I Am Utterly Disappointed

... that Asia has won the bid to host the 2011 World Cup.

This just removes all doubts that fairness and cricketing sense still exists in the ICC and is further confirmation is that all that matters is money power and clout. There is no doubt that an increased vote is why Bangladesh was pushed for test status by the Asian bloc and now I won't be surprised if teams like Fiji (Australasia), Namibia (Africa) and Holland (Europe) are pushed by their respective test-playing neighbors for test status for this purpose as well.

Must Take A Look ...

Here

Confidence - Great to have but shouldn't it be realistic ?

Within the last few days 2 players have made statements regarding confidence and I find both a bit optimisitc.

1. VVS - I am confident of making it to the WC Squad.

2. BC Lara - I am confident of receiving support from all (players officials etc)


Your thoughts ?

Udti Udti Khabar Suni ...

That the great man Sir Brian Charles Lara is back at the helm of affairs of West Indies cricket.

That is great news. Congratulations !

More later ....

Akram Defends Tendulkar

Or at least so says Prithviraj here.

Ironical, for a man who had attacked Tendulkar, the batsman with ball in hand made such a breathtaking spectacle, him defending Sachin with the pen looks rather pathetic.

Did Sachin appoint him as a lawyer ?? Did Sachin ask for a defense ? Defense against what ??

Strike !

When the iron is hot or when the heat gets too much to bear ??

Tim May says that the Aussie cricketers will strike if the ICC keeps organizing meaningless ODIs with no heed to player workload and I completely back the idea.

Always a supporter of any means to reduce quantity in a bid to improve quality.

This is precisely what Tim May says in terms that are in no way uncertain and every word carries a lot of weight and truth.

"We're frustrated, we're concerned, we're disappointed the ICC and the member countries aren't abiding by principles that are supposed to be abided by in the scheduling of tours," May, president of the Federation of International Cricketers Association (FICA), told The Sun-Herald from Austin, Texas.

"It's very, very high risk. It devalues the game because your players aren't at their best. The guys don't have time to prepare professionally for games.

"The stakeholders, the spectators, miss out. You get rotation policies but even that devalues the games and the teams and the spectacle.

"Guys start going through the motions. Their bodies are extremely fatigued. They just can't keep doing it. I don't know what the next step is. Some players might take it into their own hands."

Shahid Afridi "retiring" from Test cricket at the age of 26, Marcus Trescothick's mysterious "virus", the abrupt ending to the career of Chris Cairns, all these are early symptomns of a disease that is threatening to shake the very foundations of the game.

Indeed, the ones who seem to be still enjoying their game in their old age are the players who have quit playing ODI cricket like Lara, Warne or those who have been forcibly left out like Kumble and Laxman.

Get your act together Mr. Money, or strike it will be.

The Best Against The Worst !!

... It just keeps getting better !!

Now isn't that a pretty good demonstration of use of adjectives and antonymns and medians and etc etc ??

The Best Against The Worst !!

This is unbelievable and definitely amazing. On Day 1 Bangladesh have thrashed an Aussie bowling line up consisting of Lee Gillespie Warne and MacGill for 355 runs for 5 wickets.

Absolutely brilliant. I have great belief in this young Bangladesh side and some of their talents are quite a joy to watch, none more so of course than Mohammad Ashraful but Aftab Ahmed, Shahriar Nafees, Alok Kapali all very gifted players and today Nafees has done his country proud.

Ricky Ponting clearly made a big statement when he admitted that he was wrong earlier about Bangladesh not deserving their test status and maybe Warne will have to write a sorry-note to Murali of whom he complained of using the Bangladesh batsmen to boost his wicket tally.

If you were just told the scorecard at the end of Day 1 I'm sure you would not be correct in guesstimating just who has been bested by whom !!

The Best Of Dhoni

The best part of Dhoni according to me is not his average wicket-keeping or his audacious strokeplay or his great ability to chase down mammoth asks with ease or even his new found adaptability.

The best part of Mahendra Singh Dhoni is his attitude to the game which is symbolised by the smile he always sports even when sharing the success of his teammates as was evident when he took the men of the matches for a ride (literally, not figuratively).

In fact this attitude of Dhoni is shared by almost all young members of this Indian side. Irfan Pathan, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan and others - they all seem to thrive in each other's success and really seem to be enjoying themselves. This is quite a change even from the immediately preceding generation - we all know what great cricketers and human beings Sachin, Rahul, Srinath, Kumble, Laxman are and how sincerely they played the game with great passion but somehow this freewheeling attitude is a thing of this new generation. And Indian cricket is the better for it.

That is what makes me fully sympathetic towards Sehwag and Kaif and no matter how many chances they are given I feel they deserve them because they are team-men to the core, through and through. Not a long time ago they were piling on the runs when someone like Yuvraj was going through a lean trot and now the situation has been reversed. Maybe it will reverse again some time in the future. But that important thing is the team work. When one guy is out of form the other contributes and compensates for him and vice-versa.

Javagal Srinath

I love the way this bloke does commentary. Many people have several objections (and valid ones) towards his commentary. His difficulty in communicating with precision in English language is the primary of these. Some feel he does not add enough insights.

But tell me which of Gavaskar and Shastri adds any new profound insights to the game ?? I think Sri's observations on fast bowlers are very very interesting if one listens with a keen ear. Also since he has played with quite a few of the current players he knows their personalities better than most.

But the best part of Srinath is that like Manjrekar he is very very candid. Unlike Manjrekar, he is not shrewd. He is therefore an open book and that is what I love about him the most.

Why I Am Always Skeptical About Ganguly

So the stories about Ganguly are doing the rounds in the media again.

They are saying that with Tendulkar out and the top order in poor form Ganguly is likely to make a comeback again.

Which is all fine. But why do all of these stories have to have some kind of political implications associated with them ?

Sample these excerpts from this article in the DNA.

Ganguly had a long meeting a couple of days back in Delhi with Arun Jaitley, president of the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association and a political heavyweight. Jaitley, currently in Kolkata, is likely to meet the left-handed batsman again. Though he declined to comment on the issue, it was widely known in cricket circles that Jaitley favours Ganguly’s return. Sharad Pawar, BCCI president, had also said recently (in Nagpur) that he was confident that Ganguly would make a comeback.

I mean either these are meaningless rumors or there is something still shady about the issue and I tend to think it is the latter. I fail to see why he cannot be reinstated if needed and found desirable based on his own ability and potential.

Even in all those glory years his constant hobnobbing with Dalmiya left uncomfortable questions in the mind. He is not helping his cause either IMO by holding meetings with the Jaitleys and the Pawars.

For God's sake just do one thing - bat and score runs - and let the politicians sort out their things.