Post "Big Five Silver Lining", will it be dark once again?

This is the last straw.

I gave away my life-dream in the previous post a year back, and wished that post to be my last in Pavilion View. Sadly, I could not leave in the bitter-sweet afterglow of that nostalgic post which I had made when I started the most uncertain, indefinite and difficult time of my personal life. That phase continues and grows darker and I wanted to keep the blog out of it.

But I cannot. This blog, once nurtured chiefly by my continued addiction to cricket and sustained by the interesting times we saw in Indian Cricket, must now end in a scream of horror. Horror at the looming shadows that threaten to molest the game that I once so loved and stood by when it needed me to.

The bright spot of the post is, as usual, the Big Five. And to make it as positive as possible I will speak of the bright spot instead of the darkness around it.

I take this opportunity to say, one last time, that which I tend to repeat like a parrot having just that one line:  

The true measure of Indian cricket’s Big Five (not Big six or seven or eight) for their game and for Indian sports, in that specific era of theirs, will emerge only in posterity.

Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman.

It is widely seen that they achieved WITH the system they worked in.

That understanding may not stand the test of time by the looks of it.

Future history may observe that to a certain extent the Five Musketeers of Indian Cricket might have achieved their folklore-inspiring feats INSPITE of the system around them - and still managed to put to sword the Greatest Team in last 30 years. While the latter were likely working WITH their robust system.

When the mud settles the much-‘crazed’ (more than loved) game in the Big Five's country may record, at either chronological end of their conjoined careers, steep slopes into professional and moral troughs.

It did not seem to be so even in the toughest of times then. Now we know why. Because they were around. Perhaps we mistook the brilliant combined glow of these five, the 'silver lining' in the all-encompassing gloom of over-prioritised money eating away the fibre of sport in the name of sponsoring it, as a daybreak for those few years. This too is passing, as it seems..and the gloom is set to return.

For the past week or so we have watched with irritation, and annoyance, three of the five musketeers dispute each other in media on incidents from a buried past. It seemed a tad ‘beneath them’. Well it doesn’t look as bad any more. Indeed, we can debate the right and wrong about playing for one's century (or double) and holding grudges for 10+ years, OR about letting out an ex-colleague friend's hint of frustration with coach in front of media. The Big Five have their share of flaws, but none that cannot be forgiven and forgotten. The past few weeks and their Sydney / Multan / Chappell controversies shall be like baby pool splash in the aftermath of the disastrous tsunami we are waiting for.

With a tired smile I remember a 'lateral thinking' puzzle that all of us learnt as kids: if you want to make a long line short without erasing, you draw a longer line next to it.

In this respect the admirers of Big Five, the ones about to be indicted, are proving themselves to be true-blue die-hard fans of the quintet. A grand inadvertent 'self-sacrificing' service to the Five, if ever there was one. By becoming news that drowns the latter’s mild discord. A hugely longer line this surely is.

I dread to see the names, though I am sure that they will emerge one day.

Quite painfully, some of them would have been lovingly 'hand-grown' Chinese Bamboos in the orchard that was once sown, grown and ruled by the Big Five. An orchard that stood together, unlike before and after them, and refused to cower even when faced by a rampaging Cyclone called Australia.

I am glad I don't follow cricket these days. I am still smarting for the rumblings of 2000 and I could not have gone through that period of shock again - to sense his name coming up from the hints dropped in newspaper articles, and then actually finding the man, the icon who brought me to cricket and who I loved and wished well more than anyone else not personally known to me, getting named with evidence.

It’s curtains for Pavilion View. This time for good. It has been a privilege. I shall be forever indebted that you took time to even have a look at these pages. And return back to them from time to time. I hope once in a while I could light up your day, sometimes when you needed it most. It has been well worth it. Thanks for the good wishes and kind patronage.

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Okay, I am making a laboured attempt to make it a ‘smiley’ ending. I am changing topic. And sport.
It is hardly easy to smile though when it features an injury to Roger Federer. Wish him a quick recovery, he is shaping up well for one last hurrah.

I hope some day Andy Murray writes a movie script, and I shall queue up when the movie gets released. I love his British one-liners, besides admiring the no-fuss sport lurking in him:

Roger Federer gave Novak Djokovic a walkover in the final of the ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday after he pulled out of the tournament due to a back injury. The announcement came just 30 minutes before the final was set to begin and Federer addressed the crowd himself, apologizing and explaining he was unfit to compete against Djokovic. 

Knowing that Federer was unfit to take the court, the ATP scrambled to come up with a solution to give the fans a show. Chris Kermode, head of the ATP, called up Andy Murray at 2pm to see if he would be willing to come down to the O2 to play a series of exhibition matches. Murray was at home on the couch playing videogames when he got the call. He immediately agreed and drove himself down to the arena to play an exhibition set against Djokovic and then team up with John McEnroe to play doubles against Pat Cash and Tim Henman.  

"I was playing Mario Kart on my sofa when I got the call," Murray said. "I was winning at that. It's better than my tennis at the moment," he joked. 

Greg Chappell, the cricket visionary: caring(!!) views on Indian cricket

I was going through some of Greg Chappell's articles in The Hindu. They make for intriguing reading, quite far removed from "the guy that rubs everyone up the wrong way", an image that Indian cricket fans make of him due to his negatively eventful 1½ tenure as coach of Indian cricket team (end 2005 to Mar 2007). In fact, on the contrary these articles are a testimony of why then-captain Ganguly thought of him as a personification of astuteness in 2004-05, and strongly recommended Greg to BCCI as next Indian coach.

The articles were especially delightful to read in this tough period for Indian cricket. These are times when fans are not sure if anybody really cares for Indian cricket. If we can detach the much-hated name while going through the content of these articles, these are valuable views and analyses coming from someone with no ulterior motives and wanting to share his knowledge for the betterment of cricket in India.

Sample this one: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/greg-chappel/karthik-thrown-a-deserved-lifeline-sreesanth-could-do-with-one/article4702845.ece?ref=sliderNews

Even more than his fine take on Karthik in that piece, the discussion on Sreesanth's cricketing talent was my takeaway - perhaps because Greg kept the section to just that: discussing Sreesanth's cricketing talent (even after the IPL spot-fixing fiasco). However he has also touched upon the latest controversy. Like a wise statesman, he has clearly  hinted at the fact that accepting Sreesanth as an eccentric talent and handling him accordingly JUST might have avoided him from turning into a wasted cricketer with unfulfilled potential. I liked the tone of that comment. 

There is a hint of sadness as he witnesses the fall of Sreesanth, a player that Greg still believes to be a major talent. He suggests that there was scope of improvement in the way Sreesanth was handled, but he makes his point without looking to transfer the blame of the errant cricketer's own indiscretions towards BCCI's incompetence at talent management.

Greg himself was hardly better at managing talent....while he was excellent at spotting talent, he failed abysmally in turning it into finished product. I reckon he still cares for these young guys he backed, if not for Indian cricket. Perhaps he realises today that HE could have done things differently as well.

[BTW, this is not the first time that BCCI's talent management woes are costing Indian cricket of its talents. If they had been even half decent at it, then Yuvraj Singh should have been India's next cricketer to retire with 50+ Test average, and Zaheer would have been our spearhead much before 2007..not to be.] 

And this marvellous piece on what EXACTLY is needed to be done for improving a batsman's concentration: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/greg-chappel/curing-crickets-attention-deficit-disorder/article4769944.ece

What I found during this phase, was that I tired very quickly and actually began to make mistakes after a relatively short period of time. If I did succeed using this method, I was usually so tired that I couldn’t relax easily afterwards and I was generally ‘flat’ for a few days.

On reflection, it dawned on me that this method was bound to fail and I had to find an alternative method. The alternative I chose was to train myself to concentrate for one ball at a time.

Concentration is the ability to focus on what is important at that moment.
From that point, my practice sessions became a contest with myself to see how well I could manage the conflicting messages in my head. Training was no longer an exercise in polishing my technique, but a mental exercise in engaging with the bowler at the appropriate time.

What I learnt to do was to switch-on to the bowler once he reached his bowling mark. The fiercest concentration was saved for the time that the bowler reached his delivery stride until that particular play was finished.

In between balls, I had a quick look into the crowd to give my mind a break before returning my attention to the field of play. I re-engaged with the bowler again once he got back to his mark.

The look into the crowd was an important part of my concentration routine. If I was playing at home, I would pick out someone whom I knew to look for. I astounded my family and friends when, at the end of the day, I could tell them what time they had arrived at the ground, who they had spoken to and what time they had a drink or something to eat.

Once I perfected this routine, I was never fatigued during play nor was I exhausted at the end of a long innings. Effectively, I had only concentrated at full intensity for a matter of minutes, even if I batted all day.

This is a pearl of wisdom coming from one of the finest batsmen ever. I wish to take printouts of this article and share with cricket crazy kids in our backyard. It is a must read for anyone who wants to become a better batsman at longer versions of the game (i.e. longer than 20 overs).

Last but not the least, Chappell’s article celebrating Sachin on his 40^th birthday: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/greg-chappel/sachin-still-pushing-the-boundaries/article4648090.ece?ref=sliderNews

What did surprise me was the meticulous attention that he gave to his bats.

I had seen others who were quite protective and caring of their bat, but I had never seen anyone who showered their bat with such loving attention. He constantly altered the batting grip and spent hours with a scalpel scraping and cleaning the blade so that it was pleasing to his eye.

As he explained it, he did not want anything out of place when he looked down at his bat when standing at the crease. I can’t say that I ever noticed my bat to that degree. It was an implement that I used, and as I often had to get used to another one, I did not want to be too attached to my current bat in case we were separated, for any reason.

Sachin built a symbiotic relationship with each bat that he used. Batting, I began to realise, was why Sachin lived and he was taking every part of it very seriously indeed.

A special and sensitive insight from a great batsman admiring another within the sacred confines of the Test match dressing room. Another section of that article discusses about the changes Sachin made in his batting stance and preparatory movement over his career.

I am looking forward to his Hindu articles hereafter, expecting those to be the best insights into Indian cricket that I am going to get on print or web in coming months.

Update: Here's another offering from Greg - discussing the reasons for India's cricketing upswing (barring those two 2011 away series) coinciding with Australia's downswing: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/greg-chappel/things-to-be-learnt-from-the-indian-model/article4902529.ece

How about Gurunath getting a 3rd degree called "24 hours of compulsory attention to Shastri's commentary"

Ravi Shastri is selected in BCCI's three member committee for probing spot fixing. 

Hope he can fire on all cylinders and drive some tracer bullets into fixers, make them disappear like huge sixers before the contest goes down to the wire. it's his for the taking, that's what the doctor ordered. 

However Shaz's greatest achievement would be bringing down the (BCCI) president if he can...he has got good credentials as a 'president shooter' to start with: a three letter initial (same as LHO and JWB) !! 

That will set the cat among the pigeons...c'mon Shaz, throw caution to the wind and be like greased lightning. The situation is touch and go...it's a pressure cooker, and something's got to give.

Can almost hear him commentate on the findings: "what Indian cricket needs now is a wicket...what Srini needs now is a partnership. Srini is rapped on the pads and the finger goes up....the umpire knew exactly what he was doing there. This decision sets up rest of the enquiry nicely ...now Guru..edggeeed, and should be taken...aah, Delhi police have dropped it. Unbelievable - they will take it ten out of ten times. the atmosphere is electrifying..is there another twist in the tale? One gets a feeling Guru may have injured himself there..."

[acknowledgement: http://blog.rohandsa.com/2010/04/ravi-shastri-commentary-generator.html]

The circle of a day

In the morning this daily quote flashed up on my office desktop as I booted up the comp:

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination are omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” – Calvin Coolidge

12 hours later I was preparing to shut it off.
I checked gmail and, as I was about to log off, I found a link on Virat Kohli's phenomenal rise.
I am pasting an extract from the article:

"His work ethic is brilliant, his focus is immense," says Yuvraj Singh. "Since the time he has joined the Indian team, I saw his work ethic and wished and wondered why I didn't have that work ethic when I was his age."

I reckon Yuvraj and Rohit are even more talented than Virat.They always were.
At the end of the day, my working day, Virat is pipping those two at what Calvin Coolidge quoted to me when I started the day.
Good night, folks!!

The power of nine

"I respect my wicket a hundred times more now"


A profound, nine word Dave Warner mantra for all talented youngsters like Kohli, Raina who find it tough to complete the big leap from T20's to Test matches.
Why, even not-so-youngsters like Yuvraj can heed it as well.


Rohit Sharma, are you listening?

Gains for Team India from 2011 Test series vs West Indies @ home

Gains from WI series:

1) Viru has started getting 2nd innings runs in the 2nd decade of his Test career.

2) Ashwin has stamped his Aussie never say die brand of fighting cricket in Tests too, after T20 and ODIs. What a year for him!

3) Ojha, the other (better) spinner, nearly turns a dead Test into a win on a flat track...in a single sessn. Memories of the 70s & 90s. Dare say Harbhajan needs to unlearn a bit of T20 bowlg and relearn Test bowlg. We need him back.

4) After years (?) we have seen three 140k Indian bowlers bowling at those speeds on Indian tracks (yes, all of them) and...miraculously, finishing the series injury free. 

5) Team selectn in the series was done with an eye on current series and another on future. It was delightful to see Varun Aaron making his debut in 3rd Test instead of Umesh although the latter scalped 7 in 2nd Test. It is better to have them fly to Oz with 1 each under their belts than 2-nil.

6) THE HAPPIEST PART, PERSONALLY SPEAKING. The decisn to keep pushing for a possible win after 6th wkt fall in 2nd inngs on 5th day, even risking a surprise loss in the process, was a sight I have waited to see for last decade plus. 

Thanks for that, Team India. You are my favourites again

[edited from my FB status msg]

Test batsmen and spectators bid adieu

AUs-vs-RSA, 2nd Test, 2nd day at Jo'burg


Tahir with Steyn.
Top class leg spin with express pace. 
Joyous to see both bowlers make the ball talk on same pitch, on same day.


It could be called a great session of Test cricket, if only we had batsmen brought up on better stuff than T20...batsmen who "don't look at 3rd slip fielders as aliens encroaching their space" [to borrow the commentators' words]. Pathetic state of things. And ominous when seen with Eden crowd not crossing 10000 on any day. Tells us that a generation of skilled Test batsmen and their spectators are all bidding adieu across the world hand in hand.


Pink ball day-night first class cricket must be tried next season, if not this one. It can't be worse for either cricket or cricketers than this...and it can always be eased out after letting the 'evening cricket' generation have a taste of cricket in whites.


[adopted from my FB wall post]

The Yuvraj problem, and the terrible Neo-specialists

Bloody Amol Muzumder is now a specialist commentator on Neo, and all they can offer for Yuvi's failure is criticising his technique (without specifying WHAT part) and showing repeated replays of Yuvi taking eyes off the ball and getting hit...and then hinting that it might be due to Yuvi's lack of willingness to guts it out. If he hadn't gutsed it out, Sachin would have retired without World cup.


Yuvraj Singh has all the attacking shots against all types of bowling. Sadly, you need ALL the shots in Tests including defensive ones..even Viru needs them in Tests even if ever so fleetingly.
I believe all the support staff, coach and senior players have failed to drill this into Yuvraj in 11 yrs and thus let India lose its most talented young player to lack of evolution. Which is why I am seriously worried about succession after Big Five.


Before you give them top class support, the young cricketers need to be trained to use & imbibe that support. Those 5 came with that mindset..but who's teaching those whose minds are not as focussed?

Class and variety still breeds in only one format of cricket

Have a look at this link



Do you know what is Murali's jersey number this IPL? I did not notice until tonight that it is derived from his achievements in another format, a format seen to be the only one where bowlers' need to take wickets is FAR more important than just containment. Check pic 9/10 of this link. [I say 'seen to be' b'coz it is only a perception. Taking wickets is the most important job of bowler in all forms - the importance reduces but still it remains #1 priority].


Also check pic 8/10 of that link for Manoj Tiwary's cover drive pic. Whenever that guyholds the bat he looks as good as this snap to me. Pity that he lost his international opportunities to misfortune. People like Tiwary and Rayudu (I was struck by a top-notch, classy cover drive hit by the latter today - keep catching these glimpses as someone or the other watches IPL at home) abound in domestic cricket today and that is where Indian cricket (at least batting) looks healthy. These players have developed their pedigreed batting by growing up playing ANOTHER format, and IPL is ONLY reaping the benefits.






Sangakkara peppered the mid wicket boundary the other day...and before you shut your eyes to conjure up slog sweeps or across the line hits, let me mention that ALL his shots were vertical bat drives. Yes, they really were even if you keep staring at me disbelievingly for the next fortnight..


Even now class is bred in only one variety of the game. First class cricket. It may well change after some years of T20; maybe slogs to mid wicket will be the ONLY 'classy shots'!! I have no problems with those shots; as a fan of my favourite cricket team such shots can very well win us the match. It is the 'ONLY' that bites me as a fan of cricket (as against fan of a team).


I remain one of the biggest fans of Jayasuriya, the first mega product of One-day cricket. But what will you choose if you have the choice between (i) having THE ODD Jayasuriya / Dhoni (alternative batsmanship styles based on modern formats) and (ii) having ALL batsmen modelled on ONLY Jayasuriya (or Dhoni)? Or WORSE still, all of them modelled ONLY on some 3rd generation guy who becomes the first mega product of T20 (hits across the line to mid-wicket ONLY, for instance)?

Again it is the 'ONLY' that I am questioning.

[developed from a note on my Facebook page]

Is Ishant's 'nishant' round the corner?

I was passing via drawing-n-dining room** when I glanced at the TV screen. An IPL match was on, as you would expect this time of the year barring Richter 9. At that point of time they were showing a replay of Deccan Chargers' Ishant Sharma dismissing RCB's Dilshan caught behind with a good quick ball.At that point of time they were showing a replay of Deccan Chargers' Ishant Sharma dismissing RCB's Dilshan caught behind with a good quick ball.


I came back in few minutes and sat down to watch Ishant bowl the 6th over of RCB innings. He was fast and accurate..and he was hurrying a batsman I have not seen get hurried in quite sometime, the splendid AB de Villiers.


Ishant clocked 149kph & 150kph in 2 deliveries. Gony's decently-fast-medium deliveries were clocking 133 odd in overs on either side of Ishant's over. The speed guns did not look to be malfunctioning, certainly not by much.


Instantly I remembered the lankier Ishant, all of 19 years, bowling at 140+ for 12 overs to Ponting at Perth in Jan'08 to prise him out and decide the Test. Then I also remembered the underperforming Ishant that struggled to clock mid-130's or get any accuracy / movement since 2007-08 Australia tour (more specifically, since Ishant started his 1st IPL season in Apr'08 - I won't name the team to avoid controversy;-).


Is the tide turning and the speed returning for Ishant Sharma? I loved rediscovering that Ishant can still produce that pace-bounce-length combo that worked for him in his 1st 4-5 months irrespective of pitch & weather. Setting aside his recent performances, Ishant is our main hope to carry the future Test pace attack. He is the only one since Javagal Srinath who can be a genuine quickie in his best days which, I am sure, are yet to come.


I hope he took the World Cup exclusion as badly and as personally as those speed guns showed today.


**take the hint, mate - I was NOT in front of TV..if IPL was to be 'corruption', I would be 'Anna bhau' remember?



Earlier posts on Ishant Sharma & his bowling: here and here


Update: It appears Ishant continued producing high bowling speeds in the 8th over (his 4th). Here is an excerpt from cricinfo commentary:

7.3


Sharma to Kohli, 1 run, bouncer, hit in the air and falls safe in the mid-wicket region. Ashutosh comments on the speed Sharma is bowling, "Has any one bothered to notice the speed at which Ishant Sharma is bowling, his fastest is at 152.2Kmph and he's averaging at almost 150kmph."

Getting the drive right in eight & nine year olds

Following on my previous posts (this and this) urging all of us to be more open and allow day-night first class cricket to happen:

I just came across a brilliant post from Michael Jeh on cricinfo's Different Strokes (reminds me of some delicious old days). That post was most impressive, not the least due to the fact that I have been spending some time of late with the kids playing cricket in my apartment complex and I have seen some of the things he mentioned in that blog happen right in front of my eyes.

Quoting a part of that blogpost that was most relevant:

Junior cricket, at my son's club anyway, is predominantly played in the V between midwicket and fine-leg. dominated by strong boys who can play the 'hoik' to every ball. Most bowlers at this age can barely get the ball to the other end without a few wides each over. A far cry indeed from the Azar Maidan in Mumbai where I recently watched a group of very young lads with impeccable batting techniques facing a bowler who bowled doosras on request! These Indian kids were probably not deemed "elite" and will probably never grace our tv screens but their rudimentary skills suggested that something (or somebody) has got to these youngsters at an early age and set them up with a framework that they can extend as their bodies grow stronger. Cameron Tradell was one of the few coaches who was able to get the message across to my son (and friend) that playing straight was a long-term goal that would outlast the temporary glory of scoring cheap runs exclusively through square leg. Try telling a seven year old that technique is more important than runs - this was the first time playing straight made sense because of the use of a unique bat that rewarded the boys for hitting the ball with a full face. It absolutely pinged off the sweet spot when they hit straight down the ground and all of a sudden, the hoik was yesterday's shot!

Ponting himself was a junior prodigy, brought up on a classical technique and clearly coached by someone who knew how to coach a kid properly. We are reminded today that soon he will no longer stride out to bat for Australia at number three, arguably our greatest ever in that crucial position. I don't think we'll ever see the likes of Ponting again in this country unless our junior cricket system can encourage kids who can bat for long periods and play straight. Not unless we can find ways to encourage coaches who can see the big picture and can find ways to communicate those simple techniques to young minds who cannot easily understand why a single to mid-on is less preferable to a boundary through square leg. That's the difference I see at the grassroots level between the Asian countries and Australia at a very young age.

I let Michael know that he need not judge 'Asian countries' by his good experience of enriched youth cricket at Azad Maidan, amongst the cricket-elitest places in cricket-elite Mumbai. That would be as accurate an assessment as estimating rhinoceros count in the world by taking rhinos per square mile in Kaziranga and multiplying that by surface area of the earth. That 2nd para in the above quote from Michael's blogpost could well be about any of Tendulkar / Dravid / Laxman / Gavaskar / Viswanath instead of Ponting, and the country India instead of Australia.



Check my comments below that blogpost (comments dated 4th April), sharing my thoughts on the subject and recent experiences of being a 'very senior' player amongst 8-9 year olds. If you enjoyed Michael's post, chances are you may like my comments too.

Need your support in favour of marching towards floodlit first class cricket

My appeal to any cricket followers that read this post by intent or by accident:
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Please spare a thought about supporting first class / Test cricket played with pink balls. It needs support. No use supporting the branches and leaves (read ODI's & T20) of a tree whose roots (first class cricket) are shrinking by the day.



Currently floodlit first class cricket has a downside: it leads to more consumption of resource (power) but I believe that can be managed in near future by advanced solar energy harnessing resources. A cricket stadium receives a lot of solar energy in daytime - which can be used at night!

Want to see the pics? Here they are: http://www.lords.org/latest-news/news-archive/mcc-v-nottinghamshire-champion-county-27-30-march-2011-sheikh-zayed-stadium-abu-dhabi,33,PS.html?imageNo=4

 
While the cricket crazy world is keeping collective eye on the climax of the global event, a silent revolution has been started by people concerned with the health of the 'Mother' format of the game - first class cricket.
It is clear now that while the Son (Tests) augmented the mom's health since itis inception, Grandson (One dayers) had been a mixed bag- positive in some ways and negative in others. Mother was still doing fine but now the Great Grandson (T20) threatens to finish it off by pumping away all blood (read talent) from it by lucre of money.
This development is quite a shocker, as the lifeline for all 4 generations resides solely in the mother. Without survival of the mother, the next three generations might either perish or go into a coma (read 'associate member quality'). Problem is: the Great Grandson is kind of a 'bull in a china shop' guy, one who has immense power but does not know about using it for family's good.
For the Mother to stand a chance of survival, she may need to raid the Great Grandson's territory. The 'positive move' may or may not work but it is worth trying as the mother is dying anyway if she tries nothing.
The preparations for that assault into grandson's territory started at Abu Dhabi on 27th March. Support the cause.
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More links:

MCC website report of Rahul Dravid endorsing to take 'pink ball first class cricket' experiment forward: http://www.lords.org/latest-news/news-archive/dravid-pink-the-future-for-tests,1969,NS.html
Pink ball day-night first class match between MCC & Notts at Abu Dhabi - scorecard: http://www.ecb.co.uk/stats/fixtures-results/score-card.html?Pfixture=com.othermedia.ecb.stats.Fixture-L-16738

Here's a link to my previous post listing the exact concerns on health of first class cricket that I discussed heart to heart with a cricket loving guy I know very well - MYSELF.

This is the cricinfo report where Dravid, after completing his participation in the experimental floodlit first class match at Abu Dhabi, has endorsed the new idea as good for cricket's future. The comments in that article list concerns of the readers - one of which was negative impact on energy consumption.

Pink balls: first class and possibly the last hope

Q-AH: "If India win the WC, would that be more special that winning a Test series against a formidable SA in SA?"

A-AH: Difficult to tell - India stopped short of winning the series this January. Had India won the SA test series, I would have probably gone ahead and said 'No'. Actually a World Cup win would be a collective joy, something that I can enjoy with all...without being extra special to me personally. I will be excited & delighted about a WC win all right, but I won't dream about it like a smitten schoolboy for days on end. An away Test series win against the best side available, on the other hand, would certainly have been a personal moment of cherish.

Q-AH: Could you say that the response of too many others who follow cricket would be the same?

A-AH: Can't say. It depends on the section of followers we consider.

Q-AH: Explain.

A-AH: The relative importance of Tests and limited-overs cricket varies across the globe. Even in the same region, it will vary across the generations. In India, Tests are back in spotlight mainly because India are number 1. The following for Tests is still not much compared to ODI's and is restricted mainly at cities ..which in turn are now falling short in comparison to T20's. Generally it is limited overs cricket that has a far bigger fan base, especially so in the younger generations.

Q-AH: Why do you think it is so?

A-AH: Because for the last 20 years, generations are growing up seeing all the focus from media and sponsors on limited overs cricket. Also - to be truthful - people have lesser time in their lives these days to witness Test matches.

Q-AH: Why do you think people have less time for Tests?

A-AH: They now have lot more options to invest their time on. Cricket itself has produced one - T20.

Q-AH: Do you think Tests will ever get back the following of pre-ODI days?

A-AH: No

Q-AH: Do you think Tests will ever get back the following of pre-T20 days?

A-AH: Don't know - but this one can be tried. And it MUST try before T20 internationals gain more ground (T20 is still more of a club game than international sport).

Q-AH: How does a 5 day game attack a 3 hour game which is getting lapped up by masses?

A-AH: It will need support from the administration. But the first target is to create competition in the strength of these T20's - essentially that 9-to-5 people can follow these 3 hour games fully with no impact whatsoever to their careers. If Tests are going to survive, they must invade this 'time slot advantage' territory and take it from there.

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That's quite a frightening conversation with myself.

We are just not aware of the exact current health of the support base of Test cricket.

In general, all awareness of the viewership health comes from qualitative judgement from people writing their pieces from own, coloured standpoints.

That won't do.

We need cold, unbiased facts. The viewership data....for Tests, for ODI's, for T20's....From television audicences across the globe. From the ticket counters of stadia. With locationwise breakup. With age-wise breakups if possible.

We need it NOW. It will form the 'before expt' data.

And then we start the experimental period of say, 3 years. QA period where first class cricket is played in pink balls, starting late afternoon and ending at 10 pm. Not only for Tests, but also for Ranji matches, Duleep matches, County matches - everywhere....certainly wherever the players and boards agree.

Then at the end of the period we take a second set of data. The 'after expt' data.

We inspect what we have. We compare the two sets of data.

From that data, a picture will emerge.

We will get a good indication if Test cricket can soldier on inspite of 'loss of territory' or it is scheduled to die away.

If Test cricket fades away, cricket as we know it today also goes with it. We will then have players groomed without skills to last 2 days at a stretch in whatever weather they are exposed to...players 'designed' for limited overs cricket ONLY (which NONE of the current players are)....players who will play the game in such an alien fashion that we will identify the rules & the equipment but not the game.

If the data reflects 'regaining of territory', the experiment is taken further logically and Test cricket is redsigned in the next 10-15 years based on tweaks and subsequent results of those tweaks.Tweaks that do not alter the freedom that the basic first class game offers to all players (batsmen / bowlers / captains / fielders) or the endless possibilities that can emerge from the format.

Either way...those of us who hope to see the return of first class cricket as the prime form of cricket will be expressing gratitude to those who at least tried to do something for it.

I am one of them.

I hope the one-off experiment being carried out at Abu Dhabi does not remain one-off.

I hope we see bowlers running in with pink balls everywhere by the end of this year.

See them for yourselves: Pic 1: Pic 2

Update: An experimental first class match between MCC & Nottinghamshire was played out with a pink ball for the first time. After the match, Rahul Dravid endorsed furthering the experiment of using pink balls for First Class matches and Tests, albeit with a few more 'tweaks' to the rules.

He made a few comments on the experimental first class match in which he participated. Rahul scored a duck in the first innings and a century in the 2nd. Here's an excerpt of his quotes from the MCC report:

"As with any new innovation administrators and the players will need to take a leap of faith at some point." said the 38-year-old batsman.



"I think there is definitely a future if people are going to have to have an open mind to it."

Despite some issues, the day/night matches have been deemed a success and Dravid would like to see more experiments in the future.



He added: "It was a new experience batting against the pink ball under the lights. I never found sighting the ball under the lights a problem at all.


"There are some things which need to be looked at - for example the twilight period and dew which can be a problem in some parts of the world.


"But there is definitely a future for day-night Test and First-Class cricket.


"I think there are a few further tweaks that need to be made, and it would be beneficial to play some more trial matches at different venues and in different conditions as well."

Hope we see pink balls and day-night first class games sooner rather than later.