January 2010
48 posts
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Roller-coaster
ullash:
“Pakistan is a cricket loving nation, the people eat, sleep and breathe cricket and I feel that as a team we have let our fans down during the current tour of Australia,” Butt told Pakpassion.net. “I know what it is like to wake up through the night and watch your team lose again and again. I know what it feels like, because as a youngster I too was a cricket fan watching my heroes in...
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Politics rules Paul Nixon out of Twenty20 →
Leicestershire’s Paul Nixon will not feature in their Twenty20 Cup campaign because of his past involvement in the Indian Cricket League.
I thought we’d seen an end to this bullshit; Shane Bond is playing in the IPL for gawd sake. Paul Nixon loves cricket and cricket should love Paul Nixon, stop screwing him around Modi.
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Hampshire: Dream XI
McKenzie, who captains the Highveld Lions in South Africa, will bring further international experience to an exciting squad which already contains Kabir Ali, Simon Jones, Shahid Afridi and Ajantha Mendis. (via CricInfo)
Don’t forget Mascarenhas, Pietersen, Cork, and Ervine. Whatever happened to counties as a feeder to England? I know there are some good young quicks but they’re...
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Mickey Who?
The truth, though, is that the “what is it you do?” question was being posed by senior South African players as far back as the tour to Australia a year ago
Lawrence Booth: Departure of marginalised Arthur inevitable
Lawrence Booth delivers the most insightful piece on Mickey Arthur’s “resignation”. It’s clear to me in hindsight, that even in the media coverage of...
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“Afghanistan’s gravity-defying rise as a cricketing power has been a cheering...”
– www.wisdencricketer.com » Blog Archive » Benj Moorehead: Afghanistan – from refugees to cricketers
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“Instead he chose to make his allegation in public and to repeat it in public....”
– Chris Cairns issues writ against IPL’s Lalit Modi - Telegraph
I really hope that’s true. Modi should pay for it, if it’s a lie and the UK courts will make him pay!
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“Tell your boys, that the last day at Kensington Oval always belongs to us.”
– Tony Cozier via The Best I’ve Watched; Telford Vice on SA v WI, Barbados, 1992
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Are India really worthy of being number one?
But, in all honesty – nobody deserves to be number one at the moment. There should be a gap at the top saying, come get me bitches. Like a really pretty lady in a tight dress flirting with a bunch of guys who she’s never going to give it to.
No side is at it’s zenith. Australia are in decline, South Africa transition, Sri Lanka have hit the buffers and England are constantly preparing...
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“You take young Stuart Broad – he is really developing into a world-class...”
– Raman Subba Row does exist (sounds like he ought not to) but didn’t say this on
Work Or Play: The Great Debate Continues
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YouTube Dabbles in Live Sports With IPL Matches →
mashable:
YouTube will begin live-streaming Indian Premier League cricket matches this March. It’s possible that the matches will be viewable in countries like the United States that don’t…
It’d be good to see this in the UK, coverage of the IPL and it’s Champions League sibling have been confined to rarely watched pay tv making it pretty much invisible to the cricket loving...
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“Confused and disappointed”
– Steve Harmison via Kevin Mitchell on The Wisden Cricketer
Steve, we are disappointed that you can’t be the talisman fast bowler that England so desperately need. And we are confused that your protestations were so badly placed that you managed to confirm the selector’s worst fears,...
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Nuclear Cricket
Pakistan’s players have reacted with anger and attributed the blackout to politics; the IPL has said it was the franchises’ decision and the franchises have explained it on grounds of cricketing strategy or availability during the tournament.
(via Cricinfo)
Nothing gets India and Pakistan spoiling for a fight like cricket while they might pretend Kashmir is what they want, they...
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Is Virender Sehwag wrong?
kkarnac:
In my opinion Sehwag has statistics on his side for making that statement and all of you wait for the match to get over until then keep your mouth’s shut.
The fact that Sehwag can back up his statement with stats, will just make it more amusing for the cricketing neutral if Bangladesh prove him wrong. It is a huge demotivator for India; complacency in any sport especially cricket is...
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Breakgate - on the blogs
So Cook is to captain England for their forthcoming tour, but there is many a knife out for Strauss and the ECB over his rest.
Alex Miller thinks that it’s all coming too soon:
At present England’s Test team is, as Strauss himself admitted after the fourth Test, “not good enough”.
King Cricket moonlighting on Wisden Cricketer is worried we’re sleep walking into...
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Auction of optimists
Lalit Modi on Twitter
there are 12 slots as final buyouts have just come in.
With 66 players (cricinfo) vying for the 12 overseas slots in the IPL auction it would appear that the likes of Anthony McGrath and Jason Krejza are including themselves out of pure blind optimism.
As an Englishman the names that pop out at me are Graeme Swann and Eoin Morgan. Swann does right to cash in on his superb...
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On the review system and sky sports
injerarufus:
from Cricinfo
2.46pm Gosh, they’ve been talking about the review system on television for 15 minutes now without a mention of the cricket that’s been played between rainbreaks. Here’s a level-headed comment from Stephen Moss to bring us back to earth: “Since the reviews, rather than the cricket, are now the cornerstone of the sport, when there is a particularly contentious decision...
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“What do you mean it’s still moving? It’s as good as dead. It can’t feel pain any...”
– England v South Africa fourth Test post mortem
Where there is rain there is hope.
While there is a possible draw, Collingwood will have a back lift so low we’ll rarely see daylight.
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A careless collapse
Unfortunately, too many England players seemed to be trying to recreate the spirit of that match with the shots they got out to today.
Via The Corridor (a cricket blog)
Given all the talk of a ‘result wicket’ in the run up to this test, why did England try and score at over 3 an over. Many of the wickets were given away carelessly while trying to move the score on before being...
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“Even though you look for a grassy wicket it won’t be a major green mamba...”
– Mickey Arthur via Tom Fordyce: England ready for lip-smacking shoot-out
The final test of the series is a mouth watering proposition. The pitch should give enough for the bowlers to get a result out of it but the batters will decide this one. If one batsman manages to get going then they have the...
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Club V Country? No Contest →
Mike Atherton explores the club verus country debate and comes to the inevitable conclusionL
There is one simple reason, I believe, why international cricket will eventually be superseded by club cricket, with the odd marquee Test series and tournaments such as the World Cup reminding people of how it once was, and that is the ability of clubs/franchises to create competitive teams.
With that...
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Cricket is for the people
A decision on whether the Ashes will return to free-to-air television will be taken before the general election, the Government said on Tuesday.
via Cricinfo
I had this pegged as a decision that would be passed over by the government until after the election, but the politicians know a populist cause when they see one. We all know that the ECB are fiercely protective of their county cabal but...
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Monty Update
Cricinfo has the latest, a quick evaluation of his performance from Dave Nosworthy:
“We’ve allowed him that [space] and tried to nurture him as much as possible. We have given him the opportunities he has needed and he has been magnificent for us. We’ve got everything we have needed to get out of him and he’s bowling well so that’s quite exciting.”
And a few...
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“You’re probably thinking: ‘Ricky Ponting is a complete tool belt.’”
– Via King Cricket Ricky Ponting: It’s possible to inflict self-inflicted problems on your opponents
Ricky Ponting has split media perception disorder, when he’s busy losing the Ashes, them pundits love his straight talk but when he tries to explain Pakistan’s er… form the poor boy...
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Cairns vs Modi explained →
One of the few articles that has sought to explain, what the hell was going through Lalit Modi’s head when he denied Chris Cairns access to the IPL, comes from Paddlesweep:
Why does Lalit Modi allegedly think that Chris Cairns was allegedly involved in Match Fixing? The answer lies in one decision which the Indian Cricket League (ICL), the rebel league of which Christopher Lance Cairns was...
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Hear the Lions roar
So the England selectors announced the England Lions squad:
Andrew Gale, Ian Bell, Michael Carberry, Michael Lumb, James Taylor, Craig Kieswetter, Steven Davies, Peter Trego, James Tredwell, Adil Rashid, Sajid Mahmood, Chris Woakes, Steven Finn, Steve Kirby, David Wainright.
Via BBC Sport
In their article the BBC lead on the inclusion of Ian Bell, but since this is a one day squad it makes...
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"Hail Colly, you brave pickle-jar lid"
Since England’s humiliation at the hands of the West Indies in Kingston, a new determination has swept the England team. A determination not necessarily to win but rather to not lose. Paul Collingwood has often personified that desire, when the batting lineup has crumbled around him, up steps Collingwood with 150 forward defensive strokes as many leaves.
Alex Miller pays tribute on...
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“You look at the wooden spoon and you apologise for all those occasions where you...”
– Ian Ronald Bell is an actual hero
Truth uttered
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“No way, PRicky! Don’t you dare try and take credit for this win. You did...”
– Thoughts from the Dustbin tells punter (that’s Ricky Ponting) where to stick his misplaced smugness after the test that Pakistan threw away.
Australian readers may like to note that your ass was saved my some horrendous keeping and careless batting by the Pakistan team not any miracles from...
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Mark Nicholas' double life
Yet however rapid his rise up the broadcasting ladder, he has a long way to go to beat the biggest climber of them all, Mark Nicholas… a posh, three initialled Englishman, ended up with the most prestigious job of them all: anchorman on Australia’s Channel Nine - making every English winter an Australian summer.
Via Tanya’s Take on Cricinfo Page 2
On the other hand during...
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Missed chances and lost glories | Decade Review... →
Contrary to the myth that is conjured about the sanctity of Tests, the only thing that truly matters to the ECB is the survival of county cricket. Fifteen of the 18 teams that make up the current two-division structure contested the County Championship way back in the 19th Century, and those same teams, plus the MCC, still govern (and jealously guard) all the money generated by English cricket
...
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A stroke of genius from Wolf on King Cricket’s comments
Really this is Alec Stewarts fault.
Since Russell was dropped due to a desire for a ’stronger’ batting line up every other team has followed suit and handed the gloves to any ham fisted buffon who can swing a bat and half knows what they’re doing behind the stumps.
Sure, you get the rare exceptions like Sanga, Dhoni and Gilly but...
Samit Patel looks to Darren Lehmann for help →
Samit Patel is heading to Darren Lehmann’s cricket academy in a bid to get in shape for next season.
Poor Samit, I hope King Cricket realises the cake he eats to comfort him after this jibe is going to set him back two or three weeks months at least.
“It would be unfair on her fans if cricket didn’t begin the decade in traditional...”
– Thank you, Pakistan, for helping me keep the faith | The Corridor (a cricket blog)
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England's Kevin Pietersen is running out of shock... →
For Pietersen this has been no fairytale return to his native land. He is not inspiring much awe any more and there is the whisper that the South Africans sense a vulnerability against extreme pace in general and Dale Steyn in particular
With his recent tendency to get with unnecessarily extravagant shots against mediocre spinners, that only leaves Jaques Kallis to score off.
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Alastair Cook – treat us to an innings of rare... →
King Cricket:
This could be beautiful. We can see him unfurling leave after leave and treating us to the occasional insipid prod when he absolutely has to.
Instead he seems to have got cocky after he’d hit a fifty, and decided to use the horizontal option. I guess this just leaves Collingwood to indulge in his usual trench warfare.
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“If we continue to use these superlatives to describe a black cricketer in South...”
– Icon. Iconic. What? Makhaya Ntini’s legacy | The Corridor (a cricket blog)
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Graeme Swann: flavour of the year →
It is remarkable to think, given the Midas-like qualities in the spinning fingers of Graeme Swann, that there was a gap of nine years between his selection for England and his first Test cap.
Graeme Swann has been getting a lot love from the English centric press at the moment, as usual Mike Atherton covers all the angles.
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Jeremy Coney
End of decade summit: Best commentator
Benj Moorehead (Editorial assistant)
Jeremy Coney
No other commentator avoids the dross like Jeremy Coney. He tackles cricket head-on, determined to explain, rather than describe, exactly what is going on out there. And he does it with such obvious pleasure and enthusiasm, his arms swirling around urgently to express his points. They are always revealing....