Bleacher Report - Articles by Anon Payn

To the Souls That Support MUFC: Chins Up, My Brethren

Anon Payn — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 15:54:31 -0400

Sometimes, supporting a big club is an easy thing to do. On other days, though, it can be a real bitch.

It's easy when your team lifts the Premier League title for the tenth time. It’s a piece of cake when your squad defeats its closest league rival in a European final on penalties after being behind.

But when you let your fiercest rivals get the double over you (absolutely thrashing you at your own den) and follow it up with another disaster against a team that hasn’t beaten you at their home ground since your dad was born, life's a bit screwed up. And when two of your most influential players get sent off with another tough game soon to come, yeah, it's kinda hard to stay chipper.

Fans of lesser clubs can deal with getting knocked out of the FA Cup by their city rivals, or out of the Carling Cup by a team almost two divisions below them, but we have a very high standard to follow. And that’s what sets us apart from any other group of fans in the world.

This is Manchester United Football Club we are talking about. A damn plane crash couldn’t stop us from becoming the first English European Champions, so what are two back-to-back defeats?

We still lead by a minimum of one point with a game in hand, and our most dangerous title rivals (or at least our most consistent title rivals) lost an inter-city derby today. It could be far worse, you know!

Now is not a time to panic! We are leading the table and have an extra game to play against Portsmouth at home, which we can be counted upon to win. We have drawn FC Porto in the Champions League. We are in the FA Cup semifinal against a dangerous-looking Everton, which will be one of our major games from here on, but we're still favoured in that one.

Yes, all these games being on the docket means we will play more than any other team in the league. But for Christ’s sake, we had played almost twenty more games than Fulham when we took them on today!

That’s what makes these defeats worth it. We have bigger things to worry about than crying over spilt milk.

Overall, it boils down to keeping our heads in this time of crisis. Obviously, the best way is to take a positive approach towards our troubles.

Let’s look at Vida’s absence as a chance for young Johnny Evans to cement his place as our second choice centre half and first choice once Rio gets onto the worse part of 30.

Let’s look at Rooney’s (unnecessary) sending off as a chance for Tevez to get some good games in while he is still in good form.

Let Anderson play to prove his worth in Scholsey’s absence!

And we can all look forward to the return of Gary and Rafael to relieve Sheasy of all his troubles. I don’t quite think the Irishman knew he was signing up for so many games in just one season!

The return of Rafael will certainly add pace on our right flank, something we have been missing throughout this season due to Brown’s continued absence. This is going to make us so much more lethal on the counter-attack.

In fact, the dismissals are hardly going to affect us. We don’t have a single player in the team who brings the team’s quality down, and Tevez, Evans, Anderson and Rafael are certainly welcome additions to any team in the world.

All in all, let’s kick back and enjoy the ride. It’s gonna be a rough one, probably including a few more disappointments; it'll certainly have amazing thrills, very close encounters, and hopefully a few Ronaldo goals. We are the only team in the history of the Champions League to get past the knock-out stages a season after being crowned champions, so there is one "voodoo doll" already laid to rest.

There are cracks in this team, you cannot deny it. We aren’t the invincible squad the media made us out to be. But the truth is, I never believed we were. We were just the best team in England, Europe, and the world, with trophies in our cabinets to prove it.

Sixty games in a season is bound to take its toll on a player. Evra, Van Der Sar, and Ronaldo are three players who have played most of these games, apart from Vidic and Ferdinand, of course. So it’s understandable that these guys have a few off games.

But writing off any of these guys is a huge mistake. Our duty as fans is to get behind them; let us not forget that. These are the times when our team needs us. Let us not be the "glory hunters" we are often accused of being. Let us just believe we can still do it, because there is nothing pointing to the contrary.

But above all, just let us all get on with life as supporters of the best damn team in the world. And like it.

Ciao, hope to see you in Rome!

Writing for the Sake of Writing: Manchester United Going to Rome!

Anon Payn — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:01:17 -0400

I can’t believe our luck!

FC Porto? The weakest team still involved in the Champions League?

Sir Alex must have been saying his prayers regularly.

This makes the path to the finals so much easier!

If United do go through, which I quite fancy them to, the team will be up against either Villarreal, who are not having the best of times in the La Liga at the moment, or Arsenal, the more dangerous of the two. Arsenal is easily an opponent which would make for a helluva clash in the semi-finals, but still a match-up for which United would have to start as favourites.

In the other quarterfinals, it’s Chelsea against Liverpool and Barcelona against Bayern Munich. I just have a feeling whoever wins between Bayern and Barca will be go through to the finals. Barcelona are favourites, and I don’t see them losing to Liverpool or Chelsea if they go past Bayern.

If Bayern go through, they will certainly be buoyed by a victory over cup favourites, not to mention arguably the most dangerous team in terms of strike force in the world!

The all-England quarterfinal is going to be tricky though. No straightforward favourite for me, though I’d dare put my money on Chelsea, who under Guus Hiddink are finally performing to full potential.

But then again, with Liverpool you never know.

I wasn’t that surprised that United got the Porto draw, to be entirely honest. Everything today was going for me ever since Sachin Tendulkar smashed his 42nd ton against New Zealand. It was quite painful, getting up at 3.21 am and all, but it was time well spent, watching Tendlya race from 70 to 160 in no time, only to fall to a peculiar shot. Anyone interested can catch the wicket-taker bragging away gleefully on Cricinfo.com!

It’s a good match actually—but only if you are an Indian, though!

75 for three and you would think the Kiwis are going to fold up tomorrow, handing India the first Test latest by lunch on the fourth day. Right now, even an innings victory is possible for India, but that is not enough to wake me up early tomorrow. I’ve had my share of early morning for a lifetime already. And to think there are two Tests yet to go! The only thing that is going to keep me going is probably a few more tons by the Little Master. Would be peach, I tell ya!

The Proteas aren’t having a bad time either. Ashwell Prince getting a ton opening—not his favourite position—against Australia says a thing or two about the quality of Australia’s new ball bowling arsenal. Not too flattering. Jacques Kallis also notched up a century before close of play, promises to be a cracker tomorrow.

We are spoilt for choice as cricket fans, what with two amazing Test matches going on simultaneously, and in different time zones, allowing us to see both of them without having to sacrifice one or the other! Blessed!

And in case you belong to the Stanford-clan, the ‘Tests-are-too-boring-for-me’ clan that is, you can always catch up on the ODI series in the Caribbean.

At the time of writing, the West Indians are 28 for one after eight overs, in reply to England’s 270 for seven. Chris Gayle the man out. Should go down to the wire, this one.

In other news, the new ‘points’ system in Formula One, which declared the championship would be awarded to the driver with the most wins, and not most points, is as good as scrapped now.

So obviously, I don’t have to eat my words now. At least not for another season.

That’l be the end of aimless rambling part three, I guess. I’m definitely getting better…

The Elephant Strikes Back: Sachin Tendulkar Pulls Further Away from the Crowd

Anon Payn — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:27:55 -0400

3rd December, 2006

Ricky Ponting scores his 33rd Test match century against England at Adelaide during the second Test match in the Ashes series.

With this, the Australian is now just two behind Sachin Tendulkar. Surely he is going to surpass Tendulkar’s tally of 35 even before the end of this series.

27th January, 2008

Ricky Ponting finally gets to his 34th Test century. Sachin Tendulkar is now on 39. This isn’t going to be as easy as it seems!

Present Day

Sachin Tendulkar scores his 42nd Test match hundred, his 85th international century, his 18th score of over 150, his third in his last four matches, and the numbers just keep on pouring. Tendulkar yet again stretches the gap to five Test match hundreds, and the man Sanjay Manjrekar referred to as the “Elephant in the Room” keeps his steady pace.

He is still five centuries clear of Ponting, and over 1,600 runs ahead. If recent form is any indication to go by, the odds are stacked in the favour of Tendulkar extending his lead.

In their last six test matches or 11 innings, Tendulkar has scored 650 runs at an average of 72.22, while Ponting has been decidedly more mediocre with 483 at 43.9.

Player	S. Tendulkar	R. Ponting
Matches	6	6
Innings	11	11
Not outs	2	0
Runs	650	483
Highest	160	101
Average	72.2	43.9
Balls Faced	1164	719
Strike Rate	55.8	67.2
100s	3	1
50s	2	4
Ducks	0	3

The Tendulkar graph is going just one way, and that is up, while Ponting is not having the best of patches. He is not in bad form, but just being inconsistent. Like Tendulkar he crossed 50 five times, but the glaring difference is in the "ducks" column—three to Tendulkar’s nil.

His conversion rate is also hurting Ponting. Off his five fifties, three have been over 80, including a 99 in the match at Melbourne, where he came amazingly close to getting a hundred in each inning for a fourth time! Scary.

That match, though, has been his best outing in terms of runs scored during this period.

Tendulkar, on the other hand, has scored hundreds against Australia, England, and New Zealand during this period, with two further fifties against Australia. In fact, in the last 14 months Tendulkar has had just one blip, the tour of Sri Lanka, where he scored a paltry 95 in six innings at 15.83.

He has been in imperious form against Australia, both home and away, and against England, and he has now begun in grand style against New Zealand.

While Tendulkar is going to get two more Test caps in this series, Ponting has only one more innings to look forward to in the current series against South Africa, which gives the Little Master a chance to further stretch this gap.

The race is very much in its final few stages here. With both men in their mid-30s, it is difficult to see Tendulkar going beyond 2011 and Ponting beyond 2012-13.

The onus is on Tendulkar to make it as difficult for the Tasmanian as possible to get hold of one of the most prestigious records in the game.

Ramblings and Reminisces: Best of Test Cricket from the Southern Hemisphere

Anon Payn — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:32:10 -0400

Breaking news, folks: The Bowlers Well-fare Authority, an underground arm of the United Nations, has officially sent a request to the International Cricket Council that all Test matches henceforth are to be played only on New Zealand and South African soils.

Before any reputed new agency picks up on this earth-shattering piece of journalistic coupe, let me reveal that the aforementioned group are strictly fictional, unless some sorry soul, like Irfan Pathan, decides to make this a reality.

(Really, they do deserve it, just look at the bowling averages during England’s Test series in the Caribbean!)

Anyway, moving on to more pressing matters, stuff less fictional, though any English or West Indian fan may find 10 wickets falling on the first day very, very fictional indeed.

We will, of course, begin with a match that is absolutely brilliantly poised.

India bundled out their hosts for a paltry 279 on the first day, but conditions did not improve much for batting on day two.

Virender Sehwag’s early, untimely dismissal didn’t help matters of course. Sehwag, India’s most lethal weapon, scores at such a frenetic pace, that even a successful Rahul Dravid innings can not bring the run-rate below 3.5!

It was not to be today, the Nawab getting mangled in a dirty, dirty mix up with Gautam Gambhir, his opening partner, and literally threw his wicket away. Of course, one must not take any thing away from James Franklin, whose throw from the cover region was never expected to rattle the stumps!

Dravid and Gambhir then embarked on the most successful partnership of the innings (so far) with typically characteristic innings from both the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ (purported successor) Walls.

While Gambhir, having already gotten a start, kicked on and made a fluent half a ton, the elder statesman looked resigned to spending the rest of his life on that very wicket.

Leaving everything and anything that did not look to bother his woodwork, but letting loose some venomous square cuts, the man brought back memories of his 1999 visit to this country.

Trouble erupted in paradise though, nine overs after lunch, Gautam Gambhir nicked Chris Martin to ‘keeper Brendon McCullum, out for a polished 72, probably the innings of the innings so far.

India two down and we all know what happens then. Yes, yes, yes. People all across the ground get up and applaud, I jump around like a monkey in my living room, and there are rumours, that there is a compulsory ceasefire between India and Pakistan, not to mention that an official study revealed terrorism is also at its least.

(Though he couldn’t be contacted for a quote, it has long been assumed even the original big man, God, also takes a break at this point in India’s innings.)

It wasn’t a typical Tendulkar knock, but after over 600 international innings, there is no such thing as a typical Tendulkar knock, really.

I think, therefore, it would be safer to say that this wasn’t an inning a neutral would look at with too much fondness. But we shall return to Tendulkar in a while.

The immediate focus upon Gambhir’s fall was Dravid.

He did not disappoint, bringing up his 50 with the same square cut that he was employing so well today.

The duo added 35, a partnership dominated by Dravid, with Tendulkar contributing just eleven.

Dravid departed with the score at 177 for three. In walked Laxman, looking to ease into some kind of flow after disappointing outings in the Kiwi domestic circuit.

Tendulkar gained a semblance of fluidity batting with Lax, but it wasn’t until the stylish Hyderabadi departed for 30 that Tendulkar really began to open up.

The Little Master got lucky on quite a few occasions, constantly dragging the ball behind him while trying to cut the ball. It was a weakness that undid him in South Africa a couple of seasons ago, but he was luckier this out, as the ball kept missing the stumps.

He was also put down off Vettori just before tea, when an attempted pull shot caught the top edge of his willow and lobbed right up in the air, but Franklin couldn’t make enough ground quickly, as the ball brushed his finger tips before bouncing. It figured, Tendulkar was on 13 at the time!

The experience came into play immediately, as he began rotating the strike fluently with Laxman. Once dropped, the master decided it was time to cash in.

At Laxman’s fall on 238, after a sedate 61 run partnership, Tendulkar decided to be a bit more positive.

A few short balls were hit straight to the fielder at short cover, one caught the bottom corner of his blade, flying to the third man boundary, but soon he got one on the middle, a beautiful back foot punch for four, soon after completing his 50 second-half century.

Soon there was a flick off his pads which also raced away for four, an amazing cut shot, a soft punch down the ground and the famous upper cut all made their appearance, as the Bombay Bomber lifted his strike rate from 36 to 52.

Dominating a 40 run partnership with Yuvraj, who has contributed eight thus far, Tendulkar would be looking forward to completing a very satisfying 42nd Test ton on a pitch which doesn’t seem to be allowing the batsmen to get settled.

The play of the day definitely belonged to Tendulkar.

In what was eventually the last over of the day, Tendulkar edged two deliveries (which were well short of the fielders) to the slip cordon, prompting the umpires to offer the batsmen light, which the promptly took.

On air commentator Simon Doull to remark that Tendulkar was nicking the ball on purpose to plant the thought of bad light into the umpires’ minds, which was met with loud protests of “Surely he is not that good!” from his fellow commentator.

Doull, quite ecstatically proclaimed, “He is THAT good, I tell you, that good!”

A few hours after the Hamilton spectacle, a dead rubber match began.

Australia, already having won the series pretty emphatically, won the toss in the last Test match of their tour of South Africa and chose to bat. It looked a good wicket to bat, too.

But like Hamilton, the Newlands pitch never let the batsmen settle in, a fact best illustrated by Simon Katich’s dismissal on 55, after taking up well over 150 deliveries. A tossed up gimme ball by Paul Harris, Katich went for the sweep, top edged, pouched by debutant Imraan Khan.

Ponting and Clarke both made ducks, while Michael Hussey breezed to a run a ball 20 before being undone by a peach by Dale Steyn.

Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson were the only other batsmen to make decent contributions with 42 and 35 respectively.

Ntini finished off the tail with two quick wickets in one over, those of McDonald and Siddle.

Australia bundled out for 209; it was definitely a day to celebrate for the South African bowlers, Steyn, Harris, Ntini and Morkel all getting among the wickets.

South Africa made a sound start, with two new faces in the opening slot, the returning Ashwell Prince and the debutant Imraan Khan, a schoolmate of Hashim Amla.

Prince was positive from the get go, slamming a flurry of boundaries through the slip and gully region, while Khan was shaking of the jitters of his first day of Test cricket, getting his first few runs, including a first boundary, a lovely flick through mid-wicket off Mitchell Johnson. The duo put on 57, and was still together at stumps.

Johnson disappointed in his brief spell, sending down a few no balls and presenting Prince with width to cash in on.

Tomorrow promises to be a fascinating day’s play, in both matches.

In case any of you out there have any more ideas regarding The Bowlers Well-fare Authority, please feel free to leave a note!

Writing for the Sake of Writing: What Has the World Come to?

Anon Payn — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 05:03:42 -0400

Rambling is an art; I have come to discover.

I am not very skilled at it, I will grant thee this.

But mock me at thy own peril. Once I get good at it, thou shall suffer!

What in the world does “gob” mean? I do not know! So I asked Answers.com: Sailor, lump, and mouth? That was not helpful.

Why I ask? Apparently, according to a tabloid, a vagabond “gobbed” up Cristiano Ronaldo’s 150,000-pound Bentley.

Tabloids need more interesting events to cover. I bet they still curse the luck of their predecessors during the war days. Or maybe they don’t! That is beside the point.

The point here is Ronaldo. For God’s sake, will the guy ever get a break?

With defenders aiming to chop off your legs and referees all too happy to allow them, the last thing you want is your favourite toys being gobbed by angry citizens. It is a hard life.

It has not been that great a season for Ronny. He has much fewer goals and a few extra assists, but whoever received a Golden Boot for assists? The only bright side has been the prospect of winning more championships.

Poor Judgment

Sometimes I wonder what it would take for referees in the Premier League to go a weekend without stirring up some sort of storm in a tea cup. They seriously make cricket umpires look like computers with their rate of efficiency!

Indeed, we at the Gentlemen’s Game Parlour have seen our fare share of atrocious decision making by the umpires, but there are a few who can claim a near-perfect record in all forms of the game.

One such umpire is Simon Taufel, no, not Truffle.

Therefore, you know you have hit the nadir when The Only Umpire With His Very Own Fan Club makes a bad decision, like the one he made to send James Franklin on his way in the first Test today in Hamilton, New Zealand.

The all rounder, returning to the fold of the Kiwi team, could not have gotten off to a worse start in the series.

Facing just his second ball of the innings from a fired up Ishant Sharma, he played inside the line of a ball that was slightly short, heading just wide of the left hander’s bat and deflecting off his pads en route to skipper Dhoni behind the stumps. Up went the Indians and umpire Taufel’s dreaded finger and down went Franklin’s head in dismay.

After it was all said and done, what stood out was Franklin’s reaction, which was non-existent. He formed a sorry figure as he trudged towards the dressing room for a blob, but did not make a single gesture or even look at the umpire.

Lesser men and better cricketers have done some shocking things, even the saintly Sachin Tendulkar allows himself a look of anguish towards the umpire on being given out wrongly. He once even managed a smile (for which he was later fined believe it or not).

But Franklin’s humility-filled acceptance of the erroneous call is an example to all of us.

While Franklin impressed even in failure, the FIA continues to fail.

I do not what the reaction is in the Bleacher F1 camp, but I do like the new rules for deciding the World Champion.

Winning is an important aspect of the game, but consistency over the whole season is important too. While awarding the title to the person with the most wins does reward him or her for their stellar performances, it equally mocks the driver who earned podium finishes more consistently and indeed garnered more points.

Now I know, as a Ferrari fan, I should be thanking the stars, but I just prefer it the old way.

Yes, I am not too comfortable with change, not early on anyways.

But I will not rule out eating my own words come November!

Ramblings and Reminisces: 1st Test, Day One: The Adventures of Ryder and Danny

Anon Payn — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 03:05:44 -0400

Sipping a lukewarm tomato soup with toasts to go with it isn’t how one would usually begin a sunny Wednesday morning.

But then again, one wouldn’t usually begin the morning at 11:55 a.m.

Unfortunately, I have to be against the grain these next few weeks, as my beloved team is in New Zealand of all god-forsaken places.

So what, you say? Well, that means even waking up at 5 a.m. means that you miss the first hour and half of the morning session.

And it wasn’t a session worth missing, in hindsight…There were ctually highlights. Zaheer Khan had brilliant start, and Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel contained the Kiwi middle order well before Sharma shaved off the remnants of all recognised batsmen, bar Jesse Ryder.

This was one big error that would eventually cause unspeakable boredom to a biased fan like me. Indeed, it was a mistake of tremendous proportions.

The Ryder, along with his trusty side kick Dan “the Man” Vettori, immediately began the repair work, at first by frustrating the living daylights out of the Indians, especially the quickies.

Ryder was in full flow, but Vettori kept the "Men in Blue" (in White Kits) interested all the time with daredevil stunts and some amazing diving skills, (not the Gerrard kind), which eventually gave his more tidy partner another Test 50.

Suddenly, in what was an amazing twist in the tale, the side-kick evolved to superhero, almost Pokémon-style, as Dan decided it was time to reveal his true colours...or shot selections in this particular instance.

He slapped, pulled, punched and hooked his way past all the villains that were the Indian bowlers, and thrashed his way to 100 while the erstwhile lead of the story, Ryder, just looked on as his skipper stole his thunder.

Like Jesse, I had enough.

Letting go of the match after having the opposition on the mat isn’t anything for India, but the lack of any threat, not even a beamer, to the batsman meant that I was headed for the pavilion long before tea time.

After finishing a good two-hour catch-up snooze (yes I am highly jobless), imagine my delight (and frustration) when I saw the day’s play come to an end with Sehwag on song.

Of course I missed the better part of “The Great Big Rescue of the Inert Batting Lineup” action thriller, but I hear the climax was quick and entirely unexpected.

For God’s sake, who would have thought Vettori would succumb to the lazy ol’ boy Munaf?

Ryder’s end was classier though, as he fell to the ultimate villain, Sharma, the latest young recruit onto the Dark Side of super pace bowling, who was enjoying a Heath Ledger-esque performance himself.

The rest was tedious work made easy by Patel and Harbhajan Singh.

The comic relief was, of course, provided by Chris Martin’s zero not out. Now who would have thought of that? Seriously, any one offering a bet on him getting off the mark this series, give me a ring.

Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag had an unfair advantage over poor old Martin, what with their heavy blades, so they had no such problem.

Sehwag, or as the Kiwi crowds proclaimed, "Seh-WACK!", was his hungry, greedy self, helping himself to 22 off just 18 deliveries.

In all, it was a good day in the office for the invaders, giving Danny a lot of problems to think about, even making Martin’s batting form fall far down on that list.

In another random note, how dreadfully active was Munaf Patel today? What has Dhoni been feeding him? In his entire career I have never seen him be so agile.

He actually fielded a return drive from Vettori. It must be the weather.

Wonder if NZC could keep him a bit longer…

Writing for the Sake of Writing

Anon Payn — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:01:23 -0400

That is exactly what I’m doing! I figured I was falling short on my articles’ count compared to my fellow creatures, hence this.

Hate me for it. But peer pressure has got to me. And I’ll do anything to fit in.

So what do I write? It really is an inane thing to do.

Being random is really my forte, but somehow it fails me when writing on Bleacher.

A bit like Manchester United FC’s performances against the "Top Four" clubs this season. For all our outstanding set of records this season (fourteen consecutive clean-sheets, eleven consecutive league wins, et al) we have just not turned up in the big games.

One win, one draw, and three defeats in five matches against the rest of the current Champions League sides do not make for pleasant reading at all!

Of course, I would rather have it this way and still be top of the table than go the Liverpool way (the double over Chelsea, over us, and a draw against Arsenal) and remain third on the table.

Yet, it leaves the picture a bit imperfect. We are still on cue for our third back to back title, a first-ever successful defence in Champions League history, and recapturing the FA Cup after quite a while, attainment of all of which would lead to the magic word: Quintuple.

But I’m not too bothered about the “high five” really. I’d be glad if we won the League. The Champions League would be a grand bonus, while the FA Cup, well it’s the FA Cup! It’s not really the most sought after trophy now-a-days is it?

But it would still be a fine feeling to complete a first ever domestic Treble for the club!

Like I said though, not too bothered about the “high five.” But I AM worried about the Indian cricket team’s Test series in Kiwi Land.

Looking at South Africa’s spineless performance against “World Champions” (can NOT believe we still have to call them that!) Australia may well leave India as the immediate challenger, the number one contender, shall we say, for Australia’s title.

The team has the arsenal; it is just a matter of clicking and not being complacent after the ODI series victory, something we as a population aren’t too good at!

Yep, containing this complacency will certainly be the key. The good thing in such a scenario is the large scale changes in the side. Large not because of the quantity, but quality.

A flamboyant Suresh Raina makes way for a sedate Rahul “the Wall” Dravid (indeed the ODI players are yet to get nick names in the media for themselves, a clear lack of experience at this level!).

An inconsistent but atrociously gifted Rohit Sharma makes way for an equally inconsistent and atrociously gifted VVS “Very Very Special” Laxman.

The bowling remains much the same, if at all bearing a bit more settled look, with the more traditional 7-4 batting-bowling combination.

Rumours abound that India’s very own smiling assassin, Laxmipathi Balaji may be given a look in for the first Test, which may turn out to be either a master stroke or a disaster.

Balaji, who shot to fame as Irfan Pathan’s new ball partner in the CB Tri Series in Australia and later in Pakistan in 2004, has a phenomenal wrist, with capability of swinging the ball both ways at will.

But with a recurring stress fracture already having wasted his early years in the game, it will interesting to see whether he retains his pace, which will be extremely vital. The difference between figures of 5-0-50-0 and 17-10-20-6 could be as much as 9-10 kilometres per hour!

And talking of speed, I’m loosing sleep in anticipation of the Australian GP! From the looks of things, us folks waving the red flag are in for a good season, with Massa clocking in good lap times, and the McLaren struggling for speed! Some time to go for the first race, but for our sake, let’s just hope it stays that way!

The Curious Case of Sachin Tendulkar: Which Side of the Master Will We See?

Anon Payn — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 04:39:44 -0400

Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde? Which side of The Little Master are we going to see this Test series?

He enthralled in the One Day arena, smashing the Kiwis to all parts of the ground, getting three decent innings under his belt. But is that the sign of things to come in the Test series commencing in a little over13 hours’ time? Not necessarily.

Mr. Hyde is of course the devil I do not want to see. I don’t want to see Sach grind and struggle his way to a fifty. It’s Dr. Jekyll, the real Tendulkar, smashing the unsuspecting Kiwis (whose main focus is going to be Virender Sehwag) to all corners that I want to see. Saw a big bit of Jekyll in the ODIs.

But his approach towards his last few Test series leaves me with mixed feelings and great degree of anticipation. Indeed it is one of the big mysteries of the series yet to be unfolded: Which Tendulkar will we see?

One of his finest Test series in recent times came Down Under too not that long ago. The 2007-08 tour of Australia to be precise. He was his natural flowing self, striking at well over seventy runs per hundred balls in most of his big innings. He didn’t think twice before launching into Brad Hogg, or upper cutting the likes of Johnson and Lee.

Rewind to the tour of England a few months before that, though, and you see a different batsman all together.

In the swinging conditions of the isle (which are very similar to the conditions in New Zealand) we saw a very cautious man, one willing to prod and scratch his way to big scores, while those around him scored more fluidly, most noticeably Sourav Ganguly in the final Test.

The performances in the series prompted the likes of Michael Atherton and Ian Chappell to write (premature) obituaries of "the Tendulkar we once knew." “Just a comic book hero,” are words that will still strike a chord with Tendulkar fans.

Despite proving both these pundits wrong, there is fear, mostly in the area between my two ear lobes, that the humid conditions, coupled with bright green pitches might trigger a cautious Sachin, the Mr. Hyde, into action.

Of course, it would almost certainly be because the entire top order would have collapsed leaving Sachin batting with Harbhajan Singh by Tea.

Well, fingers crossed! Let the real cricket begin.

Sehwag in Auckland: Proof of Tendulkar's Uselessness

Anon Payn — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 03:40:13 -0400

If ever we needed a reminder of the difference between Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, this was it.

Amid all the calls for Sehwag being better than the Little Master, how painful would this be for the people calling him the best in the world? A quick-fire inning of 40 and his team bows out for a miserly 149.

I’m not a big fan of team India. I don’t pretend to be one, either. They are still the only team I follow day in and day out. That is of course because of that “tiny midget” who bats at number four. Yeah, that man who is so overrated. God.

Can you imagine what a useless hand he would have played in this inning if it had been him instead of Sehwag?

Totally dry, hardly any boundaries, and you may as well forget about sixers! It would have been one of the dullest innings you would ever have the misfortune of seeing. He would probably use up a hundred or more deliveries, but still score at a strike rate of around 70 percent.

The audacity, we would all be screaming the next day. The entire team doesn’t take up as many deliveries put together, what gives this guy the right to stand up and play a dogged inning like that! He should retire! He can’t play anymore!

Look at that, takes up a 149 balls and still makes only 99!

We need fresher legs; Tendulkar should have retired gracefully after the 2003 World Cup.

Yeah, we would all much rather prefer this 26 ball blitz from the “true master.” Gosh, that strike rate! That old man could have never done this. He would have probably dragged his unbearably heavy bat around for the entire 43 overs and made it all so boring, no?

Who cares if it would have given our bowlers a bigger total to protect?

Now just for the fun of it, let’s draw out a list of all the painful innings that overrated batsman has played when apparently the “team needed him!” (We all know the team only needs Viru, don’t we?)

The Top 10 Innings You Would NOT Like to Have Seen Being Played at the Fifth ODI (India vs. New Zealand)

55 off 97 balls (4 x 3)
Sehwag: 11 off 22 (4 x 2)
Team: 200/9 (50 overs)
Result: SA win by nine wickets: 201/1 (31.1 overs)
The Wisden Almanac report for this match states “South Africa calmly achieved their fourth crushing victory of the series, thanks to a vital toss: conditions were awkward for batting at the start, but improved later…”
As we can all see, he managed to score more than one-fourth of the team total by taking up a bit less than one third of the total number of allotted deliveries. Obviously, we all know that wouldn’t have helped much down there in Auckland!

77 off 127 balls (4 x 5)
Sehwag: N/A (Sorry, but he was just 13 years old when this match was played)
Team: 191 (48.3 overs)
Result: WI win by six wickets: 192/4 (48.3 overs)

Another seamer friendly track, and the Indian batting line-up, brittle as it used to be in those days (Jan. 11, 1992), was obviously scared to death even before it arrived at the ground. As if an opposition consisting of Marshall, Ambrose, Cummins, and Patterson wasn’t enough, this match was at the Gabba, the notoriously bouncy pitches a bit too much for the short Indian batsmen.
Obviously, this little 18-year-old punk failed to live up to his seniors’ reputations, and struck an audacious 77 (at a crawling pace of 60.62; the second fastest half century on either side).
The Wisden take: “West Indies preyed voraciously on the weaknesses of their opponents…to register their first win of the competition. Ignoring their experience of the Gabba and the help a fresh pitch there offers seam bowlers, India batted first and were dismissed cheaply. Outstanding West Indian bowling, bad shots from the openers and the early run-out of Manjrekar all undermined the innings. It was kept alive by Tendulkar's immaculate 77 and his seventh-wicket partnership of 76 with Kapil Dev.”
Hardly a deserving candidate for the “Best Batsman” award.
65 off 102 balls (4 x 7)
Sehwag: 1 off 8 balls (4 x 0)
Team: 162 (39.3 overs)
Result: India win by 16run s (yes you heard it): WI 146 (41 overs)

If he were batting today, maybe he would done some mischief like this. Team in dire straits, coming of a personal high (141* in the previous meeting of these two teams in the same tournament) he decides it is time to play a grinding knock and stretches an inning which should have folded at 20 overs to 39.3! What a sham! No wonder the crowds are disappearing from the game. No entertainment at all.
Wisden said: “India retained a chance of reaching the final with a bizarre, low-scoring victory over a West Indian side that was oddly selected (a half-fit Collymore was the only specialist bowler) and even more oddly employed... Batting first on the dented pitch, India were soon battling, as Smith induced a series of edges. Tendulkar, unluckily run out when R. P. Singh's straight-drive was palmed into the stumps by the bowler Samuels, showed typical skill to reach the match's top score, adding 78 with the determined Harbhajan…”
55 off 86 balls (4 x 9)
Sehwag: N/A (apparently he was dropped for this series! Temme about it!)
Team: 212 (49.4 overs)
Result: England win by three wickets: 213/7 (48 overs)

What can I say about this match? One of his luckier tournaments in recent years, this one. England, 2007. He managed to get himself out on 99 in this series (who cares if it was a wrong decision, he should have just hit a six like Viru!).
Anyway, back to the match, where everyone from Ganguly to the Wall managed to score in single digits. The saving grace was Yuvraj, who god only knows why, decided to bat like this Tendulkar. Must have been some flu…
79 off 119 balls (4 x 7)
Sehwag: N/A (still dropped)
Team: 291/4 (50 overs)
Result: India win by eight runs: Aus 283/7 (50 overs)

Why would anyone play so slowly in the same inning where Mahi is capable of getting a breathtakingly fast fifty? “To build a platform”, according to Wisden. B*lls. They don’t know anything about cricket.
91 off 121 balls (4 x 7)
Sehwag: N/A (Yep, still bench warming)
Team: 258/9 (50 overs)
Result: India win by nine runs: Aus 249 (49.4 overs)

God knows what would have happened had Sehwag batted, but he certainly wouldn’t have tortured like this guy! The second final of the CB series (he managed to fluke a hundred in a chase in the previous one), and he decides it is time to dig in again. Such a selfish player. Sehwag would have tried to go for sixes and fours from the word go. So he might have lost his wicket early to the incisive bowling of the Ozs, but at least it wouldn’t be torture. Selfish.
Again out in the 90s, it was a miracle we even won (really).
84 off 107 balls (4 x 6)
Sehwag: N/A (Not dropped, man. He was 13!)
Team: 230/6 (50 overs)
Result: NZ win by four wickets: 231/6 (47.1 overs)

Another useless knock. I mean, why does this guy seem hell bent on dragging these matches? Doesn’t he know that we don’t care about the team? We only want to see Sehwag bat! Gosh. What? The World Cup? Still…
74 off 100 balls (4 x 7; 6 x 1)
Sehwag: 5 off 12 balls (4 x 1)
Team: 203/9 (50 overs)
Result: Sri Lanka won by 25 runs: 228/9 (50 overs)

So this is the Asia Cup final. Everyone knows that Sri Lanka are a tough team to beat at home. So when your bowlers get the home team pinned at 228, what do you do as a batsman? Yes, you do a Sehwag, and blitz your way to hundred, and win the match for India. Not a measured knock of 74 off a 100 balls! People call him selfish. Now I know why. No care for the team.
What? Sehwag made 5? At a lower strike rate? I have written it myself? Okay, whatever. He plays like that only. Give him some leeway, but Tendulkar! He should have played better. The rest of the team? Well… Lankan bowling? Yeah Muralitharan, he is pretty decent. Tendulkar also took 2/40 in 10 overs? Well, part-timers' luck as they say. HE PLAYED SH*T, OK?
99 off 143 balls (4 x 12)
Sehwag: N/A (Yes, dropped)
Team: 242/8 (50 overs)
Result: SA win by four wickets: 245/6 (49.3 overs)

The biggest example of this man’s madness. It’s a record for him, you know? That’s the most balls he has faced in an inning where he hasn’t scored a century. It was also his first ever 99. He would score two more in the same year. What some people will do for records. Sigh.
That Wisden dude again: “In years to come, the number of people who have seen Sachin Tendulkar make a hundred may be incalculable. How much more of a distinction, then, to have been present when, for the first time in 524 international matches, he was out for 99. But it was the equally inscrutable Kallis who took his side to victory with a well-paced 91. India, missing several players because of flu, had the consolation of seeing Piyush Chawla, in conditions that did him no favours, bowl his legspin with great guile for three wickets. Tendulkar took 17 balls to get off the mark, but was rewarded later, playing several drives of reassuring authority in a stand of 158 with the ever-elegant Dravid, before being run out going for a second by van Wyk's throw to Boucher.”
101 off 140 balls (4 x 3; 6 x 1)
Sehwag: N/A (Not dropped; not 13; he was actually 22, but not in the Indian team yet)
Team: 224/8 (50 overs)
Result: Sri Lanka won by five wickets: 225/5 (43.5 overs)

There are rumours people died while watching this innings. I know some Sri Lankans on the pitch slept. Who cares if Robin Singh was the only other person to cross 20? Such slow and selfish inning. Only 18 runs in boundaries! Now you know why I saved this for the last! He was the third last wicket to fall, in the 47^th over. So unfit! This was played in Sharjah! Can you imagine a more pleasant place than the Middle East in the afternoon? Thought so.
By the way, they gave him a man of the match award for this pile of junk. Sehwag never gets such accolades…

Race to the Top: South Africa and India: Part II—For Those About to Bat

Anon Payn — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:53:57 -0500

We salute you!

Not the exact words of the “Acca Dacca” but not too far from the truth, either, considering we are talking of the likes of Messrs Tendulkar, Smith, Sehwag, Kallis, Laxman, et al.

Welcome to the second edition of this series, as we proceed to compare and contrast the options at India and South Africa's behest in the defence department of cricket, the batting.

There is no doubt about the ability of the two teams in this regard. Both possess some fine craftsmen, and have spectacular balance between the aggressive type, and the more sedate ones.

Let’s begin by highlighting the main weapons of either side.

South Africa

Graeme Smith- Opener

Jacques Kallis- Middle Order

Hashim Amla- Number 3

India

Virender Sehwag- Opener

Sachin Tendulkar- Middle Order

Gautam Gambhir- Opener

VVS Laxman- Middle Order

Rahul Dravid- Number 3

Though the list seems longer for the Indians, the South Africans have managed to constantly produce big scores. This is of course in due thanks to their newer, but slightly lesser players, but we shall look into that later.

For now, our focus is solely on the big guns.

I always reckoned Graeme Smith to be an average batsman, but with a big heart and great temperament, a lot like Sourav Ganguly. But this season Smith has made me change my mind about him with an amazingly consistent run over 12 long months in 2008.

His biggest asset is the fact that he always ends up playing the most vital innings for his team. Right from the twin doubletons he made on the tour of England during the summer of 2003, his maiden tour as captain, Smith has made a habit of leading by example.

His direct competition from the Indian squad would have to be Virender Sehwag, though Gautam Gambhir may soon overtake the Nawab in this regard.

Viru’s position as the most dangerous batsman in the world is beyond doubt. Fifteen Test centuries, eight of which are over the 150 mark, and five over 200, lay testament to the fact that he may be the heir to Viv Richards’ legacy, hitherto occupied by Tendulkar during his first decade, and then, briefly, by Adam Gilchrist.

When he joined Sir Donald Bradman and Brian Lara as the only men to make two Test tripletons, Sehwag also cemented his place in world cricket history as an all-time great. Such has been this man’s impact. Since his debut, ironically against South Africa, Sehwag has singlehandedly changed the world’s perception of openers in Test matches. Exceeding Sanath Jayasuriya in audacity, and Adam Gilchrist in consistency, he probably also matches Sir Viv in his laid back but “I own this place” attitude.

They say bowlers used to tremble when Richards walked into bat in his heyday. In Sehwag’s case, the trembling gives way to absolute tension and lack of control for the opposing captain, and it begins even before a single ball can be bowled!

While Sehwag is the maverick, proverbial “hell-for-leather” batsman, Gauti is fast becoming the embodiment of consistency, and there is talk in India that he is the next Wall. Such has been the ferocity with which this man has made his runs.

Drafted into the side after the selectors grew tired of Wasim Jaffer’s prodding, Gambhir made a steady start in the three Tests in Sri Lanka, but truly came into his own against Australia at home. With three Test hundreds in just nine games in the season, Gambhir has established himself solidly as India’s number two…

… The lack of which has affected South Africa a bit these past few months. While Neil McKenzie can be a reliable accumulator of runs, his lack of impressive technique was found out in Australia, and he does stick out like a sore thumb in an otherwise impressive batting lineup. His inconsistency means that Hashim Amla is getting exposed to the new ball far more often than he should be; something that Amla has handled exceptionally well.

Amla is another batsman whom I never thought highly of. With his high back lift and awkward grip, his early struggles at the international level were understandable. His most famous moment in those early years would have to be the Dean Jones “Terrorist” controversy! But he too has made me think again with some class performances in India and England. He has made the No. 3 spot his own in the SA lineup, a lot like his Indian counterpart did all those summers ago in England.

In all fairness, Rahul Dravid isn’t the same 29-year-old he was during that summer in England in ’02. But even after factoring in all the ill effects of advancing age, the 36-year-old has let down his legions of fans for two years now.

Ironically, his poor patch began in South Africa during India’s visit in the '06-'07 season.

In 27 Tests since that fateful tour, the Wall has crumbled, quite literally, his average being a measly 31 in this period. Rumours are doing the rounds that the coming tour of New Zealand may be his last chance to step up his game. It’s always a shame to lose a player of class, especially one averaging over 50, a world record holder for most runs at his position, but continued failure may leave the selectors with no choice.

Jacques Kallis’ career has been remarkably similar to that of Dravid. And remarkably, he too has faced a ridiculous slump in form, most notably against England, where the big, burly all-rounder averaged less than 15, scoring just a solitary half-century in seven innings.

His slump batting at No. 4 seems to counter the slump in form of Dravid at No.3 for India, just as Sachin Tendulkar’s scintillating run in ’08 counters that of Hashim Amla!

Tendulkar enjoyed his most successful calendar year in Test cricket since 2002. Scoring 1,063 runs, four centuries, three of them against his favourite opposition—Australia, and one in the magical Test run chase at Chennai, Tendulkar re-established his credentials as the best batsman in the world last year.

The only aberration in the year was his poor run of scores in Sri Lanka, but none can deny that every time he came out to bat during the three Tests, he looked in prime touch. It was just a wonder how he just kept getting out after looking so comfortable at the crease. In a way his performance was a reflection of how the whole team batted: started well, but could never kick on!

VVS Laxman was another Indian heavyweight who came good in ’08. Never one of the consistent kinds, Laxman did produced some exquisite gems, like his third consecutive century at Sydney, and a memorable doubleton against Australia. His form against England was enough to suggest him taking over Dravid as India’s No. 3.

No such promotions in store for A.B. De Villiers, though he did play a vital part in SA’s terrific run last year. Starting with his match-winning 217 and finishing, quite aptly, with his thrilling 106 in the Perth run chase! His Tendulkar-like performance at Perth earned him particularly high praise from all sections of the cricketing globe, as it signalled the arrival of South Africa’s latest No. 5 batsman.

His partner at the other end for much of that historic run chase was debutant Jean Paul Duminy—or so they would have us believe, because the so-called debutant showed no nerve at all, as he and AB ran the Australians out of the match. He followed it up with a stellar inning at Melbourne. There is no denying this young man’s talent, a lot like India’s Yuvraj Singh.

Like Duminy, Singh too was one half of a match-winning pair in a thrilling fourth inning run chase. But it’s yet to be seen whether his 85 is good enough to give him the confidence to keep proving himself again and again. Else, another spell out of the Test side will not be totally out of question. His is a shaky spot on India’s batting resume, which is, otherwise, glittering with stars!

One spot which definitely is beyond doubt is that of the skipper! Dhoni at No. 7 has been quite effective. He has the ability to tear any attack apart, but it is yet to be seen if he can convert his prolific one day record into Gilchrist-like Test stats.

Adam Gilchrist’s contemporary and longtime ‘keeping rival Mark Boucher is quite a reliable lower order batsman, though not in the same class as Gilchrist. An average of 30 is more than useful if you have all-rounders like Morne Morkel, Paul Harris, and (if you go by his Melbourne performance) Dale Steyn to follow!

India’s heavy-duty top and middle order warrants no further ammunition in the tail, but Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan have come to the rescue of the Indian team on quite a few occasions, most memorably against Australia at Bangalore, where their stand literally salvaged the rest of the series for India!

Race to the Top: South Africa and India: Part I- The Brains Trust

Anon Payn — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 02:59:56 -0500

It may all soon boil down to this.

With Australia on the downswing, England plagued by internal rifts, and Sri Lanka yet to show their mettle outside the sub-continent, India and South Africa are left as the two major contenders to Australia’s crown.

The coming year could easily see either one of these two sides grabbing the number one slot in both the (sane) forms of the game.

Their results in the past year an a half have been identical. Both have beaten the likes of England, Australia, and Pakistan, and drew each other on the only occasion they met.

In such a scenario, a contest between these two teams could help in deciding who the real number one contender is.

But since that is not due for at least another couple of years, there is no harm in trying to predict which team will come up triumphant, and therefore figure out which is the better team—which is precisely the exercise I am disguising in this article.

The process is simple.

I shall compare the important parts of each team in the different forms of the game (only Test and ODIs as they are the main bone of contention, as it were). Doing so in just one article can be tiresome, both to the reader as well as the writer. Thus I have decided to split it into various parts.

I shall begin with the Tests, and in this particular segment, compare one of the most important parts of the teams: the decision makers.

In any international team, there are two basic personnel who could be classified as the decision makers: the Captain and the Coach.

But as we shall see, these two aren’t the only ones who share this responsibility, as other senior members of the team, referred to here on in as the OKM, are also required to chip in with valuable contributions.

Cricket, they say, is very similar to chess. It is a game of strategy, and a lot of it is played in the minds, and not just on the field.

Therefore, the ability of these men to out-think the opposition becomes as vital as their ability to hit a crisp cover-drive or deliver a toe-crushing yorker.

Man-management also becomes important, especially in a team like India’s, where the player pool is comprised of people from different backgrounds, speaking different languages, and having very different needs to prosper and play at their peaks.

So let us begin by analysing the two sides.

South Africa

Captain: Graeme Smith

Coach: Mickey Arthur

Other Key Members (OKM): Jaques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Makhaya Ntini

India

Captain: Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Coach: Gary Kirsten

OKM: Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh

For South Africa, the captain and coach partnership has been vital. Their comments post Melbourne Test victory clearly suggested that these two men share a common goal, and have formed a partnership that is going to be lethal for opposing teams.

When the coach and captain are so in sync, wonders can happen for the side. The younger players feel safer, and everyone knows whatever is being done is for the betterment of the team.

We don’t need to look any further than the Steve Waugh-John Buchanan. The Oz Captain-Coach duo was at the heart of Australia becoming the powerhouse—nurturing the likes of Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, and Matthew Hayden onto to their future greatness.

And like-wise, a broken relationship between such important figures can have a devastating impact on the team.

The Sourav Ganguly-Greg Chappell fiasco is probably a number one example on the “Don’t List for Successful Teams” manual. The rift between the two caused havoc. Team unity was non-existent and performance took a hit, which culminated into a group stage exit at the 2007 World Cup.

Gary Kirsten, who replaced Chappell, has settled well into the role though. A lot like John Wright in his approach to coaching, the team seems to be responding well to him and Dhoni at the helm.

While Graeme Smith and Mickey Arthur have had time together, Dhoni and Kirsten are just beginning. How well they gel in comparison to their South African counterparts, only time will tell. But they will certainly be helped along the way by the experience of the likes of Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, et al..

Experience is probably the only way one of these two teams can be said to be clear cut winners.

India with it’s pantheon of cricketing heavy-weights, certainly have a deeper pool to draw from. But what it draws is the concern.

Instances of OKM contribution have been higher for the Indians in the recent past. Be it Tendulkar’s masterstroke in promoting young Irfan Pathan up the order a few seasons ago against Sri Lanka, or Zaheer Khan’s field placing tactics, all have played a very crucial part in India’s success.

It’s the approach where the two sides differ. The South Africans are fairly relaxed about who takes the lime light, as both Smith and Arthur are given equal credit in the results.

The Indians though, seem to be much more oriental. The root problem with Chappell was the Aussie’s hunger for power. The Indian’s were used to the behind the scenes functioning of John Wright. The Captain is the real boss, or should be, screamed the former greats.

And so it is now, with Mr. Kirsten rarely making public statements, and all the limelight firmly on skipper Mahi.

The captain’s differ in their handling of key bowlers as well.

While Smith prefers to set his field, and demand his bowlers to adhere to his orders, Dhoni is seen chatting up to his bowlers more often. If nothing is happening, the skipper is often seen sprinting up to the bowler from behind the stumps to have a quick word with his player.

It is often stated that his position as wicket-keeper helps Dhoni in setting the field, and strategising a batsman’s fall. It may well be true, as few can say they have seen Dhoni’s plan misfire.

Though Dhoni seems less dictatorial of the two, Smith’s “listen to the captain” attitude seems to work for him as well, as could be seen at Melbourne, when a fired up Dale Steyn ran through the Australian batting order, after being disgruntled that the Captain wouldn’t give him the field he wanted!

Which team has the better brains trust? It’s your vote! Leave your opinions!

A Manchester United Fan’s Daydream: How the Red Devils Can Capture the Title

Anon Payn — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:15:24 -0500

Manchester United beating Chelsea at Old Trafford has sure got some tongues wagging, and obviously justifies their position as the favourites to win the league for the third season running. For die hard United fans, the win finally gave shape to a title challenge which has just gone through one of the most rigorous first halves ever seen by any team in the English leagues. But having faced each team which finished from number two to number ten last season away from home, the team from the “red side of Manchester” are bound to have an easier second leg than their closest rivals, Liverpool and Chelsea (though now that list may be cut to down to just Liverpool). A lot of positives from the game last night, but the biggest would have to be the fact that winning the two games in hand against WIgan (on Wednesday) and Fulham will see United climb to the summit of the Barclay’s Premier League. From that point on, even draws against the visiting Arsenal and Liverpool would suffice in United keeping clear of the pack, provided of course they see out the lesser teams in convincing fashion. This will be a huge burden of Sir Alex Ferguson’s back, as the pressure is now squarely on Liverpool to win the game at Old Trafford (or pray the United lose to Wigan and/or Fulham!). United fans, though, need not worry, as, in my opinion, the team has enough about it to secure the first position come May.

Begin Slideshow

Grass Is Greener on the Other Side: World Cricket: Part II—The Year To Come

Anon Payn — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:48:45 -0500

We are eleven days into the New Year, and apart from it being Rahul Dravid’s and Abhay Sundaram’s birthday (shame on you if you don’t know who the latter is!), nothing much is happening on the cricket calendar! YET!

The year is set to kick off with a bang for two of the top cricketing nations of the world, as South Africa take on hosts Australia later today in a T20 International.

Technically speaking, the year has already seen some cricketing action from the likes of New Zealand, West Indies, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe, but the real thing is yet to begin!

Here are a few clashes we can all look forward to:

South Africa against Australia, 5 ODI Series:

Like in the Tests, SA have been the main threat to Australia’s throne in the 50-over game as well, having briefly toppled the Oz during the ’07 World Cup. Ranked 2nd in the world, expect them to run Australia close again this time around.

SA-Aus matches have always provided all time classic moments in the one day format. Some really memorable ones include the famous tied ODI in the ’99 World Cup semi finals, and the world record chase, in what is dubbed as the “Best ODI Ever”, SA successfully chasing an unbelievable 430-odd for victory.

Player to watch out for: Herschelle Gibbs makes his return to the squad. Missing out on the Test team would have hurt this man a lot, especially looking at the result! He has always had a liking for the bouncy wickets, and Australia’s lack of a quality spinner can only improve his chances!

India’s tour of New Zealand (2/3 Tests):

The Test series promises to be a brilliant affair. New Zealand, struggling to beat the likes of West Indies at home, face off against an opponent which has often been unsettled by the climate and pitch conditions of this country. Under a new leadership, India seams to have turned over a new leaf, winning matches it would have drawn or lost in an era gone by.

New Zealand possess one of the world’s finest spinners in Daniel Vettori, but it will be their faster bowlers who will look to trouble the Indian batsmen with assistance from the heavy weather.

Player to watch out for: Rahul Dravid, without a shadow of a doubt, has been on a patchy run ever since India’s tour of the West Indies in late 2006. The Wall’s unusually inconsistent form has been a huge cause for worry, but a return to a country which saw him score a hundred in each inning for the first time in his career may amend that.

The swinging conditions of NZ is one that has always brought out the best in Dravid, and I hope it also brings back that rich vein of form we are all used to from the man!

Sri Lanka’s Tour of Pakistan, 2 Tests:

Pakistan had the better of Sri Lanka last time the southern nation toured up north, but expect the series to be tightly contested this time around. Ajanta Mendis and Muthiah Muralitharan going up against Pakistan’s fragile batting order, and Pakistan’s famed fast bowlers, Md. Asif and Umar Gul taking on the likes of Sangakkara and Jayewardene should make for fascinating viewing. The length of the series is a bit disappointing though.

Player to watch out for: Ajanta Mendis should be having a field day on the dry wickets of Pakistan. The fact that the Pakistani batsmen have hardly had any real match practice should also work in the man’s favour. Another rich haul for ‘The Freak’ is predicted!

Australia’s Tour of South Africa:

The Proteas on home soil this time around. Australia steam rolled their way to victory last time around. Stuart Clark who made his debut in SA will be looking to make a comeback and add that extra edge that his team so, so badly needs!

Indeed, a pace attack including Johnson, Shaun Tait, the newly unearthed Peter Siddle and Clark sounds really intimidating, reminiscent of the West Indies’ pace battery of the 80’s.

Facing them will be a side with pretty good balance. World class pacers in Ntini and Steyn, world class all rounders in Morne Morkel and Jaques Kallis, and world class batting line-up including Smith, Amla, De Villiers and Duminy!

Paul Harris probably the one weak link, but even the left arm spinner seemed threatening on Oz wickets. Interesting times indeed…

Player to watch out for: Tough one, this. So many stars in either side, but I would have to go for a mysterious Mr. X. Who is it? Whoever opens for the Oz’s in the place of Matty Hayden, if not Haydos himself!

The IPL, Part-II:

Probably the most anticipated cricketing event, easily overtaking the cricket World Cup, the second edition promises to be even more spectacular, what with English players getting ready to make an appearance. The ongoing transfer window might prove to spice things up as the likes of Shoaib Akhtar, Kevin Pietersen, and Andrew Flintoff get linked with various teams, ala the English Premier League.

Player to watch out for: Lalit Modi. Okay, he’s not “technically” a player, but with the entire fiscal crisis going around, it will all be up to this man to retain the sponsors, and keep everyone happy.

The World Cup T20, England:

Probably the second most anticipated cricketing event, just slightly behind the IPL. The first edition was eye opening, but that also means, the event in England would face a more demanding crowd to please. On the other hand, the country will also pay host to wilier teams! Happy watching!

Country to watch out for: Defending champions India will face the likes of South Africa, Australia, West Indies, and Sri Lanka, as M.S. Dhoni returns to the tournament that gave him his first taste of success.

And finally…

The Ashes:

Ah, it’s back. Back in England. Injury to Glenn McGrath proved to be a deciding factor last time around, as England won their first Ashes series since the 80’s, but how much damage has the Pietersen-Moores row done to England’s chances, we shall know after their encounter with the West Indies.

(Belated) Season’s Greetings: World Cricket: Part I—The Year Gone By

Anon Payn — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 03:55:05 -0500

Note to the Reader:

Dear Reader,

Firstly, thanks for your time! This is the first part of a two part Article in which I look at the past year in World Cricket and then give my humble opinion regarding what we may expect out of 2009. Wishing you a happy New Year, and happy reading!

Yours truly,

Anon Payn

What a year it has been for International cricket! It began with a bang at Sydney, what with The Monkey Gate scandal ushering in the year, and it ended with South Africa clinching the Boxing Day Test, and in the process showing Australia it’s first series defeat at home in over sixteen years!

Indeed, Australia has been the centre of a lot of attention this year. But unlike the last decade and a half, the last three hundred and sixty five days have seen the men from Down Under getting accused of bringing the game to disrepute, lose the final edition of the iconic one day tri series, not win a single Test in India, and finally getting humbled in their own back yard.

Very few silver linings in this dark cloud for the Aussies. The brightest, of course has been their opener, no not Hayden this time, but Katich! The Queensland batsman has cemented his place in the side, while watching his more celebrated opening partner go from bad to worse.

The New South Wales captain amassed a massive 1021 runs in just eleven matches, becoming the first Australian opener to carry his bat through an innings in over a decade along the way! He complemented his runs with four fine centuries, three of them away from home!

In contrast, partner Matthew Hayden personified the woes of Australian cricket in general, a ageing machine, finding in tough to keep up with the new challenges being thrown at it. Averaging a miserly 32, Hayden is now fighting to keep his place in the side, far from being one of the few, apart from Warne, McGrath and Gilchrist, who could be guaranteed a place in the final eleven a few years ago!

Ponting had a mixed year, as did most of the Australian bowling unit. Brett Lee looked awfully plain for most of the year, and injuries to Stuart Clark didn’t help matters for the Baggy Greens. The stand out performer in that department, however, has to be Mitchell Johnson!

The kid’s been a revelation. The second highest wicket taker in the year gone by, he has come a long way since his debut season more than two years ago. While being on the expensive side of the 20s, his wickets have been vital for Australia. Apart from regularly picking up top batsmen like Tendulkar, Sehwag, Kallis and Smith, his ability to swing the ball marks him apart from all the other Australian quickies. His slower ball is fast gaining notoriety among contemporary batsmen. Certainly one of the future stars.

Australia’s biggest nemesis this season, for all the right and wrong reasons, was India. What began with “Monkey Gate” ended, quite dramatically, in a Test win for India at Nagpur.

The Indo-Oz rivalry got a huge fillip when things got a bit too personal between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds during India’s first innings batting display at Sydney last January.

No points for guess who came out of it the winner, Harbhajan Singh, smashing 410 runs, including four half centuries against the reining world champs, in five Test matches apart from being the third highest wicket taker in the world! Meanwhile Symonds served suspension for having fun when he ought not to be! Bad boy Symmo.

Harbhajan’s all-round efforts were nicely complimented by all his colleagues, the stand outs being Zaheer Khan and Gautam Gambhir.

He may not have taken truck loads of wickets in 2008, but he used his precision and swing to deadly effect against the visiting teams. His final inning spell at Mohali will go down in the books as one of the finest ever. Pace bowling on sub continental wickets can be akin to slow torture, but Zak is fast gaining credentials as probably the best pace-man in the world.

Left out of the Test series in Australia, Gambhir made amends with fine knocks in the following One Day Tri Series, and immediately replaced Wasim Jaffer for the Tests in Sri Lanka. While India lost the series 2-1, Gambhir stood out as the knight in shining armour for the team. An opening partner of Virender Sehwag had been found!

He cemented his place in the side with a fine double century against the Aussies at his home ground, The Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi. His opening partner, Virender Sehwag, who also wasn’t assured a place in the side at the start of the year (he was dropped for the first two Tests Down Under) came back with a bang. His innings at Adelaide, Chennai, Galle, and again at Chennai, yet again proved why he is the most dangerous top order batsman since Sir Viv Richards.

Sachin Tendulkar, the cricketing God of India, also had reason to celebrate. Smashing match winning hundreds became second nature to the master blaster yet again, after quite some time, as He guided India with pomp and élan to victories in the CB Series Finals, the Nagpur Test and the famous Chennai Test. There were other valuable innings too, like the Perth, Adelaide, Bangalore, Mohali and Delhi Tests, which contributed to his 1063 runs in the calendar year. He is back!

M.S. Dhoni had reason to celebrate. As he took over from Anil Kumble, extending his streak to five consecutive victories in his first five Tests in charge, the Jharkand lad confirmed that India was indeed on its way to greatness.

No wonder then, that Mahi was the costliest player in the draft pick for the IPL, the event that will no doubt go down as a defining moment in not just cricket, but sporting history.

Yes indeedy, India’s biggest claim to fame, the Indian Premier League, the world’s most hyped T20 cricket league played out its first season under a dizzying shroud of glamour and chutzpah.

With Mallya, Ambani, Shar Rukh Khan being team owners, and players like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Brendon McCullum, Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, all playing in one tournament, it was bound to be a hit. The crowds flocked in, Shane Warne stood tall among his peers as captain of the champion side, and best of all, young local talent got a stage to impress, and impress it did!

If there was any blemish in an otherwise perfect year it would have to be the twin losses to Sri Lanka, the Asia Cup and the Test series in SL.

Lanka clearly were the only team who got the better of India in ’08. And the ace up their sleeves which India never came to terms with was none other than Ajanta Mendis! The “freak” from the Emerald Isle wove a web around all the Indian batsmen, famed for their mastery over his art, and drove Sri Lanka to lift the Asia Cup and get one over the neighbours.

If having a bowler with his average in the early teens wasn’t enough, the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya, Muthiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayewardene also decided to cash in, as the Lankans wreaked havoc wherever they went!

But without doubt, the star of the show, and probably the new number one team, in the very near future, was South Africa.

The Afrikaans were at the receiving end of a devastating triple hundred in Chennai early March, but the fact that they still managed to draw the series in India showed that this team had fight. And fight they did! Series wins in England and Australia followed as the Proteas come to the threshold of World Supremacy.

Headed by the cavalier Graeme Smith, the highest run getter of 2008, over 1600 of them, the team has been galvanized into one unstoppable unit.

Smith undoubtedly has been the best batsman in the world this past year. Knocks like his 4^th inning154 against England, and 108 at Perth saw South Africa pull off wins from unimaginable positions, reminding avid fans of the achievements of a team headed by a certain Steve Waugh.

But SA’s 11-2 win loss record was not simply down to this one man. No, far from it! Dale Steyn took the world by storm this year. Complimenting his captain as the highest wicket taker in the world, Steyn was the match winner in Australia.

Contributions from Hashim Amla, A.B. De Villiers, Morne Morkel and Makhaya Ntini meant that even an off season for Jaques Kallis couldn’t put the team down.

Ending the year with a Boxing Day Test victory can hardly be bettered, but SA have to be odds on favourites to finish ’09 ranked number one! Roll on the New Year!

Mohali Test: Day Two Review: Australia Face First Inning’s Deficit

Anon Payn — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 01:36:00 -0400

India ended the day as positively as they could have, taking the wicket of Michael Clarke in the most Indian-est of fashions.

Debutant Amit Mishra, who earlier struck in his third over on debut, picking up the well set Simon Katich as his first wicket in Test cricket, bamboozled Clarke with a googly, coming from around the wicket to the right hander, Asad Rauf adjudging him leg before wicket.

The Australian inning started in a very similar manner to the first Test match, Matthew Hayden falling for yet another third ball duck, Zaheer Khan getting his victim for the third successive inning. Done in by a sharp, trademark Khan in-swinger, Hayden’s departure left his team at 0 for 1.

In walked captain Ricky Ponting, and for a while it seemed the duo were set to shut the Indian bowlers out of the game, just like they did at Banglore, managing to go into the Tea break with the score at nine for the loss of one.

But disaster struck second over after tea, Ricky Ponting falling LBW to his latest Indian nemesis, Ishant Sharma, for a paltry five.

Mike Hussey and Katich steadied the ship for a while, thereafter, producing the most successful partnership of the day for the Oz team, 45 runs for the third wicket.

Katich’s departure in the 22nd over of the day saw the Aussie score card read 62 for three. The pressure seemed to be telling on the visitors, Hussey and Clarke managing only eight runs in the next eight overs.

For a brief period after the 31st over it seemed as if the Australian duo would take complete control of the game, with both batsmen finding gaps with consummate ease.

But Clarke’s departure off what was the last ball of the day left Australia in dire straits.

Earlier in the day, Ganguly and Dhoni piled on the agony for the Australian quickies, once Ishant Sharma’s resistance came to an end, courtesy debutant Siddle.

Dhoni was in particularly devastating mood, bringing up his fifty with a six off Cameron White, his second of the day. At one point the Indian captain was striking at 80 per 100 deliveries, while Ganguly provided steadying effect to the Indian inning.

Ganguly got an emotional century, his 16th, with a boundary, only to get out one over later.

The rest of the side fell like nine pins, both Khan and Harbhajan Singh unable to repeat their Bangalore performances.

Dhoni was last man to be dismissed, LBW to Siddle, in what can be called a slightly suspect decision, the Indian inning folding at 469.

Australia will be looking for a big partnership between Hussey and either Haddin or Watson, whoever comes in next.

Watch out for Hussey, in good form, and looking to rescue his team. A big hundred from him should put Australia right back in it!

Mohali Test: Day One Review

Anon Payn — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 03:17:09 -0400

Finally, it did arrive, and not a moment too soon! The timing was impeccable, the stage set, and the Master delivered. Yeah, I’m talking about my pizza here.

But there was another Master, in every sense of the word, at work today, on another circular surface. Only this man was under the scrutiny of a billion people!

As usual, India were seen squandering a brilliant start, and Tendulkar saw India go from 146-1 to 163-4. Normal service had resumed, or so it seemed.

Sourav Ganguly and Tendulkar began, like all aged party, quite slowly. But these two began plundering the boundaries quite soon, Dada taking the initiative in the race of the veterans, spanking three gorgeous fours, all in his favourite region of the off side!

Tendulkar found his footing soon, though. A wonderfully carved cover drive early on off Mitchell Johnson got him settled down. After tea, the moment of the day arrived, with Tendulkar opening the face of the blade and running the ball down to third man to collect three runs, and in the process go two runs past Brian Lara’s 11953 runs.

Once all the noise and commotion died down, and play was ready to resume, Tendulkar and Ganguly started getting some quick singles in, and rotating the strike.

Once Ganguly’s barrage of boundaries dried down, Tendulkar took over, taking special liking for the debutant, Peter Siddle. The shot of the day, by far, was the punch down the ground.

A four down to fine leg brought up the Little Master’s 50th Test 50, and it looked like he was going to get a lot more than just that. A silly moment saw the Australian captain, partly due to the wicket-keeper’s lack of awareness, gift four to Tendulkar, who soon after created another piece of history, 12000 runs, when he scored his 61st run.

Tendulkar kept accelerating thereafter, charging and slamming Cameron White for a four, and then getting a boundary of Shane Watson too.

All this while Ganguly slowly plodded his way to his 35th Test 50, his 50th score of over 50 in Test cricket. He also went past a milestone of his own, when on 39, bringing up 7000 Test runs in his Test career.

The pair brought up yet another century partnership, truly, these are meant for each other on the cricket pitch, and the game was slipping away from Australia.

In the 82nd over, Peter Siddle was handed the new ball, to partner Brett Lee, in what might have been called a surprise decision. He was driven off the back foot in typical Tendulkar style for four runs of the first ball.

The second, Sachin was lucky, as another attempted back foot drive found the bottom edge, and pitched a few inches outside the off stump, before racing away for a four down to fine leg.

And tragedy struck soon after, when Tendulkar, who was by now just twelve short of a tenth hundred against Australia, and striking at 80 runs per 100 balls, got out, at slips, edging another attempted off-drive off the back foot!

Skipper Dhoni must have a darn good sense of humour! Remembering the nightmare that the Indian tail gave the Australians at Bangalore, sending in the weakest link in the tail as night-watchman can prove to be a match winning decision, if Sharma can ward off the new ball before making way for Dhoni tomorrow!

Earlier in the day, Anil Kumble’s injury paved the way for Amit Mishra to make his Test debut, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni immediately made his impact felt as captain, by winning the toss!

Electing to bat first, India was off to a rollicking start, with Sehwag sending all and sundry all around the PCA Stadium.

It was Johnson who got him out for 35 off just 36, at a time when it looked like he will take the match away from the Oz team in one session itself. It was almost a freak dismissal for the Nawab of Najafgarh, getting caught down the leg side, to a delivery he would put away for a boundary ninety-nine times out of a hundred!

At 76 for one, Dravid and Gambhir weaved together a fine partnership, and went to lunch without any more losses. Dravid was looking especially ominous, with a brilliant on drive being the pick of the lot. Gambhir gave him good company, but seemed to loose the plot a bit after the lunch interval.

At 146, disaster struck, as first Dravid dragged a short delivery onto his stumps, gifting Brett Lee his first wicket of the inning. Gambhir followed in the next over, playing a drive away from his body, and only managing a fine nick, Johnson picking his second wicket in the process.

By this time, the score had gone from 146 for one to 146-3. Laxman joined Tendulkar, and for a moment, it seemed the duo would pick up from where they left off at Bengaluru, Laxman playing some exquisite shots on either side of the ground, behind point and square leg.

But the tall man paid the price of his positivity, playing one shot too many, and falling in similar fashion to Sehwag, Mitchell Johnson doing the damage yet again.

India ended the day on 311 for five, Ganguly still in there on 54, and Sharma on two.

It was a record breaking day at Mohali, and the Test is already evenly poised, with all to play for tomorrow. India look to be heading towards a respectable total, least 400 one would think. But if Australia can “knock a few over” early with the new ball, they will be into the tail.

Saturday promises to be a great second day in this Test match.

Border-Gavaskar Trophy, 2008: 2nd Test Preview: A Cracker Awaiting at Mohali

Anon Payn — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:20:25 -0400

On the eve of India’s tour of Australia last season, Perth was touted as the venue where India would get ripped apart, torn into pieces, and blown into the oblivion. With the bouncy nature of the surface assisting the faster bowlers, and Indian batsmen getting labelled as "suspects" against an attack comprising the world’s fastest and most accurate bowlers, the stage was set for India to go 3-0 down in the third Test itself.

The events that actually unfolded at the Western Australian Cricket Association ground though were totally unexpected and out of the blue. Okay, maybe not out of the blue. Not if you are an Indian cricket follower, who has seen this side dismantle the likes of England and South Africa in much more venomous settings.

Tendulkar (71) and Dravid (93) set the stage for the young Ishant Sharma to rattle the “mighty” Australians in their favourite hunting ground. The “best” batsman in the world, Ricky Ponting, was treated like a debutant playing against a seasoned pro, whereas the situation was completely the opposite. India won the Test, but that doesn’t seem to have changed the journos’ minds much.

Going into the Mohali Test, pace, it seems, is still India’s enemy number one, and the occasion is yet again being touted as Australia’s best chance to beat India. Déjà vu, anyone?

There is no doubt in my mind that the need of the moment is for Kumble to be “rested”, the preferred terminology among the Indian management, and a third pacer getting included in the side, in the form of R.P. Singh.

While it is becoming more and more likely that Kumble is going to make the job easier with a nagging shoulder putting "Jumbo" in discomfort, his replacement, as is being touted in the press, Munaf Patel is a big risk venture. And being in the midst of a global meltdown as we are, the Kirsten, Kumble, Tendulkar et al will benefit by going for a more stable option, albeit one which will give lower returns.

The problem with Patel is his dreadful stamina and a fielding ability that ranks about as highly as Ganguly’s might.

Singh on the other hand is a very handy fielder, with a big heart, the kind required for being a good fast bowler in the sub-continent.

Patel is also a factor that might make the pace attack a bit too one-dimensional. While he is a tall lad, the problem is he doesn’t utilise this aspect of his physique, delivering the ball on a bent left knee. Definitely not the liveliest of spirits, he can definitely be labelled the Dimitat Berbatov of Indian cricket. If he gets hit for a couple of boundaries, don’t be surprised to see the pace drop and the line and length go awry.

Singh is tough lad, with a high arm, side on action. His in-swingers to the right hander are a perfect contrast to the stockier Zaheer Khan’s out-swinging peaches, delivered with a more front-on action. He was baptised by fire on a flat track in Faisalabad, Pakistan, where, in his debut game, every one around him was getting belted.

He managed to get more than respectable first inning figures of 4-89 (the next best figures were 3-135 by Zaheer Khan). Him over Munaf Patel, for this encounter at least.

Expect Ishant Sharma to be on fire. With seven wickets already under his belt on a wicket where even Brett Lee didn’t get many, Sharma looks ready fill his bags on a pitch offering a bit of bounce.

If the sun is out, the pitch is expected to get better and bouncier, and Singh and Sharma should be able to trouble a lot of Australian batsmen.

But if the sluggish nature remains, the Zaheer Khan will immediately come into play, and it would be interesting to see if he continues his good run against Hayden and Co.

Ponting’s comments regarding Kumble and Zaheer Khan should add spice to the contest, something that was missing, and certainly hampered the flow of the game, at Bangalore.

Australia’s bowling has been further weakened with Stuart Clark getting ruled out of the game. Peter Siddle will make his Test debut. In all likelihood, Shane Watson will be given the new ball along side Brett Lee, with Siddle being used as first change.

The Australian unit now looks completely bare, with the exception of Brett Lee.

Of the four bowlers the Oz will rely on come Friday, three have fewer than 50 Test wickets.

For this attack to come up against a side with three batsmen averaging in the 50s is a tall ask. On an even surface where the bowlers must bend their back to get something out of it, Tendulkar, Dravid and Sehwag will be keen to pounce on the inexperienced trio of Johnson, White and Siddle. Watson, with the experience of the IPL behind him, can be expected to be a potent weapon.

If the Australian think-tank is relying on the fact that Cameron White and Michael Clarke were a handful for the Indians in Bangalore, then they might be in for a rude shock.

The Bangalore wicket was definitely one where spinners could have been successful. A Warne or a McGill, or even a in-from and fully fit Kumble could have meant a result oriented Test match. But with the bowling on display being, well, quite mediocre, neither teams had much difficulty in reading the turning ball.

With Mohali traditionally providing good bounce and carry for the bowlers, and where stroke players thrive with the ball coming on to the bat, Clarke and White may be picked for a few. If Sehwag survives the first 20 overs, Australia will be in a real quandary.

For Australia the key will be Hayden.

He failed to set the ground alight in the first Test, but I expect to see him fire in the second. He will be Australia’s answer to any hurdles Sehwag and his mates may erect.

The rest of the middle order seems to be in great form, and it will definitely require great bowling to keep the centurion of the first Test, Ponting and Hussey, quiet for two innings.

The stage is set, therefore, for an in form of Indian bowling attack to take on an intimidating Australian batting line-up, threatening to take the ‘final-frontier’ by storm for the second time running.

In the mean-time, Australia’s baby-faced Test bowling attack will take on a wrinkly Indian batting line-up, which can’t wait to recapture the grandeur of the past.

The side-show will definitely be Tendulkar’s record bid.

While man himself isn’t too perturbed by the occasion, ‘Punter’ Ponting has already rubbed Tendulkar’s poor run of form in his face, pointing out Tendulkar’s horrendous form in his last ten innings.

His last big score, incidentally, was against Ponting’s team though, and if Tendulkar gets in at Mohali, expect another grinding inning, worth, the Indians (in the dressing-room and every corner of the world) will hope, much more than the 15 runs everyone is eagerly waiting for!

Whether Lara’s record of most Test runs falls or not, the Mohali Test is shaping up to be a smash-hit affair.

The toss doesn’t affect matches too much, with runs per wicket batting first and second being more or less equal, Cricinfo.com suggests.

We have a cracker on our hands, ladies and gentlemen, and let’s hope the rain gods don’t spoil this party atleast!

Leave your comments and predictions! Especially interested in what your Indian playing eleven will be, in case the skipper doesn’t make it!

How to Solve Rivalries Among Formula One Teammates

Anon Payn — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 05:36:34 -0400

I have always reckoned Formula One as weird activity. Before my interest in the spectator sport began to sprout, I remember shunning it for being boring.

Hardly any overtaking, and the usual blah-blah.

It took a German wearing Red to get me hooked on, and God, was it worth all the hours spent in front of the telly.

The anticipation used to begin right from Thursday, and the high (or low) would not be gotten over till the following Wednesday!

But during my transition from non-F1 geek, to die-hard Ferrari fan (or like a certain POTD hogging, McLaren Mercedes fan puts it, Tifosi; tifoso to be gender specific) I have encountered one most painful thing about the sport: lack of sportsmanship.

I don’t know if many of you will agree with me on this one, but of all the sports I love and follow, F1 seems, somehow, to rank lowest when it comes to the “men who matter,” taking victory and loss in stride, and being appreciative of one another.

For some raison d'être, the animosity isn’t as much between drivers from conflicting camps as it is between two drivers on the same team!

Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost are an odd pair that come to mind. The two McLaren drivers used to be at loggerheads quite often, until the untimely and heartrending death of the former.

In more recent times, we’ve had the paring of Schumacher with Barrichello at the Ferrari stable and of course, Hamilton along with Alonso at McLaren.

There seems to be a common trend in the aforementioned disputes within the team hierarchy.

Ego, and the inability of two world class, Driver’s Championship winning material drivers to enjoy each others’ success, especially if it has come at the cost of your own chances at the title.

Why does this happen? After all, are these not mature professionals? Don’t they have the ability to understand that the other person pines for the same glory they seek?

This is where the team “Principals” and management come in, further complicating matters, like it happened at McLaren last season.

Prost had suggested that the only way the Alonso’s problems at McLaren could be sorted was by giving them the same dealing; much like the Prost-Senna pair was treated.

But partiality plays a huge part in Formula One these days.

There is always the “main” driver, the one who is going to get the WDC, and the other is just a dummy, used for gathering the points that will bring home the Constructor’s. Also Known As: the Rubens Barrichello-type of driver!

Such a position is always a bit depressing to even witness, let alone be in!

Felipe Massa willingly and quite happily played second fiddle to Schumacher during the German ace’s final season.

Last season, with Kimi Raikkonen better placed to aim for the championship than Massa himself, the Brazilian publicly stated that he would happily let his teammate pass him, if he stood a chance.

But will he readily accept being a second-class citizen at Ferrari for a third consecutive season, if the championship heats up towards the climax, and the Italians decide to bank on just one of them, for fear of losing out on constructor points?

The chances of Massa accepting his countryman Barrichello’s fate are slim to none.

However, letting two drivers slug it out simultaneously has its own disadvantages.

For one, as witnessed by the Senna-Prost relationship, the situation could go from bad to worse.

Either you have one champion driver, alongside a disgruntled one, or two blokes hungry for each other’s blood!

So why does such a quandary exist in the first place?

It’s the most basic problem in Formula One in my opinion.

The fact that it is called a “team” sport complicates matters.

Due to that classification, one would expect the most prized and sought after honor would be the Constructor’s Championship.

But in the light of all the media frenzy and fanfare, without which F1 wouldn’t have an end objective, like any other sport, the accolades for the team are reserved the backseat, and the World Driver’s Championship is allowed to take the wheel in this quest for glory.

In a true team sport, the team always comes before the individual.

The highest award in football is not the World FIFA Player of the Year award; it is the league title, the Champions League, or the FIFA World Cup.

In this way, F1 has been bestowed with the worst of both worlds. All the tantrums and selfimportance of a star from an individual sport from the drivers, and all the management problems of a team sport.

The obvious thing to do, therefore, would be to make sure the Constructor’s is deemed more prestigious, by some decree. But how close are we to that happening?

Such a thing may change F1 greatly.

With the team given more importance than the individual, we may see more exciting finishes, as teams would start caring less about who wins the Driver’s Championship. A more aggressive approach would definitely be on the cards, and for a change, the team “bosses” would start acting their titles.

PS: An amateur’s attempt at the big bad world of Auto-Racing literature, I hope it wasn’t a total waste of your time!

Please leave comments and criticisms! Appreciate your time spent!

Indian Cricket: Tests: The Curse of The Subcontinent

Anon Payn — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 02:37:19 -0400

When the final wicket fell during the fourth day’s play, India not only crashed to one of their biggest defeats on Sri Lankan soil, it also served as a reminder of the ghastly fact that Indian cricket has some serious issues. And more astonishingly, the problem is playing in the sub-continent, our strength until a few years ago!

Since the turn of the century, India’s win percentage at home has been 42.11%, winning 16 out of 38 games. To India’s credit many of these wins have come against worthy opponents such as Australia, England, West Indies, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Pakistan.

But the few losses have been to these very same opponents, namely Australia, South Africa, England and Pakistan.

India famously lost the 2000 series against SA in a very poor fashion, which later prompted the legendary Sachin Tendulkar to resign from the captaincy.

But after that, India did not lose a single series at home, till Australia, under Gilchrist and Ponting, secured the “final frontier” during the winter of 2004.

This was preceded by a dull Test series against New Zealand, which saw both Tests being drawn.

In fact, the last time India even came close to dominating a Test series at home was in 2005, when they beat Sri Lanka 2-0 in the three Test series.

It was a period which saw India pulling off some breathtaking performances away from home. Most remarkably Test wins in West Indies, England (both in ’02) and the famous drawn series in Australia (’03-’04). (India’s wins in Bangladesh (all tours) and Zimbabwe (2005) have been overlooked.)

Therefore it is astonishing that the team fell to such depths at home!

Here is what the numbers say:

At home:

Year	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Win %
2000	4	1	1	2	25%
2001	6	3	2	1	50%
2002	5	4	1	0	80%
2003	2	0	2	0	0%
2004	6	2	2	2	33.33%
2005	6	3	2	1	50%
2006	3	1	1	1	33.33%
2007	3	1	2	0	33.33%
2008 (so far)	3	1	1	1	33.33%
Total	38	16	14	8	42.11%

Away:

Year	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Win %
2000	1	0	0	1	0.00%
2001	7	2	1	4	28.57%
2002	11	2	4	5	18.18%
2003	3	1	1	1	33.33%
2004	4	2	1	1	50.00%
2005	0	0	0	0	0
2006	9	2	5	2	22.22%
2007	5	1	2	2	20.00%
2008 (so far)	4	1	1	2	25.00%
Total	44	11	15	18	25.00%

As expected, the latter of the two tables shows a bad picture.

But this changes after 2002. From ’03 to ’08, India’s record actually improves! Seven wins to eight losses gives a clear picture when compared to 10 losses and four wins between 2000 and 2002.

Let’s take another angle. India’s performance in the sub-continent. (Against all nations except Bangladesh.)

Year	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Win %
2000	4	1	1	2	25.00%
2001	9	4	2	3	44.44%
2002	5	4	1	0	80.00%
2003	2	0	2	0	0.00%
2004	9	4	2	3	44.44%
2005	6	3	2	1	50.00%
2006	6	1	3	2	16.67%
2007	3	1	2	0	33.33%
2008 (so far)	4	1	1	2	25.00%
Total	48	19	16	13	39.58%

It just gets worse!

So, what is wrong with the Indian team?

I had mentioned the problem of pitches some time ago, and this is indeed one of the basic problems facing the Indian team.

But as a top side in Test cricket, the players are rightly expected to perform on every surface, home and away.

India’s loss to Sri Lanka is just the latest instance of India falling at the hands of a slow, turning wicket.

India lost to Pakistan at Bangalore during John Wright’s farewell series in 2005 in similar fashion, unable to battle out one day to save the Test, falling short by 168 runs.

Sanjay Manjrekar stated right after the defeat that India is no longer the side that throttled the like of Shane Warne not too long ago.

Though his sentiments as a former player and a huge fan of the art of playing spin are understandable, and the fact remains that the Aussies have covered huge ground in this department to give the Indian heavyweights some competition, it is unfair to blame it entirely on the batsmen.

Fielding is one big area where India lets itself down. More so while playing in the sub continent.

The lush outfields in Australia, England and South Africa are often invitation to even the Gangulies, Dravids, Kumbles and Tendulkars to dive around. The sub continent, sadly, is yet to offer that to them and it seems these veterans lack the confidence of the more youthful in the side, and the better fielders around the world, to do the same at home.

The bowlers used to win us games single handedly. That sting has been vastly lacking.

While improvement in the away performances can be attributed to the increased wealth of quality fast bowlers within the Indian ranks, the same has, it seems, hurt the performance at home.

Kumble’s form has noticeably waned in the last few seasons, and Harbhajan is yet to find the form that saw him take thirty two wickets in one series against Australia in 2001.

Coupled with India’s inability to find a third quality spinner has meant that India’s supposed potent spin force is virtually non existent and a non entity to batsmen of quality!

The likes of Matthew Hayden (793 runs at an average of 61.00), Inzamam-ul-Haq (594 at 54.88), Younis Khan (768 at 76.8) and Jacques Kallis (557 at 55.7) have relished batting in India.

New comers like Michael Clarke and Kevin Pietersen, too, have had a ball in the sub-continent.

All this just compounds the task for the batsmen.

If they bat first and set a huge first inning’s total, the game invariably heads for a draw.

Batting second and chasing a huge first inning’s deficit means intolerable pressure on the batsmen resulting in collapses, and a big loss.

So what can India do to solve this problem?

For one, give more chances to younger players like Yuvraj Singh and Piyush Chawla. They may not be a Laxman and Kumble yet, but they may be one day, and for that they need maximum exposure.

To me all this rubbish about T20 destroying India’s Test game is farcical to say the least.

These guys have played four day cricket for most of their careers before breaking into the national squad. To say a few games of T20 have undone all of that is ludicrous.

Another vital decision the team management has to take is regarding the strategy they employ when their backs are against the wall.

The other night, I was watching the highlights of the India-Australia game at Perth. The way Gilchrist and Symonds fought back from 61 for 5 to 161 for 5 is truly remarkable. The runs came at a One Day pace, and the bowlers were left clue less.

Instances like these clarify why exactly those bunch of guys are ranked number one in the world.

India needs to adopt a similar approach. It is absolutely heart wrenching to see some of the most exciting batsmen in the world take a defensive approach while chasing in the last inning of a Test match, or following on.

Apart from Virender Sehwag, the rest of the side seems to get cold feet when put in such a situation. As soon as the maverick opener departs, a chase simply loses initiative.

For one, the batting line up needs some restructuring.

Laxman’s 281, at the Eden Gardens, is oft stated as one of the greatest Test innings of all time. He would have had more had the management given him more freedom, and a permanent slot at number three.

Now is not too late. At 33, he can still be relied upon to give some solid service at that position for a couple of more years.

Sachin Tendulkar is undoubtedly the most brilliant batsman I have ever seen. The fact that the team does not give him enough independence to play his natural game for the fear of loosing his wicket early on is in the vein of self destruction.

If he is allowed to approach the second inning like he approaches the first, India will be winning a lot more matches while chasing 300+ totals than they do now.

Sourav Ganguly, too, needs to be given the incentive to attack the bowling from the word go. His inning of 144 at Brisbane is a lesson in counter attacking batsman-ship, and such innings need to be repeated as often as possible by him before throwing in the towel.

Rahul Dravid needs to be at number six. While his solid technique is perfect for the number three slot when you have a bad pair of openers, once 150 have already been put up on the board at 3.5 an over, he would do a much better job coming in later in the inning.

His ability to absorb the pressure and play with the tail is enough reason to allot Dravid this position. Given the fact that the guy can deposit a few over the ropes as well, you have a perfect number six in Dravid, at least at this stage of his career, with his powers of concentration seemingly waning.

The bowling? It actually looks stronger than the batting does at the moment.

Anil Kumble needs to seriously find his form back or the side will be in grave danger once the ball has lost its shine. He is the spearhead of the attack in every sense of the word, and without him, India’s chances of victory are seriously dented.

Harbhajan Singh needs to be kicked out!

His run of form has been pathetic for longer than I care to remember. He has had bad influence on the rest of the team in recent times, and is definitely not an asset either as a batsman or as a fielder.

Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar have been waiting in the wings for quite some time now, and either one of them, even both of them, should be in the team.

Both are handy batsmen, both can field, although Powar is a suspect in the outfield due to his slowness, and both have seen special form in the domestic circuit off late. Murali Kartik is another name that springs to mind. Some amazing talent is getting wasted due to the persistence with Harbhajan, and this needs severe alterations.

Zaheer Khan was a tad off color, but with time he is sure to recapture his form. Ishant Sharma was in dazzling form, and very unlucky, with catches getting dropped off him.

In the absence of Dhoni, Karthik is the best alternative for the keeper’s slot.

Though a few dropped chances will go against him being selected for the second Test, he is still a better alternative behind the stumps.

He is more agile, dives about, and is definitely more vocal in support of his bowlers than Parthiv Patel, the second keeper.

On the other hand, Patel has had a sensational season as an opening batsman for Gujarat and India A. Nevertheless Gambhir is definitely a better option at the top considering his technical solidity and his ability to play spin. That pretty much rules him out, as Sehwag is not going to be dropped at any cost.

Looking forward to the next Test, and with reports coming in that the Galle (venue for second Test) track will be slower than the one at SSC, India need to make sure they come up with some structural changes and a different approach.

There is definitely no need for any chopping and changing, as this side is good enough to take on any in the world. Maybe Harbhajan needs to be taken off, but that, it seems, is unlikely to happen.

India may need to add another bowler, preferably a spinner.

On the other hand, Sehwag was hugely under utilized in the first Test. He should be bowled more, and he will be more effectual on these tracks, and create more damage than Harbhajan. His simple action, and keenness to float it up, will help him, and this may even relieve the load off Kumble’s shoulders.

What do you think India needs to do to get back to winning ways? Feel free to state your thoughts!

"King Kev"- Still a Long Way To Go

Anon Payn — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 06:47:48 -0400

They say the intelligence of the human species stems from its will to better itself.

They later termed this process evolution.

Apparently it’s yet to hit British journos.

All you need is one big knock against a one dimensional South African attack, on the flattest deck seen at Lord’s in a long, long time, and suddenly, it’s time you are hailed as the most “complete” batsman in the world today!

To read Simon Wilde’s article on Kevin Pietersen was a lot like coming across that five-year-old kid who has just played his first ball game in the backyard with his dad.

The childlike innocence when kids proclaim, “My daddy is the best!” is not what I got reading the piece on Sunday Times, though.

It’s not the first incident of the English press overhyping its players. The last was the famous Steve Harmison case, of course. At least every time Geoffrey Boycott leapt into the air exclaiming, “There’s the best bowler in the world!” he had the ICC rankings to back him!

What makes this proclamation even more hilarious is the fact that it comes on the back of the dullest draw in recent history, with three South African top order batsmen notching up tons on the same strip!

For starters, let’s look at Pietersen’s track record so far in Test cricket.

Post the Lord’s game, Pietersen boasts an impressive record, by far the best in his side. In 40 matches and 74 innings, he has already notched up 3621 runs at an average of 51. His strike rate of 62.70 is enough to convince anybody that this man is as dangerous as they come at number four! Add to that his 13 tons and 10 fifties, an impressive conversion rate in itself, and you certainly have a “complete” package.

But here’s the kicker.

He has been pegged above

Ricky Ponting
Matches 119
Innings 199
Runs 10099
Average 58.37
Strike Rate 59.04
100s 35
50s 40
World View: Undeniably the best in the world for the past four years. Enhanced his reputation not only as a batsman, but also as a leader, taking over the mantle of captaining the best side in the world. Most notable feat: a 5-0 Ashes white wash.
Simon View: “Ponting’s game… looks fragile, brought low by spending his holiday in the Indian Premier League and by wrist surgery.”
Matthew Hayden
Matches 94
Innings 167
Runs 8242
Average 53.51
Strike Rate 60.12
100s 30
50s 27
WV: By far, the best opening bat the world has seen in a long, long time, not to mention the most frightening and dominating (and any other adjective describing “causer of utter chaos and destruction”). Holder of the second highest Test score ever: 380.
SV: “No player in the modern age has had his Test reputation so artificially enhanced by the helmet as Hayden.” (This one is for the ages, really!)
Kumar Sangakkara
Matches 73
Innings 120
Runs 6127
Average 55.19
Strike Rate 56
100s 16
50s 25
WV: One of the prettiest batsmen to watch when in full flow, currently ranked the best batsman in the Test world by the ICC, he is probably the second best number three, just after Ponting.
SV: Sangakkara is perhaps Pietersen’s nearest rival today. Ranked No 1 Test batsman in the ICC rankings, he has had the considerable advantage of playing much of his cricket on Sri Lanka’s slow, true pitches, hence his average of 61 at home and 49 away (he has never done much in Tests in England).
(Someone, please show him the highlights of the 2nd Australia-Sri Lanka match, 4^th inning; Sangakkara 192)
Jacques Kallis
Matches 120
Innings 204
Runs 9677
Average 56.59
Strike Rate 43.91
100s 30
50s 47
WV: As the strike rate suggests, not the flashiest of batsmen, but still has the world’s fastest Test 50 to his name. Versatile, gritty, and an absolute run machine, he once almost equaled Sir Bradman’s run of seven consecutive tons, ultimately falling short by just one!
SV: South Africa’s Jacques Kallis is as reliable in all conditions as anyone, though he has yet to take a century off Sri Lanka and his record is inflated by cheap runs against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
(Perhaps India, New Zealand and Pakistan all appear un-worthy rivals in Mr. Wilde’s eyes. When a batsman averages more than Lara himself in Australia, you ought not to take him so lightly!)
Rahul Dravid
Matches 122
Innings 210
Runs 10098
Average 54.88
Strike Rate 41.94
100s 25
50s 51
WV: Touted as the world’s best, not too long ago, Dravid made his name with mind blowing performances on his trip to England (’02) and Australia (’03-’04). A career punctuated with knocks like his 148 at Leeds, Dravid will go down along side Gavaskar and Tendulkar, as India’s greatest.
SV: Dravid, like Shivnarine Chanderpaul, has one of the soundest defences the game has seen, but does not threaten to tear attacks to shreds in the way others do.

And my personal favourite,

Sachin Tendulkar
Matches 147
Innings 238
Runs 11782
Average 55.31
Strike Rate -
100s 39
50s 49
WV: Perhaps it wouldn’t be exaggeration to state that, of all the players KP was compared to, comparisons to Lara and Tendulkar were the most stupefying.
Hayden: In India, Tendulkar is like God.
Warne: Outside grounds, people wait until he goes in before paying to enter. They seem to want a wicket to fall even though it is their own side that will suffer.
Lara: He is a genius. I’m just a mere mortal.
SV: Tendulkar, in sheer weight of runs the champion of the day, has raised his game against Australia to a level that only Pietersen and Brian Lara have matched, but his body is creaking and time is no longer on his side.
(Again, someone please mail the videos of India’s tour Down Under to Mr. Wilde, who obviously seems to have a transmission problem!)

Really Simon? King Kev, more “complete”, more dangerous than the pantheon listed above?

Stats against Australia?

Here are a few numbers.

Kallis

Vs Aus

Runs 1188

Average 38.32

In Aus:

Runs 728

Average 48.53

Dravid

Vs Aus

Runs 1740

Average 45.78

In Aus

Runs 972

Average 48.60

Sangakkara

Vs Aus

Runs 503

Average 41.91

In Aus

Runs 391

Average 65.16

Tendulkar

Vs Aus

Runs 2352

Average 56

In Aus

Runs 1522

Average 58.53

While Pietersen’s averages of 53.5 (overall) and 54.44 (in Aus), against the Best augurs well with the ones above, you just need to look at the fact that his 490 runs in 10 innings still weren’t enough to prevent a humiliation suffered only ONCE before in the entire history of Ashes!

Sehwag, the other batsman who comes to mind when talking of success stories Down Under, has been nicely sidelined by Wilde.

“For the sheer thrill of the ride, not to mention the originality of the headdress, only the mercurial Virender Sehwag can match him. As they are both under 30, they might be reckoned to have their best years ahead of them.”

Excuse me, but hasn’t Sehwag already established himself as the one to be MATCHED, rather than someone who needs to match UP TO someone?

For Pete’s sake! The man has TWO triple hundreds! Only Lara and Bradman have done THAT!

He has the FASTEST double AND triple ton in the HISTORY of the game!

And all he can do is match Pietersen?

He scored 195 against Australia, at the MCG!

Has gone past 150 every time he posts a hundred, in the last 9 occassions, a record even Bradman can't match!

Eh, match who?

This article was not written to undermine Kevin Pietersen’s ability or stature as a batsman.

Trust me, the lad as a stunning future ahead of him. Along with Flintoff (when fit), he is one man who can put English cricket back on top.

His struggles with the South African quota system and his herculean achievements in the English camp, all achieved in such a short time, have already set him apart as a marked man, and one who is bound to achieve greater heights as his career progresses.

But Simon Wilde, and his kin, must note that many a careers have dwindled after even more glorious beginnings.

What bigger example that Vinod Kambli?

Pietersen does have a solid head on his shoulders but when we talk of fame getting to young sportsmen’s head, such rubbish by the press is often neglected.

Ultimately, a part of the responsibility lies with the press, in that, it should practice responsible journalism, as vile writings like this doesn’t help anyone, least of all the player.

Every Sport Can Be Fun! An Experimenter's View

Anon Payn — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:49:25 -0400

Ever since the Open Mic on “What do you consider being a sport?” there have been quite a few debates regarding the validity of certain games being referred to as “sport.”

Most of these have revolved around motor racing and golf.

And being a part of the cricketing world, I can add the T20 to this list.

Before I begin, this is not a late entry for the Open Mic. Rather, just a point of view regarding the whole debate itself, since the dust seems to have settled on it.

What prompted this article was a piece on the popular Cricinfo.com blog titled Different Strokes.

The piece titled “Just not cricket” by Michael Jeh, is yet another wailing against the advent of T20, which is, as the title puts quite plainly, “not cricket,” or in the broader perspective, “not sport.”

In my opinion, sport is whatever that gets the adrenaline flowing.

Therefore, the topic becomes subjective, as different things get the juices flowing in different personalities.

Even chess can be considered a sport for the avid fan who gets excited at the prospect of watching Gary Kasparov playing again!

This is where I would like to make my point.

Every sport is enjoyable by anybody. It just boils down to which base you are at!

Like every relationship, I suppose even the relationship one shares with a sport needs to have bases.

At the beginning, there is the complete disdain.

Lines like “That’s not sport” or “it’s a game for the brutes” or “it’s for slowpokes” are the ones one would most often associate with a sport you don’t really prefer.

Like golf, or Test cricket, or if you are a fan of the latter two, rugby or T20!

I suppose it all begins with the stars.

You first think about it in a different way when you find something even remotely attractive in it.

The initial spark is always superficial! But in sport, love always seems to strike.

That spark could be a bicycle kick by Huntelaar (been seeing a lot of those, haven’t we?) or a birdie by Tiger. Immediately, we feel like seeing some more moments like them.

That’s where it all begins. It’s like the first meeting. You’re not quite sure what to say. So you try to keep it simple and just go with the flow. And there it grips you.

You find that one thing that you can’t keep out of your mind.

That’s where you associate your attention to that one team, to that one player, and it’s just not the same anymore!

It remains fun only when your chap is doing well. You stop caring about seeing the special moments. The closeness of the contest doesn’t matter if THAT team is playing. It’s winning that matters now!

And now you know it, you have been gripped!

You’re chilling with friends, and one of ‘em quips, “Man, you should’ve seen Van der Sar get sent off yesterday!” and you immediately jump in, “That wasn’t even a foul! We deserved to win!” You realize everyone around you looking at you. You didn’t even like football two weeks ago!

The fanaticism begins. You’re just not a “fan” anymore. It’s just not a sport anymore. The game is all there is.

You follow them for the rest of the season. By now, you know every minute detail.

The position Alonso finished at the Australian GP. (When it had actually happened, you didn’t even know an Australian GP existed!)

Every statistic is known by heart.

You start following everything about Federer.

Newspaper columns, online posts, you join every community dedicated to your team on the web. Your team. No more is it “that boring game.” You no longer “don’t care” about who the latest player on the team is!

The transition is almost complete.

Soon you reach that spiritual level, when you can look at the long run and be happy being part of the journey all this time.

You aren’t sad Federer is retiring.

There will be a better driver at Renault next season, and you can celebrate another victory at Sepang, with a different driver at the podium.

Loyalty takes a whole new meaning.

Basically, the point of all this rambling is, you can enjoy any sport on the planet; all you need to do is lower your guard.

To anybody who says Test cricket is “boring,” drop the cynicism at home, and go for the Fifth Day at Lord’s.

It just takes a little bit of time.

Sri Lankan Players Get the Right to Choose IPL over National Squad

Anon Payn — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:40:57 -0400

The Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC) board has allowed its players to give the Indian Premier League (IPL) “priority” over their tour of England.

This decision is a huge reality check for all the cricket boards across the globe without the sufficient funds to match the pay cheque offered by the IPL, or rather, the BCCI.

The Sri Lankan players in the IPL include their biggest stars: captain Mahela Jayewardene (pictured), wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara, record holding off-spinner Muthiah Muralidaran (pictured, second from right), and swashbuckling batsman Sanath Jayasuriya.

The recent contract dispute between the board and its players was resolved just yesterday, and it seems the board’s agreement to let the players play in the IPL instead of turning up in national colours played a big part in the players’ agreement to the contract.

The SLC, it was reported by ESPN, paid a retainership fee of US $15,000 per year to its players, the lowest among all Test-playing nations.

In such a scenario, it is quite clear why the SLC swung to the players’ demands.

Lack of sufficient financing (its wages are reportedly lower than what county teams offer) and the lucrative offers from the IPL mean that if SLC hadn’t agreed to its players’ demands, it could have faced a huge backlash, with the possibility of the players staging a walk-out from the national squad—a scenario faced by the West Indian Cricket Board a few years ago, which saw the likes of Lara protest due to a conflict between the player sponsors and the team sponsor.

While the ICC had promised a “window” in its international schedule in order to make the players able to play in the IPL without having to miss national duty, its need is felt more than ever right now.

With the ECB beginning to face demands from its players as well, this may just be the beginning of a huge shake-up in international cricket!

Cricket's Greatest Moments

Anon Payn — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:39:28 -0400

I love cricket, and everything about it. Over the past 10 years it’s nearly been the center of my life. But I have never fancied myself as "knower" of the game.

10 years, after all, is such a small fraction when you look at the history of the sport. A sport that almost died, rescued from the brink of public anonymity by the charismatic semi-professional W.G. Grace.

A sport that saw the likes of Charles Lennox, the second Duke of Richmond, and Sir William Gage, the seventh Baronet, patronizing it. And later ThomasWaymark made his mark in the late 18th century, when the game was as much a gambling sport as it ever was (and to think they are after bookies today!).

Then there were Thomas Brett and Edward “Lumpy” Stevens, supposed to be the first bowler to bowl the “flighted” delivery.

Surviving the “Seven Years War” the game sustained itself till the two most unlikely (at least in today's world) opponents faced off in the first international game—the United States and Canada.

Soon afterwards, England played Australia in the first ever Test.

The first batch of the superstars made their appearance. Grace was one of them, and so was the Maharaja, Ranjit Singhji. Wilfred Rhodes, C.B. Fry, and VictorTrumper all remain tall figures in the hallways of cricket even today.

Then the Don and all his contemporaries whom no one cares to remember!

And soon, cricket began to take shape, and become the sport we know today.

The sport has seen it all. Ten years, it’s so short a while!

Yet, here is my effort in compiling some of the greatest moments that the sport has seen relatively recently. Some are from before I was even born, but most of us can relate to all of them. Hope you enjoy the ride.

Jonty Rhodes Runs Out Inzy, 1992 World Cup

Rhodes later admitted that he slipped on his shoelace while trying to bend forward to remove the bails, but whoa, did he create a ripple. A splash rather!

South Africa, making their first international appearance since being relegated from international cricket, couldn’t have asked for a more appropriate moment as a sign for things to come from a side, which would later on set the world standards for fielding in cricket.

Click here to see the video!

Sunil Gavaskar Goes Past Bradman

When Sunil Manohar Gavaskar made his personal highest Test score of 236, he demolished a record that had survived for 36 years.

When Bradman scored his 173 against a hapless England in his penultimate Test inning, few would have thought his record could ever be challenged.

But the professionalization of the sport saw an increase in the number of matches played, and Gavaskar finally overtook Bradman in his 99th Test, a feat unimaginable during Bradman’s era.

Since then, of course, many have gotten past the 30 centuries mark, RickyPonting being the latest entrant.

Warne’s Ball of the Century

The porky youngster who made his debut against India at Sydney would never have imagined he would play for Australia ever again after the thrashing he received at the hands of Ravi Shastri and Sachin Tendulkar on his debut. Let alone producing what is now famously referred to as “The Ball of the Century.”

In his very first delivery against the Old Enemy, Warne produced the delivery that changed the way the world viewed him (on field at least), and indeed, the art of leg spin itself.

To quote Tom Stangster of The Daily Telegraph:

"After hitting an early boundary, (Mike) Gatting took guard for his first ball from the young spinner. Warne began his run-up—just a few casual steps—before releasing the ball with an almighty flick of the wrist.

"The ball continued straight for three quarters of its flight, until the viciously spinning ball swerved wildly to the leg side. The ball pitched well outside the leg stump, gripping viciously, turning past Gatting’s outside edge to just clip off stump."

Indeed, the world began to get spun into the obnoxious little kid, The Greatest There Ever Was!

WATCH!

1983 World Cup: The Underdog Triumphs!

Few expected West Indies to lose the cup. Absolutely no one expected India to win it

The question arises, why is this one of the greatest moments? Simply because it changed the entire trajectory of international cricket.

If it hadn’t been for this win, India would have never warmed to the sport, and we all know what the consequences of that would be, especially in financial terms.

India won and a sport took over an entire nation. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Commercialization wasn’t a word to be associated with cricket. Today, they may as well be synonyms.

Wasim Akram: 500

Pakistan is the land of the fast bowlers. It’s justice, then, that the holy land of the five rivers produces the greatest left arm bowler of the modern game.

If there was ever any doubt regarding the importance of Akram, then the doubt was removed when he set the benchmark for any bower in One Day Internationals: 500 wickets.

In a sport in which bowlers are treated worse than dirt, Akram threatened the best with his deadly pace and swing.

While Muralidaran is hot on his heels, the world shall never forget the only man to take two hat-tricks in ODIs.

November 15, 1989: The Baby Learns to Trot

But it’s not long before it learns to walk, run, and sprint faster than anyone before.

It's a date that will certainly go down in the history of cricket as one of the biggest landmarks. The day Sachin Tendulkar faced his first delivery in Test match cricket is to the sport what December 25 is to a Christian.

The man who changed everything. The art of batting, the art of hitting, the art of playing cricket, and the art of achieving greatness. In all, he is the Thomas Anderson of the matrix of cricket: The One.

The Most Un-Cricketing Moment in Cricket History

Brian McKechnie threw his bat in frustration after facing the last ball of the final of the Benson and Hedges World Series Cup on February 1, 1981.

The reason?

It's one of the most disgraceful acts in cricketing history.

Needing a six off the last ball just to tie the match, New Zealand had more or less lost. But the Australian captain, Greg Chappell, not content, made his younger brother Trevor bowl the under arm ball, one which rolls all along the ground.

The Prime Ministers of both interested parties criticized the incident and the ICC made underarm bowling illegal and against the spirit of the game. It still remains as hated as the bodyline method.

An act of such cowardice, I have yet to see repeated on the sporting field, at whatever level.

The Streak Begins

The 1999 World Cup made two things very clear. It proved once and for all whom the champions were going into the 21st century. And it also showed who the perennial choker, the second best, would be.

As Australia held its nerve in a thrilling tie, and later on demolished Pakistan in a pretty one-sided final, a prophecy, it seemed, was being carried out.

The streak began, one stretching almost a decade, and consuming three World Cups along the way. The end is yet to come.

The Prince Reclaims His Throne

Brian Charles Lara.

•First claim to fame: 277 in his fifth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground

•Second claim to fame: 375 against England, at St. John’s, Antigua, 1993-94

•Life-long claim to fame: 400 against England, at St. John’s, Antigua, 2004

When Matthew Hayden smashed minnows Zimbabwe for 380, the whole world was engulfed in frenzy. I, on the other hand, was disappointed.

Holding the world record for the highest Test score is a huge deal. It’s a matter of pride, prestige, and proof of undeniable class and temperament, not only for the player, but for the entire cricketing fraternity he belongs to.

To hold such a record against a team like Zimbabwe doesn’t quite gel. No offence to Haydos, but Lara, in his splendor, gives the record a persona of its own.

When he swept Giles for a single to third man, the commentator exclaimed, “Probably the most significant single in the history of the game.”

He couldn’t be more right!

Cricket's Spin Drain—The Real Cause

Anon Payn — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:38:26 -0400

Fashion is a strange thing. It sometimes makes people look absolutely ludicrous, and then sometimes works wonders for them.

Some people do it to stand out from a crowd, others to blend in.

Cricket has had its own share. From Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji’s leg glance, to the famous one-legged hook of the Calypsos, to Roberts’ and Lillee’s jaw breaking bouncers, Richards’ flick off the pads, to Srikkanth’s slog sweep off fast bowlers, right up to Tendulkar’s straight drive, Lara’s cut, or Murali’s doosra and Shane Warne’s flippers, trends have come and gone from cricket grounds as often as they have in Milan or Paris.

The latest trend that is catching up with Indian cricket is one of those that cause emotions of amusement and sorrow, rather than awe.

The B.C.C.I. and all its curators have been running behind green grassy wickets for its grounds for almost four years now. Added peer pressure has been felt by them, what with visiting teams often complaining about the slowness and dryness of the wickets in recent times.

Instead of telling them to mind their own business, the Board has displayed rare tameness in allowing a complete overhaul of the pitches, and as a result creating havoc in domestic and senior cricket arenas.

Not only have the bone dry wickets of the sub-continent produced spin wizards like Bedi, Prasanna, Kumble, and even the likes of Quadir and Muralitharan from across the borders, it’s helped in molding some of the greatest players of spin bowling the world has set eyes on!

Vishwanath, Gavaskar, the Manjrekars, Vengsarkar, and more recently Ganguly, Laxman, and of course Tendulkar and Dravid have been the best batsmen against the slower turning deliveries on pitches which turn square from lunch on day one!

These are of course just the names of the most illustrious batsmen of our times. Almost all Indian batsmen at any level of cricket possess the skill which the western world would kill for!

While unusually green wickets have caused the national team to lose quite a few games unexpectedly—for example the Nagpur Test against Australia in 2004— which handed the World Champs their final frontier: a first series win on Indian soil in almost forty years—its impact at the junior level will hurt Indian cricket even more badly in coming years.

Not only is this madness squandering our spin resources, but also badly affecting the fast bowlers, and spoiling batsmen by providing them flat tracks, instead of the promised sporting ones.

The reason why this is happening is simple. The curators, if you can call them that, don’t have the skill required in preparing a quality, green, fast bowlers’ pitch. You often end up with slow and hard wickets which refuse to even break up like the traditional Indian ones, and as a result are a batsman’s delight all five days!

There can be no better example of this than the new pitch at Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi. It’s got low bounce, the ball is slow off the track, and the moisture doesn’t allow it to break up even on the last few days, and has resulted in quite a few dull games.

Not only are wickets like these reducing the spinners to bowling machines, they are adversely affecting the faster men as well.

With nothing but flat tracks to look out for, who would want to bend their backs, knowing that the result is going to be the same every time. Rather be a batsman!

Of course, some grounds, like Mohali, have achieved great results, with reputedly the best all-round cricket pitch in the country.

Offering bounce, pace, and swing on day one, flattening out during days two and three, and then breaking up to give the spinners assistance on the final couple of days, the pitch has been target of acclaim from even visiting sides. As a result, the curator, Daljit Singh, has been in hot demand all over the country.

Wickets at Mumbai have always been of the clayey sort, offering good bounce to fast bowlers and spinners.

Bangalore and Chennai are famous for giving assistance to spinners from very early on in a Test.

Kolkata does tend to offer the quickies some assistance, but has often turned up absolute turners.

What the Board and people involved at the highest level need to realize is that India, with its 130 years in the game, has some traditions which it has to live up to, traditions you can’t play with just because some ICC full members don’t like to play spin!

Sadly, the B.C.C.I. is hell-bent on eroding away this heritage of Indian cricket.

India’s greatest spin prospect since Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, made his international debut at just 17, nearly a decade after Harbhajan. Compare this to the difference of just six years between Anil Kumble’s debut a Old Trafford and Bhajji’s at Bangalore, and it shows you the true picture of how much quality spin bowling talent there is left in the country.

While there have been a few emerging from the main metros, like Powar and Amit Mishra, the spin bowling resources have almost completely dried up.

The IPL showed that one of the keys to success is to use home advantage completely.

The Mumbai Indians used the bounce and swing that Mumbai’s humidity offered completely in order to assist their frontline bowlers—Pollock, Bravo, and Nehra.

The case was similar with the likes of the Knight Riders and Kings XI.

Pollock made the statement prior to the tournament that even Man United wet their grounds so that the ball travels faster on the pitch. There can be no biggest example of a top team using home advantage.

If the Australians, South Africans, and Brits can prepare green wickets for their home games, why can’t India or Sri Lanka prepare bone dry ones for its spinners?

The term “under-prepared” amuses me more than anything.

Ricky Ponting was quite miffed with the wicket at Mumbai during the same ’04 series. A complete contrast to the pitch at Nagpur, the wicket had uneven bounce, and the Aussies didn’t know where the ball was going to end up! Tendulkar and Laxman were the only batsmen to make any runs (why isn’t that surprising?), while the Kangaroos folded up for less than a hundred in the last inning.

But how can you call such a track under-prepared? If at all, it’s been given all the preparation that one can give!

While a green pitch is left to take care of itself, with almost no mowing taking place on the final few days before a game, a turner like the one at Wankhede requires constant use of heavy rollers over a continuous period. If at all, it was the most over-prepared pitch!

At the end of the day, home advantage is something that is the right of every team. If the B.C.C.I. is willing to give it up in order to enjoy greater relations at the I.C.C., all in the name of producing quality fast bowlers, then India’s recent run will soon remain a distant memory.

Do you think India should go for the long haul and change the entire system in order to become a fast bowling power house? Or should we stick to our strengths and retain our tag as the fast bowling capital of the world?

Cricket: Six Big Reasons Why More IPLs Are Good

Anon Payn — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:00:39 -0400

A lot of literature has been doing the rounds on the World Wide Web recently regarding the Twenty20, and the Indian Premier League in particular.

From tosh from Indian politicians about using the money involved in the IPL to build a couple of cement factories (good luck trying to convince investors about that!) to the fear of Test cricket being reduced to a museum relic (a reasoning that’s clearly been induced due to misunderstanding of the dynamics of the game), have dominated the discussion among the skeptics.

So here, let me throw in my own two pennies’ worth! This party is getting too exciting to keep out of!

My biggest problem with cynics is the fact that they always turn out to be people with the least credibility!

Certainly huge names in international cricket rose in unison against the format, and I too needed convincing if this format would do any good to the sport. But slowly that fear has been proven to be nothing but a creation of the “fear of the unknown” factor.

With personalities like Ian Chappell and Sachin Tendulkar supporting it, how anonymous, self-proclaimed critics continue to chastise it, escapes me!

Well, putting aside all my distrust of the ICC, utter apathy towards BCCI and feelings bordering on savage towards Lalit Modi and his gang, the IPL has been, and yes I have said this before, a huge eye opener, and a historic milestone in a long journey of cricket!

So here are six points why the cricketing world could do with many more IPLs, even if it comes at the cost of One Day Internationals.

Bringing Down the Gap

Today’s Asia Cup draws, Pakistan against Hong Kong, and Bangladesh versus United Arab Emirates, revealed the difference between the full member teams and the member nation squads.
Clearly, the more the number of T20 leagues, the more exposure the players from these member nations will get of playing competitive cricket, and the better it will be for creating a pool of competitive teams at the international level.
As Prthvir Solanki rightly pointed out, the Asia Cup is a three-way affair. Even Bangladesh finds it difficult to match world standards, and they are busy trouncing U.A.E. at the moment. Shows where the U.A.E. stand.
Do they even deserve to play at this level against three of the best teams in the world, who even the best of players struggle against?
You need look no further than the three big leagues of Europe: The Premier League, La Liga and the Serie A, to see what the effect of a bigger stage, accommodating more players in a mixed bag of excellent, good, and rookie players can do to a game.
Having excellent players pitted against one another (example Kaka against Ronaldinho) instead of on the same team improves their quality. Putting the average guys along with these wizards of the sport gives them the experience required to become bigwigs, and the not-so-goods the inspiration they require.
Today England, the Czech Republic and more recently the Netherlands find themselves biting the dust in front of relative novices of the sport. England not making due to Croatia in the Euro is equivalent to Sri Lanka being kicked out of the Asia Cup by U.A.E., a scenario that is unlikely to occur even in dreams of cricket enthusiasts across the globe.
A few more leagues, aided by a few more Stanfords and Ambanis can change the way cricketers view competition.
Maximum Utilisation of Talent

The greatest achievement of the IPL, and a fact for which I’m actually willing to doff my hat to Modi, is the policy of allowing only four foreign players per team. The fact that this masterstroke has inspired FIFA itself speaks volumes of its ingenuity.
Playing four foreign players gave teams quality; playing seven local lads, and the fact that most of these were unknown domestic players gave the IPL that much more excitement. It's the kind of excitement that comes when you see a Piyush Chawla getting Sachin Tendulkar stumped!
Asnodkar, Dinda, Nair, Goni. These names were unheard of in Indian cricket. Now their presence in the cricket field evokes as much excitement as that of the most popular international stars.
When Dilip Vengsarkar took over as Chairman of Selectors, he made the famous statement, “Where is the talent?” That sentence still rings in my ears every time I see a Chawla or an Ishant Sharma in Indian colours.
The IPL has single handedly increased the apparent bench strength of the Indian team ten fold! And that’s just from what we have seen. The IPL saw only eight teams take to the field. That was due to the lack of time available to stage the event. With time, if the league spreads out like the football leagues of the world, imagine the abundance of talent that will come to the fore.
Of course, there’s the argument whether this talent will be Test match standard.
In India, under-21 players are not allowed to play limited over formats in any official tournament. This rule has also stood the national squad in good stead, and is often the reason why the country is able to produce strong five-day squads not withstanding the utter lack of initiative the Board often displays at the grass root levels.
Also, if selection to Test match squads is only based on domestic first class games and tournaments such as the IPL are only used to select T20 players, that dilemma can be totally solved. The challenge will, therefore, be giving these guys enough incentive to accommodate the four day Ranji Trophy along with the slam bang format.
Currently all junior cricket comes under the jurisdiction of the BCCI, a fact that gives me nightmares at times.
With privatization of the teams in the IPL, scouting may not be too far away, and this may give a better quality base for juniors to display skills and learn some new ones too!
Fielding

This, to me, will probably be the greatest effect on Test cricket that T20 will, or rather should, have.
How often have you seen brilliant fast bowlers having a miserable time in the outfield? How often have you seen men as master batsmen at the crease, but as portly figures in the field who struggle to compete with a speeding ball?
Not the T20 generation! Take a look at the top run getter in the IPL: Shaun Marsh. Well, his batting may be awe provoking, but his fielding at point, the famous Jonty’s corner, is almost as breathtaking as his sixers over long off!
Jayasuriya was probably the first of the top order batsmen (well he was one eventually!) to also be a brilliant fielder. He did have predecessors in people like Viv Richards, but he was probably the one that caught the world’s attention more with his fielding than Richards and his predecessors, simply because of the importance given to the art in their respective eras.
Ricky Ponting has been the best example of awesome batsmen being even better fielders.
The fast bowlers are catching up, too! Glenn McGrath may have struggled to dive around with a lot of athleticism, but not the likes of Brett Lee, or even Ishant Sharma for that matter!
Globalising the Game

This is the most cited point by the supporters of the format. Their argument is that global audiences will appreciate this game more than the five-day version. However, I find that this argument further drives away people who aren’t sure of its impacts on the game.
To those listening, it clearly sounds as if, this task of taking the game to a global audience will mean sacrificing the Test for ever.
This is not the case.
This is how I look at it.
Take T20 to the Americans, Germans, French (who have won an Olympic Gold in the early 1900s, for those who don’t know), et al. The ICC can build a pool of international T20 sides, making the T20 Championship the global event of cricket which will rival the football World Cup.
But limit the Test game to the ten, or rather eight, (a much better option; Bangladesh and Zimbabwe just don’t cut it, for me) existing Test sides.
Test cricket is more than a game. It’s a tradition. Over the last hundred and fifty years, it’s gone on to become a Commonwealth Tradition, rather than just a British one. To do away with it will be to do away with cricket’s soul. And who wants a zombie?
The biggest difference between football and cricket is, more than anything, the number of quality teams. While a football World Cup qualifying sees over a hundred and fifty teams participating, cricket barely sees ten, barring the ten full members.
More the leagues, more the talent that will seep into the sport through the spreading of the game, and the more quality players in international squads of the likes of United States and Canada!
It’s All About the Money, Honey

I’ve never been happy with what our cricketers make, really. Indians are supposed to be the highest earners in the sport. Tendulkar, the cricketing world’s equivalent of Pele and the world’s richest cricketer ever, still makes a fraction of what a third grade footballer would make at Queens Park Rangers!
Great cricketers are difficult to find. The average career span of a player is as long as that of a footballer. So why the disparity? Cricket gets as many viewers, a majority from the sub-continent, yes, but viewers nevertheless!
On India’s tour of Bangladesh in December 2004, the Man of the Match got $500 in the Tests! That’s like canteen money for Cristiano Ronaldo!
M.S. Dhoni, the most expensive buy during the IPL, was paid $1.5 million. That's a good beginning indeed. Rumors are doing the rounds that Kevin Pietersen has been offered more than three times that amount by the Mumbai Indians for next season!
Of course the IPL board and Modi himself have denied any removal or changing of the limit of $15 million per team for its players, but it may very well be the case once the format spreads out to other countries and competition to get the best talent in the world heats up!
Taking the Load Off

If the league format does catch up with the rest of the world and spreads out over a whole season, instead of packing everything in for a month and a half, we could see very interesting developments in the international arena.
More leagues would mean greater amount of games would be played within the geographic limits of a country; as a result less jet lag for players, who currently are on an international flight for four to five hours, every other week!
This would of course mean lesser international games. But on the positive side, it could mean more Test match cricket than before.
Last year, the Indian team played about 11 Tests. Now imagine a structure akin to the football one, where, instead of international games being all about friendlies or qualifiers, international cricket literally means only Test match cricket.
Picture this:
5^th May, 2020
Headlines: “Five Indian internationals and three Aussies will be made unavailable to their respective sides in the Australian Super League, as the two countries prepare for the quadrennial Border-Gavaskar Series in India!”
With One Dayers out of the picture, and international T20 reserved for qualifiers and other such ICC events, the road is paved for more international Test games. Say the ICC allots 100 days of a calendar year to be used for Test matches, per team. Even if 70 percent is utilized and the rest taken up for rest between two games, it makes for an average of 14 Test matches per side every calendar year!
And T20 was supposed to be the end of Tests? Get outta here!

This is just a take on what I think may happen to cricket if the current events continue at the current pace. These are just the positives. Of course, there will be the down-sides to all these points. Over commercialization is one example.

I guess the best we can do is to learn from football's mistakes, and make sure we incorporate only the good points.

I know I haven’t been able to cover all the points regarding the subject. So feel free to leave a feedback! It’s highly appreciated!

Australia in West Indies: Kangaroos’ Decline, or Caribbean’s Rise?

Anon Payn — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:38:11 -0400

A 2-0 result may sound a very comprehensive win, indeed, in a three-match Test series. Yet, one gets the feeling that this wasn’t at all the case during the Frank Worrell Trophy.

While the Aussies often stuttered with bat and ball, the Windies showed nerves of steel at times (surprisingly) to make every match in this series a memorable one!

The fact that West Indies did not face a single innings defeat and actually managed a draw should do their confidence a world of good. For, try and deny it as you may, they have been bordering on the minnow status for some time now.

The runaway star of the show was Chanderpaul. His man of the series performance almost singlehandedly exposed the state of the Aussie bowling attack. One wonders, had Warne and McGrath been there, would they have allowed a No. 5 batsman to score 442 runs?

With all due respect to the man, Chanderpaul does have weaknesses, and it is quite apparent that the Australians certainly missed a trick there. Yet beginning the series with an average of 47, and ending with 49, Chanderpaul has fittingly put himself into the shoes that belonged to Lara.

And I dare say, he just might do a better job of a batting mainstay! Sarwan, too, managed to garner some runs, a most remarkable hundred in the final innings of the drawn Test match at North Sound being the highlight of tournament for me!

The fact that numbers three and five have been the most successful batsmen in this tournament is both, good news, and bad news for West Indies.

While it highlights their batting strength in the middle order, it also exposes their brittle top order, with their ever random opening pair.

Constantly changing the top order can have its effect on the openers’ confidence.

With Xavier Marshall’s brave inning of 85 in the last game, and Chris Gayle’s recovery, though, and Bravo’s bravados at number six, it seems West Indies might have a chance to field a batting order worthy of Test match standards.

Talking of Bravo, the man has transformed from the lackluster cricketer he was during Lara’s reign. My earliest memories of him are of his charging in to bowl against South Africa in a one day game at home, and pointing to his name on the back of his jersey, ala Raul, after claiming a wicket.

He also stirred quite a few emotions when he dismissed Yuvraj Singh off the last ball of the match to win West Indies the game by one solitary run! Though it would be premature to state that he has reached his pinnacle, it would be safe to say that he has matured greatly.

If he continues in this vein, he might just end up being West Indies’ second greatest all-rounder ever!

The other aspect of West Indian flair was the fast bowling! Fidel Edwards, playing all three games was the highest wicket taker for West Indies. With 15 wickets to his name, including a five wicket haul, best match figures of 8 for 144, and an average of 25.13, he was the pick of the bowlers.

Jerome Taylor missed the first Test, and proved why his team missed him too, with 8 wickets in the remaining games, and figures of 3 for 46 during the dismantling of Australia’s famed batting line-up in the in the third Test.

In Edwards, Taylor, Powell and Bravo, the team has a world class quartet, and this came to the fore when they had Australia on the mat in the third Test, reeling at 96 for 4!

Not only did their bowling performance indicate what West Indies can achieve if their bowlers are given a decent track, it also showed Australia’s dependence on Ponting and Hussey.

Almost invariably, when either of the two fails, the other takes charge and delivers the side home. But when both fail, the team struggles, and the middle order, it seems, lacks total spine!

While Ponting had a strong start to the series with a typically aggressive 158, that saw him post 10,000 runs in Test cricket, he faded away in the rest of the tournament posting just one fifty thereafter.

After his century in the first inning of the tournament, Ponting averaged a meager 33 for the remainder of the series, still ending up with a more than respectable tour average of 53.83.

The big failure, of course, was Michael Hussey. With just 137 runs, an average of 22.83, and a solitary fifty, he was the major disappointment for Australia on this tour.

Simon Katich, on the other hand, was reading a totally different script than that of Hussey! Replacing Hayden at the top of the order is probably the most difficult job in Australian cricket, and Katich took to it like fish to water.

Hayden himself couldn’t have been more consistent. Katich, never close to being as belligerent as Haydos with a strike rate of 46.56, eked out two hundreds for his side, finishing the third highest run scorer in the series, with 319 runs, in just 5 innings, and averaging a marvelous (considering he had no not-outs) 63.80.

His top score of 157 came in the last match, where he shared a memorable partnership with Phil Jaques (108), putting the game, and effectively the series, beyond West Indies’ grasp. Australia’s bowling, it seems, now, more or less, is about one man, Brett Lee. The premier fast bowler of the world kept rattling the hosts’ top order, and finishing off their tail.

Stuart Clark provided a few side shows, and with a remarkable economy of 2.28, averaged just above 19, while Mitchell Johnson was almost silent throughout the tour, averaging over 34. For a new ball bowler, he certainly let his team down.

Another Stuart, Stuart MacGill, made a quiet departure from Test match cricket. The man who forever lived under the shadow of Shane Warne failed to capitalize in the absence of the Aussie legend.

Recuperating from a surgery, he was no more the bowler he used to be, and decided to call it a day, adding to the long, long list of players to have retired from the international side for Australia over the last three seasons.

This brings us to the point: was this series, highlighted by the eighth-ranked test team in the world giving the numero uno side a run for its money in every game, a sign of a resurgent West Indies, or the beginning of the invariable end of Aussie domination?