of them.
This was a match they perhaps should have seen...we should have seen.
We had ventured to ask into the Twittering Tree community...naturally, as expected, there weren't many tweets back except for Jonathan, with whom I have plenty animated discussions anyway to be almost familiar...but he chose the jeans!
Boundary ropes being bought in or flat decks...just didn't matter...the bowlers and tactics dominated. In the process, the team that froze up lost. I guess the beauty of LOIs is in the surprise of such a contest rather than its mundaneness. A contest is up to the players to create...under any circumstance. If Australia scored a big 400, South Africa created a contest in reply which everyone enjoyed. Has it become now so boring because contests are dime a dozen? That Lanka should almost repeat the act? Was that not a thriller? Or did not Hyderabad tingle the nerves? perhaps it is being oo involved with cricket which saps spectators of the thrill and smell of contest. Perhaps it becomes routine business and then theories must float...if "greater balance between bat and ball" be it, so be the theory. Forgetting perhaps, that it is also up to the bowlers to create that contest with their own quality and fielders to aid them.
A contest, in the matter of LOIs especially, should be less dictated by things such as conditions in games which are so brief. To not lend an unfair advantage to one over the other for in severly limited structure as they are, there cannot be compensation for different conditions in the two innings. But to make the contest even between bat and ball...how does one go about forcing it? How does one go about creating, crafting, manipulating conditions to make sure such a thing happens exactly as visualized as a contest in somebody's mind? How do we regulate/ensure that after creating such "ideal" conditions of contest, that there would be an even contest between bat and ball? How do we ensure, from both sides, the batsmen play as we deem them to and bowlers bowl as we deem them to to fulfill that particular image of contest? We must be already in the age of cybernetics to be able to determine so many factors from pitches and conditions toindividual player performances to determine a contest. Like we do in the ubiquitous cricket video games these days.
A contest is created on a spread by two interested combatants. Conditions are settings, the scenery...which may heighten some aspects of the contest and attenuate some others. There is always the danger, in trying to create a pitch in favour of bowlers to have a Kotla fiasco. Have a bouncy pitch all the time, Ican bet befre long there'd be a yearning for a more equitable spinners' pitch....and so on and so forth.
Test Matches are another story...they are over five days...different factors act upon them...as they must...to influence the game. It could be the mood of a player which changes,ot the amount of clouds in the sky above or the density of the air around us...that is the beuaty of Test Cricket we enjoy. And a session lost can be transformed into a session regained by doing something else...there is time in that structure. And opportunity to use different skills.
But I always wondered one thing - why is it that all the worthies who want to scuff up LOI decks and conditions to make them "more of a contest" not utter a word...not one single word...on the attempt to take away those very same aspects they are propagating, from test pitches? Remove the covers for starters....dare to if you can!
And please...let us not have the same old commentary that it is for the benefit of TV...if you want TV to benefit in Tests, then why not in LOIs?
If you want to attenuate the variables in test cricket, why are you trying to create artificial highs in LOIs by changing their different design structure? Why are you so interested in tinkering with each and every structure...of tests, of ODIs and T20s? Let players and tactics excel to provide a contest in each structure.
Comperirion doesn't "happen" by simply growing grass on a pitch...or more grass. Competition doesn't automatically happen if you make the pitch harder and grassier, Competition doesn't happen automatically my making it a spinning track.
Competition, more importantly, doesn't happen, if you are trying to make all look the same.
Let test matches not have covers, no restrictions on bouncers, no restricion on overs bowled in a day...see, the beuaty and true test of character lies in how players cope with all these and how they anticipate and therefore evoke better performances from them to register that test win before rain intervenes to stop their march orstymie the series. Isn't that how test cricket should truly be? Why are people trying to make it less competitive by having only one kind of pitches over five days and keeping them covered so elements cannot alter the pitch as the match proceeds...modern test cricket can be so boring...just like the clourless commentary we are burdened with these days. Where are those honey-voiced, mutlifaceted, non-irritating Setalvads, Ratnagurs, D'Mellos and, Talyarkhans of a much older era? Why do worthies not seek these for test matches?
LOIs have a different structures, aims and purposes. 50-50 and 20-20 are also distinct. And please do not denigrate the acceptance people show. That's feedback for managers of the game to use...not some theoretical whimsy pulled off from a cloud in a room upon the ivory tower! We have already discussed that the conditions should not var greatly in LOIs, and if they are the same - whether they are bowler friendly, batsman friendly or equally friendly - it remains up to the players to make a contest out of it. India couldn'tmake a contest out of its latest match...but it almost did in Hyderabad. Saffers made a contest out of it against Australia but couldn't against India in the match before...just saying that conditions must be this and that for there to be a contest, in my most humble opinion, is very silly.
Within any given structure, it is the people who use that structure that create competition and not the structure itself. By nature, structures detract from creating competition. To have the same structure as Tests for 50-50 and 20-20 is also avery boring to visualize. To have only the 'equally-friendly' option all the time could also get boring...like ODIs did in the late 80s and early 90s (surely people haven't forgotten the sleep which used to come on by the 10th or 12th over?)...and having only that one option DOES NOT ENSURE that there will be an even contest!
Check Zimbos out for how to make a contest out of 105...Windies have learnt, maybe others would too...that players more than conditions create contests and contexts.
Zimbabwe vs West Indies 2010, T20I Match, Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad
Scorecard Read More......
India vs Pakistan: World Cup Hockey 2010
India leading Pakistan 3-0 at the moment.
Chak de India!
UPDATE
make that 4-0 in favour of India.
Chak de India!
UPDATE
4-1 now. Sohail Abbas takes one back for Pak
UPDATE
1.26 mins left
Sandeep Singh rested
PC earned!
Saved by Pakistan.
INDIA WINS 4-1!
Goal Scorers
1-0 Shivendra Singh (I)
2-0 Sandeep Singh (I)
3-0 Prabhjot Singh (I)
4-0 Sandeep Singh (I)
4-1 Sohail Abbas (P)
Lalit Modi now talks business with Team Maye!
I assure u no balls will be cut in DLF IPL. We monitor each over diligantly. Our broadcaster also is a responsible one and has assured us
...
I can assure you that if there is ball cutting it will lead to strictist of actions by IPL. We want to ensure the fans enjoy the full game.
...
We have extremely stringint penalties when it comes to ball cutting. We have a special team monitoring this on a real time basis.
Is there a patch-up on the cards with Team Maye? All those assurances, I mean...
Maybe they now become langotiyaa yaars?
Just in case there is unforseen ball cutting during IPL, there are arrangements made...for all those inerested to protect balls, special guards will be handed out
against ads.
Why did FICA have to Lie and Manipulate?
And a whole lot of media portals, commentators, blogsters, and forummers, tweeters who jumped onto their bandwagon?
Why did they mislead the ordinary cricket fan and the entire world over India, its abilities and security status?
Why did they choose NOT to play cricket over India?
Are they, the entire lot of them, from the well known to the little known, answerable at all?
Will they now tell us what their real motive was? To end IPL? To steal IPL? To take away the World Cup? Status as recognized Agents of players with rights to sell? Or just a personal share of the pie? I hope they'll tell us why they lied and manipulated against India. Was it just to feed the need for a sense of importance?
FICA had a fundamental problem - its theory was that it existed in a vaccuum without any accountability - from which it could forever and constantly degrade, decry, denigrate, abuse, threaten, attack...people, peoples and nations, without the minumum need to have a true basis for it.
Those who drank the same madeira behaved in the same manner.
Some well known names have written, spoken terabytes of trash via their blogs, tweets, newspapers, tv channels and through whatever organs of communication and dissemination that exist. Forget about the uncountable unknowns who did the same.
The din was raucous - perhaps due to their personal hate against either Lalit Modi, IPL, India or various combinations of the three - so many chose to create an incessant noise than think for themselves, analyze what was going on - vertically and horizontally...and along the z-axis which enables them to penetrate fraud...to tear through masks...to uncover hidden motives.
The tragedy (or irony) was that, FICA and its main vocalists and theorists,barely bothered to conceal their motives.
This brazenness was either naivette or a disease.
They lied and maniulated facts to get at India and Indians. They first erected IPL and Lalit Modi up as hate figures with their slyness and then went ahead to bash all Indians by expanding subtly those two labels they tried to paint in discredited colours to India.
Not once has Modi used the epithets they have - If Modi stated that IPL would not deal with Palyers' association, he was giving simple information...an answer to a question perhaps...but not once did he call Tim May an "arrogant" man etc etc which May did. FICA Tongues even frothed that India think they are this and they think they are that and stuff like that.
Prejudiced people, promiment and anonymous, picked up the same without a shred of commonsense or sane thought.
Many Indians of the same ilk - prominent and those not so - followed the lead. That wasn't surprising to me, for quite a few Indians are like that. They think it is stylish to pose...they think it is woth their while for the world to see them boxing their India down. perhaps they think it makes them look more fair than others and gets them more clicks,licks, or maybe pennies and cents. Not once did they pause to think, find out, and explore without bias either.
It is great to be a self-critic, but to be that, you must have a few qualities - 1) have anopen mind 2) have the information to back it up 3) verify the info and 4) don't just blab for the sake of blabbing, tweeting, chirping, blogging etc.Employ some responsibility and oh, 5) don't be ashamed to be an Indian...if the correct stance happens to side an Indian point of view, do not hesitate..it will not make you look like an internal extremeist or local loony!
It is wiser to be proved wrong on sincere effort than to look foolish defending falsehoods, lies and manipulation.
I feel sorry for you important men and women with blaring organs without substance.
The problem is no one can be held accountable - not the FICA Tonguemen or the kinds who followed their leaders.
NM has once again been kind enough to forward a link. he is a terific self critic, but is not a foolish one. Neither is he a bigoted supporter of the self and attacker of the rest. Thanks mate!
India safe for IPL, Australians told - smh.com.au
FICA felt it necessary to utter a huge lie at the outset.
AUSTRALIA'S IPL cricketers are set to run the gauntlet and play in the Indian Premier League after an official from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade delivered a secret briefing to players in Christchurch yesterday. The key piece of information was that DFAT's travel advice was unchanged from last year when Australia visited India without any security issues.
Why did FICA try and convey the impression that things were worse than before?
What was its motive?
Here is Australia Govt. on India.
At the top of the scary list below is this summarisation:
This advice has been reviewed and reissued. It contains new information under Safety and Security: Terrorism (attack in Pune on 13 February). The overall level of the advice has not changed.
Why did FICA and its adherents lie? Why did they seek to convey that something new had cropped up and things were worse than before? Who among those is to be held responsible for playing with my country's status? Or are they gods who cannot be asked to account for their lies and manipulations?
Members of the Australian Twenty20 squad who are contracted to Indian franchises attended the 20-minute briefing session. Independent security consultant Reg Dickason and Australian Cricketers' Association boss Paul Marsh were on a telephone hook-up. It is understood the players were told that a recent threat from the al-Qaeda-linked 313 Brigade was not credible.
''As you know, the travel advisory for India hasn't changed in 12 months,'' Cricket Australia general manager Michael Brown said after the meeting. ''The purpose today was to give the players as much information as possible. It's not just the cricketers involved. We've got staff going to the IPL, there's a whole lot of state physios, coaches, state players.
''Our position is just saying, 'Look, this is what we know'. The IPL isn't an issue for us because we don't have an Australian team - but we are privy to a whole lot of information that we get in our normal processes. DFAT said they would be happy to give the players a personal briefing. We said we would take the invitation.''
Why did the FICA and its hirelings seek to convey otherwise?
Someone here...perhaps a couple of them... even berated me for daring to question the esteemed FICA Tongues and their hirelings....patronizingly, they sneered at me for suggesting that the credibility of hirelings of a motivated party was lesser than the information exchanged between honest Governments and through them - Boards...the official organs of the game Governments generally deal through on such issues. Australian Government may have made an exception in this case to deal directly with its players...or maybe it is not unknown in Australia for the Government to speak directly without having to go through the board...but it appears that the CA and Australia Government responded positively to the players.
There wouldn't be any motive for Australin government to mislead its citizens would there? I mean folks...those who know who they are...please come in.
And what does the Australian Government do in stark contrast to Dickason and FICA - IT does NOT advice BOYCOTT but advises "WE said WE WOULD TAKE the invitation."
Why the complete contrast? Come on in my friends...please explain this contradiction?
You suggested WIPA had a motive to back out and questioned their security assesment - wheter through another agency which appears, now, to have concurred with Australian Government, or for Indian Government. You insinuated that Indian Government was not a credible source because it had a motive! Now you come in and please explain this to me.
From the far off Caribbeans and expat havens in US and UK..my friends who are also great Caribbean theorists and of militant (but compulsive) trade unionism, what do you say now?
You accused your own players/WIPA to have sucked India's d - - k, to be turncoats, to have sucked Modi's organ for money...in fact all the while you people are sucking organs elsewhere in US and UK to earn what? Orga--s? You called Indians all sorts of filthy words. You wished terrorism on India. You hoped India would experience more terrorism so that India could be shut down sports and commerce and all.
And some of you claimed to be close to governments of those regions and also in the state of affairs of governance in USA. I don't know if you are fibbing, perhaps you are but I now know some of you are not, but you stand exposed as poor people with poor hearts and poorer souls. Many of you claimed proximity with current WI players and suggested a degree of control...you revealed letters and tweets and conversations...but all of you have proved to be little more than the rottenly prejudiced skunts you are.
My arguments in the debates over the past year and a bit more, are more vindicated than yours have ever dreamt of in fantasies...let alone reality.
Now that, my special friend, is definitely a "rant".
''The reality is we're living in a world where terrorism is part of our lives,'' Brown said. ''Right up until the day you depart, it can change. Who would have thought about London, who would have thought about Mumbai, Lahore? The reality is you've got to make your decisions based on the best information.
''The advice simply from the government is that the travel advisory for India hasn't changed. It doesn't mean it can't change between now and the start of the tournament.
And after that...yes, a "rant"...we come back to the article and people who read and visit here.
Our argument was similar....we constantly asked what "definitively adequate security arrangements" meant? I asked if they could illustrate for me with examples because I couldn't understand what that means...what is assurance of most definitive etc etc?
We can put a structure in place...a most dynamic structure...how can there be any definitive assurance...can USA definitively assure?..Can Australia definitively asssure? Can UK or Jamaica or ...definitively assure? What is definitively assure?
Things can happen anywhere despite the best arrangements - that's a fact of life.
When bad people are getting support and allowed to propser in today's world, then facts of life includes their actions.
You say USA hasn't seen an attack since 9/11, is that a definitive assurance? Even they will not care to admit that, but you ask if India can give? can you give definitive assurance that you aren't...well, let's leave it at that.
It was purely an information session. We want people to make informed decisions.
the difference between regular arms and responsible arms and those existing in vaccums of it is this - they do not advise disruptions, boycott and collaboration with terrorists on whims and falsehoods. They give you all the correct, vetted info, and ask you to deal wid it and make your own decision. Not motivated unverified info from some freelancer...I mean how can that freelancer find the cooperation he must from various governments to properly prepare a risk report?
How can a government participate with any TDH unlss he is sanctioned with an introductory letter from an authoritative source? Boards are authoritative sources...if they appoint someone and give a letter of introduction, then there is a presumption that the respective government could underwrite it all if necessary. That's credibility and how it works.
FICA, in the past, we know also wanted to break down ICC...maybe it wants to be THE ICC with Tim May the headman of the band...but that is then, not now. They are not people who will be here today and here tomorrow. They could well go poof! at the first hint of responsibility for their actions. Militant trade unionism has an element of juvenility in its pathology.
And whatever little credibility FICA had, it chopped it off itself with the kind of language it employed and the open attempts to slime in via threats and bullying to the pie table. Wehave been pulled up for our language too, but we clarified that we shall use the same at the very outset...we are not chivalrous gentlmen like Lalit Modi. We are hurt Indians.
What does FICA do now its lies stand exposed - it digs in its heels and seeks to wrap the sherdded mask a little tighter around its duplicity.
.Tim May, the chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations, has said there could still be "mass withdrawals" unless players receive a commitment that the IPL's security plans will be implemented at all venues.Cricinfo
We do the same as we did...more forkane threats!
Anybody know if these fellows have any links with terrorists? Terrorists use threats at the drop of a hat too. How about massly withdrawing yourself FICA and allowing undistracted security arrangements in the interests of more people than your selves? "Unless"...the...man...is issuing threats again. Look at him! Is he never accountable?
Modi called this one out and exposed him. Now, over to India and it has plenty on its plate...time to make sure this year of sporting events go through...It is our responsibility...our word, our gaurav. And even if that's not important, they are waiting for our failure....the vultures may have been driven back a little, but they will pounce once again at the first sign of weakness. Read More......
Saturday, 27 February 2010
A new Twit on the branch
That's me.
Everywhere I visit on the web all I see is that ubiquitous blue Twitter on everybody's page. I went over a month or so ago to see what the fuss is all about. To my astonishment, I discovered that I was already registered! And aeons ago but never occupied my nest! Anyway, so there I am, on my own webtree limb, occupying my own till now unihabited nest and tentatively Tweeting away...
If you wish you could add your views on two following Tweets of this Twit.
If Cricket were a set of pants Tests would be tuxedo pants, ODIs your business suit pants and T20 your everyday jeans.
And,
Stimulated by Harsha Bhogle's worries about the boundary ropes likely to be brought in for IPL and the overall nature of LOI decks, we asked for opinions
A Q to all - Do T20s need same test or ODI standards applied, or were they devised to be fundamentally different and more flexible?
Our views on the pitch matter was something like this -
20-20 pitches aren't that aesthetic for 50-50 I agree. But 40-50,000 in the stadium didn't look like they were offended much.
Should we expect Test character/personality also in LOIs? Or are they different generations of the game with suitably different personalities with the core values being similar?
Incidentally, this is the first self-Twit post of this Twit. At the moment, this Tweeting business seems rather silly and all-consuming to me, though I do recognize some utility for it. Two most important utilities - the feel of sitting in a conversation (danger - you could catch an Inane as easily as an Interesting), and the second utility is brevity of expression. That's a skill to develop. Anyway I am still coming to grips with it so maybe my viws will change. Meanwhile I discovered that there are plenty of interesting people Trilling away to glory. So maybe I'll listen some.
On a related note, I found on Ankit Mishra's APU (Informed via Twitter) a new post on Sachin. Christopher Poshin had left a quote in the comments, which recalled to me one I had heard elswhere in a heated discussion among worthies expanding on their greater, greatest and worthier and worthiest -
A gent, by then rather irate about the terabytes adding up to lift Sachin, and fearful that that might not stop before steepling beyond his own worthiest greatestest greatest, commented elsewhere on the web, "Isn’t Sachin merely six runs better than Charles Coventry?"
Naturally, following his invitation, another worthy with his set of worthiest greatestest greatest asked in reponse "So where does that place ______ then?"
Cricket is a great source of chat, chit, and more chat.
This Twit shall appear as follows till such a time this fad is strong. The RSS link to my nest is appended below, among the "Resources" column at the bottom. That is one of a pair of songbirds in a bush who allowed be to join their duet with my seeking camera. Thanks.
Read More......
Friday, 26 February 2010
The Source of Much Bad Stuff
Cricinfo first took out a short note about some breaking news on the Kamran-Pakistan-Match Fixing issue, with a promise to develop it as details arrived at its desk. It has since fleshed out the story and amended the title suitably to accommodate 'some confusion'.Cricinfo
We didn't get fussed even as the community were Twittering feverishly before Cricinfo stepped in. I wondered, presuming some truth in the matter, at what the outcome would ultimately be. Would it be any different, if proven unequivocally, in comparison to cheating cases of the past? I really wondered if it was worth breaking (once again) my self imposed blogging-break? Were these happenings in Pakistan big enough affairs in cricket to merit that? You can say, we had our reasons to take it easy, for now, on this news, and continue with our break.
Frankly, I doubt (I admit more on the basis of historical track record than available facts) that 1) match-fixing might have happened in just that one match 2) if it did happen, there is very little one can do to prove it without an unpressured confession 3) even if it is proven incontrovertibly what kind of penalty can be applied which is a deterrent? 4) even if such a detterent is applied by way of a 'punishment', it is only a matter of time before it is eventually overturned unless Kamran Akmal has rubbed someone somewhere really bad the wrong way. It then boils down to the internal political squabble between the pro-and anti- Kamran Akmal factions in Pakistan to generate, sustain, propagate and win their respective arguments.
But first we have to see what this supposed evidence is and how it will stand up in any imapartial enquiry anywhere. Till then, no point getting fussed over we feel.
However, this incidence/news event allows us to examine once again the various pulls and pressures of match-fixers and how players respond to it.
Achettup of SOAL, brought up Dawood Ibrahim again, and that tipped it for me. I had to break once again my self-imposed blogging fast and partake in this ritual again. For this here, which Achettup brought up, is a major major scourge of this world (now even UN says so) and is the visible link between Pakistan-Terrorists-and all underworld stuff of this world everywhere.
For as many years as of my internet cricketing existence, now very close to a decade, via forums, MBs (many now defunct or I no longer participate in), Websites like BBC, CC.com, and this blog for the past three years, I have spoken often about the shadow of this man - Dawood Ibrahim - straddling a very wide range from cricket to Al Qaeda to LTTE, to Nepal, to Jamaican drug lords and far beyond...all with internet link included 'evidence' of stuff I referred to in my research for my arguments.
My experiences from such conversations with non-Indians (and non-Pakistanis - Pakistanis compulsively deny Dawood Ibrahim and their complicit role) was 1) people were totally ignorant of this man 2) that people were completely disinterested in knowing about this man 3) that people saw in my efforts nothing but a mad Indian propaganda by a madder Indian web inmate.
Many of those people...from various sites...if they are peeping into this blog once in a while...should by now be more abreast of the topic. The WC 2007 is almost history now and you may not recollect all the discussions therein. Unfortunately, those forum articles and comments contents may have been lost by now as well. About written/discussed stuff from before that..I can only presume much worse. Much has happened since 2001 to finally unmask this man and put the spotlight on his role in promoting, propagating and sustaining international terrorism from the safety of Pakistan's ISI guarded soil - the posh Clifton area of Karachi, incidentally, from his residence also called 'White House' - either in frank copycat apeing, or for sending a message across to the relevant shores of the world.
Do not believe me please, my friends who like to disbelieve, but instead this - Interpol-United Nations Security Council
Special Notice, Subject To UN Sanctions, KASKAR, Dawood Ibrahim. Scroll down to the 'Addresses ' section and you will find that I have done nothing more than an honest cut and paste job from that.
That is an Interpol update following 'association with Al-Qaeda as identified in UN Security Council resolutions 1822 (2008) and 1267 (1999).'Wiki
His links with cricket are now public knowledge and are easily available via Google search these days. In fact, he even has a Wiki page now...a one-stop counter of sorts for information on the man... with many useful links to browse vertically and horizontally. Actually, that Wiki page along with supplementing Google searches have now made our job simpler and our need to publish articles, conduct research, involve ourselves in trying to educate and explain, superflous. It is also a good starting point for Dawood Ibrahim novices wanting to know more.
There is enough material out there now to understand how this man affects each one of us on this planet and also the game of cricket.
However, limiting to cricket, I'd like to use the same link employed by Achettup of SOAL, for t Pakistan news portal The Internationa News article on Kamran Akmal, makes mention of the enquiry findings, now part of history.
From the Archives of Cobrapost.com, Amid Mir wrote from Lahore, all those years ago. The relevant portions of it -
The Most Wanted Indian fugitive Dawood Ibrahim, allegedly hiding in Pakistan, has further strengthened his Pakistani connection by getting his eldest daughter Mahrukh Ibrahim engaged to Junaid Miandad, the eldest son of former Pakistani cricket captain Javed Miandad.
...
While Dawood will be attending the Karachi wedding function, he is unlikely to attend the Dubai reception because there is that "small matter" of the US State Department having dubbed him a "specially designated global terrorist" in October 2003 for his alleged links with the al-Qaeda.
While identifying him as a resident of the port city of Karachi, the subsequent red corner alert notice issued by the International Police (Interpol) even gave his telephone and Pakistani passport numbers. Dubai, which used to be a safe haven for the don in the past, can no longer welcome him because the United Arab Emirates and India have signed an extradition treaty with several wanted men already being extradited including Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar's real brother, Iqbal Kaskar. Dawood has not visited Dubai after the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
...
The engagement was not made public since Dawood Ibrahim is not meant to be residing on Pakistani soil after being declared a globally designated terrorist.
....
Ever since Dawood got involved in match-fixing over a decade ago, many of the Pakistani cricket players were on his pay rolls who earned huge sums of money. His interest in cricket apparently remains undiminished and after his glamorous appearances in Sharjah one-dayers when he had top Indian actors and actresses at his beck and call, Dawood now calls the shots in Pakistan. Backed by Dawood, Miandad was able to survive as captain of the Pakistan cricket team for a good period of time despite facing tough opposition from other players and his being named in several match-fixing scams. To recall, the judicial inquiry report into the betting and match-fixing allegations prepared by a committee headed by Justice Qayyum, had established a direct link between Dawood and many of the Pakistani players.
The inquiry report released in June 2001 carried details of a phone conversation between then skipper Wasim Akram and Dawood Ibrahim during the England-Pakistan match in Sharjah in year 2000. Former coach Javed Miandad - who was called to depose before the panel on why he quit the job abruptly before the World Cup after guiding the team to victory in Sharjah - said during Pakistan's second match against England, he got a call from someone (whom he did not want to name), who told him the game was fixed and that Shahid Afridi, Moin Khan, Azhar Mehmood, Salim Malik and Inzamam-ul Haq had taken money to throw the match. Miandad told the inquiry panel that he was so angry he forced Akram to talk to the man immediately. Akram, in his evidence before Qayyum, admitted he did talk to someone called Dawood Ibrahim on the phone and was told the match was fixed. Miandad asked Akram to make the players take an oath on the Koran, but Akram did not do so because it was not available at the ground. Miandad has deposed that he was furious at the team during the break as England, who were struggling at 40 for five wickets and had scored 206. He also said before he realised what was happening, five Pakistan batsmen were out and the team was bowled out for 144 runs in the 35th over.
(Cobrapost News Features)
That is a little more than what Achettup included and the entire can be read by those interested at the cobrapost archives.
Our interest was not solely in Kamran Akmal and his alleged activities - those are matters under better investigation than we can do and I do not deem it of enough significance to interrupt my sabbatical - but to bring forward once again the shadow of Dawood that stalks this planet, like it also did during the World Cup 2007 in sunny Jamaica. I do not have those links now for I have acquired a new computer since and old bookmarks have gone with the old one now sold off.
Maybe those who participated in those discussions on the forums now shut down/revamped have saved the links I included back then? If any of you are reading this post, and have kept those links buried within the Bob Woolmer posts and peculiar performances posts of that time and place, can you please forward them to me for reuse? They are suddenly important again! I don't recall if they were links from the Gleaner or Observer or were links from security agency reports...or Indian news portals. At least one of them was Observer/Gleaner link, I recall. Thanks in advance, in all humility and with all sincerity. At least a few of you have my current e-mail ID for contact.
Dawood Ibrahim is the source of much which is deemed bad in this game of cricket, and this world we all live in. Through the firm nexus between a governmental arm of a country ( ISI of Pakistan ) his own vast, all-permeating logistical network, and with the terrorists groups of the world from Al-Qaeda, Lashkar -E-Toiba (LeT), HuJi of Bangladesh, LTTE of Sri Lanka(now they are down, but is it out?), North-East terrorist/rebel organisations of India via China, Nepal, Burma, he wields an axe over our lives directly or indirectly, anywhere in the world. His drug links, his arms ring, his money-laundering, generating and money-printing rings, his political contacts, his status as the prime logistical man for all terror rings and their periphera arms emanating from the regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan...in some way, they all touch our lives adversely. The fact that he is now embedded in the ISI - an important arm of a government of a key country involved in all this, with whom countries like US and UK are dealing directly and disclosing their strategies to counter terrorism...it is mind-boggling how futile this "Fight against Terror" and all such talk suddenly becomes. His bases in the South East Asia, South America...they are all well known and is information easily available on the web for those with the patience and information to seek and study. It is this...such a man...who also frequently makes inroads into our game of cricket.
It is this...such a man...India has been seeking assistance from Pakistan and others, to round up and bust the various connections.
It is these reasons, Pakistan does not co-operate for its own covert-activity governmental arm, ISI, is deeply involved with.
It is for these reasons, the US and UK can only be quiet spectators and do little unless they really want to...for they are involved via Pak governments down the ages and the synergy they had with ISI in erecting these various rings for their purposes before they have now gotten out of hand.
It is for these reasons, I always insist that we must be one in our struggle to remain one fair and free port in this part of the world.
It is for these reasons that I have limited interest in Kamran Akmal's case - while that may simply be falsehood caused by local political equations between player groups and their backers, if it is something more than that, there is very little than anyone will do. I will not say "can do" but there aren't strong enough men in Pakistan, with a sound heart and good minds, to free pakistan with the various burdens of ideology and actions they have been yoked to by all their governments and so-called intellectuals and public figures to date.
I haven't seen any evidence (via only web and media tools of course) of such people in Pakistan or among their expats, who are willing to be clear and unafraid of condemning and acting against this burden of past, to end that and chart a new course to their destiny. Why should their cricket be any different, even if it could? Read More......
Had to break the break before it began
Yeah friends, the next big thing in cricket happened too soon - another friend shared a link to Sachin's first interview!
Thanks Doosie!
Enjoy folks! I simply had to put it up.
Notice him drinking regular cutting chai! Or maybe coffee like they serve down south or in the south-west. And that's Tom Alter introducing him. Isn't this Alter the father of the Cricinfo Alter?
Back to hibernate, recuperate and refresh myself.
Thursday, 25 February 2010
WIPA not supporting FICA on this issue
Tim May can go ahead and boycott along with the usual suspects who support him and his agenda.
In a strangely unexpected twist (some say not unexpected though) the heart and soul of compulsive cricket trade unionism, WIPA, found no reason to be dissatisfied with the security arrangements. WIPA (West Indies Players' Association) stated that it is in fact happy with the security arrangements. As if they were ever in doubt...but nevertheless...a doubt had been sought to be created for some reason or the other.
I quote Cricinfo
The West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) has expressed satisfaction with the security arrangements being made for the IPL, becoming the first players' organisation to give the green signal to their cricketers to feature in the Twenty20 tournament.
So that's rather lucidly meaning that Tim May and his group can....as the Caribbean peeps like to put it...KHS or KTS.
They explain their process...in ways similar to Tim May Group's process, but with completely different results. Read on
"Apart from being in contact with a number of key IPL personnel, WIPA has also sought independent advice from organisations which have conducted similar security tests," WIPA said in a press release.
"WIPA is convinced that the organisers and the government are sparing no effort to ensure that players' welfare and security are not in any way compromised. WIPA will therefore support its players' participation in the IPL tournament."
Even to the most bigoted supporter of the motivated stance adopted by FICA and the most bigoted hater/sensationalist/attention ho, of IPL, Lali Modi, BCCI and India, in no particular order, would..or normally should...interpret that WIPA arrived at a different conclusion from the results of the "similar tests" conducted by independent organisations as compared to the Tim May led group among the FICA.
Perhaps for once WIPA had no motive...perhaps for once WIPA had only constructive motives...surely they aren't only money-greedy participants as some of their own disapointed self-important theorists (supposedly with conntrol/access to players and governments of the region) and like supporters are now alleging? (I have the links and I may not reveal them..if you choose to disbelieve, then that's your joy...makes no difference to me.)
Even if their participation is motivated by pecuniary reasons, as alleged by their mdisruptive trade unionism theoretical mentors in the West Indian islands and expat locations, they are willing to trust a government...the Indians...to take good care of them. Just as one trusts Jamaican people will protect visiting teams from the gun-toting gangsters there.
Cricinfo Staff concludes thus
Among those who have been most concerned over safety are Australian cricketers, whose players' association helped formulate a list of security demands for IPL organisers earlier this week following a meeting attended by a majority of Australian cricketers due to play in next month's tournament.
Tim May, the chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations, had also warned earlier this week of a spate of player withdrawals from the IPL after the England team's security adviser Reg Dickason said the threat from the 313 Brigade was credible and that security could not be guaranteed in India.
OK, security is a convenient mask, we said so before...one is almost ready to believe Modi's Tweet on Ponting even before hearing Ponting's side of the story.
May, the naturally self-important union boss, disliked being kept out of the loop and has been threatening something or the other for a while now...since before the security issue. He's done this before...even last year and the year before.
The dashed hopes born out of refusal to indulge him with a controlling button at the table, turned him into a blind man ready to hatch things as he went along.
Then, after Martyn's tweets and Modi's tweets....and coupled with the general background of Australian media and cricketers' attitudes towards this region..there is scope for conclusions to be drawn...however dangerous or erroneous they may prove to be. They can be vindictive people as we are seeing generally...they can easily manipulate things thinking nobody'll catch them out, just like the cat who drank up the milk with its eyes closed.
It is unfortunate that the better Australian, the sporting Australian, the curious Australian has been kicked down and beaten into submission by the strange ethos of Australian Cricket built around a punter, where things like sportsmanship, fair play, appreciation of the other's efforts, co-operation and graciousness in winning or defeat - on field or at a conference table, have ceased to exist in the Australian psyche.
It has been replaced by a peculiar brand of vindictive, theratening, hooliganism which now permeates beyond from the cricket field. When caught out, their instinct is now to flail and manipulate rather than be penitent. The stance of some of these so-called constructive union, was no different.
In the end, I must say I am surprised by the WIPA's firm stand. I was expecting otherwise...more illogical behaviour egged on by their backroom boys. But they didn't do that...they didn't lose sight of the fact that when such an event is being played, the entire country is involved...it stakes itself in protecting the guests. India has been a firm, unflinching force in this region for decades, despite being surrounded by terrorists, their arms in various countries and even large covetous countries like China and Pakistan. They saw that more clearly now than they did in World Cup 1996...when they followed Australia in skipping world cup matches over security.
Let's put this behind us and move forward. Anyway the Australians were not likely to play for more than a couple of weeks...that is if they came at all.
Last word of caution - this news needs confirmation. Many news portals have ben conned before. WIPA, till now, has nothing on its website. Multiple games in such matters are not unknown. Read More......
The King Speaks About His Spiritual Guru's Mahimaa
Virender Sehwag is the undisputed King of Cricket. It is he who now reigns over this kingdom after ascension to the throne through his singular deeds. Many formidables have graced this throne before him, and there will be someone else who will succeed him in another era. Meanwhile, the King is sitting in the tranquil sanctum of his palace...Cricinfo...a select courtier by his side, and a spontaneous inclination to share his innermost thoughts on the extraordinary event which has unfolded in his kingdom through his game Guru's intense tapasya.
To Nagaraja Gollapudi, the chief recorder and news disseminator of the kingdom, Virender Sehwag, The Lord of the Cricket Kingdom confides
"He Nagaraja!"
I am the superstitious kind: I never praise a shot because I fear the moment I do so, the batsman gets out. Till Sachin was on 190 in Gwalior, I was rooted in my seat in the dressing room. But when he got to 190, I couldn't contain myself. I came out and started cheering every stroke till he got to 200.
The ubiquitous Nagaraja, who knows many details of the domain and is an expert at extracting the best from the important, recognizes this special moment and switches on his voice recorder to capture the King's most personal reflections upon himself and his game's spiritual guru, for posterity...
Thus spake Sehwag on the tantalizing moments leading up to his Guru's Mahayagna climax
...when he was in the 190s I was concerned. If I was in his place, I would have tried to finish it quickly, because the longer I take, the greater the possibility of me getting out. I would try to wrap it up in three or four balls.
Nagaraja, sitting beside the Lord, nods in agreement and approval.
This was what common denizens suspected but could never confirm, but here was the Lord himself speaking about his own fears and shortcomings in a moment of frankness brought about by the moving vision created by his Guru.
Also, he was looking really tired: he had been clutching his right side and showing signs of cramping. So when I stepped out of my seat, I was just saying, "Finish it, finish it."
But Sachin is never in a hurry. He is a different kind of batsman - one who can rotate the strike with ease and understands there is no need to take any chances.
How key is that disclosure! How illuminative is the difference pointed out between what it takes to be a King and what more it takes to be a King's guru!
Nagaraja, well trained in the art of listening and extraction, doesn't interrupt...not the slightest movement to distract the rare figment of opportunity, and allows the King to carry on with a mere smile
King Sehwag pauses...Nagaraja leans forward a little to signal encouragement to continue, Lord Virendra carries on, explaining to us the special powers of his Guru
You might say, this is 200 - a figure no batsman in the history of the game has crossed - but then we are talking about Tendulkar. He looked calm and confident even when he was at the non-striker's end in those final moments.
And there we were, ordinary mortals, all tense and tightened up, for once wishing Dhoni would move aside and take his sixes circus elsewhere...for another day. But perhaps Dhoni too was part of the destined plot...to attain nirvana, not only does one have to conquer foes, but also friends and the self. The Guru had already conquered the rivals, was now conquering friends with great patience, all the while conquering himself and reducing milestones of our minds to mere karmic fruits of sincere performance of routine duties.
King Virendra enlightens us about exactly that state of mind prevailing in the Guru's
He had started the innings in a confident mood. As soon as hit his first boundary, off the third ball of the second over, he walked up to me and said the pitch was full of runs and we only needed to time the ball. He told me not to think of boundaries or going after the bowler. He was right: throughout he picked the gaps and played the ball as he saw it. He was not thinking too much and that helped.
And so he continued. The attentive Nagaraja recording every detail to narrate again to us and for generations to enjoy and learn from.
The venerable king does not spare his own shortcomings in trying to explain the difference between a mortal and immortal.
It is not an easy summit for a batsman to conquer because he needs to possess a variety of attributes. In the past I mentioned on four or five occasions that Sachin had the capability to score a double-hundred in ODIs. I was confident only he could achieve such a feat only because of his experience and the kind of form he is in at the moment.
Importantly, he had the hunger and the patience to last for the entire 50 overs.
I do not want to dwell here on my own batting, but in the past certain people have said I could have scored 200 in one-day cricket, because of my performances in Tests, where I have got near to a hundred before lunch. But I have had the tendency to take too many risks once I reach the 120 or 130-run mark in ODIs. That is difference between me and Sachin.
But I have seen him over the last decade and he is still improving with every match, he is practising more than anybody else in the nets, working hard on his fitness. I think he is in better form now than he was in 1998.
Gollapudi Nagaraja, overwhelmed by what he heard, shut down his voice recorder lost in thought and brought us the transcript in entirety without a single word of commentary on his own...lest the message and mood be snapped for readers.
Read it in entirety at
Cricinfo -
'Finish it, finish it'
As told to Nagraja Gollapudi Read More......
Sachin Tendulkar: Three years on since 2007
The distance betweeen two newspaper articles and two English captains.
Tendulkar, now just a comic hero
By Mike Atherton
Published: 12:01AM BST 01 Apr 2007
But one name, possibly greater than all those mentioned, has kept his counsel. According to dressing-room reports, Sachin Tendulkar, not normally a man to open his heart too readily, shed tears in the aftermath of India's early departure, but nothing has come from the little master's mouth.
Given the almost obscene attention that he attracts, that has been his way throughout most of his career. Say little, score runs and if things don't go well beef up security at the family home in Bandra, as was done this week.
But the runs have dried up. The man with more one-day international runs than any other - a staggering 14,847 with 41 centuries - found himself impotent to prevent his team's demise. He seemed a peripheral figure, scoring seven and nought in the two defeats that condemned his team to early departure.
In truth, Tendulkar's decline has been in evidence for a while, even to his normally adoring public. His dismissal in his last Test match in Mumbai against England provoked a round of boos, and recently in a Times of India poll 92 per cent of respondents felt Tendulkar should quit.
Most pundits have remained silent - it doesn't do India's pundits much commercial good to be seen criticising Tendulkar - but one has been conspicuously tough. Ian Chappell writes regular columns in Indian newspapers and this week he cut to the quick. He challenged Tendulkar to ask himself why he was still playing the game, and that if he wasn't playing to help India win as many matches as he could, if he was only playing to improve his statistics, then he would be well advised to quit now.
Mighty Sachin Tendulkar even tops Lara, Ponting and The Don!By Nasser Hussain
Last updated at 1:42 AM on 25th February 2010
I have never liked comparisons between great players, but after Wednesday’s incredible game it must be said — Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest batsman of all time.
Better than Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting, the other two great players of my era. Better than Sir Viv Richards, Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border. And I would even say better than Sir Don Bradman himself.
Now he has the first double hundred in a one-day international — hitting 25 fours and three sixes as India beat South Africa by 153 runs — he has swung it for me.
I played against Tendulkar on my first England tour, the Nehru Cup in India in 1989, and I could still see that excited boy in big pads in Gwalior.
Coming away from newspapers to the tongue-in-cheek world of blogs, here is one from King Cricket, which, even stripped of any concealed or overt, intended or unintended sarcasm, stands a tall comment on a taller statesman of the game...descriptive of the man called Tendulkar who is also a demi-god for many.
King Cricket then...to you all
If you stand on top of Everest and look up, you will see Sachin Tendulkar’s left elbow if he is playing a cover drive at that moment
Read More......
MCC's Expression of IPL Interest
MCC confirm that it has held exploratory talks with a consortium bidding to buy an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise.
The Club also held talks with IPL officials to discuss its ongoing partnership to promote the MCC Spirit of Cricket campaign in the tournament. No decisions have yet been taken by MCC with regards to its deeper involvement in the IPL.
MCC’s Chief Executive, Keith Bradshaw, together with Anthony Wreford, a Club Trustee, flew to India for a weekend of fact-finding talks with a range of consortium members and IPL officials.
As a result, the Club has set up a small working party to consider these findings...
More at the MCC website at Lord's
Notice the existing partnership logo to the left.
Keith Bradshaw, CEO, MCC went on to say
"We would not pursue a path that we believed was contrary to the best interests of the sport or to the future health of Test match cricket.
"Undeniably, the game is changing. MCC, as an innovative, independent cricket club, wants to be at the heart of that change.
...
"The concept of MCC involvement in the IPL is something I believe is worthy of thorough investigation, and something that we’ll take to our Committee for their deliberation."
On the face of it they sound less fuddy-duddy than quite a few people and groupings.
Takes one's breath away what?
We keep out fingers crossed that an association doesn't pelt a Scamford upon us! But that was the ECB, wasn't it?
If it comes through, it opens up a new area of study for an enthusiast of cricket history like me.
On a different but somewhat related tack - Economic Times says IPL's brand value growing and growing
A new study carried out by a UK-based brand valuation consultancy, exclusively for ET, affirms the IPL’s cash-cow prowess, so much so that it threatens to eclipse the English Premier League, the copybook used by Mr Modi to launch the event. As an enterprise, IPL’s overall brand value has more than doubled to $ 4.1 billion, or Rs 18,998 crore, in 2010 from a year ago, says Brand Finance. The only such comprehensive analysis of the IPL puts the combined brand value of all franchises at $333 million, or Rs 1,542 crore.
In case FICA players actually stay away, India, and the world serious about IPL, may actually be gifted with a wonderful opportunity to run a test case scenario. A successful tournament with limited foreign players could actually bring about the topple naysayers have been fearing for the past three years.
Might weed out many overpriced underperforming assets and provide greater flexibility to the franchisees and IPL structure itself. Important would be the establishment of greater durability of the tournament with smaller dependence exposure. Most definitely, it would eliminate the self-serving trade unionists and their backers from the scene. And give rest to the more than actually valid mis-motivated hype of the security issue.
I'm looking forward to actually attend and see more games than my standard two games at the ground this year, as much as the outcome of all this at the end of the tournament. Within practical constraints, I may give TV a miss this year for local matches and soak in as much of the ground atmosphere as I can.
Could be my last chance for a while to watch a match live with my almost grown up son as well! A year later, who knows where his life takes him and how it keeps him occupied?
Check out your city and preferred venues here. Read More......
Irfan Pathan out of India's top 30
Probables for ICC T20 CWC: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, M S Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, S Sreesanth, Sudeep Tyagi, Rohit Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Wriddhiman Saha, Naman Ojha, Piyush Chawla, Abhimanyu Mithun, Manish Pandey, R P Singh, Munaf Patel, M Vijay, Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin
Hang in Irfan, keep trying.
Irfan's Record for KXP: Batting | Bowling
Damien Martyn's Tweets
It's been a long season of Tweets - from Chris Gayle, through Warne, Modi and now Martyn.
I am yet to figure out how it works, though I have joined it.
Damien Martyn's is one of the Tweets I follow, and this is what he had on there (to be read from bottom upwards)
9) In the end we just want play cricket and entertain !!!
about 3 hours ago via Tweetie
Reply Retweet
8) My point was I believe in my franchise and @warne888 and also the @IPL This comp is so big I really hope it goes ahead and all is okay
about 3 hours ago via Tweetie
Reply Retweet
7) Sorry guys try and piece it all together my network stuffed it up
about 7 hours ago via Tweetie
Reply Retweet
6) Toured places with this over our heads but when it's for your country it is a different policy. Why not sure? For example when at the 2005
about 7 hours ago via Tweetie
Reply Retweet
5) The reason was the ashes was to big and to much money any other country we would of left ... Food for thought
about 7 hours ago via Tweetie
Reply Retweet
4) If 1 more bomb goes off we would go home and not complete ashes as history shows another bomb went off and CA said we couldn't leave . Why?
about 7 hours ago via Tweetie
Reply Retweet
3) Ashes a bomb went off in London we were in Leeds that day but drove to London that night . Interesting . Then in a secret meeting CA said
about 7 hours ago via Tweetie
Reply Retweet
2) Different agendas happening. CA players&CA have a certain view which will always be different to freelance. We must remember we have always
about 7 hours ago via Tweetie
Reply Retweet
1) The fallout from ACAmeeting has been interesting it always amazed me how info got leaked out people must be reminded that there is so many
about 7 hours ago via Tweetie
Reply Retweet
I can only repeat part of what Martyn said, "Sorry guys try and piece it all together."
A request, just don't knock off Damien Martyn as a retiree eager to play for money...like people are doing with Warne, Hayden and Gilchrist already (not saying without bookmarked links)...he deserves more than that. I guess if there's a risk to a FICA adherent, then it must be there for Martyn as well. Read More......
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
A remarkable statement
I want to touch Sachin's feet: Gavaskar
Indians are a bit cynical about prostrations at the feet of public figures, but this is not a statement to be weighed on the same scale.
Those who have witnessed Indian cricket's, and Indian sports', slow transition from its medieval pre-Gavaskar days to the threshold of modernity through his career would recognize the import of that statement and the sentiments contained within.
Sunny bhai was one of the main engines, not the only one certainly but one of the foremost ones nevertheless, of that difficult transition into the modern era which Sachin took over and developed with his peers to leave India today on the brink of an exciting post-modern phase in its evolving history.
Sunny brought together many things Indian sportsmen required to survive in international sport on a platform based solidly on unflinching international performance and personal excellence. Talk, Jive, Jig, Attitude, whatever...it was all backed by solid international class excellence in performance.
Sunny lent a full fist to Indian sport...not an empty one. That, like Jesse Owens once said, is what matters most over mere symbolism.
History has handed over the baton to the present; it is for the future to run ahead with it.
Modi's Tweets
The world is agog with them right now, we anticipated this unfolding of events.
The spiritual home of cricket trade unionism is doubly worked up today - first Tendulkar (you see they get edgy if anybody plays a great career and is not one of them...they have almost divine rights on greatness) and then Modispeak. They are working hard to pump up their totem.
To our East, we are told now, are some people who are working to be disruptive, To our west...into the far distance....we always knew there were disruptive and jealous elements.
Our resolve was always clear from the beginning...the same as it was last year...we play here...with oe without disruptive elements and we make it a success.
If Warney and co come over, they are welcome...FICA can stay away along with its dependents. We'll play the game anyway while they sulk.
The ongoing Hockey World Cup has no quarrel with security.
We are watching South Africa play here for about a fortnight or more.
FICA, and Ponting (granted, that side of story needs to be heard as well), can go stuff themselves and take their Ozzie and Windies players along. The Englishmen never particpated nor played much except for Mascarenhas in the odd game and KP.
Unionimongers can please to walk off...boycott's the only thing they are capable of...and their theorists...the backroom boys who feed the fires from those areas which makes boycotts a hobby and from the comfort of expat dens...through their direct links with players and union bosses...they are not sleeping tonight! They have a "squeeze" to apply, those mongers.
FICA is making a virtue out of their stand...the security mask they have applied to their frustrated desire to control the table.
Like we said before, we play, we stay, we make this worth the while. We appreciate those who stand by us at this time.
South Africa up with the rate
But the wickets are going down. Still, they have many more capable batsmen in the line up.
ABD on a roll here.
Sachin Tendulkar Banishes Age...and a few South Africans with it. Oh, I forgot, records went out of the window too.
I hope, despite my fears that he may not, Sachin scores his 200 today.
Today he has played even better than Sachin who was 17 years old.
He has played more masterfully than the 23 year old Sachin in World Cup 1996.
180* in 131...he has vehemently demolished the hopes and ambitions of his naysayers.
20 more to go.
This is truly a masterclass...and he is running his own runs too...ones and very quick twos...and all without a runner! He has truly banished age in every which way you look at this, after two decades and one in the game..
186* Kallis disappears now...14 more to go.
187*... his personal best in ODIs...13 more to go.
Dhoni beating up the boys too.
Sachin should be playing the T20 WC on this basis.
Parnell dispatched for a four through covers again. But he keeps the strike at the end of that over
333-3 India.
189*
11 to go
190* 10 to go.
191*...9 to go
Saeed and Coventry reaching for their phones.
195* - He done gats de highest ODI score!
And he ran that two on his own to get there!
Dhoni smashed a straight 4444444
50 partnership up in 28 balls.
India needs 450 here to win :)
SIXXXXXXXXXX with a flick of the wrist!
197* in 142...3 runs to go.
Cramps coming.
He has the eye today...ohhh yesss sah, the eye of the tiger.
198* two more to go
C'mon Sachin!
BANG! Dhoni backdrives Steyn...misses decapitating him. Four obviusly.
India need all the runs on the board..Saffers will chase this hard.
That single brings Sachin on strike...198*..Lengeveldt with an eye patch...wonderful defense there from Sachin
199*
One to go....
Sachin for second wind now....relaxing his muscles.
Keen to get to the batting..Dhoni regulating him carefully. Sent back in time. Takes a single and keeps strike.
Now Sachin cramping wildly...he has run all his runs...two overs to go...One run to get....
Sachin not getting strike..Dhoni smashes Steyn for a 6 and four...but Sachin on 199*...another six!!! Sten vanishes into the highest stands behind his head. Dhoni 52* in how many balls? 384-3...29 balls. Takes a single!
Only six balls and Tendulkar on 199*
Dhoneeeeeeeeeeeee....
6666666666 by Dhoni
But what about Sachin? He can't get a turn to bat!
That brilliant Amla save on the boundary allows Sachin to come on strike...4 balls to go and a run required.
No...thankfully that is not a four so Sachin gets his chance..
YES 200!
FIRST MAN IN THE UNIVERSE TO SCORE 200 RUNS IN AN ODI!
SACHIN TENDULKAR AT 37 YEARS OF AGE
THE BEST BATSMAN OF THE UNIVERSE!
Can India get to 400? 3 to go...400! Dhoni blasts straight back...and 100 partnership too in nothing balls! Ok, 54 of them only...
Sachin, I couldn't watch your innings on November 5th 2009.
Thank you today for an even even better replay.
You made all these years of watching you worth every bit the ATP expended.
Bless you man! Bless you!
A note to Neo Sports and BCCI - Please make a DVD of this innings and sell it at affordable prices so Indian kids may be able to watch everywhere and learn about batting. You will find the volume of purchases will give you more profit than highly priced limited editions.
--------------
Shane Warne looked at this period of the innings like this:-
- nervous for my good friend Sachin everything crossed for you mate !!!! ps glad I'm not bowling to him today hahaha
- first ever to get 200 come on Sachin
- come on Sachin my friend get your 200 !!!!
Source - Twitter
This champion knows a thing or two about Sachin.
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Murali Karthik called it a "lathi charge" from the studios of Neo.
I bet all Indians know what a LC is...
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Cricinfo was not accessible in the closing stages of that innings. It slowed down much earlier. Their servers went bust! Sachin effect...
I can't access them till now and Gibbs has already hit a four.
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Pathan having Fun
Wid Tendooolkah, he chopping big blocks from the South African Attack
150 fi TENDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLKKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
DE GREATEST BATSMAN IN DE UNIVERSE!!!!!
50 PARTNERSHIP UP IN 27 BALLS WITH THAT EIFFEL TOWERING SIX!!!!!!
PARNELL GETTING CREAMED HERE
44444444444444 TO TENDOOOOOOOLKAAAH
156* LENGEVELDT BANISHED DIS TIME
120 BALLS
44 MORE TO GO FI DE FUSS DOUBLE 'UNDRED
SQUARE DRIVE DAT CAR TO DE BOUNDARRYYYYY! YUSUF BRAND FI FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUURRRR!
281-2 AND GOING.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! JINX ALMOST STRUCK!
10D SAFE IN RUNNING FI 2
159* IN 124...41 TO GO!
Seriously, maybe I shouldn't invite jinxes and hexes this way.
Later then after 10 overs.
IS THAT A SIX OR WHAT!!
SACH IS CERTAINLY IN
168* 32 MORE TO GO
OOOOOOOOOPSSSSSSSSSSS! JINX ATE UP PATHAN....MISSED TENDY Fi NOW
300 - 3
TenD 200 March
Me nuh say more till he gats he 200
De jinx allus hovering closely...gotta be careful today.
DK ko lagi Fiyaah..Wadda Six Man!
90 more to go for TenD
Whadda four DK yaaaaar!
73*from 71
198-1 thus far
176* from 156 balls. Partnership
89 mo fe TenD
200-1 IndieYeah! 19 overs more to go.
Sachin dance-down kartoye and Duminy goes fi Chaakkkaaaaaaaa!
117*
83 mo fi TenD!
124* from 104...76 more to go TenD
DK Out Ho gayaaaa! Tame end off the toe of de bat to mid on and Parnell gets a wicket. 79 fi him...well played DK!
De jinx consumed DK...gotta watch it...mebbe I zip muh typing fingahs.
Yusuf Pathan sent up de order to enjoy some sunshine with de Greatest Batsman of de Cricketing Universe!
Steyn comes steaming in and TenD politely twists his wrists and sends him crashing into dah midweeecked boundaaaary!
444444444! Sweet fi de eyes dat!
128* off 107..ol man playin young
72 mo to go fi TenDoooooooooooolllllllllkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
DK and TenD Whipping up a Saffie Froth at Gwalior
Me nuh say anymore than de title till TenD gats his 93rd.
Me nuh say anymore dat maybe 93rd could be a double.
23 overs more to go 172-1 India
Will return after TenD 93rd International
99*
100* off 99 Balls TenD! No. 93 up!
On to a 200 now...
Scorecard
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
I hope you stand by it Mr.Modi
IPL not moving out of India, Modi insists
"We are going to have the tournament in India. I can't see any reason why we should move it at this point in time. The media is reacting to every fringe group saying security is a problem," Modi told BBC Sport in reaction to the concerns.
While they may not be fringe groups, and fringe group or main group of terrorists from Pakistan, it doesn't matter....we must not allow them to be dictating our right to live on our terms within the larger society.
I hope you stick with that statement Mr.Modi.
IPL, whether foreign players join it or not....some players may well pull out under pressure from those interested to cause damage to IPL and India...we will make sure IPL is successful. We, the fans of the game in India, and Indians as in the broader perspective, will ensure that the game thrives well in India and the symbolism sought to be attached by terror mongers through forcing withdrawls and creating fear is defeated and replaced by a different realism - that India is a vibrant society which can not ony counter, but also thrive despite the dastardly designs of these evil fellows from across the borders.
The current provocation on the basis for security is this
The Australian Cricketers' Association will help formulate a list of security demands for IPL organisers following a meeting attended by the majority of Australian cricketers due to play in next month's tournament. Paul Marsh, the ACA's chief executive, said the players want to be involved in the event, but there are safety fears following a threat from the 313 Brigade, Al-Qaeda's operational arm in Pakistan. - Cricinfo
313 Brigade from Pakistan or any of their terrorist arms in different surrounding countries and their infiltrations into our country, we must not be dictated by terrorists.
There is no denying security threats to India from its borders - Pakistan and China have been forever antagonistic and covetous, and have implemented overt wars in the past and continue covert subterfuge and warfare to this day. USA and UK have, at various times encouraged them and supported as per their own need.
In a sense, Pakistan is less of threat to them, for it is completely dependent on the two and a totally known entity for them, while India is a self-determining democracy of immense capabilities, not obliged to be subservient to the two. Further, England almost occupies a parent figure in the Pakistan ethos - for did it not father that country through aiding and abetment and, while departing, performed the divisional rites gleefuly as a culminating act? They may not do much today unless some direct damage is done to them by Pakistan. As of now, Pakistan has managed to somehow cleverly dissociate itself from the terrorists who attacked London and US, and paint them as in fact alien Afghan brigands operating from their soil...and the US and UK believe them!
The thing is all this means not one soul will assist us in countering this terrorist scrourge at any level. We have to look after ourselves.
Naturally, I expect players to be concerned...fair enough...but what is galling is how this situation is being used as a vehicle by cricket trade unionists for a different agenda....to stump IPL and India.
Now people will yell at me, for such is the nature of this problem. The particular trade unionists have been itching to take a shot ever since they were kept out of the loop of the contract dealings and only the boards included. Perhaps they stand to gain financially by being involved or it is just the power trip of it...some militant trade unionists have consistently been provocative with even the language they employ. We have shown in the past and there is more coming.
Yea, there are readers who come here to yell at me and refuse to consider the other agenda of some of these radicalists who have been left out of the loop.
Because security is such an issue, it is difficult to show them that other aspect. Despite our charting a chronological track before that too is lost in the shrillness and mask of security issue...that these share-of-the-pie mongers have cleverly dovetailed their agenda with this security thing.
It works well for their argument and purpose to have these terrorists from Pakistan to keep bursting bombs and try and scuttle India and its efforts to exist in this atmosphere through its efforts and with dignity.
Having dovetailed their frustrations, at being denied the status as player agents and perhaps the share of moolah that comes along, with the security issue...unless someone stands up to keep showing these links they could be easily erased with passage of time and the cunningly assumed righteousness, before long.
Slay me, yell at me, berate me, tear down this blog...I do not care...I will continue to call out these frauds who are mingling issues and giving their own agendas a safer disguise of such burning importance.
I will continue to call out these frauds who are trying to hurt India at the end of it.
The terrorists are trying to destroy India, first through isolation and redirecting its energies towards these problems rather than progressive peaceful efforts...then through creating internal differences through their agents within the country.
Tomorrow the Commonwealth Games will face the same fate. Day after, India may not be able to host the Olympics or even bid for it. Gradually, maybe business pulls out.
The frauds who are trying to insinuate themselves in cricket's structure to remain relevant and making their own moolah are doing no different.
I will not hesitate to employ the same language as they do. "Warn" Indeed!...Issuing covert threats! Give these trade unionists a "role" and they'll stop issuing warnings.
I will keep them from erasing their own tracks behind the issue of security.
I hope those who come here to bull me understand this too.
I also hope that the various groups within the country who are trying to create issues..highlighting injustices abroad on Indians through disruption of IPL, also understand the first and foremost threat of all...we all have to be one to make sure IPL, Commonwealth Games and the very existence of India..our country.. is first preserved and prospers. That the idea of India is safe and secure. We must find suitable fora to voice our protests vigorously and effectively against other injustices. Let us not corroborate these terrorists and frauds lining up against us. I recall to you Jesse Owens' refusal to endorse the 1968 Black Power Salute...for he had defeated the racists at their game on their soil a few decades earlier...but realized that for true emancipation of the blacks, their fist had to have content which matters. India too must not be an empty fist of divergent pulls and self-destruction, but a cohesive, combined one with all its attributes coming together as one positive force.
Israel has unlimited support from outside to survive beseiged...to supplement the internal strength of their people...we do not have that...we do not have any support...any credible support from any credible society or nation...they are all compromised in some way or the other due to their dirty hands over the issue of raising and breeding terrorism, waging covert wars and divisive roles...we are our own strength first and last.
True, IPL is a commercial venture. But tell me when cricket wasn't a commercial venture? From the wagers exchanged over heaths and meadows to the formation of the All-England Eleven and its breakaway groups, through the very commercial existence of various clubs, counties, territories in England and Australia...from Gillette to Prudential to Pura and KFC...Asia is only now joining in a visibly commercial way. While cricket clubs in India made some money off hosting matches, large scale sponsorships of the game and clubs upon which they must survive, are very new concepts here. Patronage and governmental support was all before that. Why does it gall people? Why the hypocrisy? Why does it hurt them to see India try and do something well along similar lines? Along lines they criticized India for failing to walk along in the past? There are people who participate in different things in assigned and legitimate roles on different sides...does everyone have to be given a role in everything? Will Surrey or Somerset or NSW or anything find a role for me if I turn up at their gates as a Player's rep? Should I then turn up with a sheaf of threats and a mouthful of attitude to offer? Maybe with a band of players I manage to round up behind me? Maybe I become the alternative Cricket Board to CA or ECB with a band of players in my shadow? Maybe my security assesment is better than what CA or ECB or..better..Governments undertake? Maybe I have access...and I can make a government mouthpice express fears over Australia? England? And then I wander up to the gates of ECB and CA as players representative and command them to deal with me...not BCCI? Like a yardside bully with a cosh and knuckles? Maybe, as one commmenter here said, I just turn up at their gates or any bytedisseminator, and rant away with selected words and attitudes as a players' rep to provoke?
Lalit Modi, tum aage badho, hum tumhare saath hain! India tum aage badho, hum tumhare saath hain! Hum honge kaamyaab - We shall Overcome! Read More......
At Warner's Diner
We found an interesting recipe for a Tasty Disaster
- Roach Keemar - 24 short pieces
- Dry Sammywich - with disappearing slow
- Devein'd Smith - jerked deep into stands
- Russian Millers - six tossed ones
- Pollared Keirons - one juicy thump
- Guyanese Dewo - one pinch
Method
- Put them all together in a cricket bowl.
- Batter them repeatedly with a Gray Nicolls T20 to appropriate tenderness.
- Sprinkle liberally some Caribbean fan hype - the more aged the better, preferably at least minimum fifty years vintage (however, if you wish it to be harshly spicier, the younger Caribbean excuse peppers will do) - let it all marinate for a while.
- Then, roast them at full throated crowd degrees.
- Finally, dress it all up with a generous drizzle of Cee Gayle cry.
Voila! There you have a ready to go LOI!Takeway or experience it in house, whichever way you prefer it, it's a hit of whitewash proportions!
Man, I hope the West Indian recruits, if they play the IPL, deliver at least some return on the investment made on them. After all we need to familiarize our kids with 150 Ks and that kind of fear factor stuff (and teach them how to counter that) we are supposed to feel according to a once talkative Tait and the ever Caribbean fans living in a vague dreamland.
By the way wouldn't mind Dave Warner playing in this form for the Daredevils this year. Read More......
Monday, 22 February 2010
England Players Assoc now
The England PCA has advised England players against participation in IPL, the Daily Telegraph says, due to security threat from terrorists.
About 12 hours ago, Mr.Modi discloses on Twitter that the Cricket South Africa CEO is most satisfied with security arrangements at the conclusion of their meeting.
Security is a real issue thanks to the Pakistan bred terrorists. The various governments there has generally used these terrorists as proxy agents of war against India over ages. Countries like UK and USA have always been aware of this but have supported as per their need covertly or overtly. It is no secret now that Bin Laden and Al Qaeda was an erection of CIA in collaboration with Pakistani ISI and Afghan tribesmen.
The Pakistan government, therefore, has no inclination to stop terrorists from its soil or extending support to their branches set up in countries like Bangladesh and Nepal etc surrounding India.
Lanka managed to dismantle one major link between the Pakistan based terrorists on the western bank of India and those on the eastern flank, when it broke up LTTE.
The threat cannot be ignored. They will continue to try and isolate India in different ways...we have to do something about them. Forget USA and anyone else doing anything to help. However, like I said before, trade unionists tend to use valid points as vehicles for more points on ther agenda.
Security is a ready issue for this.
India has thus far shown great sadacity and perseverence in solving the issue, even conceding space to the Pakistani govenment to readjust its proxy war protocol. It appears not to work - laaton ke bhoot baaton se nahin mante - India must find an enduring and permanent solution to the terrorists from Pakistan and their links within and around the country. Nobody will participate in this along with us for they themselves are involved from the creation of the Pakistan state, through developing its covert war and terrorist wings of governance during the Afghan wars and Cold War era.
In all this, I wonder what the ECB has said.
India must not succumb to these terror mongers who perhaps percieve IPL to be a soft target. Especially after they observed how easy it was to stop it in India last year. Each one of us Indians, no matter where we are, must be alert and be ready to call out any of their links within the country and abroad if we get to know about them. We must defend our right to exist as a self determining country. The mistake these fundamental terrorists make is that this time there is no distraction of General Elections. They will be dealt with, must be dealt with, the intelligence must be well tuned and predictive...and we all must remain alert and help intelligence agencies, security agencies, local governments, and by extention ourselves, if we come across suspicious stuff in our sphere of existence in real and virtual worlds.
Even if IPL 2010 has to play without even one player aligned to various trade unions this year, so be it. We must ensure its success and safe conduction, for greater threat than what the militant cricket trade unions pose to us is the one posed by terrosists from across the borders and their linkmen within with their multi-pronged attacks. They seek to isolate first besides causing injury and death,
Let each one of us reply by being alert generally lives against this menace and for the isoaltion bit being sought by terrorists, let us make sure we go and attend at least one IPL game in our respective cities. With or without overseas players. They must know, their tactics cannot succeed. The same goes for Commonwealth Games later in the year.
