Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
50 over Cricket: Will it survive?
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 [...]
Ashes fever grips England (and Wales)
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 [...]
Bravo two hero
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. [...]
Poetic Justice
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 [...]
The world is flat
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 [...]
Spinners save Pakistan
Contributed by Philip Oliver
Faced with the prospect of an ignominious first round exit, Pakistan, like England did against them, raised their game against Netherlands to secure a place in the Super Eight stage. They produced a performance that had the characteristics which made them pre-tournament dark horses, of flamboyant batting and excellent spin bowling.
The convincing [...]
The unsung heroes
It is probably fair to say that wicketkeeping is one of the most under-appreciated tasks in the game of cricket and quite possibly in all sport. There is no other activity in any other major sport that requires the levels of fitness and stamina, powers of concentration and athleticism that wicketkeeping does; and still receives [...]
What a game!!!
Sport has a remarkable capacity to amaze, inspire and swing the moods and emotions of entire nations at a time. Indeed qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2006 resulted in an end to a civil war in Ivory Coast. The passionate reactions witnessed across American stadiums during college football season can only be understood by [...]
The Standards of Modern Commentary
Richie Benaud, the grand old veteran of broadcasting, and one of the shrewdest observers of the game, once said “unless you can add to the picture the average man already sees on his TV screen, you should just shut up”.
Of all the published gripes about the IPL, one particular complaint that holds water is its [...]
To refer or to not refer!!
By Nikhil Jain and Aniruddha Palsule
When we first started watching cricket in the late 80s, we used to hear the adage, Umpire’s decision is the last decision. Batsmen would often disagree with the call of the on-field umpires and there were times when the bowler would walk back to his run-up in disgust after trapping [...]
