Clash of the Titans

The ICC Champions trophy final is all set for a grand finale between the Aussies and the Windies. The Carribeans have been the most improved team since April, after their rather stunning turnaround in the one day series against India. I guess playing Zimbabwe at home, and beating them hollow 5-0 did a real favour to the West Indies as they found ways of winning which seemed almost non existent in recent years. As I was having my lunch, I picked up an old issue of The Sportstar dating to 1995,which talked about how Richie Richardson, the erstwhile WestIndies captain, made jarring comments about the Australian team calling them the "weakest team to tour the carribean", even after losing the series 1-2 to the Aussies.

That was the beginning of the end, in terms of WestIndian cricket, as victories have been few and far in between happening only versus India,England and Zimbabwe (1998 vs England 4-3 ,1999 Coca Cola Trophy,2001 Coca Cola Trophy, 2002 India TVS Cup and the 2004 Champions trophy). In between we got to see the worst of Carribean cricket,even though individual performances by Lara,Sarwan or Chanderpaul still shone through. So Will this Aussie match again be the turnaround in fortunes for the Windies? I belive so,atleast, as I see a ceratin hunger and a method in madness,in theirgame,which sadly has been lacking for a good part of 10 years.A victory at the ICC Champions trophy again can do a world of good to the Carribeans,in terms of reinstating their position back at the helm.

The semi final line up, pretty much were the most adaptable and improved teams since the last world cup.New Zealand and South Africa,in my opinion would continue to be on the top, since they are a team of 11 players , than being 3 or 4 star studded individuals making the team. Pakistan and India continue to show glimpses of brilliance, mainly bordering on inconsistency,while the lankans lag behind,when facing quality attacks and pressure.

The Poms, are going through an extended horrible run since 1995,and dont really seem to have set the Thames on fire since then(Victories include 97 Texaco trophy,Champions Trophy(Sharjah) and the Ashes Test series in 05).Otherwise ODI cricket wise, they have had a bad time, even though they did show some promise under Nasser Hussain.The Poms lack the ideal elements of a one day team.They just have 3 worldclass batsmen in Strauss,Flintoff and Pieterson,while the others fire once in twenty games(with the consistency of an Agarkar).Their bowling looks propped up in terms of pace, but lacks the momentum in the middle overs to complement Harmison and Sajid Mahmood. No Allrounders means, the death knell and all England can do is to compete fiercely with the likes of Zimbabwe or India to get some confidence before the World Cup.

So as they say, the new order changeth... I foresee the same semifinal line up in the World cup too(depending on the draws). I would be cheering for the Windies though...its time the bajans celebrated their existence in ODI Cricket

The Ashes-Part 2

Ashes Part 2 – Obituary of English Cricket

A hundred and twenty four years back, when the English cricket team lost for the first time to the Australians at the Oval,The Sporting Times in 1882 carried a satirical obituary stating that the English cricket had died, and the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.

Fast Forward now to 2006, Yesterday, October 21st , the 7th match of the ICC Champions trophy , where before the toss, the match seemed to have all the makings of a thriller, but the contest flattered to deceive and was a totally one sided contest, with England being a pale shadow of what it was a year back when the Ashes was won by them. Cornered tigers, they say are more dangerous, but the cornered Kangaroo can actually be more ruthless, and this match hyped as the “Ashes “battle, saw a clinical display by the Aussies to demolish England. Having seen the way England has performed in the last 26 one day internationals (winning 5),I assume its time they renew the “ashes” and burn another bail, to mourn the obituary of English cricket all over again.

English cricket fans could have never had it worse, this is their team’s worst patch in recent years and it doesn’t seem like improving any soon though. Ricky Ponting won the toss and inserted the opposition, as is the wont of most captains preferring to bowl first during the afternoon, than to lay their hands on a moist ball later in the evening, with the dew compounding their problems manifold. The English openers got off to a splendid start with Bell and Strauss, going hell after leather; bring 50 from the first 10 overs. Ian bell, was severe on Bracken and Mcgrath, with 60% of Bell’s runs coming in the region of point and midwicket as he packed 6 boundaries in those regions. At 83 for no loss from 18 overs, England was well set for a 250+ score, when their usual listless batting style came to the fore.

IMAGE SOURCE-CRICINFO AND GETTY IMAGES
Bell seemed a totally changed player, from what had one seen him against the Aussies in the last ashes series, and just as he was about to get into change gears, the brakes were applied by a rather ugly long hop from Shane Watson, which Bell mistimed into the hands of the cover fieldsman Mike Hussey. This was the beginning of the end, as batsmen fell like 9 pins, no one showing resilience to spend some time at the wicket and accumulate runs. Peterson, the next batsman in, did his reputation no justice, when he poked his bat at an away going delivery by Mitchell Johnson, whose delivery had just done enough to elicit the edge, straight down Gilchrist’s throat, and the Aussies were cock-a-hoop with the Poms reduced to 85-2.

It took some excellent bowling from Australia here on, to stifle the run scoring from 5 an over to less than 4 runs, as Strauss and Flintoff seemed to struggle to get runs, after the double whammy that the Aussies struck. Soon frustration gave way for 2 indiscrete shots from the skipper Flintoff and his deputy, when they departed in the space of 3 overs and 5 runs, with England in a huge mess at 115/4. In came Michael Yardy, and his promotion ahead of England’s highest run getter this season, Paul Collingwood, certainly warranted a debate, but even before you could spell d-e-b-a-t-e , Yardy was gone, to a doubtful decision, caught down the leg side, but even if he had been given the benefit of the doubt, he hardly looked convincing in the 4 runs he scored, consuming 15 balls. After that it was a procession that followed that more or less sealed England’s fate at 169, hardly looking like troubling Ponting’s men.

The problem plaguing English cricket, is that apart from Pieterson, Strauss and Collingwood, nobody really has the ability to turn a match around or the confidence to pace the innings. Andrew Flintoff is just back after a long lay off, and will take some time to get into the groove, while the rest like Dalrymple, Read and Hardy , being more so batsmen who would prefer the safe mode of stroking singles. Another major problem for England has been pacing the innings, as their batsmen don’t seem to rotate the strike well, and consume a lot of balls before getting out, helping the team cause to no end.

The Australian chase started like the bullet train, with Gilchrist and Watson putting on a quick fire 30 in 4 overs before Gilchrist succumbed to rush of blood, being comprehensively bowled by Mahmood, off the latter’s first delivery, which followed a brief flood light power failure break, that seemed to have undone the Aussie’s concentration. Ponting didn’t last long before, playing an Anderson delivery to the slip cordon which Strauss juggled, but managed to hold the ball for dear life and England were ecstatic with the cheap dismissal of the Aussie captain. More disaster was to follow when Shane Watson, under edged an intended pull on his stumps to the leave the Aussies tottering at 34-3.

IMAGE SOURCE-CRICINFO AND GETTY IMAGES
Did some body say “we have a match on here”? Martyn seemingly didn’t’ hear that and went on to produce an innings laced with audacious shots that seemed to bludgeon the English bowlers into submission, while Hussey on the other hand was content playing second fiddle. Martyn picked his bunny in Harmison, who seemingly was still fresh from the insipid bowling effort against India, and Martyn clubbed him for three fours in an over, and that scathing attack that Martyn delivered seemed to knock the wind out of England’s sails with Martyn reaching a quick fire 50 off 35 deliveries.

IMAGE SOURCE-CRICINFO AND GETTY IMAGES
Martyn’s swashbuckling innings came to an end when Harmison priced him in the dying stages of the match, after Martyn knicked an innocuous delivery from Harmison. Martyn’s initial carnage had brought Australia 19 short of a victory, before he was dismissed for a strokeful 78. Hussey and Clarke carried out the formalities by seeing the Aussies through by 6 wickets.

So one elimination has been decided here, England will most probably go back home after their next match against the West Indies, but can still expect a favor or two technically speaking from India. If India beats both the Caribbeans and the Aussies, and England managed to defeat the West Indies by a huge margin, then it will boil down to net run rate amongst West-Indies,Australia and England. But whether India has the might to do England a favour is question that hangs in balance,as India’s one day form all too recently has not been that impressive to make the Ladbrokes put their money on them.

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The fact that I had a 4 day long weekend, and some time to spare on saturday helped me compose this little piece.Cricket related journalism is something I'd love to do, so hence a write up on the match, with me envisioning myself to be a sports columnist. :-)

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Cricket at its best

The ICC Champions trophy 06 seems to be getting better after 2 extremely close and keenly contested matches,where more than Pakistan or the West Indies, the spirit of Cricket was the winner.Both the matches went down to the wire and only guys with nerves of steel, managed to see their side thru, namely Abdul Razzaq and Jerome Taylor, the respective lynchpin's in their teams victory. Last night as the score board read 32 runs of 30 balls with 5 wickets at hand,I was just thinking that there was no way that Australia was going to lose this game,as if any one can snatch defeat from the jaws of victoy, then dont look beyond the Indian cricket team.A couple of years back, India was at this very position against the Aussies at Melbourne with 31 required of 30 balls.6 wickets in hand and Saurav and Yuvaraj at the crease at 257/4 off 45, the game was just a few shots away frm India's grasp, but India flattered to decieve and lost that game(Click here to see scores).

After seeing Autralia's bewildering collapse last night,I am convinced the law of probability is finally catching up with the men from down under.

ICC Champions Trophy 2006,A few observations

ICC Champions Trophy 2006-A few observations

Yesterday afternoon,I happened to chance across the television commentary team of SET MAX, and their inane ramblings left me exasperated. Sample this

Mandira Bedi: Cricket is coing to the Brabourne after 11 years after a match was played here way back in ………err…. 1996(Mandira, thinking it was the Wills World cup).Brabourne, they say has a history behind it, so in terms of history, it’a a famous ground.What about the other grounds Charu?

Charu Sharma: Oh yes, I think Shonali Nagrani, our team reporter who has covered the 4 matches may want to share some of her experiences on the ground.

Charu Sharma :Hi Shonali, in all the 4 matches that you have seen, which ground has appealed to you the most?

Shonali Nagrani: I actually like the Chandigarh chicken with white Makkhan, but amchi Mumbai is the best,where Igot to party all night with my friends.The gujrati lunch at Ahmedabad,was awesome,but I gotta saw the jaipur cuisine was also great.

Charu Sharma: ( Head starting to perspirate, attempts to divert the question after a perfectly inane answer). Well Shonali, great to know you are having fun there.I heard you met Murali and Sangakkara.How confident are they about the match.

Shonali Nagrani: Yes Charu, They are cho chweet.They talked to me so well and they are very confident about winning against the West Indies, but they were saying that it’s a one day match and they have equal chances of losing too,so I feel that Srilanka is going to rock today’s game. By the way,I saw Murali’s kid, and Murali wants him to be the next-ace spinner after him.

Mandira Bedi: Oh! Is that so, but on a cricketing note, did you ask him, where Murali’s 1 year old kid would play cricket for , would it be India,Srilanka or Australia.

I stopped dead in my tracks and given that Mandira Bedi was in a Sari and not in her noodle straps , I muted the television, and pretended to be busy reading a book,even though I really wanted some expert info before the start of play.Just when, I muted the TV, Tony Greig and John Wright started to talk,so I again unmute to listen to a few seconds of cricket gnyaan,before Sony’s telecast policies take off the cricket experts and start to focus on Bollywood.

Their idea of marrying cricket with bollywood is allright, considering the fact that these are the 2 most watched modes of entertainment for the common Indian man.What I cannot tolerate is the essence of dilution, the coverage has in terms of commentators with Mandira Bedi,Rahul Roy and the likes of Shonali Nagrani simply vitiating the atmosphere,with greats like Barry Richards and Tony greig , pushed to the sideline.

This is where I miss the quality coverage of ESPN STAR, with the exalted company of Gavaskar,Bhogle and Shastri. Add to it a Ian Chappell,Tony Cozier and Richie Benaud and the frenzy voice of Bill Lawry, you are done, as a Channel you can have me hooked on to that television Channel for 9 long hours, increasing your TRP Ratings and advertisement value, rather than driving me away by throwing nonsensical ladies like Shweta Jumaani,Mandira Bedi and Shonali Nagrani at me.

If Max is going to still, continue with their “mixing cricket and entertainment”, I suggest they have Mandira Bedi,Shonali Nagrani,Shweta Jummani,Arjun Singh(The HRD guy),George Bush and Kanchi Illiah, One cant have a greater set of lunatics providing entertainment to us, a 9 hour comedy show, that also shows Cricket in between.