Island Express

Australia!

2011-12-25T12:23:00.001+05:30

Cricket’s back to IST+, which means early morning consciousness. Or in my case, very very late night consciousness. Cricket is the only human activity I can voluntarily be awake for at 7 AM. As a largely crepuscular creature, to bed at 6 AM is a normal late-night for me. 8 AM is an irritating but acceptable start to the day. Awake at 7 AM! Only for cricket.

There is nothing on the cricket calendar quite like the boxing day tests, and we have been lucky to play them two years in a row. The fact that it is boxing day adds some intangible bit to the excitement surrounding an always anticipated series.

Watching cricket in Australia is a real joy, some bit of it captured in one of Laxman’s recent interviews, and this nice piece by Monga. You just need a look at the pitch to know where the cricket is happening. It is really distinctive.

Like I did for the England series, I feel we have a chance here. I’m not quite sure what happened there. I think we will better understand in time, but it should not have been a bad as it was. My gut feel is that most of the team didn’t care enough since we had just won a world cup. I hope that it was that, combined with injuries and an opposition that was very skillful in its home conditions. None of it is excusable of course.

For a life-long Dravid fan-boy, England 2011 was a wet-dream ensconced in a nightmare. Everything was exactly as I pictured it when I drifted off to sleep every night. Except that it turned into a FUCKING NIGHTMARE!

That tour has made me a little reluctant to make predictions, including ones of competitiveness. But for most of our stalwarts, wining a series in Australia is pretty high on the list of priorities. Since we have never done it before, it might be the highest for some. Motivation should not be an issue here.

For us, I am looking forward to Ashwin, Yadav, and Kohli. This will be a proper test for the three of them and an opportunity to earn real respect. I think we will miss PK, and the selectors might have missed out on a trick by not picking Irfan when Aaron pulled out.

And of course, as always, I am looking forward to our creaking terminators.

For them, I am looking forward to Warner, Cowan and Pattinson. I don’t want any of them to do well, but if any of them are going to (as I’m sure they are), it would be nice if it was these three.

So merry Christmas to one and all, here’s to a great series.

And oh yeah, fuck you Ponting.

Mr. Potato-Head anyone?

2011-12-13T22:01:00.003+05:30

Hysteria, and its effect on a cricket enthusiast.

2011-11-26T03:22:00.003+05:30

This post is not about Sachin Tendulkar (OK, it might be a little, but he is really a metaphor for a wide variety of things). It is definitely not about some nonsensical milestone that anyone who has to produce a few time-bound-bullshit-words for a living has so much to say about. It is about the popular media, and the effect that unrestrained commercial motivation, a largely unsophisticated viewer base, and a complete lack of imagination have on an intelligent cricket fan.

For the record, I love Sachin. I started watching cricket in 1994, when he was all of 21 years old and I was 9. My granny, whom I watched all my cricket with then, loved him too. But that’s because she thought his trademark grimace when he fronted up was a smile. She liked the way he smiled.

Through the years, my craze for cricket has only grown, as has my respect for Sachin. But he has never been my favorite batsman… never the guy I get up at 3AM to watch in New Zealand or stay awake till 5AM to watch in the Windies. As a batsman, I have always considered him a class apart. I don’t enter into debates about him v. someone else because he is, clearly, a class apart.

He has never been my favorite because of the hysteria. Because his worth is devalued by the excess of nonsense that occupies the public space by the hangers-on… the once-were commentators, the word-for-money sports journalists, the downright-stupid newsreaders, and the rabid and unintelligent dickheads that populate bars and comment-spaces on the web.

Sachin is the greatest batsman I have ever seen. He is also my countryman. And yet I cannot find the joy I should in his feats because of these hangers-on. What fucking assholes! As an extreme comparison I think of what an intelligent and sensitive German might have felt about Luz Long v. Jesse Owens during the 1936 Olympics… When sport ceased to be about the sportsmen, but rather about their damn following.

For an informed cricket enthusiast, the nationalistic fervor, the rabid fanaticism, and the unrestrained commercialism that always surround Sachin are good reasons to not invest emotional energy in his achievements. And this is a real pity, for he is such a great batsman.

For my part, I love the way he scurries around the outfield these days, like the familiar ragged teddy bear that you just don’t want to give up. And for that grimace-smile as he strokes his way to ninety-something.

What’s that? Ninety-something? Not thirty four short of something else?

Stupid Fucks.

Dhoni on reverse swing

2011-10-14T02:37:00.004+05:30

"Now the reverse swing also depends a lot on the nature of outfield and how you make the ball, but of course legally."

Ha Ha Ha.

The truth about Dravid's LOI retirement

2011-08-08T00:56:00.004+05:30

Rahul’s relationship with the BCCI, and for that matter a large section of ungrateful Indian cricket fans has been kinda like being extremely in love with a really shallow bitch.

Rahul loves cricket. Rahul loves playing for his country. And he is very good at it. One of the best ever, in fact.

If Indian cricket was Rahul’s girlfriend, he got up early, made breakfast for her, drove her to work, spent lunch listening to her banal bullshit, picked her up in the evening, flew her to an exotic locale just for dinner, made crazy-passionate love to her, spent more time listening to her banal bullshit, made crazy-passionate love to her again, and cuddled her to sleep.

And cleaned the house after.

Every single day.

But shallow bitches are exactly that, and your relationship tends to revolve solely around their needs. If there is a potential replacement on the horizon, you might stumble upon her sucking his cock in a closet at some party. They derive happiness from you when they can, and use you as release when they aren’t.

Rahul always knew he was good enough for her. So when she chose to switch loyalties to some trophy-fly-by-night operators, he didn’t bother saying that he was leaving, or saying anything for that matter. He would announce it himself when he felt he wasn’t good enough. Not for little quickies or long extended sessions… when he wasn’t good enough, period.

When she ran into trouble, she asked him for help. He came along, helped her out of it, and took it with typical dignity when she asked him to fuck off later.

And typically, she ran into trouble again, and she asked again.

And this time he said “Of course my darling, but you can fuck off after.”

With typical dignity of course.

Fuck her Rahul. You are way too good for her.

What is Stuart Broad saying?

2011-08-05T04:09:00.004+05:30

This has been troubling me for some time. According to cricinfo, Broad said: “I actually had a cheeky feel of his edge when the ball went past, but there's no Vaseline or anything on there.”

This has pissed off some, who feel that it is thoroughly inappropriate behavior to be doing such things. Others of slightly more fundamentalist leaning have raged at Broad having the gumption to doubt Laxman’s unquestionably virginal morality.

I on the other hand, am thoroughly confused. What exactly is Broad trying to say?

a) That he has the ability to feel what the ball feels and therefore felt the edge of the bat as it went past and concluded there was no Vaseline on it;

b) That he went up to Laxman after the ball went past and asked him (cheekily) whether he could stroke/lick his bat. Laxman said yes, and such stroking/licking yielded no Vaseline;

c) That he went up Laxman after the ball went past and pretended to be asking him out on a date while surreptitiously stroking his bat, only to find no Vaseline on it;

d) That he went up to Laxman after the ball went past, grabbed his bat and rammed it up his ass cheeks. It hurt like hell and he concluded that there was no Vaseline on its edges.

Will someone please help?

2nd Test, Trent Bridge, Days 2, 3 & 4

2011-08-02T04:51:00.004+05:30

All the cutting posts I had planned for the English will have to wait for another day.

Right now, they are lording it. So it is best to shut up and say well played.

And that Ian Bell is not just 'perhaps naive', he is a certified idiot. But well played to him too.

2nd Test, Trent Bridge, Day 1

2011-07-30T15:15:00.002+05:30

If Sharma is Jekyl and Hyde, Sree is one of those gremlins from the movie, a small furry creature until you feed it after midnight. Unfortunately, things aren’t that simple with Sree. He can be an absolute liability or wreak havoc, sometimes both in the same spell. Someone usually stands at mid on and counsels him, and I have seen no evidence of this having any effect on what he produces. When it swings, he can nail any right hander in the world. I was sure he would get Prior in the over that he did.

221 is a competitive score, but sans Zaheer, Dhoni would have grabbed at it greedily had it been offered to him at breakfast.

Now to see how big that 221 really is.

Sometime in the near future…

2011-07-27T02:21:00.005+05:30

Cricket Australia's Centre of Excellence (COE), Adelaide, Austrailia.

23^rd September, 2011, 1500 Hrs:

Fifteen men in dirty whites are seated in gray foldable-plastic chairs inside the large Tactical Operations Tent (TOT).

The men are clearly nervous, their worried murmur interspersed with false-ringing ‘mates’ and slightly manic sounding laughter.

On a large foldable table in front of the men are neatly arranged newspapers. The front pages carry large bold headlines the likes of, “WE ARE SHIT”, “SRI-LANKA BEAT NINNIES’, and ‘SRI-LANKA, IS THAT ENGLAND?’.

Four dark suit suits walk in, accompanied by a man in trainers.

One of the suits addresses the men, “Which one of you is the spinner?”

One of the men squeals out unprompted, “Shane Warne loves me, you all love me, I am Beer.”

All eyes slowly settle on Nathan Lyon, who has raised his hand with great trepidation.

The suit turns to the man in the trainers and says, “Take him out and shoot him, Tim”.

A gasping, terrified Lyon is led out of the tent by the man in the trainers.

The suit turns back to the men and begins “Now for the rest of you…”

Steve Waugh walks in, wheeling a strange looking device...

1st Test, Lords, Day 5

2011-07-25T23:57:00.002+05:30

Fuck!

1st Test, Lords, Day 4

2011-07-25T03:18:00.000+05:30

Ishant Sharma is a real Jekyll and Hyde character. You never know who is going to turn up – the fire breathing monster or the generous candy man. It adds to his charm.

It is surprising that Matt Prior hasn’t been able to cement a place in England’s ODI squad given how good an attacking batsman he is. England’s musical chair policy for their ODI keeper’s spot might have something to do with it. Or it could just be the format. Other batsmen who score at fair rates in Tests find it difficult to duplicate that success in ODIs. Sehwag and VVS come to mind.

Cometh the hour, and my confidence in our ability to force a draw threatens to recede. Must it always be this way in the first test of a series? Well if it must, at least we still have those two out there.

It is going to be very difficult to bat out 90 overs, and the day’s play holds much potential for heartbreak or relief.

I flinch at the thought of what my fingernails have in store for them.

1st Test, Lords, Day 3

2011-07-24T02:57:00.005+05:30

I have alluded towards my reverence for Rahul before.

Fifteen years is a long time. Sometimes it takes that long to set things straight.

More fulsome adoration will be reserved for other posts. For now, there’s not much to say except that England had to find a way around him, because they couldn’t get through him. One mistake aside, he was un-outable.

He hit a beautiful boundary to get to fifty, and with it moved to second on the all time list. There was no big fuss. I don’t even think it was announced on the PA system. No gigabytes of space, no tones of ink had been wasted in anticipation, and few will be spent in celebration.

I know his joy is mine, not the property of a hysterical nation. Yet he lends his pride and humility to us all. He is just so special.

England are on top after today. It was a good display by their bowlers, especially the under-the-cosh Broad.

But I still think we will draw this.

After all, we do have Rahul in our ranks, batting for us.

1st Test, Lords, Day 2

2011-07-23T13:23:00.002+05:30

Praveen Kumar saved India some blushes with his dibbly dobblies yesterday. I thought Sree may have gotten a game ahead of him… thank God for small mercies. You would back PK to not be rubbish even if he didn’t pick up a five-for, which he did.

Ishant Sharma was woeful, but deserves a little breathing space after his Caribbean show. He may want to adjust to a slightly fuller length, where he looked more dangerous. And stop bowling the trash down the leg side and short and wide.

Harbhajan Singh has run out of excuses. Judging him on his wickets would be unfair since it was a flat, day two pitch. But he was like a fat cow, smiling benignly at the Englishmen as they filled their buckets. Will Dhoni drop him if he fails to take a single wicket in this match? Or will the fallout from this stupid advertisement ensure that it doesn’t happen even then?

KP played a good hand. He isn’t the prettiest and today was downright ugly but it did the job. There were other significant little contributions along the way. It was a decent effort from England, but in no way intimidating. We were effectively down to one bowler.

It's too early into India's innings to properly judge England's effort. But I would be disappointed if we weren't able to hold on for a draw from here.

1st Test, Lords, Day One

2011-07-22T15:12:00.004+05:30

Pah!

What part of "go away", "come again another day" and "little Johnnie wants to play" don't you you understand?

Geez! fucking two year olds get it.

What’s not to like about Darren Sammy?

2011-07-19T13:48:00.003+05:30

Not much in my opinion.

Sure he is a “Board Man” as opposed to a “Players Association Man” and that doesn't sound good. But it says more of the mess that West Indies cricket finds itself in, rather than Sammy himself.

He also thinks that the coach has the final say, and that may not be what you want to hear from a captain. But Sammy has been given a job, and he is doing it as well as anyone else has in the recent past.

Every time he goes onto the field, he is engaged in proving people wrong. That really gets me on his side.

Since his selection as captain, he has justified his place in the side as a bowler alone. He is a clean striker of the ball and if he can develop the ability to stick around at the crease, he could be an important cog in an otherwise weak batting line-up.

He is calm when he addresses the press, and shrugs off snide remarks and downright disrespectful questions with a smile. He comes across as a guy with a big heart and a small ego.

I am not a religious person, but can appreciate it when people use it as a positive force in their lives. Sammy seems to be doing so.

The West Indies have produced several players during the last decade who have flattered to deceive. Sammy could be just another one of them.

Or he could stop their downward slide and guide them a few steps upwards from the lower reaches that they now inhabit.

As he tries to do that, I find myself in his corner, cheering for him.

Ridiculously funny stuff

2011-07-18T21:25:00.004+05:30

Harbhajan has reportedly threatened to sue UB Spirits for this. A couple of media reports on it. This is the original ad.

All of this has me in splits. Given Dhoni's limited role in the ad, it is difficult to establish if he knew it would turn out like it did. I'm pretty certain this won't spill over onto the field, but the ad will probably be removed soon, so take a look while you can.

Counter-Jinxism

2011-07-18T16:01:00.004+05:30

The English Press are going bananas over Tendulkar, ejaculating all over their article space in his honour.

But they don’t fool me. It is obviously a well thought out conspiracy to jinx his tour. Unbeknownst to them, I have been working hard to counter their evil plans. For every laudatory, aggrandizing article of theirs, I have been writing posts on what a shitty batsman he is, how he is a stat-whore and never wins any matches for India.

Since I live in India, and have no desire to be lynched by crazy Tendulkar fans who don’t understand the purpose of these posts, they shall remain unpublished.

The English Press can’t even be sure if I wrote them at all, leaving their counter-counter-jinxing plans in disarray.

Hah!

India in England, 2011: First Thoughts

2011-07-17T21:38:00.006+05:30

As the minutes trickle by with inescapable slowness till the afternoon of the 21^st, what better way waste some of them than with pointless thoughts about what we might have in store for us then.

Four tests in England! My aren’t the BCCI being generous. Mm mm mm.

The immediate thing that strikes one about the series is how evenly the two teams stack up against each other. Both bear a settled look with competition mainly for the third seamers place. Both are certain to play seven batsmen and four bowlers, with three seamers and an off-spinner being the likely combination.

The similarity between the teams borders on the ridiculous when you consider that until Sehwag returns, aside from Broad’s left-hand batting, the teams line up identically vis-a-vis which hand they prefer. Spot for spot, there are interesting contests on offer.

The Openers – England hold the advantage here. This is mainly because Sehwag is certain to miss the first two, and Strauss weighs over fledgling Mukund for whom this is a big opportunity. Cook’s stupendous recent run is scary, but you would argue that Gautham Gambhir can hold his own against him. Interestingly, Gambhir made his debut in 2004 but has played only 38 tests to Cook’s 68 since 2006. Gambhir’s average is slightly better, but he missed the last tour to England and so will be making his debut there.

The Middle Order – There is little that can be said about this Indian middle order that hasn’t been said before. Yes they are aging but that’s unavoidable given our collective failure as a nation to figure out how to prevent it. I’m just happy to watch them bat for as long as possible. The English match up evenly. As a massive compliment to Jonathan Trott, he has Dravid-like temperament and grit. Sachin is well... Sachin, and KP can do this. Ian Bell and VVS Laxman are both exquisite stylists in good form. Familiarity with conditions gives the English whatever little the Indians score over them in reputation.

The Late Order – Ian Morgan and Suresh Raina are similar in that they are excellent one day batsmen whose test credentials are under examination. I believe that Raina has a major role to play in the Indian team’s future. His susceptibility to the short ball should prove less of a disadvantage in Tests because he doesn’t need to score off them. He also has a better defensive technique than Yuvraj Singh. As I write this, he has notched up a counter-attacking hundred in the Somerset game. There is some talk of his spot being under pressure from Yuvraj, but I wouldn’t drop him unless he failed in all of the first three tests. Dhoni and Prior are good keepers with similar batting averages and aggressive approaches. Harbhajan and Broad can also do damage with the bat.

The Quicks – Khan and Anderson are master swing bowlers, deadly and dangerous. Ishant and Tremlett both tall and gangly, looking to bang it in and jangle the splices. Broad and Sree, petulant and badly behaved, looking to see who can throw the bigger tantrum. It is all too similar. Khan will want to find Strauss’s number and keep dialing it, but he had no such luck in the warm-up game. Khan usually delivers, but Ishant and Sree are much more inconsistent and a lot will depend on whether they show up. Very honestly, Anderson and Tremlett are scary prospects and in my opinion, England edge India here.

The Offies – Swann looks the much more threatening bowler, despite Habhajan’s weight of wickets. If Swann is able to trouble the Indian batsmen, it will add much force to claims of him being the best spinner around.

The Bench – India have some variety in the bowling cupboard with a leg spinner and Kumar’s medium paced swing. If India drop Sree, I would pick Kumar ahead of Munaf, who doesn’t look like much of a threat in Tests. An adventurous captain would give Mishra a shot before Harbhajan, but I do not see this happening. Another bad game and I would replace Broad with another seam bowler, of which England have plenty.

With recent form and home advantage behind them, I would say England hold the slight edge. But all of this is moot once the first ball is bowled.

Speaking of which, I wonder what time it is?...

On the Myth of Test Cricket's Approaching Death

2011-07-14T17:23:00.005+05:30

As a loser who spends much too much time reading anything cricket related, it is hard to ignore the preachers of doom. At times they amuse, but mostly they just irritate.

I refer to a segment of cricket writing in which test cricket is constantly perceived as being under threat and every little thing or the other – empty stadiums, slow scoring rates, batsman friendly pitches, bowler friendly pitches, draws, rain, defensive play, aggressive play, red balls, pink balls, lights, no lights – is either an indication of, or a reason for “what is wrong with test cricket” or “why test cricket is not relevant” or “why test cricket is dying” or some such other bullshit.

There are plenty of such examples in the wake of the recent test match at Dominica. Like cockroaches crawling out of the woodwork at the scent of rotting food, an “abandoned chase” in a low scoring test series is simply too much to resist.

It amuses me because the people writing this stuff are obviously conflicted. On the one hand they watch test cricket and write about it and are interested in it. On the other, they are deeply dissatisfied with it.

It irritates me because it is nonsense. It particularly irks when this general rubric of fear is used to plead for changes to the game, or the inclusion or exclusion of specific players and playing styles. The message is always the same “test cricket must do this or that or it will DIE.”

Take for example this recent gem from Shashi Tharoor - “With the throbbing, pulsating, time-bound and cheerleader-inflected joys of Twenty20 on offer around the world, Test cricket looks in danger of failing the viability test that any activity depending on public support must pass.” Yech! Disgusting.

I do not watch test cricket because it is popular. I honestly don’t give a shit who else watches it, or whether market forces and trends favour it. I watch test cricket because it is simply the best game ever. And it sickens me when people suggest that it must change just so as to become more popular. It is characteristic of the insatiable greed that it is no longer shameful to espouse, maybe even fashionable today.

And the funny thing is – test cricket is as popular as I can ever remember. Over the last seventeen years of my love affair with the game, never has so much interest been shown, never has so much been written about it. In fact it is quite possibly due to this overload of interest that this rubbish ends up popping up everywhere

And what if test cricket were to lose popularity? It may attract lesser talent, there may be fewer games, and there possibly may not be television coverage any more. Would I still watch it? Yes. Would I rather it became more like limited over cricket to avoid such a fate? No. And in simple response to Mr.Tharoor, there will always be enough public support for test cricket because there are enough people who love it as it is.

Don’t get me wrong. I am no defender of the status quo. I would love to see more countries playing test cricket, more test matches instead LOIs, and more people watching them. But these things might not be possible unless test cricket were to become something other than itself. If there is a demise that one should fear, it is that.

Why is it called the "mandatory fifteen overs"?

2011-07-11T21:46:00.005+05:30

Yes. Why?

Whatever the reason is, its stupid because they are not.

It kind of feels like getting your pocket picked. This has never happened to me, but if I were to imagine what it would feel like, it might feel like this. Test cricket calls for devotion from its fans. You have to watch the damn thing over five days and some of it is Chanderpaul batting. Thats a lot of your time invested. And then the players are just allowed to walk off with an hour to spare, either for tactical reasons or because they simply don't feel like it. It is plain wrong.

It isn't about whether Sammy or Dhoni made the right decisions, its that they should not have the capacity to make those decisions. It is a terrible rule, because the injustices that it sometimes causes are so much worse than the little periods of dreariness it seeks to avoid. In Zaltman's words it is a "nonsensical insult to Test cricket's supporters".

The other rule that is manifestly unjust to followers of the game is the limit on how long play can go on when there is sufficient light. When the required number of overs have not been bowled in a match, it is a travesty to watch players troop off in bright sunshine simply because "it is six o clock".

Is it too much to expect of the ICC's cricket committee to suggest corrections to these glaring instances of bad rule-making, instead of unleashing their powers of imagination on when power-plays can be held in ODIs?

These are bad rules. Change them.

Stupid Rain

2011-07-07T02:40:00.003+05:30

Its raining all over the place in India as the Monsoons set in.

It rained in Bridgetown. When it didn't, it rained in Kathmandu where I found myself for the second test. Ten cricket doesn't work in the rain in Kathmandu.

Its raining in Roseau.

It was raining in Nottingham. It could have kept raining in Nottingham and washed away a silly one sided ODI. Everyone would have been the happier for it, not the least the English press who keep having to eat the thousands of words they generate each day, just to have to shit them out uncontrollably the next and eat them again in an endless cycle which never seems to end.

But no. It kept raining in Roseau.

Sri Lankan Sports Minister comes across as illiterate

2011-07-07T02:25:00.003+05:30

He has ordered a probe and asked for a report. On a one hour speech, the transcript of which takes about twenty minutes to read - both available to the public.

Couldn't he have just watched or listened or read, and made a few phone calls?

Sabina Park, Days 3 & 4

2011-06-24T03:31:00.003+05:30

A good test match, robbed of cracker status by the West Indian collapse in the first session on Day 4. Though history is important and it didn’t favour West Indian victory, I thought they had given themselves a half decent chance with their batting (not to mention some poor bowling from India) on Day 3. 63 runs is not all that much anyway.

Dravid really was the difference between the sides, and he underlined his class with a beautiful knock on a difficult wicket. He scored 16% of the total runs in the match, 30% of India’s, and 44% of India’s second innings total. In my opinion the elegance of his strokeplay, whether in defense or attack, is unparalleled, and he has always been my favourite batsman to watch. What keeps him head and shoulders above most other batsmen though, is his temperament. Yesterday’s innings was a lesson in patience and good judgment.

Bhajji needs to flight the ball more, and use his fuller quick ones for LBWs, especially against the left-handers. He does this regularly in India, so I don’t know why didn’t here. PK had an impressive debut. The Windies bowled well, and their batting let them down with accustomed familiarity.

My man of the match goes to Charles Joseph, the groundsman at Sabina (since 1962!). Like 2006, it was an ideal test wicket, assisting seam and spin, and providing a stage for proper batsmanship. Weather permitting, a track like this will always produce a result and test cricket needs more of it. Don’t like Jamaica. I love her.

Sabina Park, Day 2

2011-06-22T15:34:00.002+05:30

It’s nice to see PK in whites. People will always wonder whether his lack of pace equals insipidness in test cricket, but his with his control and ability, it would be nice if he got his chance. He will feel a little stupid for getting warned thrice for running on.

The pitch was doing a lot for the second day, but the West Indies’ batting is obviously their main concern. To be honest, they are short on quality, and it is mind bogglingly ridiculous that their best batsman is not playing because of issues with his board. If this was happening in India, there would at least be a few effigies being burnt, with a little damage to property thrown in.

Mukund has looked better than Vijay, and I wonder how much difference his 36 runs will make in the larger scheme of things. Except for that lucky chance, Dravid showed much better application today, and hopefully he can keep that going tomorrow.

Special mention goes to Ian Gould for Sarwan’s LBW decision. It’s great to see an Umpire calling a spade a spade, and penalizing a batsman for pretending to play a shot to ball which is hitting the stumps. It was bang on and ballsy.

Special mention also of the man-love between Kohli and Edwards.

Sabina Park, Day 1

2011-06-21T16:00:00.003+05:30

What an entertaining start to the season! Wickets galore in the first session, wickets and an absolute blitz in the second, and wickets again in the third. Edwards and Bishoo deserve special mention for their bowling, and in Bishoo’s case, his fielding too.

None of the Indian batsmen showed the required application. Dravid fell to uncharacteristic and unnecessary aggression when set. Raina could have played better with the tail. You can’t really blame Bhajji, that’s the way he plays.

Barring bad weather, this one will have a result. The Windies are ahead at this stage, but not by much. Will this be another first test disaster for India, or can they pull it back today?

India in the Windies 2011 - Preview

2011-06-14T04:19:00.005+05:30

The Windies

The whole “they were once the greatest but look at them now” discourse is really boring. When I started watching cricket, the Windies were still very good, and they have slipped since then. But a West Indies tour retains its worth for me because it is special.

It is special because it is the far corner of the world when it comes to cricket, and it is cricket’s only proper bastion in the western hemisphere.

It is special because it’s the West Indies. What sort of dimwit skips a West Indies tour for a rest? The sort of dimwit that can’t find rest in an archipelago of beautiful islands.

It is special because they were once great opponents. Maybe the greatest ever. I enjoy trolling through accounts of how good they all were.

And luckily, cricket is continuum, and to give you a sense of historical context, in 100 ODIs played between us, the Windies have won 55 to India’s 42. I.e., it will take 13 straight wins for India to even equal things between us. Still think the Windies are playing for pride in this series?

The West Indies cricket team of today may be no match to their predecessors, and the pitches and politics may be shite, but I still like to watch them try, and watching them win today is probably the least pissed off I have been after an Indian loss.

Andre Russell and Lendl Simmons are worth keeping an eye on. They have interesting bowlers in Roach, Rampaul, Taylor, Edwards, Bishoo, and of course Russell. Most of them are good athletes. The batting seems pretty weak, but if Gayle and the selectors could get over the “we aren’t speaking to each other” nonsense, there would be at least one seriously destructive batsman in the side.

I was hoping that they won at least one of these JAMODIs. I think it is best not to stir up the home team’s spirit with a clean sweep at inconsequential LOIs, when you want to whop them at real cricket.

And just to give you the proper historical context for that, of the 82 test matches played between us and them, they have won 30, and we 11.

The Umpires

Norman Malcolm has to be the worst umpire I have ever seen in international cricket. I have never seen a dismissal like Pollard’s in the 3^rd ODI. I mean, he gave it out only because the Indians wouldn’t stop appealing. You could see that. And the way he gave Badrinath not out in the 4^th ODI was simply astonishing. I have seen Random Rudi do something like this once before. I can’t be bothered to remember where. But even Rudi didn’t slide his hand across his neck to ask the players to shut up after he had half lifted his hand to give a player out! Such obvious indecision from an umpire should spread like wildfire amongst the players. Given the power that umpires exercise in cricket, his further participation in any serious cricket would be an injustice to the players whose careers he impacts.

The Commentators

I never got to watch Dujon play, and from what I read he was pretty impressive. As a commentator though, he is just hilarious. He obviously doesn’t give a shit. The other day, he says “so Pakistan win” just after India won a match. Well, we’re often on the verge of war, but were once one, and are pretty close on a map, so maybe his confusion is understandable. Today, he watches a super-slow-mo replay from Amit Mishra and expertly pinpoints that “that’s the carom ball.” All with this lovely drawl and he never bothers to correct himself. That’s pretty cool. Take a bow Test Match Sofa, you guys have some serious competition.

And Us

Rohit Sharma’s been ok, Kohli less responsible than you expect of him these days, and Raina pretty flaky. Of the batsman, Parthiv Patel has surprised me pleasantly.

Unfortunately Badrinath looks like a Ramprakashian figure in Indian cricket. I have never seen him comfortable against an international attack, and I can’t see him in our test side (Wellofcouse as someone who struggles against a 50mph tennis ball, I would be happy to be proved wrong).

Amit Mishra pleases me. But I don’t know if that’s just because he is a leg spinner or if he is a good leg spinner.

The Ashwin – Harbhajan contest is interesting. A lot of people seem to be backing Ashwin to replace Bhajji. Ashwin definitely looks like the better batsman, but when in comes to their bowling, I am unsure.

Ashwin is always economical, and Bhajji is a lot of the time, but who gives a shit about that. What concerns me is that Ashwin effectively spins the ball with one finger, thereby limiting the amount of turn he can get. A spinner who doesn’t turn the ball is like an eggless cake, i.e., a slow-medium bowler, Jonathan Trott even!!!

Hopefully Ashwin can get the Kumble mojo going. He interests me.

Still life in the old dog

2010-06-16T10:19:00.003+05:30

My rant about the futility of the Asia Cup seems to have been ill-timed. Certainly the performances of the Srilanka-Pakistan match bordered on the brilliant. Afridi hitting Murali for five sixes. Afridi hitting 109 of 76 balls. Slinger-in-chief Malinga picking five wickets and the return of the original bad boy - Shoaib Akthar. But, the stand-out moment was Sangakkara producing a moment of magic to catch Afridi of Murali.
Even on off days, Champions have their say and atleast on yesterday's evidence "The Asia Cup is Magic"

The Return of the Redundant

2010-06-15T13:06:00.003+05:30

Nearly two years ago, on this very same blogspot, I had written about the Asia Cup http://islandexpress.blogspot.com/2008/06/significance-of-insignificant.html. Strange how two years later, each and every word I wrote still retain its significance.
The redundant tournament tries to justify its existence. A meaningless tournament or an important milestone. My vote is still for the former.

One all!

2010-02-16T18:22:00.003+05:30

Unless god intervenes, either by reincarnating himself in the form of one or more of the South African batsmen, or more simply, be letting torrents of rain wash away Indian dreams, the result of the second test between India and South Africa is a foregone conclusion at the end of day 3.

Yet again, the epic battle for world domination between these two great warriors, fought on grounds that conjure Mahabharat like visions of thunderbolts flying through the air and dust rising high from the stomping of brave foot soldiers, ends with a whimper, rather than a bang. The senseless mandarins of the BCCI and the puppets of Zuma that allowed this travesty (of a two test series between the top two sides) to pass, should be lined up and tortured by being made to watch videos of the 3 test series between India and Sri Lanka for atleast 8 consecutive days.

Why 8? Because in revenge too, there must be justice. And since 8 days of riveting test match cricket is what they gave us (game over tomorrow?), it is our responsibility, nay our moral duty, to give these power mongering, public hating monsters, 8 days of watching Indian batsmen ground the Sri Lankan tigers to dust (as a complete aside, would it not have been great fun if the Dhoni saving 1,411 tigers ad was aired at the same time as the Indian batsmen were pummelling the Sri Lankan tigers? Also, how does one arrive at this exact number of 1,411 - is there a roll call every morning, a prediction from a forest official who fancies himself to be somewhat of a nostradamus, or some other form of the great Indian rope trick???)

And despite previous predictions going horribly wrong, I yet again dare a prediction - this game will be over by the end of the day tomorrow, with the Indian spinners ripping through South Africa after Khan has finished de-energizing his bunny Smith.

The Fast and the Furious

2010-02-08T12:24:00.003+05:30

As expected, Pakistan, through a combination of ineptitude, infighting and ball biting madness, connived to leave Australian shores without a single win in a tour spread over the three formats of the game. In three tests, 5 one dayers and 1 t-20 game, Pakistan were consistently competitive for exactly two days (during the second test) and mostly abysmal for the rest of the tour. Well and truly, a tour DOWN UNDER.

On Friday, despite the superheroic acts of the bowling unit and some very un-Pakistan like fielding, the supporting cast that has become the batting unit, put in performances that could, in a parallel universe where more than movies were taken into account, have provided for the nomination of a fair few of the Pakistani batsman for the Razzies this year.

For batsmen that play the likes of Shoaib Akhtar, Aamer and Gul regularly and presumably comfortably, the inability to play the pace of Tait, Nannes and Johnson was inexplicable. But for Kamran's fearless attack, the world champions of T20 were likely to be humbled by margins that would truly have been a reflection of the difference in quality between the two sides.

A special mention for Tait's bowling on Friday is in order. His slowest ball was clocked at well over 150 KMPH and his fastest at 162 KMPH. For the mathematically challenged, that gives the batsman, standing about 19 yards away, approximately 0.4 seconds to spot the ball, judge where it is going to land, get his foot in position and get the bat swinging in time! And they say that this is a batsman's game...

Misery loves company goes the famous saying and how that was true of Friday. With Shaun Tait making life miserable at one end through raw pace, agression and remarkable accuracy, Pakistan was forced to take on the slower offerings from Nannes and Johnson, both of whom were bowling well into the high 140's throughout their spells... the pressure told and Pakistan crumbled like a biscuit held too long in a cup of tea. Pakistan needs to introspect long and hard about what went wrong on the tour if they hope to remain competitive on the international scene - the time for giving delusional media bytes about being competitive, trying hard and improving every day is over, as hopefully is Yousuf's captaincy.

The Whitewash

2010-02-01T11:00:00.002+05:30

Well, as expected, Australia did go on to duly complete the whitewash and claimed the series 5-0.

Despite the predictable result, there were enough interesting events that transpired during the game yesterday, and strangely enough, each and every one that comes to my mind relates to the Pakistan team. The first of the lot is ofcourse Shahid Afridi's captaincy and the manner in which the rest of the Pakistani team reacts to his leadership. For the first time this series, Pakistan looked like a side that was switched on - their energy and chirpiness while fielding was not that of a side that had not won a game in 2 months, but of one that had not lost for as long as they could remember. In complete contrast to their reputations, they ran well between the wickets while they batted and their was intent in every run (a lot of the strokes still left a lot to be desired, but perhaps those too can be put down to the injection of Afridinile) and more importantly, unlike their performance this entire tour, they fielded remarkably well (and to my recollection, did not drop a catch!). Like all great leaders, Afridi leads by example and the rest of the Pakistani team seems to draw from his intensity and fire. The PCB could do worse than ask Yousuf to step down and make Afridi the captain in ODI's in addition to the T-20's.

Which brings me to the second point. If news reports are to be believed, the PCB and its minions did get Yousuf to step down from captaincy yesterday so that Afridi could be given an opportunity. If that is indeed the case (and the sore knee is nothing but a shabby excuse), then I must congratulate the PCB for their imagination. Yousuf, on the other hand, deserves a spanking on his back-side if he refused to play because he was not captain. It is high time Yousuf accepts that he is not a great leader (or even if he is, he is not the type of leader that the Pakistani cricket team needs) and instead concentrates on his role as the best batsman in the side, atleast for the few years that he has left.

The third interesting development was ofcourse Afridi's ball tampering. For someone who has been playing internationl cricket for a decade, it was the silliest stupidest thing to do on a cricket field, where get this, 26 cameras were focussed on the action. Now, if its someone like Younis khan attempting this, there is a miniscule chance that no camera would be focussed on him at that point in time - but the chances of no camera being focussed at the captain of the defending team during a tense run chase are about as good as Rohit Sharma's chances of learning to deal with the short ball. And then he goes out and says that he was in fact ball tampering - not that he was cleaning the ball, but that he was ball tampering... sigh....

Punishment has been swift and Afridi has been banned for 2 T-20's, including the one against Australia. With Pakistan's most potent T-20 weapon defused, it now seems extremely unlikely that the world cahmpions of T-20 will be able to put one across Australia before leaving those shores.

Winning the Break-Up

2010-01-30T22:00:00.003+05:30

Have you heard of Ted's (of How I Met Your Mother fame) concept of winning a break up? Ted theorizes that in any break up, both individuals do what they can to portray the appearance that the break up was their choice, i.e. to win the break up (do watch this particular episode, its quite funny).

I would not have thought it, but the machinations of the Pakistan Cricket Board yesterday do lead me to believe that How I Met Your Mother has a significant fan base in the PCB as well. Yesterday, the Pakistan Cricket Board tried to win their break up with Mr. Modi's IPL by stating that they were revoking the NOC's of all Pakistani players - this after each franchisee individually and the IPL as a whole had made it clear that they were not interested in Pakistan at this time!!!

It would be interesting to see whether the PCB would continue to deny Pakistani players a NOC if the IPL did in fact want them to participate. Would the Pakistani cricketers continue to sing in harmony with the PCB if they could see millions of rupees (and fame) disappearing in the blink of an eye? Would the politics of this battle between two very unequal forces result in the Pakistani soldiers deserting the PCB army and going the Flintoff way? In my experience, principles and egos do often fall by the wayside in the hunt for money - what do you think?

The 4th hammering

2010-01-29T19:50:00.003+05:30

I would not have thought it possible, but Pakistan seems to have found a way to lose by bigger and badder margins as the series has gone on. A 5-0 whitewash seems very likely and Pakistan's only hope of redemption on this entire tour will lie in the single T-20 game that they are scheduled to play.

Since enough has been said about Pakistan's ability to make the slightest impression in this one-day series, I will instead concentrate on one of the outstanding features of today's game - Ryan Harris's bowling. From what I saw today, he seems to be a faster, better and smarter version of Hilfenhaus, and bowled some absolutely superb Andersonesque outswingers to unsettle and destroy an increasingly vulnerable Pakistani top order. For those who did follow the previous edition of the IPL, you will remember a certain Ryan James Harris (or Rhyno as he is affectionately called) - the person who opened the bowling for the Deccan Chargers for a few matches. I have no idea what has changed in the meanwhile, but the 30 years old Ryan Harris that is now tormenting Pakistan seems a very different person from the 28-29 year old Ryan Harris that got mauled in the IPL.

Given the quality of his bowling over the last two matches, perhaps he too deserves a place in the Australian test line up and Siddle deserves a rest. Though I hate the Australian cricket team for the way they have dominated cricket, you have got to hand it to them for the rabbits that they pull out of their yellow hats all so often. And Nathan Hauritz take a bow for your batting today...

The Great Snub

2010-01-29T19:09:00.002+05:30

Please read the transcript (here) of Andy Zaltzman’s podcast on the IPL auction and his description of the selection of ‘horses’ for the particular course that is the IPL.

Much ink has flowed in the Indian, Pakistani and international media over the non-selection of a single world champion Pakistani cricketer by any of the franchisees and as seems typical for a reaction on anything slightly controversial in cricket, the reactions range from passive (including in the Pakistani publication, the Dawn) to outright fanatical (pretty much everything else in the Pakistani media). Should Pakistan somehow manage to win a single one-day game (or god forbid, the T-20 match against Australia), it seems certain that journalists and bloggers across the world will have a lot more fire to breathe and venom to spew on Pakistan’s ability as a limited overs side, and I want to jump on to this bandwagon too!

Personally, I believe that justice has been done. The very unofficial embargo on the franchisees selecting Pakistani cricketers is somewhat like the West imposing economic sanctions on Iraq. It is a political snub, it is invariably backed by the government (despite what Mr. Modi and Mr. Krishna might say), it is very symbolic of the history of evolution where might is indeed right and it is occasioned by the aggressive intent of the other.

As far as cricket is concerned, while it would have been nice to see some of the Pakistani cricketers in the various line-ups, I for one cannot imagine anyone saying ‘but if only Afridi/Aamer/Gul was here’. When the IPL juggernaut begins to roll again, most of the audience outside Pakistan is going to forget this ‘snub’ and enjoy the cricket like they have over the past 2 seasons. Viewership may draw in Pakistan to begin with, but it is almost certain that as the season moves into its closing stages, all of the cricket addicts will come running back to the broadcasters for their shot of adrenalin fuelled excitement.

In so far as politics goes, there may have been a more elegant ways to extend this ‘snub’, but sometimes the brutal political lesson is more effective than the diplomatic sugar quoted one (after 50 years of trying diplomacy, I am certain that a lot of my countrymen would agree). Generally, I would say that politics and sports do not mix well, but in this particular instance, especially after the attacks on Mumbai and the Indian parliament, I am more than willing to make an exception. For those who disagree, let me ask you this – would you do business with your enemy (perceived or real) if at that very same time that person was trying his best to destabilize your daily existence??

So much for Predictions

2010-01-22T16:04:00.002+05:30

I think the title says it all

Update on the first one dayer

2010-01-22T12:41:00.003+05:30

As it happens, Afridi did have one of 'those days' and has powered (literally) Pakistan to 274.

With the pitch offering pace and bounce, Pakistan promises to be a handful. Prediction stays - narrow Pakistan win. Shahid Afridi man of the match.

The First One Dayer

2010-01-22T11:48:00.003+05:30

Here's hoping that writing this post will go some way in breathing new life into this comatose blog, even in the absence of John, and hopefully with the all other contributors once again contributing their thoughts.

I woke up early this morning (which, given the cold in Delhi was a lot more difficult than it sounds!) to watch Pakistan yet again take on Australia - this time in a format where they actually have a chance to beat Australia.

As I write this piece, the game is interestingly poised, though Pakistan has somehow managed to start the slide that I have been waiting for since early this morning. Despite the early fireworks from Kamran Akmal and then Salman Butt, and lots of energy and intent from Umar Akmal (how good is he???), Younis Khan has single handedly managed to anchor this innings - and I mean that literally and not in a good way.

I am all for comebacks and I do think Younis is an extremely good bat (especially against India) who deserves his place in the side, but should Pakistan lose this game, he must be held singularly responsible for protecting his wicket rather than getting on with it. So far, he has cost Salman Butt, Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik their wickets and unless Afridi has one of 'those days', he has put Pakistan in a position where getting 270 will be an achievment rather than the certainty it was 20 overs go.

That said, Pakistan probably possesses the bowling firepower to defend 270 on this pitch, especially with Boom Boom and his ten overs of mesmerizing leg spin waiting in the wings. Add to this the pace of Aamer, the seam of Asif, the off spin of Ajmal and perhaps Malik, and you have the most well balanced bowling line up playing in Australia today.

My prediction - a nail biting Pakistan win (provided they can hold their catches), with Afridi claiming three.

The R word.

2009-10-31T13:52:00.001+05:30

I am retiring from blogging on Island Express. I should have taken this decision several months ago. That would have saved it from the embarrassment of lying there wretched and un-updated, a Kapil Dev-like reminder of the benefits of early retirement.

The timing is always a tough one, aye? You keep thinking you have one more century in you, and you wait. And you wait.

At one time this blog was a feverish passion. Endless productive hours paid for by my employer were spent deciding the appropriate order of the blogroll. I also remember the several awesome hours spent assembling the montage up there, like a Chor Bazaar bike, from stolen cricket pics. But now, to lick the retirement cliche plate some more, let's throw in stuff like 'not giving 100%' etc.

I will continue writing my cricket drivel, but not here. Probably when a blue mist passes over the moon next, you can read what I write at Bored Cricket Crazy Indians.

As for this blog itself, I hope it stays here. And its future? That is now up to TM, Avinash, Sajith and Aj.

Eng-Aus

2009-09-18T18:13:00.002+05:30

You have got to give it to the England and Australian cricket teams. Having played a reasonably exciting Ashes (please read Zaltzman on this one), they have somehow connived bring a modicurm of excitement into a series that is nearly as pointless as watching Rohit Sharma play short balls (had to get it out of my system!).

Despite Australia not having played the brand of cricket that one associates with them (save a superb Ponting century), England have struggled with grim determination to dig themselves into a progressively deeper hole, which while Australia is not exactly helping them out of, is not something that Australia is pushing them into either. That said, there are things that I must greatfully thank England for:

1. The adrenalin rush of watching Shah and Boapra trying to communicate in a language that the other can understand while running - difficult obviously since there are all of three words to choose from. Invariably, their partnerships have been some of the most exciting moments of the last 6 matches - lacking in everything but suicidal running abilities.

2. Moments of Nostalgia - Watching English bowlers bowl to Australian batsmen reminds me of the Indian bowlers bolwing to the Pakistani batsmen in the 80's and 90's. Much like their counterparts of days gone by, England's bowlers have managed by sheer perseverence to bring each and every Australian batsman into form, days short of the biggest but one cricket tournament in the world. Remember how every batsman in the world had his highest score against India at one stage - give it a couple of years and watch the same come true of this bowling attack as well.

3. A reason to write - England's incompetence has atleast got me to write again (and will maybe get this blog working again!).

As a complete aside, whats up with these ICC nominations!!!

Happy Bored Day

2009-08-13T11:41:00.001+05:30

Happy happy happy!!

BCC! celebrate its first anniversary today. Join the party here.

Getting off the mark......

2009-07-10T21:31:00.002+05:30

.... opening your account with that nudge down to fine-leg or guiding one down to third man to get your first runs must be one hell of a cathartic experience. I realize that now as this is my attempt to open my account on Island Express. Well! my credentials are modest.The closest I have been to a live cricket match is when the Cricinfo's ball-by-ball commentator decided to publish a quaint little piece of trivia I mailed back. Evidently my cricket expertise, just like 99% of the cricket experts in the country does not go beyond the "couch-potato"-esque . However, the love for the game has only grown exponentially since I chanced upon the grainy pictures of Doordarsan showing men in white clothes playing for India some time in the late '80s.

This is probably the worst time to make a post about cricket. Ashes 09 is turning out to be as interesting as this and the Sky Sports commentary team is sleep-talking through it. Mercurial Pakistan are living up to their name in the Emerald Isle gifting 18 wickets to Sri-Lankan bowlers whose names don't start with M, which is only marginally better than getting timed out. West Indies is playing Bangladesh with a team comprising of local school-children and the first five ticket holders to arrive at the ground yesterday. And with the most popular team on the planet in hibernation mode for the next couple of months with their slumber to be disturbed only by the odd IndiaTV or AajTak reporter trying to hook them up with a Bollywood starlet, there is something amiss in international cricket at the moment.

I don't know how many of you feel this way, but is there a dearth of genius International Cricket at this moment as compared to say 8-10 years back ? Have we found replacements for the Akrams, the Laras, the Waughs, the Ambroses, the Walshes? We have a Federer in Tennis, a Cristiano Ronaldo in football, a Bolt in Athletics, a Lebron in Basketball, a Woods in Golf , all of whom are taking their sport to the next level. Does cricket have someone like that? I will try to answer that in the next post.

No balls killed the Scottish stars

2009-06-06T19:06:00.001+05:30

Oh, and Jesse Jaisi Koi Nahin.

The Dutch are coming!

2009-06-05T17:02:00.001+05:30

Who will stop them? This guy?

Dhoni <3 Pak

2009-06-03T20:29:00.002+05:30

Dhoni's ODI record is impressive and his love for the Pakistani bowling is well known. His deadly average (helped by god-knows-how-many not outs) climbs to a Bevanesque 57.31. That his batting is as Bevanesquely ugly is hence no surprise. Even his by-no-means-pretty Test average shoots up almost 30 runs to settle at a Husseyesque 64.60. Yuck. Well Indo-Pak matches of the last 5 years have had their share of placid tracks too, but then there is that counterattacking 150 that is still so fresh in memory. So fresh that those hooks are like an Aircel CD of love songs. Feat. Shoaib Malik with shaved armits running slomo through fields of Punju wheat. And is that Younis Khan chasing them with a double barrelled one?

So what is it about Pakistan then that brings out the best in Dhoni? Its only in the two T20s that he has played against Pakistan, that his average against Pakistan falls below his career average. 19.5 down from 23.88. Screw that, because he captained India to a World Cup final victory against them.

The IPL might have just given a hint of what would happen when the Dhoni joojoo wears off. If it did, then he could not have asked for better warm-up.

O teri to!!

2009-06-03T15:47:00.004+05:30

Taking note of the thaw in Indo-Pak relations since 26/11, the need for a warm-up was widely recognised. Cricket took the hint and scheduled one. Well, so did the bloggers. On either side.

A Bored Quickie, darlings. See you there.

Married and bored

2009-05-27T11:27:00.001+05:30

My new post is up on Bored. Love cricket? Love your wife too?

Small gloat

2009-05-24T08:49:00.002+05:30

Yes, I called one half of the IPL final right, and I was one step away from calling both. So here's showing the finger to the rest of Bored .

Elsewhere:

Do join us for a Bored Quickie during the IPL finals.

Read about Matty Hayden's conversations with Jesus.

The Tantrum - an Update

2009-05-18T19:46:00.003+05:30

So some civil court in Lahore has passed an order in the case filed by the PCB. For more read here. Can someone please explain to me what this means - what does not being able to move the World Cup Secretariat mean??

How long does the court of arbitration for sport usually take to resolve a dipute? The good news as a lawyer is that we get to learn something about other law firms - Vellani and Vellani - I wonder what they charge!

Its Fixed!

2009-05-18T12:57:00.003+05:30

Let me again express the thought that I expressed sometime ago on this blog - taking a side is obviously a dangerous thing for it exposes you to immense criticism and personal attack when someone who disagrees with you gets an opportunity. We are ofcourse talking about Rohit Sharma (the 'cricketer' on the one hand and the legal luminary on the other).

Disclaimer first - I did not want to write this post, I was asked to (and I am rushed).

On Saturday evening, I once again found my faith, for a mircale transpired. The 'talented Mr. Sharma' was able to despatch the brawn of bangladesh for 26 runs in the last over of yet another pulsating encounter (are these games fixed or what?). Mortaza who had bowled only yorkers in the previous overs was able to bowl only knee high full tosses or short balls (again, are these games fixed or what - there must have been pretty long odds on DC getting those runs). I was forced to face uncomfortable facts - of his talent, his fitness, his calmness under pressure and his right to play at this level.

Then he dug the dagger in deeper - against Punjab, he almost did it again!! Fortunately, in that one ball on which we went for the most ungainly slog that a top order batsmen can play, he gave me some reasons for why the first instance was nothing but a miracle. Here they are:

1. They needed 4 of 4 - the slog was totally unnecessary - not so calm after all.
2. I have never seen an international cricketer struggle for breath like he was yesterday. Was 2 back to back games (still less than a ODI) too much for the MAN??
3. The odds on him getting 4 of 4 must have been pretty good and therefore against him getting those runs pretty bad. Interesting that.

On the other hand credit where its due. He did hit full tosses out of the park - couldnt have been that simple!

Seen elsewhere

2009-05-17T13:32:00.003+05:30

Fidel Edwards art is up over at Cricket=Action=Art.

This I would buy right now if I weren't still in the Dark Ages of internet finance.

And did you know the Real IPL player is in da house?

Fan versus Fan

2009-05-15T17:39:00.004+05:30

When I invited an English blogger who markets a sports betting group to write for the blog, I was swayed by the fact that there would be regular content (that none of our authors wrote about) on this blog, that would make up for my tardiness and limited focus. At that time, I did not realise that it would alienate our regular readers. It did.

Most businesses (I use the term to include persons who do not make profits) have to make a choice when faced with quick growth - grow bigger or consolidate, invest incoming revenues in new products and services or increase salaries etc, are some of these dilemmas. Cricket and all its spinoffs are faced with a similar choice right now. The revenues coming in are massive and an unprecedented number of fans are now aware of the game.

Should cricket focus on taking the game to the masses of people that are yet to hear about this game? The discussions about a certain American market and the huge promises that it beholds are evidence of this. At the same time, getting distracted by a potential market can easily alienate your existing clients (fans). Is it possible to get the perfect balance between both? I am certain. But by the cricket suits? Hmm..

I can only speak for myself. I am a cricket fan from as long back as I can remember, and it will need a lot for me to become indifferent to the game. I have been treated like shit for years by the BCCI and the broadcasters that it has sold rights to, but that has not turned me away. Despite large advertisement that covers the Cricinfo homepage, I am patient enough to click 'close' and read the content. The bowlers run up for the first ball of an over may be eaten up by advertisement, but I will watch the rest of the over eagerly. These are minor irritants for me, but it can turn some away from the game. And these some, are cricket's greatest marketing engines.

I am almost evangelistic in my desire to convert some of my European friends into cricket fans. I am sure that a lot of the regular readers of this blog behave the same way. If cricket were to alienate such people, it is a massive loss for the game.

I for one, would love to be treated better. That would make me even more effective in my evangelism. If the game would only provide me with a loudspeaker. If the ICC would seriously consider my views on rules, terms of a broadcast contract etc.

And this is not a strange request. When Google gives me a page of search results, their rankings are a reflection of the internet behaviour of regular users. A certain bar in Delhi had me as a lifetime fan when the owner sat next to me while I was sneaking snatches of a cricket game away from my desk, and asked me for my opinions on the food menu. Customer feedback has been a part of intelligent marketing for years. More and more businesses are getting the hang of giving their ardent customers a mouthpiece, so that they can spread the word. (Are you a cricketwithballs or Bored fan on Facebook?)

Cricket needs to learn from this. What I have written may seem abstract and floosy in its lack of concrete suggestions. So more of that later.

England's Twenty20 options

2009-05-15T14:29:00.003+05:30

Not for the first time, England head into a major tournament with little idea of what their best starting line-up is. The ICC World Twenty20 starts on 5th June, but with a new-look squad, the composition of England’s team for the curtain-raiser against Netherlands at Lord’s is anyone’s guess.

The selectors at least have plenty of limited overs cricket to consider over the coming weeks, as there is pure diet of 50 over Friends Provident Trophy and Twenty20 cup matches to digest.

Many of England’s squad owe their inclusion to good form in those competitions last year, so some decent displays this month could be persuasive. Only five players can be said to be 100% sure of a starting place, fitness permitting.

Skipper Paul Collingwood will bat in the middle order and provide a handy medium pace bowling option. Bet on Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff to feature in the top six, despite disappointing IPL campaigns. England’s star players have under-performed in the format and the hosts need them to discover some boundary-hitting form if they are to feature in the latter stages.

James Foster and Graeme Swann are respectively the only wicket keeper and spinner in the squad. Slow bowling is a crucial part of Twenty20 cricket and the in-form Swann must feature in every match.

Big hitting has been one of England’s problems in the format. Graham Napier has been called up to address this, but with Dimitri Mascarenhas and Luke Wright also included, the world record holder for sixes in an innings might be left on the sidelines.

Robert Key returns to open the batting, probably with the in-form Ravi Bopara. James Anderson and Stuart Broad should edge out Ryan Sidebottom to share new ball duties, which leaves county colleagues Eoin Morgan and Owais Shah. It seems only one can play, with Shah’s international experience counting in his favour.

One thing is for sure though, ICC World Twenty20 betting is likely to be very interesting indeed!

Possible England team: Bopara, Key, Pietersen, Shah, Flintoff, Collingwood(c), Foster(w), Mascarenhas, Broad, Swann, Anderson

The Tantrum

2009-05-14T17:04:00.002+05:30

Let me get this right for it is hard to believe – the Pakistan Cricket Board, supported by an ex-president of the ICC (who must at some point be the centre of a post on this blog!), and based on the advice of one of the world’s better law firms (posting about whom we will leave to John), has found the temerity to challenge the might of the ICC? That too in circumstances where India - the Golden Peacock of international cricket - as well as ALL other cricket boards, are siding with the ICC??

From whatever little is available (and though "we don’t know all the facts" – quote from aforesaid ICC president in context of ICC-PCB dispute), I understand that Pakistan is weeping bloody tears because the ICC has, UNANIMOUSLY, decided to cancel Pakistan’s name from the list of hosts, without giving Pakistan the opportunity ‘to be heard’? Big Papa has cut them out and since big brother is on Big Papa’s side, Pakistan has no option but legal recourse??

It’s a laugh –several laughs actually. Firstly, the Pakistan Cricket Board was present and ABSTAINED from voting on the resolution which cancelled their name!! Did they not understand what the resolution meant – or did everybody connive to such an extent as to make it impossible for the PCB to understand the consequences of not raising their voice. Doesn’t abstaining on a vote mean that you don’t care?? So you were in fact heard – atleast to the extent you wanted to be heard.

You were also heard when terrorists (if you have a secular mindset) / freedom fighters (for the religious fanatics that read this blog) decided to attack a defence less touring international cricket team in broad daylight in the centre of town. The world heard the gunshots that were fired, the grenades that were lobbed, the stories that each victim told, what their families felt and how helpless you were. Since the world at large heard all of that, do you in all your wisdom (?????), seriously believe, that any international side (and I mean ANY) will play in Pakistan?? It is for certain that New Zealand and Australia will not – neither will South Africa.

I for one refuse to believe that any human being, or a set of them, that has lived for 50 years on the average can be that stupid. So is it about the money? Will you withdraw your legal proceedings if the ICC agrees to pay you what you would have received had the tournament been played in Pakistan – are the coffers that empty?? If that’s what you want, then that’s what you should be asking for, instead of throwing a tantrum becoming only of a 4 year old that has not been given the ice cream it wants!

One last question – if the ICC wins before the CAS or in whatever proceeding you filed in Pakistan, how do you propose to pay DLA Piper?? Are they not out of your league – 1000 dollars an hour for partner level involvement is, after all, not to be sniffed at right?

The Gayle Blows

2009-05-13T15:30:00.002+05:30

Has Gayle said too much? Should people care if test crciket dies? Is T-20 the way forward for all of cricket?

Personally, I think Gayle, the 'cool maaaan' that he is, has been honest enough to state, what I am certain a lot of cricketers are thinking. Why should any one play 5 days of 90 over cricket? How does it make sense for a cricketer when the rewards are not too dissimilar from playing T-20 cricket? Is it more satisfying to get a test match hundred then it is to get a T-20 fifty? Or to get 3 wickets in five overs as opposed to 3 in 100? Will the longer breaks that result from less days of cricket, the more delirious support of fans for T-20, the larger amounts of money being poured into it run against the interests of any cricketer?

It is a profession - the idea is to do really well and make as much money as one can without letting it take over one's life. What is the argument for test cricket? The technique - mind numbing boredom of watching a batsment block delivery after delivery? Waiting desperately for highlights at end of play so no one need watch a Dravid bat?

Someone give me a good reason for test cricket - a reason to disagree with Gayle.

Onions writes his own headlines

2009-05-08T14:56:00.000+05:30

Graham Onions is now more than just a good county cricketer with an unusual surname. The headline writer’s dream gave the scribes plenty of ammunition in taking five wickets on debut and more importantly staked a strong claim for a fast bowling place for the rest of the summer.

Early season wickets have been a false dawn for some England bowlers of recent years. Richard Johnson and Ed Giddins decimated Zimbabwe in helpful conditions but struggled against better opposition and England supporters should not necessarily expect Onions to be prolific against Australia later in the summer.

However, Onions has the right attributes to succeed at Test level in the long-term. He is sharp enough at around 85mph, accurate and capable of hitting the seam. He also has the right mental make-up to flourish, having recovered from a golden duck with the bat and seeing his first ball disappear for four.

Onions utilised the Lord’s slope well, recognising his wicket-to-wicket action did not require extravagant swing movement to make an impact, much as Glenn McGrath has done at headquarters down the years.

The Aussie legend is a good man to be compared to, but Onions knows he will encounter pitches that are less helpful than the ones at Lord’s and Chester-le-Street which do some of the work for the bowler.

Graham Onions offers something different to swing expert James Anderson and hit-the-deck Stuart Broad and with Andrew Flintoff and Ryan Sidebottom in the wings, as well as the not-yet-required Tim Bresnan, England’s fast bowling stocks suddenly look plentiful. Steve Harmison and Amjad Khan are now a long way from a recall.

Taking 20 wickets has been England’s main problem in recent years and although they know tougher tests await than West Indies, they at least can be comfortable that they have a bowling attack that can capitalise on helpful conditions. Onions is now very much part of that attack.

Ravi to revel in right position

2009-05-01T16:00:00.000+05:30

The number three spot was the most talked about position when England’s first Test squad of the summer was announced. Michael Vaughan, Owais Shah and Ian Bell were thought to be contesting the role, but Ravi Bopara was instead given the nod.

This should come as no surprise. Bopara scored a century in his last Test innings, albeit from number six on a flat Barbados pitch, and is one of England’s current One Day openers. He scored his mountain of 2008 runs for Essex from first wicket down.

Shah badly missed his opportunity to make the role his in the Caribbean and has been sat on the sidelines in the Indian Premier League (whilst Bopara has played one of the best innings of the tournament so far). He is suddenly at the back of the cue.

Bell, the long-time incumbent, cannot be recalled so soon after being dropped – a few runs at county level do not make up for his 16-Test run at number three without a century – and Vaughan has not played the big innings that would have got the selectors’ attention.

They surely still plan to use the former skipper this summer, but will hope he has regained his touch and timing when the opportunity arises. He will slot in against the Aussies if Bopara or any of the top order consistently struggle for runs, as long as he looks ready.

New coach and former county colleague Andy Flower is obviously a big fan of Bopara, who looks to have all the right attributes to succeed in the pivotal position: excellent technique, phlegmatic demeanour and mental toughness.

Some might say having a brand new number three for an Ashes series is risky, and whilst the Aussie pacemen will certainly target Bopara, his self-assurance and swagger mean he is likely cope with the pressure.

It seems a safe cricket bet that England need to be aggressive to beat Australia and Bopara showed in his Barbados dual with Fidel Edwards that he likes confrontation. Shah and Bell are more passive.

Whether the Essex man is the long-term number three solution is another question, but a good start on a flat Lord’s pitch will help justify the faith that has been put in him.

Sree in the dugout

2009-04-30T12:16:00.002+05:30

On the one hand, there is the KKR Management (comprising the Dildo, his minion JB and his minions) which flies out players that 'do not fit into the scheme'. On the other, there is Priety's King's XI which insists on keeping Sreesanth in the dugout even when it was clear a few weeks ago that he would not be playing a single match. So what's Sree got that keeps him there?

England have Flower power

2009-04-24T15:32:00.003+05:30

Andy Flower’s appointment as England coach ended a long, drawn-out selection process that always seemed likely to end with the announcement of England’s second Zimbabwean team leader.

The prolonged nature of this saga attracted much criticism, not least because Graham Ford, an early front-runner for the post, pulled out due to the excessive time frame involved. The ECB used a head-hunting firm that came up with a group of names any English fan could have done for free.

However, whilst the national team’s hierarchy did little to improve its recently damaged reputation, the best man for the job has ended up being appointed. This was not necessarily the case when Duncan Fletcher needed replacing two years ago; indeed, there are many who claim Tom Moody is still the ideal candidate, as he was when Peter Moores was promoted.

Moody did want to relocate to England, a major factor that prevented Ford, Gary Kirsten and Mickey Arthur from declaring sustained interest in the role. All this, as well as Ashley Giles’ inexperience, left the way clear for Flower.

Flower has had a far from smooth progression through the England coaching ranks. His inexperience is easy to miss – he retired from playing in September 2006 – and his appointment as batting coach coincided with a downturn in form of many England batsmen.

Flower was also on Kevin Pietersen’s hit-list over the winter, but the former skipper seems to have softened his stance. Of more importance is the new coach’s relationship with the current captain, and Flower and Andrew Strauss have an excellent understanding.

This, combined with Flower’s straight talking and honesty has made him popular with the media and he should be given plenty of time to settle into his new job.

However, results are what counts and Flower knows England are in a slump. Winning the Ashes might be too much to ask, but gaining revenge against West Indies may be a better cricket bet. It will also help the new coach prove that he really is the best man for the job.

Opinions

2009-04-24T11:27:00.002+05:30

The problem with taking a side, especially in cricket, is that sometimes the person you are so critical of plays a good knock and the wolves that have been circling around you, waiting for an opportunity to bite, suddenly see that moment come by.

Ofcourse, the topic is none other than the controversial Rohit Sharma - the man who we post about when nothing else happens on this blog. I missed the supposedly awesome inning that he played, I didnt read anything about it, I didnt even know that it had happened - for that matter, I am not even sure what IPL team he plays for. Yet, earlier today, I was informed in no uncertain terms that I should post something about him so here I go!

Well done Rohit for climbing the Himalaya sized challenge that is Bangalore!! That must have been pretty tough - did it make you call on every ounce of whatever talent you possess? 50 runs in one inning (as opposed to an entire series) - did you dream about it all night, go to Tirupati to thank the gods? But here's the thing - T20 is not really cricket - it is not the place to prove to the world that you can justify your talent. Even if it is a challenging form of 'bat-ball' in its own right - a single inning does not prove anything - it does not take away anything from criticisms that have been levelled at you. Do it in one-day cricket; even better do it in test cricket and I am a convert - shit, I forgot, you arent even on the fringes of the test team now, are you?

And I have money riding on other IPL teams, so I for one, pray that this was nothing more that a flash in the pan - a joke of the cricketing gods. We look forward to seeing the Rohit Sharma of the recent past for the rest of the tournament.

Cheers!!

Sehwag ki captiancy!

2009-04-02T22:55:00.004+05:30

But why all the indignation over Sehwag's captaincy, man? Do people actually believe that Sehwag, because of the way he plays, lacks the authority to chastise teammates? Have I interpreted your sole argument correctly, you infidels?

Flintoff and Pietersen, overpriced and over there

2009-04-01T18:05:00.004+05:30

One of the joys of the Indian Premier League is seeing how much players are bought for. If supporters like to compare the lucky ones’ value, then so do the players, and those taking part can be excused for raising their eyebrows at the fees Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen commanded.

As good as they are, the England duo are not as adept at Twenty20 cricket as many, including the franchise owners, think. Sure, they might do well in a ‘who can hit the ball furthest’ contest, but the newest form of the game is much more than big hitting.

Shaun Marsh and Gautam Gambhir proved last year that orthodox players can prosper in Twenty20, where brains as well as brawn are important.

The two leading runscorers of last year’s tournament are greatly experienced in the format, which is not the case for Pietersen and Flintoff. They have played 15 and seven Twenty20 internationals respectively and rarely feature for their counties in the Twenty20 cup due to England commitments.

Flintoff’s average of 12.66 from those seven innings tells its own story, and whilst Pietersen fares better, averaging 26.78, he has still under-achieved. One half century in 15 T20I knocks shows that he does not play the match-turning innings he regularly contributes in the longer formats.

Pietersen likes to size up the opposition bowling before launching his attack, perhaps explaining why his T20I strike rate is inferior to that of fellow attacking batsmen Andrew Symonds, Yuvraj Singh, Chris Gayle and Sanath Jayasuriya.

As well as suffering from inexperience, Pietersen and Flintoff will both be distracted in South Africa. Pietersen has by his own admission had a terrible few months and will have his thoughts firmly on home; Flintoff is under pressure to stay fit and will not be fully focused. His bowling, his main strength, might be compromised.

Both players will earn a tidy sum for their flying visits and their franchises might be left disappointed with what they get in return. The one winner from their IPL sojourn might be England, who can write off their chances in the ICC World Twenty20 unless their star players find some Twenty20 form.

England captaincy, position filled

2009-03-27T15:17:00.000+05:30

It seems strange that there is even a modicum of doubt surrounding Andrew Strauss’ future as England captain. True, results have been disappointing, but England have been on a steady downward curve for four years and there can be no doubt that Strauss is the best man to lead the battle to reverse that slide.

This might be partly due to the lack of alternatives, which is hardly a reason in itself to throw full support behind the sole candidate, but there is no point in pretending that Strauss has a rival.

Kevin Pietersen has just been removed from the post and does not want it back, even if a massive U-turn was made; vice-captain Alastair Cook has only just cemented his place in the side after spending the last year under pressure, whilst Paul Collingwood has had an even more extreme struggle to retain his place. He also walked away from the One Day leadership role, admitting to difficulty in coping with the demands of the job.

There is no one else who can possibly lead the Test team. Strauss might not be the natural choice to be One Day and Twenty20 skipper, but the ECB must not be alarmed by his apparent unease in the shorter formats should they consider a return to a split captaincy.

England have been so poor in coloured clothing over recent times that starting from scratch under Strauss is no bad thing. There is no status quo to upset, no plans to redraw. He is also in the form of his life with the bat and proved in the second ODI against West Indies that he can transfer his Test purple patch.

Andy Flower appears certain to be given the coach’s job for the coming year, despite an even closer association with poor results, having been a key man in the Peter Moores era.

If the ECB can see past Flower’s poor record, they should be able to do the same with Strauss. England need stability and Strauss is the man to provide it. Name him skipper for all formats for the 2009 season and let the planning for the ICC World Twenty20 and West home series start with at least key position properly filled.

Johnson!!

2009-03-27T13:22:00.003+05:30

Is Mitchell the best all rounder in the world today? Outstanding bowling - some would argue, even better batting, an arm that fires in rockets from the boundary and buckets that seldom drop anything.

The way he is batting, he would walk into most sides solely as a batsman. Not even sure whether we can continue to call him a bowling all rounder. How does Australia do it - how can it always have crickets that are this good!!

Done ranting with no particular end in mind. Kudos to Johnson though - even Ponting is considering playing him as a floater.

Juicy Ryder

2009-03-26T11:21:00.001+05:30

Punctuated by bullet sweats, the Juicy One notches up hundreds in consecutive Tests. And what knocks!! Both times, he was prepared to be sedate (like he had a huge meal) while the mortal at the other end went hammer and tongs. Dan then, Taylor today, Franklin tomorrow?
I have to admit that Ryder never struck me as someone who would easily be a good Test bat, but his confidence while leaving the ball and defending the balls on off has me gushing at the Next Big Thing, excuse the choice of words.

Pseudonationalism

2009-03-24T21:09:00.004+05:30

For one with no significant loyalties to any single IPL team, at least none based on geography, the shift to South Africa will not make such a big difference - and certainly not at any emotional level. I mean why the hell should I care if the Indians play the Superkings in Centurion or Chinnaswamy as long as I can pop a beer open in front of the TV? Is this just me?

I just might get really pissed off if the government sold off the Bharatanatyam or the Taj Mahal or the Himalayas. Or lets just say, the Maha Kumbh was shifted to Brazil for security reasons. That would drive me mad. But when the media whipped itself into a frenzy over Gandhi's personal items being auctioned off, I could not care less.

There is no doubt that the IPL belongs to all Indians far less. Its owned clearly by big business, and a year is not enough for a sporting tournament to eat into a nation's ethos/zeitjeist. But the reactions led by the (once?) poster-boy of hate, Narendra Modi, would pencil it down to "national shame". Shorn testicles, if the I in IPL is his rationale!

The IPL does not belong to any of us. Of course, they did try to get us to feel some amount of ownership through the purchase of jerseys and our presence at the venues, but that was never meant to be exclusive, baby. It was just y'know we kinda misunderstood the commitments we took upon.. Certainly never offered us a say in determining venue the next year, and neither did we pay for that right. It might have been sold as a domestic tournament in some quarters but the minority of local representation in teams was a constant reminder that it was not.

Yes, last year I did not catch a single match from a stadium and I will admit I was looking forward to the experience this year. Other than that, as long as I dont have to stay up too long into the night to watch them, I'll be watching almost every single game. Whether there is a massive noisy crowd or not. Aren't there enough Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis around the world to make noise wherever it will be staged?

Unveiling the T 4000

2009-03-20T15:06:00.002+05:30

Anybody else think Guptill should be auditioning for Terminator 4?

The Prior paradox

2009-03-19T16:28:00.004+05:30

England are unsure as to what their best limited overs team is, with one major talking point being the omission of Matt Prior. Steve Davies was handed an international debut in Sunday’s Twenty20 match against West Indies, an apparently bizarre decision considering Prior’s current excellent form.

Prior was one of England’s many batting successes in the Test series and his overall record of 960 runs from 16 Tests, at an average of 48, rightly suggests he is capable of batting in England’s top six. His wicket-keeping remains under scrutiny, but it is widely accepted that keepers’ frailties are less exposed in limited overs cricket.

Davies looks set to retain his place as opener in the forthcoming One Day series, but we really shouldn’t be surprised. The England management tries (sometimes unsuccessfully) to keep ODI selection distinct from Test and Prior’s record in coloured clothing is poor.

He averages just 22.75 from his 33 ODIs, passing fifty only once. This is a particularly poor return for a batsman often used as an opener – he is more than just a ‘pinch-hitter’ – and Prior paid the price for his run of low scores in India before Christmas, ending the series at number nine in the batting order.

Prior is a naturally aggressive batsman seemingly well-suited to One Day cricket, but this disparity in his records is not unique for players who like to attack in Tests.

Michael Slater represents the best example. The Aussie dasher loved to throw the bat at the top of the order in his 74-match Test career, but he struggled in ODIs, averaging just 24.07 from 42 matches. His ODI strike rate of 60.40 reveals the extent to which he failed to transfer his Test form to the One Day format.

Of course many natural aggressors succeed in both formats, but sometimes this style of player fails to adapt, seemingly confused by the space on the boundaries that should suit their game. One Day cricket is all about flexibility and maybe Prior has not yet discovered it.

Written by Philip Oliver

O-Bala, No-Bala?

2009-03-16T17:45:00.002+05:30

Unless Dhoni goes extreme left-field, a third seamer needs to be picked from Munaf, Balaji and Dhawal for the Tests. Balaji (in his new avtar) Dhawal are fairly untested in international waters. Munaf has been weighed and measured and, at least during the third ODI, found desperately wanting under pressure.
For the first Test at least, Dhawal is not in the running and it is a clear two-way knockout between Balaji and Munaf.
dont know how much Dhoni will respect Munaf's position in the pecking order (will someone please give me a better term to use instead, i am fuggin tired of it) ahead of Balaji, at the time the Test team was drawn up. I think it must be respected. Remember how everyone now agrees that Sehwag being dropped from the Test side based on ODI form was a bad idea? The same would apply here.
I can already hear people sing but pressure is pressure maaan and he crumbled. I disagree.. pressure is not pressure, I mean its not the same kind of pressure, more time between spells etc. So there it is - Munaf Patel is my pick for third seamer in the first Test, and it is not because I am not impressed with Bala's comeback.

It is all in the mind

2009-03-15T11:38:00.004+05:30

The Nawab of Najafgarh has finally arrived. For long, Sehwag has been India's greatest paradox. His seeming inability to string a consistent run of scores in the limited overs format where he ought to be at home while scoring hundreds almost at will in the five day format has confounded his millions of admirers. Is it just good form that has sparked of this run or is there some change in his makeup - technical, tactical or mental which has seen him embrace the one day game with such success recently?

To this writer, the major reason for Sehwag's recent astounding success has been a change in his mental makeup. The presence of India's brilliant batting lineup has in a way liberated him and yet shackled him. Liberated him from the fear of failure and shackled him from the reckless stroke play which had plagued his one day career. For the first time, Sehwag has realized that he serves the team better by playing normally and not by looking for superhuman feats of shot making. Take an eg: - For a majority of his one day career, Sehwag lived or died by the upper cut to third man. There were spectacular sixers and shocking slashes straight to third man. Yet, he would persist in such endeavors again and again, ruining many promising innings. But, now with restraint added to his many undoubted skills, Sehwag waits before pouncing. The scoring rate is still astounding, India are still off to rollicking starts and Sehwag is at the crease, post, over number 10.

So, roll on Sehwag and delight us with more sixers over point and thirdman !

England fall just short of victory

2009-03-11T14:54:00.002+05:30

First word for today should probably go to the fact that England have lost the test series against West Indies 1-0 after just failing to squeeze a victory out of the first test.

With the cricket odds expecting a draw going into the final day, Andrew Strauss’ men – in particular Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss – batted aggressively before declaring on 237-6.

This declaration came a bit too late for a lot of people, but it gave England two sessions to bowl out the hosts and square the series. In the end, it was a valiant effort, but they fell two wickets short.

So, England have lost a series during which they were they were the better side for large periods. In the end, it all came down to that horrific batting performance on the fourth day of the first test in Jamaica.

The disaster of 51 all out combined with two questionably delayed declarations and a number of flat bowling displays have cost England.

One particular position remains uncertain in the England team – the number three batting position. Ian Bell held the position at the start of the series before being dropped for Owais Shah who is currently in possession of the role.

However, he has failed to make the type of impact that would have guaranteed him a place in the side come the English summer. Shah made scores of 57, 14, 7, 21, 33 and 1 during this series. Hardly the sign of someone in it for the long term is it?

Personally, I feel for Shah. He has been forced to bat in a position that he isn’t completely suited to in order to achieve a much deserved place in the side. The reality is that England have a problem with number three and have done for a while now.

So, who are the options to for fill the role in the tests against West Indies and Australia this summer? Well, presumably Bell and Shah are in with a shout if they show some decent form between now and then. Ravi Bopara is another option as he often bats at number three for his county Essex.

However, if England are to have someone at three they can rely upon, someone who has experience, someone who can make big hundreds - it has to be Michael Vaughan.

If the former England captain can find some form, then he could complete an England top six which – despite the 51 all out – is beginning to look in top form. We shall have to wait and see how it turns out.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about cricket betting

Predictions?

2009-03-10T11:48:00.002+05:30

Though Australia have dominated this series, primarily through the ungainly efforts of Mr. Hughes, the South Africans have battled hard on the fourth day. As a result, the fifth day promises to be a humdinger, with all results still possible (assuming no bad weather), though ofcourse, a lot of people think that a South African victory is extremely improbable.

I for one, think otherwise. Based solely on the assumption that South Africa do not lose more than one wicket to the new ball (ideally none!), I see South Africa extremely well placed to level the series. If Kallis can hold up one end, the likes of AB, Boucher and JPD are more than capable of scoring at 4 an over for about 60 overs especially if it comes down to a 20-20 kind of scenario towards the end of the day, with Morket still hovering in the wings.

The bowlers are tired/injured. There is no spinner to talk off (Katich and North are not really going to trouble the sleep of too many batsmen). The pitch, while not completely reliable, has not demonstrated a propensity to fall into bed with the bowling side. Pride and confidence run high in this South African unit, while the Aussies are low on the latter (something that will get compunded if they fail to capitalize on the new ball). All in all, a target that was impossible till last evening (like the 400 + in Australia), is now fairly attainable.

My prediction - a three wicket win for South Africa!!

Superb Strauss hundred overshadowed by negative hosts

2009-03-07T14:36:00.002+05:30

From the moment the West Indies selected an extra batsman to replace their front line spinner, their intentions for the test match were clear. Chris Gayle’s team – who hold a 1-0 series lead – are looking to tick the box of every session without too many runs being scored or wickets being taken.

Looking for their first series win since 2004, the West Indies are only after one result and that’s a draw. In some ways, you can’t blame them. They will feel that securing their first series victory over England since 1994 should come in anyway they can.

In all honesty, I’m probably just an England fan that is desperate for a match that ends in a positive result. Gayle’s tactics have frustrated me no end, but I guess that’s the intention of them!

The fact is that the first day’s play was probably the least entertaining 90 overs of cricket you will see and this was completely down to the West Indies approach. They weren’t interested in playing competitive cricket and this was a huge disappointment.

One of the shining lights in an otherwise uneventful day was Andrew Strauss’ hundred. The England captain is in some of the form of his life right now and is cashing in with big scores. He really does seem to excel with the responsibility and this is fantastic news for England.

As for the way the match is going to go, well the cricket odds must be favouring a draw already. The pitch looks like it is going to offer very little and this combined with a packed West Indies batting line-up and a negative Gayle means that a third draw in a row is likely.

England need to do all they can to prevent this. One or two of their bowlers need to realise the seriousness of the situation and put in a match-winning performance.

The tourists don’t deserve to lose this series, but unless they manage to produce more with the ball than they have in the previous two tests, that is exactly what is going to happen.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about cricket betting

Static from Pakistan

2009-03-03T15:58:00.001+05:30

"But terrorits never attack cricketers or cricket venues!" is an argument that I will never make again.

Rohit, where art thou?

2009-02-25T19:58:00.001+05:30

Yet another failure for the talented Rohit Sharma. Yet another disappointing game. How much longer?

Should Flintoff risk his Ashes fitness to play in the IPL?

2009-02-24T17:22:00.001+05:30

If England are to regain the Ashes this summer, everyone knows that they need to have Andrew Flintoff firing on all cylinders. He is England’s talisman and was the difference between the two sides back in 2005 when England secured a 2-1 series victory.

At this moment in time Flintoff is recovering from a hip injury that is set to rule him out of the fourth test against the West Indies. Once he has returned to the fold, the only significant gap in the international calendar occurs in April when Flintoff is scheduled to play in the Indian Premier League.

This means that leading up to the most important series of them all; Flintoff is going to undergo a process of recovering from injury and then constant cricket. Surely a rest wouldn’t do him any harm?

Speaking about the situation, Flintoff has declared that he expects to be fit to play for the Chennai Super Kings – who have paid £1million for his services – and that he doesn’t even expect it to be ‘touch and go’.

The all-rounder then went on to say that he is ‘intending to go’ despite speculation that the ECB may prevent him doing so to ensure his fitness for the English summer.

Flintoff’s fitness ambitions aren’t as long-term as the IPL at this moment in time though as he says that the competition isn’t at the ‘forefront’ of his thinking right now.

Instead, he is determined to be fit for the final test in the Caribbean and the One Day Internationals that follow it. The cricket odds would certainly expect more England success if this was the case.

However, there has to be concerns about the amount of cricket Flintoff is set to take on following this latest injury. What if he was to suffer from exhaustion or pick up a new injury during the IPL?

You can’t put a price on playing for England against Australia, after all.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about cricket betting

Test Cricket the winner as the Windies force a draw

2009-02-20T15:56:00.001+05:30

Considering the events that preceded the third match between England and the West Indies, it is quite remarkable that the two teams contested in five days of such fabulous test cricket.

The second test match – which was abandoned after less than two overs – left a sour taste in the mouth of West Indies cricket, but this match will have definitely made up for it.

Given the lack of preparation, the fact that the pitch lasted the entire match is quite something in itself. It acted as a reminder to everyone that Antigua is more than capable of hosting test cricket and that it is, first and foremost, a cricket ground.

Anyway, onto the match itself. It really was incredible wasn’t it? It was test cricket at its finest in my opinion and even though England threw away a comfortable winning position, there is no doubt that every ball of every over was enjoyed by the majority.

Huge credit must go the West Indies batsman for their effort on the final day. The rain delay at the start helped, but the cricket odds still backed England to force victory.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan set the tone with their partnership and it really got the West Indies team believing they could save the game.

Then, the mammoth effort from the tail-enders – in particular from Daren Powell – was fantastic. They dug in and achieved what must have felt like a victory for their team.

As for England, well they contributed to their own downfall really. Why bat on so long in the second innings? Why send in James Anderson as a night-watchman when it was obvious he would struggle to score quickly the following morning?

Fair enough, the injury to Andrew Flintoff couldn’t be legislated for. Had he been firing on all cylinders, England would probably have one the game. As it was, they are left feeling like they have lost it.

The match as a whole will go down in history though and it exaggerated the enjoyment test cricket can bring. In what other sport can five days of intense action come down to the final 30 minutes? Incredible stuff.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about cricket betting for Betfair – check them out for the latest Cheltenham festival betting

Seaming (ly) Awry?

2009-02-17T18:33:00.002+05:30

A mumbling Srinath has terrorized me for a few months now, espeically given that there is so little sensible mumble coming out of someone who has played so much international cricket. Like the proverbial flash in the pan however, Srinath's comments on the third Indian seamer finally add some serious value to what should be a more hotly debated issue.

To paraphrase what he said - Indian selectors must stop playing musical chairs with the position of the third seamer. This role has been fulfilled by Munaf, Praveen, Ganguly, Sreesanth and Ajit over the past few years in the Indian version of the rotation policy. If we accept that batsmen require a longish noose from which to hang themselves, why does the same logic not apply to bowlers, life for whom has anyway been made tougher by pitches that are getting slower and slower? Has Praveen done badly in the recent past to merit an exclusion? Didnt Sreesanth do enough in the little domestic cricket that he played?

I fail to understand how the allegedly best swing bowlers in the country are not on this tour (Zak excluded). Sreesanth and Praveen have been picked to play in India, Australia and South Africa (as the case may be), for their ability to swing the new ball and reverse swing the old one. Yet, when we go to a country which demands swing bowling expertise, we prefer the Soooparrstarr (Balaji, who hasnt played in a long long time and bowls only slightly faster than John) over these two? While I am all for one of them missing out for Ranji's highest wicket taker (preference for youth and all that), selections like Balajis' make one wonder whether the selectors are not suffering from some permanent brain damage received during their playing days.

As an aside, my prediction on the test series is a 2-1 victory to India, weather permitting. What say?

Balaji - Return of the Ultimate Sooparstaar

2009-02-13T15:46:00.007+05:30

Has Balaji's performance since he regained fitness and got back to the game with reduced pace and a remodelled action really justified a Test match recall? Over Sreesanth and Arpy Singh?

Here are three Bala-watchers who have written about his comeback in the recent past.

N Balajhi of TCWJ:

"LAKSHMIPATHY BALAJI has made comeback into the Indian team after a stellar performance in Ranji trophy where he tallied 36 wickets @ 17.50 in 7 matches. The no. of times he hit the stumps, in his come back Ranji season, was the impressive aspect about his come back. His main weapon, straightening on off-stump is still intact. His inswingers are news to me. He swung the ball both ways. ...
Despite his ability to move the ball bothways he is vulnerable in international cricket for his lack of pace. He was never quick but now slowed down to early 120's. At this pace he got to bowl a very disciplined line in international cricket, especially in ODIs and back that up with good length. At this pace Balaji should try to emulate that Kiwi Larsen, in terms of line and length."

Siddharth Monga on Cricinfo:

"His comeback started during the IPL, but then again so did Ashish Nehra's. Both of them impressed, bowling four overs a day, but the real test would be to bowl 20 to 30 overs a day on unresponsive tracks. Nehra broke down again, but Balaji has gone on through the league stages and the quarter-final of the Ranji Trophy. When it comes to unhelpful tracks, none come worse than the Chinnaswamy pitch, where Tamil Nadu played Bengal.
... Balaji did that and more on a pitch where taking wickets in quick succession was next to impossible. He took five of them for seven runs, whereupon Tamil Nadu went on to make an incredible comeback and make their way through to the semi-final. It wasn't easy: he looked innocuous at times, bowling in the mid-120s and not getting any help from the pitch. But he persevered. In the first innings, he bowled what looked like a slower legcutter to Manoj Tiwary, which jagged in and bowled him. Tiwary was closing in on 150, but nobody expects googlies from pace bowlers. "

On the same quarterfinal match,
Soulberry of The Ranji Trophy Chronicles

"My good friend and fellow Ranji Chronicler, N Balajhi advised caution to my enthusiasm on seeing L Balaji swing it both ways. He was correct of course...the speed was off and all that stuff which makes you less effective on the international stage...but he was lethal today. It was as if he had a magic wand to the ball as he sliced through the Bengal order to end up with six dangerous wickets. dangerous because they tempt you to call him up for national attention. I am tempted to ignore my friend's good advice and call for more of Balaji! Anyway, the gist of the story is the ball moved out, the ball moved in, the batsmen didn't have a clue. Not since Irfan Pathan lost it have we seen consistent swing like Balaji showed us."

A 'class' act disappears?

2009-02-11T14:25:00.001+05:30

Rohit Sharma, the supposedly talented right hand batsman, captured the imagination of millions with his performances in the World T20 and the CB Series in Australia. Some people on this blog sang his praises and heralded the coming of the next great right handed Indian batsmen, who had rightfully claimed his place in the pantheon of Indian batting gods.

Today, despite the confidence that Dhoni continues to show in him, Rohit does not command his place in either the one day or T20 teams, leave aside the test arena. Like Dravid, who the test team continues to carry through his slump, Rohit continues to be carried by the might of the Indian batting order, with even Ravinder Jadeja and Yusuf outdoing him consistently. While his fans will continue to argue that it is nothing more than a loss of form (and his class will eventually prevail etc.), in keeping with what I have said earlier on this blog, after yet another dismal performance last night, I am forced to reiterate that he does not belong in the international arena. He lacks the full range of stroke making that is essential at this level, as also the power that someone like Yuvraj or Yusuf weild with nonchalence. Add to this his inability to dominate spin or even rotate strike and you have the pull package of all that a one day team does not need. His fielding, while continuin to remain steady, has shown no flashes of brilliance - some may argue that even the intensity of his fielding has dropped.

While I am all for investing in talent and leeting it find its feet in international cricket, lets remember that the cost is a career for Venugopal, Badrinath, Pujara and other talented youngsters that continue to line up behind him. How long does India carry him? John??

English media play the blame game after humiliating defeat

2009-02-10T18:22:00.001+05:30

As far as embarrassing defeats go, England’s loss in Jamaica to the West Indies last week was right up there. Andrew Strauss’ men were blown away in their second innings for just 51 and this has led to many members of the English media bringing up the dreaded ‘crisis’ word.

The defeat followed a month of great controversy surrounding the England team, with Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores stepping down from their respective roles as captain and coach. With this in mind, it wasn’t the best time to be getting hammered by a team below you in the world rankings.

Where has the blame been placed though? Who is responsible for England’s recent demise? Well, many cricket pundits and former players have been having their say….

One time England spinner Robert Croft believes that the players were ‘too matey’ with their West Indian opponents. He says that there was a lot of ‘smiling and chatting’ between the two teams and that this doesn’t help the teams cause.

Former England captain Graham Gooch has also been critical of the team, by saying that they have ‘no direction’ and that they are ‘standing still’ without progressing forward in the slightest. In terms of blame, Gooch feels that the distraction of the Indian Premier League has played its part.

Elsewhere, BBC Sport’s Robbo Robson says that there is a ‘chummy clique where you have to know the password to get in’ and believes that far too much faith has been shown to the likes of Ian Bell and Monty Panesar, both of whom should be dropped.

Finally, one of the most significant voices in English cricket - Jonathan Agnew - says that that Bell ‘must be dropped’ to show that the batsmen’s places are not fireproof.

In terms of these opinions, the one that I agree with the most is Graham Gooch. Where is the direction? Where is this team going? Where are the youngsters? Are we going to sit and wait for the likes of Strauss, Collingwood, Pietersen and Harmison to retire at the same time and then change the whole team?

Before the test match, I was relatively positive about the team’s chances against the West Indies and so were the cricket odds. However, there was always a chance that they could self destruct - much like they have done. If the performance in Jamacia isn’t enough to suggest it is time for change, I don’t know what is.

Given the fact that Owais Shah is the only batting cover though, not too much can be changed in the rest of this tour. However, let’s freshen it up a bit. This is the team I would choose to face West Indies in the second test on Friday:

Andrew Strauss, Alistair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Owais Shah, Andrew Flintoff, Matt Prior, Adil Rashid, Graham Swann, Stuart Broad, Ryan Sidebottom.

This means that there is no place for Bell, Harmison or Panesar. It also means that Pietersen will be batting at three. It is worth a go though, because there is no way it can get any worse. Hopefully.

By Thomas Rooney - a sports writer who blogs about cricket betting for Betfair - check them out for the latest cheltenham odds

Cool, ei maaan?

2009-02-08T17:11:00.004+05:30

"Of course, Suleiman Jamaal Benn is not the most threatening of spinners"

Yes I did say that in March last year when the Lankans were touring.

Now I say, of course. Height, flight and accuracy - all the makings of a world class spinner. He is not too bad at gully either. All the awkwardn limb movement of Ishant Sharma married to the athleticism of Anil Kumble, but there is a bit of Roger Harper seed in the bwoy.

He is Cool, ei maan, that Suleimaan.

Congrats West Indies. Hats off, Jerome for the ruthless expose of the England smugness. This year's Ashes will be a the test of who is less worse off.

That’s two centuries KP has thrown away, but can he be criticised for scoring 97?

2009-02-05T16:03:00.002+05:30

As far as cricket debates go, this is one of the more difficult ones to decide which camp to go in. After Kevin Pietersen hauled out to Sulieman Benn for 97 during England’s first innings in Jamaica, there were groans all around the ground.

“Why has he gone and done that? He could have nudged his way to 100 and then started to build a huge score for his team. Instead he has gone for the glory shot and thrown it all away. That’s why he should never have been captain.”

The above view is similar to that of many England cricket fans. They lay into Pietersen for failing to go on and make a big score. Then, they point to the fact that he did exactly the same thing against New Zealand last summer when he was nearing a century.

Some people disagree with the criticism Pietersen has received though.

“How can people criticise someone who is clearly the best batsmen in the team? If it wasn’t for Pietersen’s innings, England would be in a lot more trouble than 236-5 at the end of day one. Would people have been happier if he was out cheaply like Strauss or Cook so that he wouldn’t have thrown anything away?”

Which view am I closer to I hear you ask! Well, to be honest the second one. Yes, it is frustrating when a player gets out just before making their century and yes, KP played a silly shot at the wrong time. However, I find it very hard to criticise someone who has dug his team out of a hole with a gritty 97.

Pietersen must be thinking that he can do nothing right. Strauss, Cook, Bell and Collingwood didn’t make 97 runs between them and yet the one who did make a significant score is the one being singled out for criticism. I guess it is just a testament to how good a player KP is and how much is expected of him.

The only thing that I would be critical towards Pietersen about is his comments after the day's play. The ‘that’s they way I play’ line annoys me because for the majority of his innings, he was watchful and sensible. Then, he tried to shrug off the fact that he didn’t reach 100. I’m sorry KP, but your face said it all when you got out – you were livid with yourself.

Like I have mentioned though, I can’s criticise him too much. He is England’s best player by a long, long way and the team would be a lot worse off without him. In fact, I dread to think of life without KP at the moment.

In terms of the test match as a whole, well I would say that the cricket odds still expect an England win. As long as they can move beyond 300 in their first innings, they would have done OK. Then, on what is a surprisingly wearing pitch, the West Indies have to bat last and that has to be encouraging for the tourists. Monty Panesar in particular.

More from me next week.

By Thomas Rooney – a sports writer for Betfair – check them out for a grand national free bet

The Royal Conundrum?

2009-02-05T14:06:00.001+05:30

In the IPL’s first year, the unheralded Rajasthan Royals, a coalition of hardened professionals and fearless youngsters, demonstrated the value of team work over individual brilliance and experience. In a format that often rewards individual brilliance with a win, the Royals marched to victory on bits and pieces contributions from the mighty Australians, the temperament Pakistanis, the Goans and the powerful Pathans.

The lack of expectation would have gone a long way in the Royals being able to play their brand of cricket. As would have the leadership qualities that Warne demonstrated - the heart of a gambler helps- he was the adhesive that held together and strengthened the coalition.

But, would the Royals would have won without the performances of Pakistan’s best fast bowler or the world’s best all-rounder in Shane Watson – definitely not. Yet, as the IPL juggernaut completes an entire circle, the Royals start this season as defending champions, a title that will force each and every member of that outfit to carry a tremendous burden. Champions that would otherwise have carried this pressure for the Royals have been forced out by injury (Watson) and ridiculous political posturing (Tanvir) by Pakistan, leaving only the experience of Warne, the guts of Salunke and the power of Pathan to battle the might of other cash rich franchises.

The Royals need atleast one of the world’s most explosive batsmen and one of the world’s canniest bowlers if they are to launch a viable defense. Peterson’s flair and relationship with Warne would undoubtedly allow the Royals to mount an Arsenal like challenge, but like the addition of Arshavin to Arsenal, it is not going to be enough to hold the fort. In any event, he is too popular and too expensive for the Royals. Freddie perhaps- a man who is second best only to Watson and would without doubt, form permitting, elevate the Royals to the status of title contenders? Or Duminy, Stuart Clark or Samit Patel?

It does make for an interesting auction tomorrow and I for one can’t wait to see who Warne wants. Whoever it is, Warne will be in his element, for he will be betting close to a couple of million dollars over performances on which he will eventually have little control!

As an aside, since there is a two million cap on each franchisee, what happens if more than one franchisee bids two million for the same player?

Why England’s bowling is a great concern ahead of crucial year

2009-01-30T16:36:00.001+05:30

It has been well documented that the England cricket team have a huge few months ahead of them. First up there is two test series against the West Indies, both of which England are expected to win. Then, as we all know, is the much publicised Ashes series.

With this in mind, it is worth taking a look at how the team are shaping up ahead of these three extremely significant series. Well, first things first – the batting seems ok. I believe there is enough there with Strauss, Cook, Pietersen, Collingwood, Flintoff, Shah or Bell to score big runs this year.

However, the bowling department is completely different. In fact, as an England fan, I am very worried about the way in which the bowling attack has been performing. Every single one of the bowlers, with the exception of Flintoff, will feel they need to prove their critics wrong.

This isn’t the healthiest position to be in because in reality, this is just a different way of saying that the majority of England’s bowlers are out of form. To emphasise this point, let’s take a closer look at the men that will be looking to haunt West Indies and Australia’s batsmen in the coming months. Again, with the exception of Andrew ‘England’s best bowler by miles’ Flintoff.

Stuart Broad – This is a young man with a huge amount of talent. He can bat, bowl and field. However, he needs to show the selectors that he can take regular test match wickets if he is to nail down his place in the side.

James Anderson – Mr Inconsistent. On his day, Jimmy can be one of the best swing bowlers in World cricket. Unfortunately though, these days seem to be few and far between. Does he truly believe in himself?

Steve Harmison – It seems as though Harmy will be fighting it out with Anderson for the final position in the side. He needs to show everyone that he can perform on tour after his dismal showing in New Zealand last year. Figures of 0-60 on the first day against West Indies ‘A’ aren’t that encouraging either.

Ryan Sidebottom – The Nottinghamshire man was England’s leading wicket taker in 2008, so form isn’t something that he needs to prove as such. Instead, because of a long injury lay-off, he needs to prove his fitness. He didn’t look that threatening against West Indies ‘A’. Can he find the same rhythm as last year?

Graham Swann – Swann had a decent series in India that started with him taking two wickets in his first over as a test match player. Whether he has enough to take regular wickets is another matter though. He has to prove that he is in the team for the long haul.

Monty Panesar – Another England bowler that has had his fair share of criticism in recent months. Many say that he hasn’t progressed enough as a bowler and he will want to use the games against a weak West Indies team to remind everyone what he is capable of.

Adil Rashid – How much this young Yorkshire man will figure this year is questionable. He has been earmarked as one for the future, after all. However, if he is given the chance he will want to tempt the selectors into giving him a run in the team.

So, overall there are too many players that are going into this year without being completely satisfied with either their place in the team, their form or their fitness. The cricket odds still expect England to beat the West Indies, but it will mean that a couple of their bowlers perform above the standards they have been in recent months.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about cricket betting

Nouveau Fab

2009-01-30T15:32:00.004+05:30

Crests and troughs, rise and fall - a feature in most..

Fuck it, Sick Boy said it best, didn't he?

"Well, at one time, you've got it, and then you lose it, and it's gone forever. All walks of life: George Best, for example. Had it, lost it. Or David Bowie, or Lou Reed..."

Now he can add Australia to the list. That's it. I have joined the army of people singing dirges for Australian cricket. Long may it push daisies.

Simulataneous to its demise, is the rise of another superpower. Looks like South Africa are finally beginning to fulfill the promise of Kepler, Peter Kirsten, Andrew Hudson, Brian McMillan, Cullinan, Gary etc. The newest in fab batting line-ups. The FabFour for cricket fans born after 1997.

Graeme Smith: Has seen the worst, and now close to leading a side crafted in his own image to the best of times.
A B De: Has proved everyone that he is already much much better than Rhodes. Has done it in India which seems to be some kind of benchmark for white batsmen. And has done well against the Australian and English bowling attacks.
Hashim Amla: Beard. Wrists. Zen.
J P Duminy: Too early? Pencilled in for future fabness.

The eye of the Lara

2009-01-30T11:27:00.002+05:30

"Adrian Barath, a right-hand opening batsman, is considered to be one of the most promising young batting talents in the West Indies."

Thus spake the Cricinfo player profile. I'd already heard of some young Trinidadian who'd caught Lara's eye, but I did not make the association till I clicked on his name on the scorecard and went to the profile.

He lived up to the billing, and in true Lara style, started by putting the English to the sword. Island Express will keep watching this yaang fela, that Adriyaan.

Chokin traffic

2009-01-24T14:14:00.003+05:30

A smile on workhorse, that stole some thunder from the swingin' Pathan at the other end. An outswinger that India fell in love with, at Jo'burg. Both being re-engineered.

Central Zone v. South Zone, Duleep Trophy Match

Not on Neo. Out of focus, they got 3 wickets apiece. 3 run lead. Long long way to go. The road to become a fast bowler in the national team is like the one outside Andheri station. Choked with people, all of whom want to go to same place. If you get on it, you have to be prepared to spend some time on it.

England players cleared for IPL – who will be the most wanted?

2009-01-23T18:47:00.001+05:30

England’s cricketers will play in the Indian Premier League later this year after the England and Wales Cricket board agreed to release them for a period of three weeks. It is a decision that has prompted the players to finally sign their central contracts that they had originally been offered back in September last year.

It seems clear that the England players are keen not to miss out on the opportunity to earn a significant sum of money from playing in the IPL and who can blame them? The tournament was a huge success last year and the only major cricket nation missing some players was England.

It is all very well the players being released for IPL duty, but which of England’s players will be in demand for the Twenty20 competition? It’s hardly a form of the game that the team have excelled in so far. Nevertheless, let’s take a look.

Former captain Kevin Pietersen will not only be the most sought after England player, but one of the hottest properties amongst all of the world’s players. Many IPL teams will want him in their team and will look forward to seeing his unique batting style, including the infamous ‘switch-hit’ that he has adopted.

KP’s reputation in India was enhanced even further when he led his England team back to India after the Mumbai terror attacks. There is no doubt that he will the subject of many bids and could earn as much as $1m in total from his IPL experience.

Andrew Flintoff is likely to be England’s only other genuine ‘hot property’. Freddie could well earn as much as Pietersen as his reputation as one of the best all-rounders in the game will make him a very wanted man.

He has hit form at the right time as well and if this continues throughout the English summer, he will be a huge asset for any IPL team. Flintoff is also a very likeable character and he will be the main attraction in some games.

Other than these two, there are arguably no England players that will be in as much demand. Perhaps this reflects the team’s poor record in Twenty20 cricket, I’m not sure. Samit Patel is someone that has already been linked with the Delhi Daredevils and he admits that it would be a great ‘opportunity’.

Elsewhere, Paul Collingwood’s experience will probably land him a place somewhere. He averages 34.30 in 154 One Day Internationals and can also offer something with the ball. Speaking about the prospect of playing in the IPL, he said that there are plenty of ‘benefits’ other than the financial ones. By this he means that England’s players can use it as preparation for the Twenty20 World Cup.

Finally, the only other players I would expect to make a significant impact in the IPL are Ravi Bopara and Owais Shah. Both of them are flamboyant batsman and I’d expect the cricket odds to back them scoring plenty of runs in India. They would suit the competition down to the ground in my opinion, especially Shah.

Stuart Broad’s all-round abilities also could mean that he proves a success, but there is no getting away from the fact that Pietersen and Flintoff are the main men to come out of Team England.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about cricket betting

What now for England after the Moores / Pietersen saga?

2009-01-16T15:13:00.000+05:30

I think that Vic Marks summed up the current state of the England cricket team perfectly – it’s a mess, but not a terrible mess. Would we all have preferred Peter Moores and Kevin Pietersen to have put their problems to one side and agreed to continue working together for England? Probably, yes.

In all serious though, even if they had agreed to continue in their roles, surely it would only have been a matter of time before Pietersen or Moores were unhappy with things again? Had they ‘kissed and made up’ for the West Indies tour, only for their relationship to break down again just before the Ashes – that would have been awful.

So, although the current situation and the circumstance that preceded it were far from perfect, it could have been a lot, lot worse. Believe me. It is now time for English cricket to move forward with Andrew Strauss, starting with a successful tour of the West Indies.

Speaking of Strauss, it has to be said that he was the only choice once Pietersen stepped down. Many have described him as ‘a safe pair of hands’ for the job, but he’s more than just that. His image and personality is more like a traditional England captain than Pietersen and that has probably led to this expression being touted.

There is more to Strauss though – he is an acute tactician, he is respected by all the players, he has succeeded in the role before, he is in form and he has been known to excel with the bat when performing as skipper. So, like I said – he was the only choice when it came to selecting a new captain.

Some cricket odds were favouring Andrew Flintoff for the role, but this would have been a ridiculous decision. Flintoff needs to be left to excel in his role as one of the greatest all-rounders in the game. He is the man that the captain can turn to for something special, not the man to lead the team. There is no way he should have been asked to take on the captaincy as well as batting at number six and being the best bowler in the side.

Another benefit of having Strauss as skipper is that Pietersen can now concentrate on being the best batsman in the side. It has always been said that your best player shouldn’t be the leader and perhaps this belief is relevant for English cricket today. Strauss will open the batting, leading from the front with his star men Flintoff and Pietersen to follow. Perfect.

The only factor that remains uncertain is that of who will succeed Moores. Andy Flower will perform in the role for the West Indies tour and should England put on a decent performance, then he will put his name in the hat for the job on a full-time basis.

Other than that, Tom Moody and Graham Ford appear to be the front runners. Personally I would go with Moody who I feel should have got the job ahead of Moores back in April 2007. Like mentioned though, if England perform well in West Indies, the ECB may well persist with the Strauss / Flower combination.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about cricket betting

Jihad on ugliness?

2009-01-09T18:09:00.005+05:30

Has Islam outlawed ugliness in batting?! The Caliphate (or whatever) forgot to send me the memo.

Outside of Salman Butt and Younis Khan, the evidence is overwhelming. VVS might not be a Muslim, be he does hail from Hyderabad. And I have not even started about Inzy and Yousuf.

Captain Pietersen wants it all his own way – will he get it?

2009-01-06T21:14:00.000+05:30

At the start of an Ashes year, the ongoing news story involving the dispute between England captain Kevin Pietersen and coach Peter Moores is far from ideal. The frosty relationship has left the future of England’s coaching team in doubt and means there is great uncertainty ahead of the West Indies tour.

Overall, it is fair to say that the England cricket team is in a small state of crisis. As well as the disagreements between captain and coach, there has been rumours of unrest in the camp, a divide in the opinion of players and perhaps most importantly – a poor run of results.

All of this has meant that even though Australia are being comfortably beaten at home by South Africa in response to their equally destructive defeat in India, England are the team in crisis. At this moment in time it seems as though Australia are in better shape ahead of this summer’s Ashes series. Considering the negativity surrounding their current form, that’s really saying something. All in all, the cricket odds will be expecting an extremely tight series.

Where has all this Moores / Pietersen stuff come from though? Well, the most significantly annoying factor is the fact that this has all come out in public. Captain’s and coaches have arguments about certain things and that is to be expected. Former England captain Nasser Hussain admits that he and Duncan Fletcher didn’t always see eye to eye for example.

So, that’s the first thing – it should have been dealt with behind closed doors. However, if we are being honest, there appears to be more to this than a simple disagreement. Moores and Pietersen’s differing views on the future of Michael Vaughan would have played their part, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.

With Moores and Pietersen, there is quite simply a character clash. From the moment KP was appointed captain, I was concerned about his relationship with the relatively reserved and calm Moores. Pietersen is such a huge character that he will want nothing to stand in his way of getting success for this England team.

The Vaughan situation is an example. Pietersen wanted him back, Moores didn’t. Eventually, the coach got his way on this one, but will this be the case in the long term? I don’t think so. The captain of the team will have more power than the coach – it’s his team, it’s his players and it’s his decision making that will affect results.

This view is exaggerated when it’s a player and personality like Pietersen in charge. He isn’t going to want to be compromised by a Peter Moores decision and he won’t want to play second fiddle when it comes to selection. Pietersen wants to run his team in his own unique style and this will probably mean that Moores will have to move on.

The fact that Pietersen, a relatively new captain, has challenged the decision making of the coach says a lot about his personality and about his direct way of thinking. Will this will benefit the team as a whole though? Should the ECB put all their trust in KP to do things his way?

Let me know where you stand in this captain v coach row.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about cricket betting

Have a great one

2009-01-01T12:25:00.002+05:30

Hope you and yours woke up to brilliant sunshine and warm sandy beaches. I did!

Also, Congratulations fellers. We might just be in store for a New Year gift from the BCCI and the ECB. Best!
I am telling you, it's all that man Soulberry's doing!Hum huve kamyaab or some such?

With Vaughan missing out, who holds the key and number three for England?

2008-12-30T18:06:00.002+05:30

England named their squad for the tour of West Indies yesterday and if we are being honest, there were no real surprises. Some believed that former captain Michael Vaughan had an outside chance, but realistically, he hasn’t played enough cricket in recent months and it would have been a risky to include him.

The only other talking points in terms of the test squad were that Adil Rashid – who I wrote about on Island Express last week – has been selected and despite recent injury problems, so has Ryan Sidebottom. Other that that it was very much as expected.

So, Michael Vaughan. What does the future hold for him now? In reality, as Jonathan Agnew pointed out in his blog yesterday, the news that he missed out on the squad moves him a step closer to international retirement. Being the determined individual he is, he still harbour ambitions of making back into the England set-up, but the cricket odds are less likely to back this happening now.

The only way that Vaughan is going to remind the selectors he can do a job for his country is to go back to Yorkshire and score lots and lots of runs. The only problem with this though is that time isn’t on his side. Vaughan's main aim is to play against Australia again, that's for sure. If he is to do this next summer, he would have to do enough in the first few weeks of the county season to impress. Given the form he has been in, is this likely to happen?

Even if he does find some form again, he would have to hope that someone in England’s batting line-up has a bad run to make way for him. All in all, not many things are in favour of Vaughan playing for England again, but I wouldn’t rule it out just yet. Even if it isn’t next summer, Vaughan won’t give up hope and the selectors can’t avoid him for ever. Just go and score plenty of hundreds Michael!

I mentioned England’s current batting line-up a second ago and that’s what I want to talk about next. Vaughan’s omission from the squad means that Ian Bell and Owais Shah will be fighting it out for the number three position in the batting order. It is such a vital position for any team and one which England have had problems with for a while now.

Bell is the man in possession of the position and the faith shown in him by the selectors should boost his confidence. However, he really has been on a bad run of form of late. For whatever reason, he has yet to do justice for his undoubted talent with the bat. Graham Thorpe mentioned on Sky Sports yesterday that he always thought Bell looks like he is making his debut when going out to bat. He seems nervous and unsure of his ability to make a big score. Considering Bell has played 45 test matches now – this is a slight worry!

As for Shah, well in my opinion he has to be one of the unluckiest cricketers in recent times. No matter how excellent his form is, he just can’t nail down a place in the test team. His presence in the one-day side is significant, but he has only played two test matches. The Middlesex man is the master of the waiting game and he may have to do the same again in the West Indies.

Overall, the policy of the selectors seems to have been – ‘keep the faith’. Bell needs to repay this decision and score some runs. He needs to start believing in himself more, because in Shah, England have someone determined to force his way into the test team somehow.

This is a huge tour for a number of players and one which could decide whether they take part in the Ashes next summer.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about cricket betting

Skinhead massacares eleven Australians

2008-12-30T01:48:00.004+05:30

Earlier in April, Steyn came to India and had its premier batsman on their knees, a right "racecar in the red". Doing that in India to Indian batsmen was just the latest in a scorching career. Now he has just put to rest any thoughts of him being just one of "three or four very good fast-bowlers in international cricket today".

Apart from letting it slip that he was the best, he scored a few valuable runs as well. If you get past the neo-Nazi looks, you might like him.

And so it began on a Thursday and ended on the next Tuesday.

2008-12-29T14:13:00.000+05:30

Kudos to the Poms for the balls they showed in coming back. I was so impressed that I decided to pop up to Chennai to catch the game. The conditions were nearly perfect for cricket – bright sunshine for the most, a nice cool sea breeze, a decent size crowd and a pitch that had something in it for everyone. It makes one wonder what sort of retards chose Mohali as the venue for the second match. It could so easily have been held somewhere in the south and we probably would have gotten in all those lost overs. Also, life in India’s first planned city seems too fast and hectic for the folks there to enjoy a good old game of test cricket – why keep boring them with it?

Unfortunately for the Poms, balls, two well constructed tons from the Andrew at the top and nearly ten straight sessions in command weren’t enough to win, let alone come out level at Chepauk. Watching the English bat in Chennai was about as exiting as listening to Sunil and Sanjay talking you through to the close of play, with Jimmy lined up for the post match analysis. You could settle down with a book (assuming it hadn’t been confiscated for being a bomb) and look at the score board every once in a while knowing for sure that all you missed was Strauss staying back and knocking the ball to backward point or backward square leg for a single or two. Then out came India who, not wanting to stray from well established tradition, did their first-innings-of-a-series-collapse-thing. There was even the obligatory cameo from Bhaji. It was all normal. Then it was that Strauss again and backward point and backward square leg….

After the first three or so days of the test, I was convinced that this was one of those rare instances when a team would win a test by just playing good defensive test cricket. I, like KP, got it wrong. We hadn’t accounted for that bald, smiling, glitch in the matrix from Najafgarh… or Sachin’s elephantine memory and all the repressed fury he had for idiot-mortals who kept mouthing off about Chennai, 1999, and how he was not a “match winner”… or Yuvraj and his penchant for being a pain in KP’s buttox. In an interview before his 68 ball 83, Sehwag said something to the effect of ‘we were chasing 250 against Australia but we couldn’t do it because of bad weather…If we can do that, 387 against England shouldn’t be a problem.’ What is this guy on?

What was spectacular about Chennai was that the freak-maniac was right. It all came together and it was done comfortably, with time and wickets to spare. In hindsight, it really was KP’s declaration that made a mess of things for England. Who declares with Monty at the crease? Serves him right I say. You let him know Monty.

And so the Poms packed up and trekked all the way to Chandigarh, just to have old men winter and Dravid close shop on them. KP made his point too late but it was such a joy to watch. Sure India should have tried harder to win but who really cares anyway? The PCA Stadium is such a lovely ground and it is a pity to see it wasted. Maybe it can be airlifted to Ranchi or somewhere…

It would have been nice to keep watching the English getting hammered but it had to end sometime. I cant help but feel for the English. Watching them getting hammered isn’t half as fun as watching it happen to the Aussies and those sneaky Sri-Lankans. I hear that all we are in for is New-Zealand in March. When are we going to play those Proteas?

WHY IS TEST CRICKET ‘DYING’?

2008-12-29T12:17:00.001+05:30

I will remember 2008 as the year when I heard the cry of ‘test cricket is dying’ most often? TV commentators, Indian, English, Australian and what not, said it – the print media repeatedly dwelt upon it – from what I can remember, even some current cricketers viewed test cricket to be in irreversible decline.

But why? In 2008, there have been approximately 30 test matches. While 13 of these have been played in the sub-continent (about 40%), the remaining (about 60%) have been played across South Africa, New Zealand, West Indies, Australia and England. Across the vagaries of these pitches, there have been less than half a dozen draws in test cricket in the entire year (and of the draws, a couple could be attributed to the weather). Even in the sub-continent, so often accused of producing dull dreary cricket, only 3 drawn tests come to mind immediately (and of these three drawn tests, the two between India-Australia were only a few moments away from changing to results). 2008 has also seen the second highest run chase in history and the highest run chase in India and yet....

Compare this to a few decades back, when draws were the order of a day – a result, something to be cherished – where Dravid’s batting would have been considered outright brash - where just 250 runs in a day was considered outstanding batting! For instance, India and Pakistan played a 5 test series without either side winning a test – and yet they played to packed stadiums!!

So what has changed over the past 15 years? Why are the stadiums, especially the usually packed to the rafters Indian stadiums, suddenly bereft of people? Is it the fast food diet of one-day and 20 over matches that have ruined our palate for the fine cuisine of test cricket? Has the pace of our lives changed, so that we no longer have 5 days to spare on cricket, no matter how riveting the contest? Do we demand more comfort and facilities than the amphitheatres of cricket can offer?? Is there too much cricket?? Is it the television?

We must ofcourse identify the problems before we propose a cure. So, are there any other factors?

Cricket diplomacy OR who's crying for Indo-Pak cricket?

2008-12-26T09:08:00.002+05:30

The sharp fall in Indo-Pak warmth since Zardari gripped Manmohan in New York in what was probably the tightest that a Pakistani President has ever hugged an Indian PM, cricket, like the Samjhauta, the Lahore-Amritsar bus-route and Indo-Pak trade on several other occasions, has become a victim of bad relationships between the countries. Perhaps we forgot ourselves in the euphoria of the 2003 tour. Then, when people started seeing cricketing relationships as a barometer of friendliness, we should have known that cricket would once again be one of the first victims of a diplomatic chill. Should it be so? Should we see sport in isolation, or should we see this as part of the larger question of whether people-to-people contact should survive these testing times when governments sulk and the words, "nobody wants a war" are on an everlasting loop on news television. If trade survives, if academic relationships between Universities survive, then there is no reason for sport to be singled out. There are no easy answers. And I won't be giving you one, sorry. Elsewhere in the world, South Koreans are going on guided tours to North Korea, and Americans are visiting Cuba in droves.

But I think the following thoughts are relevant in reaching the answer.
1. I am sick and tired of India-Pakistan cricket anyway and would prefer to wait at least a year more before we play each other again. What I mean is, the loss is not that terrible, though it will be if India do not tour Pakistan in the next five years.
2. The levels of paranoia in India are unprecedented. Even during the Kargil war (my only memory of an actual-and-not-proxy India-Pakistan war) war-mongering was not this shrill.
3. What is the status of Pakistani IPL players?

The great debate: Is Adil Rashid ready for international cricket?

2008-12-22T14:20:00.000+05:30

At the time of writing, England’s premier spinner Monty Panesar is struggling for form a little bit. There is a possibility that by the time a lot of you have read this he has taken several wickets in India’s second innings in Mohali. However, considering how confidence drained he has looked in recent weeks – I doubt it.

This poor form from Panesar has got people talking about the possibility of him being dropped from the side. It has got people talking about a certain young spinner from England’s domestic game that could well get the nod sooner rather than later. I am of course referring to Yorkshire leg-spinner Adil Rashid.

The 20-year-old – who has travelled to India this winter as part of the England test party – has consistently impressed for his county in the last couple of years. His impressive displays were rewarded back in September 2007 when he was named as the Cricket Writers’ Club 2007 Young Cricketer of the Year.

The reason he has stood out from the rest is that he is a leg-spinner. This in itself is a rarity in English first-class cricket. Not only is he a leg-spinner, he is one that is taking wickets. This goes beyond a rarity in English first-class cricket. Therefore, there was great hype about Rashid from an early stage.

The youngster hasn’t just shown potential with the ball though as he has confirmed his status as a genuine all-rounder with some fine batting displays for Yorkshire. He scored a century for England under 19’s against India in 2006 and followed this with his maiden County Championship century in 2007. Overall, it was fairly obvious why people were getting excited about this young man and the cricket odds certainly expecting him to alert the England selectors before long.

In terms of this international recognition, there has been call ups to the ‘England Performance Programme squad’ and earlier this month he travelled with the full test squad to India, without being an official member of the travelling party.

All things considered, it seems that England are aware that he is talented. However, they are very cautious about throwing him at the deep end too early. Some might say that are being too cautious. Surely if he is going to have a successful international career, he will be capable of performing now?

As much as the Australian model is becoming increasingly unfashionable to follow, I am pretty sure they would have thrown him into the test team by now. Get him involved early and make sure he knows that he is part of the team’s plans.

By consistently involving Rashid in the test set-up without actually playing him, the selectors are saying to the player – ‘we like you, but you are not ready yet.’ Is this going to affect Rashid in a negative manner? If he suffers a dip in form, he is going to feel further away from international cricket than ever before. Then, his confidence will dip and his future performances may decrease.

In fairness to the England selectors, they were right not to select him as an 18-year-old a couple of years ago. This could have unsettled his development a great deal. Now though, Rashid is ready to be called upon. As soon as England decide that Panesar needs a rest or that Rashid is capable of filling the ‘all-rounder’ slot in the team – the spinner is ready in my opinion.

I am excited about what he could bring to the England team and just hope that the selectors don’t delay showing faith in him too much longer.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about cricket betting

O VVS!

2008-12-21T00:53:00.006+05:30

O Very Very Special One,

Since your knock made it quite clear that Dravid's knock, despite the tedium, was a valuable one,

Or why else?

You are the great tickler of the senses. If Akbar still reigned, the Navaratnas would have been the Dasaratnas. Tansen's music could light up the lamps and Birlbal's wit, the darkest moments. You belong with them.

With the Champions League cancelled, can Middlesex be there again in 2009?

2008-12-18T17:08:00.001+05:30

It has been well documented that the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League scheduled for December has been cancelled because of security fears following the terror attacks in Mumbai. For any cricket fan, this was obviously very disappointing news. However, for one team in particular it was very difficult to take.

English cricket’s representatives Middlesex were excited at the prospect of playing in such a high profile tournament. Their captain, Shaun Udal, admitted that it was ‘devastating news’ that the competition was to be delayed until October 2009. He also went on to admit that the news would affect the club from a ‘financial’ point of view, although most disappointing was the fact that they wouldn’t be playing cricket.

The difficulty for Middlesex is that they are not automatically eligible for next year’s competition. Unlike the teams from Australia, South Africa and India, they will have to win the domestic Twenty20 competition in England again to qualify.

With this in mind, it is worth considering whether they have the ability to do just this. Their captain is confident that his team can ‘go out and win the Twenty20 cup again’, but whether this is realistic is up for debate. Can they do it again or is it someone else’s turn to shine in cricket’s shortest form?

In terms of a team winning the tournament two years running, well it has never happened before. In the five years that the competition has been running, Leicestershire are the only team to have won it twice – in 2004 and 2006.

Therefore, for Middlesex to come out on top again they would have to perform extremely well. Especially when you consider the fact that the standard and competitiveness will be increased because of the Champions League place at stake. As much as they say they are determined to win it, it may also be hard for the Middlesex players to motivate themselves to do it all again. We shall see.

Something that it worth noting though is that they team they possess is more than capable of at least making it to the semi-finals. Then, as we all know, anything can happen.

During last year’s finals day, Middlesex comfortably saw off the challenge of Durham in the semi-final thanks to a blistering innings from South African Tyron Henderson, who was a key player for them in last year’s competition.

Then, in a thrilling final, they beat 2007 Champions Kent by three runs. The key performers including Owais Shah – who hit a superb 75 off 35 balls – and Henderson again as he conceded just one run off his final two overs to ensure Kent failed to chase down 188 to win in their 20 overs.

So, in terms of the 2009 Twenty20 cup, it is important that Middlesex have the likes of Shah and Henderson available and in form. They have proven many times that they are match winners and as long as they are in Udal’s team –they have a chance.

In fact, whether they are able to re-sign Henderson could prove decisive. As things stand, he is the leading wicket taker in Twenty20 cricket. Anyone who has a player with this record in their team must have a chance of progressing to the latter stages of the competition!

Finally for today, it is worth taking a look at Murali Kartik’s contribution to Middlesex’s Twenty20 glory. The Indian spinner took 13 wickets at an average of 18 in last years’ tournament and there is no doubt he played a huge part in the team’s success. Slow bowling always seems to work in the shorter form of the game, so Kartik can be pleased with how he performed.

Overall, as long as Kent have Shah and Henderson on form, a spin bowler of Kartik’s nature and the experience of Udal – there is every chance the cricket odds will back them to win the competition again. Their biggest obstacle may well be the challenge of winning the it two years running, but there is no doubt that they will do everything they can to be the English team in next years Champions League.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about cricket betting