Late Cut

Sorry, have been flying around, so no contact. Heard this when I was a fly on the wall somewhere.. Small Boss (b) : Sir, this is brewing into a big problem. Big Boss (B) : (snaps out of his snooze with a Homer Simpson drawl) Brew, ahhaaaa....I love my brew. How can brewing be a problem? b : Sir, I mean the cricket scandal; this spot-fixing by cricketers may fix us. B : (suddenly sits up) How? b : Well Sir, obviously everyone will think if cricketers are so corrupt what about the cricket board? B : How can people connect cricketers to the Board? We said and did nothing when IPL kicked out cricketers, did we? b : Errrr..well, (coughs), sir, we sort of managed it...newspapers did report Sports minister's complain to his counterpart about being snubbed and a national insult and all the patriotic emotional..... B : (cuts him off) Well, that is just standard political rhetoric. Does not prove our connection to the players. If anything, it will prove to the world that the governm...

So John Howard, ex-PM of Australia has failed another "election". In some ways you can say that he lost a winnable one this time unlike the one he lost to Kevin Rudd in Nov 2007. I honestly thought he would have got used to loosing by now! Apparently, you can neither take out the politics from the politician nor a politician from politics!! Most Pollies in all countries have a very sharp sense of smell; they will smell-out power even from a chook-raffle! Top level sports administration, obviously represents a pot of honey to a bear; especially to those who are missing their power-fix. And when a sport interests lots of people and spins a few bobs, it is certainly like a full syringe to a junkie. But you can fool some people sometimes. Little Johhny is now facing the barbs from the thorns he nurtured during his tenure. While he did some excellent work to turn Australian economy around, his ultra-conservative beliefs could not adept to the fast changing canvas of this small b...

Cricket Australia has taken a bold step in revamping Ford Ranger cup (Domestic limited overs cricket tournament) by deciding to make them as split-innings one dayers . I like it. I hope they still maintain 50 overs per innings, rather than making it 2 games of T20 each. Obviously there are arguments for and against this. Those against it are worried that batsmen will struggle to restart their innings after fielding for 25 overs; spectators may shun first "innings" (20 or 25 overs from each side) and watch only the second "innings", etc. Ricky Ponting is reportedly not totally impressed with CA's announcement before any kind of consultation with the Australian players. In today's Sydney Morning Herald, Channel Nine is quoted to be seeking all ten wickets in the second part of the split innings, making effectively a separate game altogether. The article also quotes English second division's trial in split innings games. Apparently it has not received plu...

It was not surprising that Aussies and Ricky Ponting have started their preparation for the upcoming series against Pakistan. If you are looking for details on a cricket camp you sadly underrate Aussies. Their preparation begins by hurling a few testing verbal bouncers at their opponents. Ponting decided to "compliment" the new Pakistani test captain Shahid Afridi (any one remembers how many have come and gone?). Nothing new there. Aussies believe in softening the opponent captain first. However the quantum of statements about Afridi ("He hasn't played much Test cricket of late, has he?" OR "he's....not necessarily one of their best Test players" etc), especially after winning the last series, tells me that he may be a tad worried about Pakistan team getting together under this new captain. Read his last sentence..."...we just have to make sure we're focusing on our little things to be the best team we can be when we play them." Love...

Heard that ICC’s anti corruption bureau has been investigating Pakistan's tour of Australia..goodonya ICC! A bit late but देर आये दुरुस्त आये; better late than never. Or is it a case of "oops, we missed the most obvious so better start doing something now" syndrome? It smacks more of politics than a real intention of doing something good for the game. Years back when Salim Malik, Mohammad Azaharrduddin and Hanse Kronje got exposed as match-fixers I could not believe any player would throw his innings (as a batsman I never wanted to get out) or his pride as a fielder to drop a catch or miss a stumping deliberately. I often spent sleepless nights for dropping a hard chance or a stumping while standing up, playing backyard cricket with a tennis ball on wet concrete floor. And I am sure I am not alone. What is it that makes a player do so? I still find it hard to believe that when for elite cricketers there is so much money to be made legally, a player would tank his game f...

What the heck! Since when is it that you can't call ordinary, ordinary?? Isn't it lot better than telling a player "Good Morning, how is your wife and my kids?" (alleged famous sledge by Rodney Marsh to Ian Botham). Gautam Gambhir got reprimanded for calling Rajasthan Royal batsmen ordinary. Here is what he said; "I think Rajasthan was never a threat. Except for Yusuf Pathan, the other guys were pretty ordinary," Gambhir said. "We weren't really worried about anyone else." He was found guilty of Level 1 offense due to "Public criticism of, or inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in a Match or any Player, Team Official, Match Official or Team participating in any Match, irrespective of when such criticism or inappropriate comment is made." Poor Gambhir, with a name like that he is taken seriously every time he opens the mouth!! (Gambhir in Hindi means serious). That put the bee in the bonnet of IPL...

If you were frozen in early 70s and thawed today, you won’t be blamed for being surprised at not recognizing the game of cricket. Night cricket, coloured clothing, bright lights, skimpily dressed cheers leaders, loud music and an almost universal par run rate of 6-8 runs per over, would certainly confuse you as to the identity of this vaguely familiar beast. And if you were unfortunate enough to see or follow “Player Auction” you would have required medical attention! Historians and anthropologists tell us that evolution is an extremely slow process. Hence I consider cricket fans of my generation, extremely lucky. We can claim to have seen evolution of a game that hardly changed for over a century, from its “ Lagaan ” days. No one, including the protagonists knew that Kerry Packer’s fight with the Australian cricket board to get Australian TV broadcast rights would turn out to be lot more than merely a clash of egos. When the push came to the shove, Packer’s so-called circus ended up...

Ok, so you don't know me. I am Mr. Hyde… who “unhydes” when the good old Dr. Jekyll goes to sleep. I can tell you he doesn’t like me, but ..z..z..z..z....better not waste time. I say bring back the Biff in cricket! What’s wrong with the cricket world? NZ and Aussies are having a terrific series sharing an ugly love, of the game as well as of the opposition. Instead of celebrating that, all are whining! If you believe sledging was bad, you better get your head examined. I believe cricket is a sissy game, or how can you explain a bloke with a bat in his hand complaining to the umpire, match referee, journalists, prime minister, his wife and even Mr. Spock, when the bowler doubts his lineage in no uncertain terms? Why not use it on his head!! Cum’on, cricket is such a slow, boring simmer, it needs an ignition, a fire, an explosion like the good old contact sports. Whack, crash, tackle, bang and you get your money’s worth. All this nonsense about “threading the ball through the gap...

Australia and New Zealand have nominated ex-Australian Prime Minister John Howard as their candidate for the post of ICC president. It is amazing how New Zealand will always remain a small brother. Long term and proven cricket administrator from New Zealand Sir John Anderson was hoping to be nominated but was left holding the wooden base while the trophy was “stolen” by self-proclaimed cricket tragic, John Howard. I reckon poor Anderson has been hit for a “sux” (“six” for those uninitiated in Kiwi accent). There are even accusations of bullying  tactics by Aussies. Read this interesting bleat from NZ Herald . I believe the kiwis need not try anything in future, just give in to the elder brother..after all, sheep-power, doesn’t account for much, does it? John Howard was a Prime Minister of Australia for almost 12 years and his reign coincided with good economic reforms and sound fiscal condition. I am not sure though, how much was his contribution to that. He was a smart politici...

My cup is full…no, no, it is running over! I have been lucky to see one of the finest symphonies ever to have been played on the cricket field. Tendulkar’s unbeaten double ton last night was not merely an incredible achievement being first ever in 39 years and 2961 ODIs played so far, but a real master class. The control with which he coaxed the ball in to the gaps was really seen to be believed. No words can describe the beauty of it. More than the milestone, I was awe-struck by sheer control, incredible placement and almost no violence in scoring at a break-neck speed. There are players who can bludgeon the ball (as Dhoni last night ), or dominate the scene completely (a la Viv Richards’ unbeaten 189 at Old Trafford in 1984), or manufacture shots to befuddle the bowlers like Sehwag usually does, but only Tendulkar in the mood he was in yesterday, could have made bowlers and fielders feel totally helpless and still enjoy the spectacle. Even agreeing that the conditions were perfect ...

Had India failed to win today's test, there could have been numerous Indian journos asking why BCCI refuses to play test cricket under flood-lights. Well, there is some merit in that argument; Indians lost close to 55 overs yesterday due to bad light/rain and if flood lights were permitted, they could have put in some overs out of that. They came close to loosing an opportunity to square the series and stay on top of the ICC ranking. For now, at least, calls for BCCI to join in an attempt to search for flood-light solution to test cricket may not rise. Of all boards, BCCI has been talked about as an autocratic board which does not hesitate to milk Indian cricketers as cash-cows. But they some how are not falling in with other cricket boards on this issue. Call BCCI traditionalist or just bullish for not joining other cricket boards, especially two powerful lobbies in world cricket namely Cricket Australia and ECB who are very keen to play test cricket under flood-lights as early as...

Another symphony from Motzart of Cricket, Lax, the Axeman. And what a contrasting day of cricket it was yesterday. Even if you may not have watched it, I am sure you can imagine Laxman and Dhoni sharing a long pertnership (I think this is their first century partnership). Laxman's silken touch sending the cricket ball to the fence without apparent power intersperced with Dhoni's violent treatment, was like listening to a Ghazal and a Bhangra at the same time. I love melody and rythem both equally and it was fantastic to watch. So where is this test and India's tenuous hold on the top ranking in the ICC test championship headed? I reckon, Indians will be able to force a decision in their favour even though the wicket looks nice to bat on. I believe you need to give lots of rotation to the ball on this wicket to create an impact; Bhajji and Mishra should be able to do so and with a lead of 347, put Proteas under pressure and share the series. At worst, Indians will be chasin...

Welcome to my Blog. And a big thank you in advance for giving your time to "listen" to my views on anything under the sun, but mainly the game of cricket. Till now I have bored my friends with my emails; till now I have benifited from their tolerance. So folks, here am I with my Blog..I can not promise to be unpretentious or tolerant at all times. However being aware of my frailties, I promise to try my best. Good thing is, I can accept both these vices from others, including an occassional abuse of English language. What is there in a language any ways? Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Australian all are welcome here as long as I can understand. So go on, join in a robust conversation..