50 over Cricket: Will it survive?
By Aniruddha Palsule
The flavor of the month seems to be to moan the death of one-day cricket. I will withhold my judgment until after the end of the Champions Trophy, an event that is supposed to resuscitate a form of cricket that has captivated us for well over 30 years. It is a shame that it has come down to this. On the other hand, if an event with the top 8 teams competing each other (and you really cannot help the West Indies debacle and England’s abysmal performances) fails to generate any interest then we can say with certainty that the days of 50 over cricket are numbered. After all, with no meaningless contests due the absence of minnows and some sporting pitches and good crowds (hopefully), we should be in for some cracking games.
In the meantime, in keeping with the spirit of the moment, let me join the bandwagon of the scribes presenting ideas to keep 50 over cricket alive. Admittedly some of these may sound a little outlandish, but they will work for sure!!
Muralitharan or Warne?
By Aniruddha Palsule
The last two decades have been wonderful for spin bowling in general, with the emergence of several world-class performers. The 1980s were a lean period for spin bowlers, with the West Indian quicks leading the charge and the art of spin bowling had almost petered out before being resurrected by the genius of champions like Shane Warne, Muttaih Muralitharan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Saqlain Mushtaq, Stuart Macgill and to a lesser extent by Daniel Vettori and Monty Panesar. Two men towered over the others in terms of sheer numbers; Muralitharan and Warne. And I have often spent a good deal of thought wondering who is better. In fact, such a comparison might not be entirely fair in regards to champion cricketers like these two. So let me put it this way: If we had place for only one snipper in a World XI, whom would we pick?
Let’s set aside one question first. If anyone still believes that Muralitharan chucks, then it would be better if he/she keeps away from this discussion; instead, check out the following two videos:
England win The Ashes!!
By Aniruddha Palsule
England win the Ashes 2-1
The month long carnival of test cricket finally draws to an end and we have a victor. England have won the Ashes 2-1 and the joy and emotion of British sports fans have probably reached a crescendo. It remains to be seen whether there is an open bus parade in Trafalgar Square in a reenactment of 2005 although in terms of the quality of play witnessed, this series fell way short of the benchmark set in 2005. Somehow this series always threatened to explode but fizzled out. There were occasional bursts of dazzling plays followed by some decidedly ordinary moments. I suppose this was to be expected with the two teams evenly matched in most disciplines of the game and eventually it was the solitary wicket which eluded Australia in Cardiff, that decided the Ashes.
None of this will matter to the English fans and media. Plenty of times in the series we got a taste of how the media influences public discussion on sport in England. The calls for the recall of Mark Ramprakash were entirely a media fantasy and were a reflection of the paranoia in the entire establishment following the debacle in Headingley. Compare that to the relative calm in the Australian management after they conceded the lead at Lords. In the end the selectors did well to retain faith in their chosen bunch of players and were repaid back in good measure by the performances of Stuart Broad and Jonathan Trott at the Oval.
The Ashes So Far…
By Aniruddha Palsule
It’s been a quiet month on our blog as the oldest sporting rivalry has been unfolding in England. Three test matches into the series is probably the right time to take stock of things and evaluate some of our predictions from the previous post. England has expectedly taken the lead but it could so easily have been 1-1 after the thriller in Cardiff. Australia was utterly dominant in Wales and England returned the favor in London in front of the MCC members. Edgbaston was a damp squib after the highs of 2005 and attention now shifts to Headingley and The Oval for the final two tests.
We expected a close series since the two teams were evenly matched. And yet Australia possesses an explosive batting lineup which is capable of blasting a team out of a game. And this was exactly what happened as England’s gamble of playing two spinners did not pay off in Wales. Led by Ponting and Clarke, the Aussie batsmen made merry and England had their backs against the wall on the final day after two hard days in the field. Cardiff had won the rights to host an Ashes test match much to chagrin of the British press and an English defeat here would have ensured some vitriol in the press for what was otherwise a picturesque venue.
Ashes fever grips England (and Wales)
By The Snippet Team
By Philip Oliver
The controversy here in England surrounding the choice of venue for the first Ashes Test of the series will be forgotten when the match begins. This year’s battle between England and Australia has been eagerly anticipated and few will care about the venue if England are victorious.
Australia’s excellent record at Lord’s – just five defeats there in 33 Tests against England – prompted the decision to open the series elsewhere, with the England Cricket Board acutely aware of the importance of the first match in Ashes series.
The Ashes are here!!
By Aniruddha Palsule
Yes..it’s finally here! This is one preview I have always dreaded writing because of the overkill that has been observed in the cricketing blogosphere for the past year or so. There has not been a single aspect of the upcoming clash of the oldest rivalry in the sporting world, that has not been ruminated on and dissected by the British press already. So I am forced to seek a different perspective in my article, and hopefully there is some novelty for the readers who are already sick of reading previews and cannot wait for the action to commence.
Being an Indian, it is often difficult for me to fathom the Ashes fever that grips England and Australia. Ever since my earliest cricket watching days in the late 80s, I have always witnessed ruthless domination by Australia in all Ashes contests until 2005 and folks like Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting have acknowledged that victory over India in the subcontinent was their final frontier. In terms of sheer quality of cricket played, the India-Australia and the SA-Australia tests over the past decade have been hard to eclipse. On the other hand, England have rarely come close to challenging the Aussies until 2005; and even then the difference between a series win and/or loss was the two runs that Micheal Kasprowicz failed to score at Edgbaston. It was business as usual in 2006-07 down under with a 5-0 drubbing, something the British press likes to pretend didn’t happen.
Bravo two hero
By The Snippet Team
Philip Oliver
Darren Bravo is known as many things. Being regarded growing-up as Dwayne Bravo’s younger brother is enough pressure, but the subsequent earning of the tag of ‘next Brian Lara’ is the sort of thing that lifts expectation to unhealthy levels.
New, young talent has been thin on the ground in the Caribbean for some time. Bravo jr has therefore had his emergence closely monitored and it was only a matter of time before he joined his sibling in the national team.
Darren is a specialist left-handed batsman for whom bowling is an occasional past-time. He is also a part-time wicket-keeper, so the two brothers have every discipline covered between them, thanks to Dwayne’s bowling abilities.
Both are electric presences in the field, Darren sharing his brother’s characteristics of sharp groundwork and a safe pair of hands. They will make a good pair prowling the covers for the national team.
Bravo Jr also possesses his brother’s self-assurance and energy, but is a calmer presence at the crease. Dwayne is a pro-active batsman, always keen to dominate, Darren a silky left-hander who deals more in traditional strokeplay.
The West Indies U19 team was the platform Bravo used to announce himself on the international stage, performing well at the 2008 World Cup in Malaysia. He has already struck two first-class centuries for Trinidad and Tobago and could well soon get a chance in the Test team.
Dwayne Bravo has been an important part of the West Indies team during a disappointing period and Caribbean cricket fans will hope the latest member of the family to don the maroon cap will have the same revitalising effect.
In other cricket news, make sure you stay up to date with the Ashes odds (http://betting.betfair.com/cricket/2009-ashes/ashes-2009-betting-two-teams-in-turmoil-sends-odds-070109.html) so you can make an informed Lords Test bet (http://betting.betfair.com/cricket/) in the near future. If you need to get in the betting mood, check out Betfair’s great fanvfan (http://fanvfan.com/) site.
Poetic Justice
By Manas Phadnis
In the end it was the nation that needed it the most, which emerged victorious. Cricket is referred to as the game of glorious uncertainties, but most major tournaments in the past have been as predictable as Andrew Symonds’ next shenanigan, or Andrew Flintoff’s next injury.
Not this time.
Leading up to the T20 World Cup, the well rested, first choice Australian team made all the right statements about winning the only major trophy their cabinet is missing, but once the tournament started, they were promptly dumped by two innovative and motivated teams.
The Indian team came in with the unfamiliar tag of favorites, and looked to have all the talent in the world. But the rigors of the IPL made them look flat, and you could never see the same spark in the team as in the latter stages of the first edition. Add to that the entirely unnecessary controversy about Sehwag’s injury, and the Indian fan never really got the same feeling watching the team this year.
The world is flat
By Manas Phadnis
Thomas Friedman’s widely read book of the same name caused quite a stir, with its summary of a new world order, and witty comments about the effects of globalization (widely quoted was the American parent who tells his child to take his homework seriously, or kids in India and China would take his job). In the world of cricket, a similar stir is being caused due to the incredible advent of T20.
The global cricketing community has always been small (though not always tight knit), and most attempts to expand the sport to new countries have failed. The duration of the game, the perceived complexities, and the lack of pace compared to other sports are often cited as reasons. All of these have had a hand, but another primary reason in my humble opinion, for why cricket probably hasn’t been able to match other sports in global popularity, is a lack of great sustained rivalries.
Every sport conjures up in people’s mind one contest that signifies the epitome of the game. Think boxing, and you have Ali- Frazier. Think soccer and you have Man Utd – Liverpool or Real-Barca. Think tennis and you have Borg-McEnroe, Seles- Graf, or more recently Federer –Nadal. Think cricket, and you have…
Exactly.
Spinners save Pakistan
By The Snippet Team
