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Cover Points
This blog attempts to function as a confluence of thoughts from the blogosphere on any matters pertaining to international cricket.
June 2009 - Posts
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The way the English and the Australians have been treating the forthcoming Ashes for more than a year now, any of those "new eyeballs" (that the IPL and/or the World T20 might have managed to capture) that fall upon the build up can't be blamed for concluding that the Ashes was a tussle between the ECB's marketing forces and Australians' vicissitudes.
Under these circumstances, the Aussie traveling party was announced first, as expected, since they have to then travel ... duh! Their English counterparts were decided upon by Geoff Miller and co. more recently.
Let's take a look at the repercussions of these according to some of our own counterparts on the blogosphere.
In the green and gold corner, the Aussie perspective:
The fingers that type @ "A cricketing view" summed up the differences between the current bag of baggy greens and the last one that went to England in 2005:
2009 Ashes Squad - Australia
Ricky
Ponting (c), Michael Clarke (vc), Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin, Nathan
Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, Phillip Hughes, Michael Hussey, Mitchell
Johnson, Simon Katich, Brett Lee, Graham Manou, Andrew McDonald, Marcus
North, Peter Siddle, Shane Watson.
2005 Ashes Squad - Australia
*Ricky
Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Michael Clarke, Jason Gillespie, Brad Haddin,
Matthew Hayden, Brad Hodge,Justin Langer, Michael Kasprowicz, Simon
Katich, Brett Lee, Stuart MacGill, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Shaun
Tait, Shane Warne, Stuart Clark (added 9/8/05)
"The Cricket-Bloggers" danced a few steps further down and actually forced a final XI out of their system:
- Phillip Hughes
- Simon Katich
- Ricky Ponting
- Michael Clarke
- Michael Hussey (demoted one spot due to lack of form)
- Marcus North
- Brad Haddin
- Mitchell Johnson
- Brett Lee
- Peter Siddle
- Stuart Clark
From the greener pastures of England, the view seems to be ... well, greener on the same side. The English seem to be hopelessly in love with the idea of an encore of the 2005 scoreline:
The "3rd Umpire", though, seems to lament the demise of Michael Vaughan, at least as an Ashes cricketer.
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The selection of a 16-man Ashes training squad, alongside an England
Lions XI to face Australia, provides many portents for the summer
ahead. The complete omission of Michael Vaughan is the clearest
indication yet his Test career is at an end.
The English also seem to have come to terms with the fact that the reduction in Monty Panesar's cricket prowess has either meant or coincided with an enrichment in England's spin coffers. The rise of Graeme Swann and Adil Rashid has tickled the English imagination and led to the sort of pre-series chatter that one might encounter before an India-Sri Lanka series where spin bowling commands prime real estate with the fourth estate.
That feeling itself seems to be at (b)loggerheads (haa!) with the Aussie version, headed by the popular JRod, which suggests that Hilditch and co. should ditch all spin completely for a pace battery.
In the meanwhile, Australia's first warm-up match against Sussex shows that their batsmen need to learn quickly to play the quicks in England. Patrick Kidd points out how even the Italians and Germans seem to be enough to dislodge the Aussies this time around:
It is possible that by this dent to Aussie morale, Sandri could become
the most important Italian cricketer since Ted Dexter (born in Milan).
Ponting fell to Luke Wright and James Kirtley bagged Hussey but Sandri
came roaring back by dismissing Katich and North to make it 3-2 to Italy.
Speaking of bloggerheads, looks like the Ashes have been advanced:
Whoever told you the first game will be on 8th July was wrong.
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As the ECB's marketing team ensures that The Ashes will scatter all over the cricket landscape in the next few weeks a familiar pre-Ashesquestion also makes in customary (at least from the evidence of the last 4 campaigns) rounds:
Will Steven Harmison be back in the English side?
Our friends @ The Corridor certainly agree:
It may be a trend, Steve Harmison starting the season well for Durham
to yet again persuade England’s selectors that he should be picked.
It’s a depressing one though, isn’t it, when his domestic performances
are laced with evidence of extreme talent which has only emerged
occasionally in internationals, interspersed with nervous and
occasionally appauling efforts for England.
Steven's recent, aggression-filled performances for Durham have not gone unnoticed by, well, duckingbeamers:, even as Harmy himself seems to have been affected more by the outcome of such aggression that the batsmen who bore the brunt of it ... at least, physically:
“It’s the worst thing in the world when you hit somebody,” Steve said. “I
really don’t like it at all. I s*** myself when I hit Tony Frost. I was
upset by that. And the same when I hurt Ian Bell.”
Statements that were interpreted by Patrick Kidd @ Line and Length to be indicative of his "softness": I want my fast bowlers to enjoy hitting batsmen if that is what the
occasion demands. Remember the aggression at the start of the 2005
Ashes, when Langer was hit on the forearm and Ponting's cheek was cut
by a bouncer into his helmet? It set the tone and showed that we would
not be bullied.
On the other hand, the guys @ The Ashes Cricket Live think the only thing relevant from the recent domestic tournament is that the English bowlers seem to be hitting more than just batsmen ... they might be hitting prime form:
England
bowlers participating in county championship action this week have been
in top form. With all bowlers all hoping for a place in the starting
line up in The Ashes, England vs Australia, come the first test match
in Cardiff on 8th July.
So while many, like the few @ Cricket 24x7, wonder how Australia's premature ousting from the World T20 might affect their morale going into the Ashes ... or won't ...
It's funny how Shane Warne's brain works. I daresay quite a few other
Aussie cricketers (current and former), cricket administrators and
cricket commentators/writers would have also thought along similar
lines after Australia were bundled out of the T20 World Cup.
the English selectors have clearly seem to have indicated, they don't want any mental cases coming into this year's Ashes by leaving our Michael Vaughan and Steve Harmison out of the squad ... a couple who know what it takes to beat the Aussies but also know, and only too well, what it feels like to be beaten really badly by them.
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A tale of the PowerPak v. the Safferers:
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Indian fans might not have the opportunity to chant their favorite catchphrase any longer in the second ever World T20 Cup.
The news cloud online seems to be full of suggestions that they could have a similar-sounding one for South Africa, if their previous performances in World Cups, indeed in any major ICC tournaments for that matter, are anything to go by.
And that was when they were NOT expected to win those tournaments anyway.
This time around, they actually have been the favorites from day -4.
The last time they went into something having been expected to come out winners on the other side thereof, they lost a test series to Australia.
Some Aussies would like to firmly believe so, especially since the Australian team was unceremoniously sent off from the tournament. Others are pretty sure that will happen.
But, looking from within South Africa, it seems like the chokers tag might be turned right on its own head in what is a factually well backed up take.
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Then:
- The Iceman Cometh!
- Captain Cool!
- Captain Fantastic!
Now:
- The Axeman cometh??
- Captain Evil!
- Captain ... you get the pic!
"As you reap, the harvest you shall not keep" ... seems to be what many from the conventional media as well as new-world media vigilantes, also sometimes referred to as bloggers are saying to Dhoni.
This is a classic case of unsolicited generosity with severe strings attached. The media wanted poster-boys to replace the dog-eared hoardings of the previous generation. They got these in Mahi, Viru, and Yuvi.
Great builders can be worse destroyers.
Pens that paint superstars can also vandalize their posters.
Dhoni's crimes were making hay when the spotlight shone, taking media speculation about his integrity to heart and ... oh yes, how can one forget that ONE defeat in the World T20 Super8 match!!!
How dare an Indian captain who was hailed for taking the team to historic, even improbably, feats take it down?
But what does taking a team down entail?
If the media is to be believed: an injured player sent back home in the middle of a tournament and his captain who's suddenly unwilling to speak freely to the media.
Choose your journeys carefully, but choose your journos even more carefully!
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Ireland may have crossed the first hurdle in the current World T20 tournament - one of beating a Test playing nation - to make it to the Super8, but the euphoria of that victory was quelled by a metronomic rather than meteoric performance from the other Test playing team in their group, one whose wont it had been to display more of the latter.
Repeating their Super8 entry in the longer World Cup in 2007, where they vanquished a much more serious adversary in Pakistan than Bangladesh, Ireland may not be strangers to the Ire of subcontinental cricket maniacs nor to the company of hallowed rivals in an elite club.
But they had indeed been strangers to defeat in the shortest version of the sport. Ireland, coming into this World Cup, had not lost a single T20I match. One could argue that with only 5 matches under their collective 28+ belt (apologies to the spring chickens in the team) it was just beginner's luck, but a record it was. Now they sit in the Super8 but only having put in, what some would argue and at their own peril, is their rightful place.
Many might jump the gun and point out that this should put the underground ramblings of Ireland displacing Bangladesh as a Test nation to rest.
But we might not have seen the last of Ireland yet. Pakistan might be keen to avenge their 2007 embarrassment, but New Zealand and Sri Lanka have not yet seen much of Ireland and though it might be unlikely, I wouldn't put it past the Irish to give at least one of those teams a bitter taste of their stouts.
And speaking of stouts, Regan West, one of the handful thirty-plussers in the Irish team proved that being stout and astute might indeed be too much to ask for in the same person as he limbered over the crease after his very first ball ... what a West!
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A 10-year old boy in a cricket coaching camp in Bangalore screams at his teammate who has just finished his batting stint at the nets: "Abe! Bottom hand loose rakh ... ball girega!" [which is Hindi for: "keep your bottom hand loose the next time and the ball will drop right down"].
It might help, at this point, to remind ourselves that for a right-handed batsman, the bottom hand is his (her) right hand).
It is no secret, at least since moving images of cricket matches moved into people's living rooms, which hand plays what role in executing what kind of shot. We still hear (or read) experts rave about the top-handed treat from Dravid or a bottom-handed bombardment by Tendulkar.
But, in a unique case of noise-pollution, the question seems to be relevant: what is it that really makes a batsman top-handed or bottom-handed? Or better still, what is it that makes a shot top-handed or bottom-handed?
It seems logical that the top hand should be the dominant one in a cover drive or a straight drive or an on drive. It also seems to be acceptable to assume that the pulls and cuts and hooks and flicks depend more on the bottom hand. So does it follow then that Rahul Dravid can be termed a top-handed batsman? Does it also mean that Adam Gilchrist is a bottom-handed batsman?
Are you thinking ... yes, of course!
How about we toss in another variable ... the position of the batsman's hands on the bat handle (or grip)? If Sachin Tendulkar holds the bat way down and close to the blade on handle, does that make him a bottom-handed batsman? Also, if Adam Gilchrist holds the bat near the top edge of his handle [and hence, grip] should he be called a top-handed batsman?
You have the likes of Virender Sehwag who is as easy on the brain in this regard as he is on the eye when he bats. Simplicity seems to permeate through all aspects of his batting because he holds the bat towards the bottom of the handle and prefers to play strokes which also primarily use the bottom hand.
But then, you also have a batsman who loves to play cuts and pulls which are bottom-handed strokes but whose grip on his bat is top-handed, namely Adam Gilchrist. In fact, he went so far as to use a squash ball inside the glove of his bottom hand to motor his World Cup Final winning knock in Barbados in 2007.
Sachin Tendulkar, who executes flawless drives which are top-handed shots does so while his grip itself is bottom-handed, as agreed on by.
- Viru: outright bottom-handed batsman.
- Gilly: ??
- Paaji: ??
Is there a case for brevity here?
Well, let us see. What are the facts of the case?
- Certain strokes use the top hand more and certain use the bottom hand.
- Certain players hold the bat at the top or the handle and yet others at the bottom.
Of these, the one fact that actually warrants the classification of batsmen as top- or bottom-handed is where they hold the bat. Using the type of strokes to do so requires an additional step: the assumption that a batsman "prefers" or "enjoys" certain types of strokes and that makes it ambiguous at best.
And then there's David Gower who thinks what we widely considered to be a right-handed should really be called left-handed!
It is one thing to try and be an ambidextrous batsman ... quite another to be an ambiguous one!
Other oft-used cricket terms whose excessive usage has led to more confusion than clarity include:
a good length delivery and reverse swing. One of these days ...
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Alright. It is the 9th of June, 2009 and the preliminary stages of the World Cup T20 have just concluded.
(Maybe the calender is still showing 5th of June and maybe the World Cup has just started in all earnest! So what's your point??? Just stick with the post, will ya ...)
Here's how the teams stack up:
| Team |
P |
W |
L |
T |
NR |
PTS |
| GroupA |
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India (A1) |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
Ireland (A2) |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
| Bangladesh |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| GroupB |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Pakistan (B1) |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| Netherlands (B2) |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| England |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| GroupC |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Australia (C1) |
2
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3
|
| Sri Lanka (C2) |
2
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3
|
| West Indies |
2
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3
|
| GroupD |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| South Africa (D2) |
2
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
| New Zealand (D1) |
2
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| Scotland |
2
|
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
If anyone had predicted that the Super 8 would include Ireland and the Netherlands ... they'd have been laughed into oblivion. Are you laughing?
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The World T20 is coming ... or is it actually here.
Regardless, the teams are there.
Considering how soon after another well-followed T20 event this edition of the World Cup comes and the fact that players are going from counting their change to changing into their country's colors, there is bound to be repeated mentions of two main words: pressure and heat.
Well ... those also happen to be the two main variables in Boyle's law of gases, which basically states that for a given temperature, pressure and volume of an ideal gas are inversely proportional to each other.
Is it being implied that T20 cricket is full of hot gas ... not in this post, but maybe here.
But what IS being implied is that for our favorite cricketers at this year's T20 world cup, there might just be an inverse relationship between the pressure on them and the volume of achievements they might be bale to dish out at said event.
One could also argue like Mahesh does that the T20 version actually levels the playing field between the highly talented and the not-so-gifted, the very experienced and the rookies, the rock stars and the spectators or whatever.
Assuming that the heat (read: level playing field) is constant on the team, one might rank the teams in terms of the pressure (read: expectations) on them as follows:
India (defending champs, "rock stars", almost an entire team full of proven match winners, loads of talent, money, and support)
South Africa (excellent balance in squad, recent form @ IPL09 in their own backyard, familiarity with English conditions)
Australia (most experienced T20I team, semi-finalists last year)
New Zealand (loads of talent, recent form from IPL09)
England (hosts, decently balanced team, few match-winners)
Sri Lanka (experienced campaigners, few match-winners)
Pakistan (runners up last time, but not much cricket coming in, lots of talent)
West Indies (winners of Stanford T20, not much recent form)
Then we come to the "minnows" (really?)
Bangladesh
Ireland
Scotland
Netherlands
So applying Boyle's Law of Cricket to these teams, the teams with the best chance to win should be:
Netherlands
Scotland
Ireland
Bangladesh
West Indies
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
England
New Zealand
Australia
South Africa
India
The Netherlands ... really???
Not so fast ... that is where a key word "ideal" comes in. Boyle's law only applies to ideal gases.
Got a ranking of your own??
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