May 2009 - Posts

• There is a limit to what Americans can understand. That limit is no longer cricket!

  Netherland, written by novelist Joseph O'Neill, is the winner of Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award got an endorsement from Obama!  According to Washington Post, he has now received the unexpected endorsement of President Obama, who told a New York Times reporter in a recent interview that he was reading "Netherland" as an escape from the constant onslaught of briefing books. "There's a limit to what Americans understand. The limit is cricket," is the gloomy verdict of a "Netherland" character. President Obama could help change that. In his novel, cricket "represents that which is alien to American eyes, but nevertheless demands to be understood by American eyes." Obama, O'Neill said, also "demands a certain expansion of the American identity." He embodies a 21st-century America with a more "capacious and complex apprehension of the world" than that of his predecessors. "This is a guy," O'Neill said, laughing, "who would not be incapable of understanding a cricket match." Read the complete article here. Read a DreamCricket review of the book here.     Posted May 11 2009, 05:49 AM with no comments Filed under: Obama cricket, Joseph O'Neill, Netherland, Chuck Ramkissoon, DreamCricket

• When Babe Ruth tried cricket

  By Venu Palaparthi "They tell me that $40 a week is top pay for cricket. I think I will stick to baseball. I wish I could use a wide bat like this in baseball. I would top Colonel Ruppert's (Yankees owner) payroll." - Babe Ruth, 1935 Last week's Fox Sports Science program brought to the fore the age old debate about which sport is harder - Cricket or baseball. At DreamCricket, we are not going to revisit our slogan anytime soon - Real Men Play Cricket! But the program reminded me of a very interesting story from 1935 that I had read in the DreamCricket archives. Following his 1932 meeting with Don Bradman on the sidelines of a Yankees game in New York, Babe Ruth was quite taken by cricket. "I will try this cricket business," he chuckled. "Why don't you put on a Yankee uniform and see what you can do against our kind of pitching?" he suggested to Bradman. This was right before he famously told the Don "Us little guys can hit harder than the big ones." On February 10, 1935, while on a visit to London, Babe Ruth kept his promise to Bradman. The baseball great's cricket coach on this occasion was Alan Fairfax, the former Australian star. True to his reputation, Ruth smashed local fast bowlers all over the premises, breaking his first cricket bat in the process. Ruth enjoyed cricket so much that he spent an extra hour at the school by Thames where the demo was held. In the event, he was late for a luncheon engagement with his wife. Alan Fairfax was happy about the progress his new celebrity student appeared to be making. "In a fortnight, I could make one of the world's greatest batsmen out of him," he told the assembled press. Babe Ruth smiled and said, "They tell me that $40 a week is top pay for cricket. I think I will stick to baseball." Babe Ruth was already the highest paid professional ball player in the world by 1929. His pay was $70,000. According to NY Times, Babe tried to adjust his stance without too much luck. So he went back to his baseball methods and smacked everything that Fairfax and his students served. When he was done, the bat had a broken handle and the reporters noted that he had edged so many balls that the edges had nearly disappeared. Ruth said "I wish I could use a wide bat like this in baseball. I would top Colonel Ruppert's payroll." Ruth argued that a baseball pitcher is faster than a cricket bowler against the prevailing sentiment among the British onlookers. He said, "if anybody thinks Larwood throws a faster ball than Walter Johnson, they can have my money." Someone suggested that Larwood be brought to London so Babe Ruth can get a first-hand experience. Pressed for time, Ruth spent 15 minutes at bowling and had a bit less luck with this aspect of cricket not quite managing to take Fairfax's wicket. Babe Ruth remained steadfast in his belief that hitting a six for over 600 feet was not believable. "That's more than my record of 559 feet," he said. He then proceeded to see his first Soccer match after lunch. Posted May 07 2009, 07:04 PM with 1 comment(s) Filed under: USA cricket, Baseball and cricket, Don Bradman, Babe Ruth

• Fox Sports Science proclaims cricket is easier than baseball! Do you agree?

  Fox Sports Network compared baseball with cricket on its Sports Science show and concluded that cricket is easier than baseball. We disagree! The show begins well and the concept is interesting. USA cricketer Aditya Thyagarajan and Arizona Diamondbacks 3rd baseman Mark Reynolds, were wired up and tested to resolve whether it was tougher to bat against a pitcher or a bowler?A question that a lot of baseball players have tried to answer themselves - including the famous Babe Ruth. More recently, Manny Ramirez tried his hand at baseball too. In selecting Aditya Thyagarajan, one of USA's best cricketers, Fox showed they were serious about their mission. Aditya, who played first class cricket in India, recently played two key innings for USA - 42 against Bermuda and a match winning 84 against Canada, and he became known as "Pappelbon" after the Boston Red Sox closer. But as the show progressed, you can see that it was not a like-for-like comparison. For a first time batter taking to cricket, Mark Reynolds did not get the entire range of bowling. In the video, he is seen batting against really well pitched balls begging to be hit which, to his credit, he did well. For a cricketer to take a baseball bat, it is fairly obvious that it would take some getting used to. All things being equal, for a ball that is tauntingly over pitched, begging to be hit, the surface area theory is probably right - the cricketer has an advantage because, when compared to baseball, he has a lot more surface area on the sweet spot. But all things are not equal. A more scientific comparison would probably test a variety of balls - from googlies to fast bowling. Isn't that what cricket is about? For a meaningful comparison - a super over is not what the doctor ordered. Aditya Thyagarajan has the final word: "Cricket and Baseball require differrent techniques. In my opinion the analysis seemed a bit biased towards baseball. A Baseball player will find it extremely difficult to even play Division 5 local cricket and a cricketer will find it equally difficult to play league baseball. All in all - 2 great sports. Let's sit back and enjoy!" That is a true statesman. Format: ??? Duration: 06:22 Posted May 05 2009, 03:43 AM with 3 comment(s) Filed under: US Cricket, California Cricket, cricket and baseball