Dying to play cricket

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Wasim Raja, the former Pakistan batsman who went on to become an ICC match referee, has died while playing for Surrey Over 50s at Marlow in Buckinghamshire. He was 54.

"Wasim had a big heart attack on the field," a Surrey spokesman told Cricinfo. "He felt dizzy, and mentioned this to the slips, saying that he felt he had to go off. He was carried off but then collapsed on the boundary."

"

That was part of the cricinfo report on Wasim Raja. Amid the sadness of the incident emerges this rare picture of a cricketer dying in harness. Very few people are fortunate enough to die doing a job they love deeply. I am not aware of the stats but presumably for a cricketer such a death is far more unlikely than, say, for a business executive.

Barring accidents, most sportsmen retire long before health check-ups find their way into packed monthly schedules. Wasim Bari was 54 and It was no time to leave, really. It is not even the retirement age in other 9-to-5 professions. But.....can we view this from another perspective?

Let us ponder over a hypothetical situation: say, what thoughts might come to Wasim Raja during a net session 30 years back if some mystic prophet would lean towards him and whisper in his ears to tell him that he would die playing cricket?

I guess I will invite wrath from some quarters for cheapening a personal tragedy by confessing that one of the first thoughts to cross my mind upon reading the news was "I wish I was that lucky in my death'. Maybe I deserve to be criticised. "The high of cricket contributes to these callous thoughts" is one of the generous reactions I can imagine. I ask myself, "Would I feel differently had I personally known Raja?"

No. The death of Wasim Raja is a tragedy to people who cared for him and my first reaction to the news does not challenge that. It merely speculates if the cricketer himself would settle for a 'till death do us part' affair with cricket. Not everyone though will relate good fortune to a demise. Barring, perhaps, those sport lovers who dream to be with their beloved sport all the time.

Even when they have no more time.

Sadly this isolated incident has the potential to become a reference for banning Over 50's cricket as a potentially hazardous concept for aging sportsmen.

Mark Boucher McFlies back to South Africa

Mark Boucher owns a baby-face. Remember the similar countenance of Michael J Fox when he played the teenaged Marty McFly in 'Back to the Future' trilogy? How badly I want a refresher of the fun-loaded movie series now that Boucher has lived upto his McFly resemblance right up to the 'Nobody calls me chicken' bit.

Away from home

Do you know what separates the batsmen from the batsboys in Tests?

Alternatively, do you know how to get Mohammad Kaif and Ramnaresh Sarwan out of lean trots in ODI's?

Answer's just the same - cast them away to foreign shores. The Cricinfo List this week also disproves my long time suspicion that the home / away factor has far less pronounced an effect in the ODI format than in Tests. As for Sachin who averages in the high 50's and hence could be expected to have some deviant stats, absence of his name from this sort of a list highlighting standard deviations again bears testimony to his consistency.

I mean, Rahul Dravid averages a formidable 51 at home along with that 65 away average, but Rahul baiters could easily observe that 'Rahul is decidedly more susceptible on low and slow tracks' and logic would not allow outright rejection of that view. Sachin's stats offer no such opportunities to his detractors as his batting performances show little variation with the presence or absence of a visa in his pocket.

But I just cannot get over Rahul's average of 65 plus in foreign shores. S-I-X-T-Y F-I-V-E !!! For that alone I am willing to stand up and salute Rahul Dravid without any reservations.

By the way, going by that list Mohinder Amarnath's away record is 70% better than his home stats!! Surely that must be another record?

Anniversary celebration

How do you celebrate an anniversary? Simple - recreate the original magic.

Test cricket in the year 2006 has so far been generally disappointing. If we delve deeper for the reasons we find that most of the Test series featured at least two of the four principal causes that produce nondescript matches: mismatch in strengths of rival sides, loss of key players through injury, pitches that are unconducive to rivetting cricket (bat dominating ball being the bigger problem) and safety first approach from skippers.

Logic says that the above list names those causes in their descending order of impact. Now let us designate those reasons as A (team mismatch), B (loss of players), C (unconducive pitches) and D (defensive approach) and rate a few series on those shortcomings.

India v Pak @ Pak: C & D; rating - avg.
Eng v India @ Ind: B, C & D; rating - disappointing
Sri Lanka v. Eng @ Eng: B, rating - good
Aus vs. RSA @ RSA: A, rating - avg.
Ind vs. WI @ WI: B, C & D; rating - disappointing
Pak vs. Eng @ Eng: B, D and E (NIGHTMARISH CATCHING); rating - disappointing

(A friend pleads that I upgrade the Eng-v-Pak rating after that pole vault dismissal of Inzamam at Headingley)

Amidst all this comes a breath of fresh air - the RSA vs. Sri Lanka series at the latter's home territory. It started off with strong suggestions of 'A' over the 1st three days of the 1st Test. But the South Africans played valiantly over the last two days and went close to dragging a virtual gonner to a draw. And now this cliffhanger of a 2nd Test. All three innings so far have produced scored between 300 and 400 and the fourth one, barring a brilliant Ntini spell early in the 5th morning, is heading towards a similar total irrespective of the outcome.

The match is evenly poised for a certain result. The bowling has been both excellent and tidy while the batting was as brilliant as it was purposeful. Both sides have been up at each other's throats. All this could not happen without positive thinking going on between the skippers' ears. The way things are poised today at close of 4th day's play, there could not be a better celebration of 1st anniversary of that great Ashes 2nd Test last year at Edgbaston.

Sada - for ever

On occasions that are getting rarer by the day, I find time to turn over the pages of Sunil Gavaskar's 'One day Wonders' and the one thought that inevitably comes back to me each time is: "What exactly happened to that audacious nut of a keeper called Sadanand Viswanath?"

Pre-Ganguly, chirpy players were a rare breed in India and Sadanand Viswanath is absolutely the earliest bird of that feather that I can remember (naturally, as I started cricket viewing in 1985). His mannerisms and energy are amongst the few remaining memories of that victorious 1985 World Series Cup campaign by India.

The mid eighties was a strange time for Indian Cricket. Quite a few young cricketers with obvious calibre gatecrashed into the Indian cricket team with remarkable initial success but then almost all of them disappeared from the scene just as quickly. Laxman Sivaramakrishnan the leggie (and brilliant fielder), Maninder Singh the left arm spinner (and brilliant fielder), Narendra Hirwani the leggie (not as great a fielder, perhaps). The quickest of those shock demises that set Indian cricket by a few years must have been Sadanand Viswanath's.

Here's a long-awaited chat with 'Sada' (as we all referred to him back in our household and neighbourhood during his glory days) that Sportstar has thankfully managed to come up with. He shares a few memories of his honour and his misfortune in the tete-a-tete.

Memories of the 574 run Jayasuriya-Mahanama effort

That rare feat was started on this day 9 years back. Last week Mahela Jayawardene and Kumara Sangakarra usurped the most coveted team batting record of all from their senior compatriots Jayasuriya and Mahanama. The latter duo had stitched together a 576 run 2nd wicket patience-tester in the 1st Test versus India in 1997 at the Premadasa. It was the highest partnership for any wicket in Test cricket at the time, a record Kumara and Mahela bettered by 48 runs.

I recall having appeared for a professional entrance examination on the 4th and 5th of August, 1997. Those were also the 3rd and 4th days of "Jayasuriya's Test". I went into the exam hall on Monday (Aug 4th) in a happy frame of mind, secure with the knowledge of India declaring at 537 on a batting beauty and Sri Lanka losing their first wicket at 39 on the last ball of 2nd day. I came out late in the afternoon and headed for the nearest paan (betel nut) shop.

I was expecting news of Indian ascendancy but instead learnt that it was way past tea and yet no Sri Lankan wicket had fallen. Next day I came out of the exam hall at the same time, and got the same news. No wickets yet. Something was wrong with the paan shop, maybe. Luckily for me I never found myself in its vicinity again with an India match on.

The longest wait by any Indian fielding side for a wicket finally ended on Wednesday morning when Mahanama thankfully decided to relent. [It is another matter that Sri Lanka batted on for the whole day with the sole aim of getting a world record Test score of 952.] Two whole days and six no-rain sessions of Test cricket were played out by Sanath and Roshan without getting dismissed.

I wonder if that has ever happened...we may have other partnerships lasting over 12 hours but those are generally comprised of a full day and two partial days. That Jayasuriya-Mahanama lullaby might well be the only one that spanned two whole days of uninterrupted cricket. Their runs may have been overwhelmed but that unique feat may take some doing.

A look at performances of Indian bowlers in that match will tell its own story:

Chauhan 78 ovrs, 8 mdns, 276 runs, 1 wkt
Kumble 72 ovrs, 7 mdns, 223 runs, 1 wkt
Kulkarni 70 ovrs, 12 mdns, 195 runs, 1 wkt

(And to think Kulkarni's wicket came off the very 1st ball he bowled in the innings, which was also the 1st delivery of his Test career)

I know a lot of people will back me in the assertion that Indian fans of the time would be happy whenever their entire team would surpass the figure in Chauhan's runs column in an overseas Test innings.

Any guesses how I fared with that exam?

Afterthought: The Jayasuriya-Mahanama partnership was just 9 years old when it got overwhelmed by Kumara and Mahela an there's some relief in that. The new recordholders know the previous holders and have also played with them. That sounds so different from Sehwag-Dravid's near-successful assault on compatriots Mankad-Roy's highest opening partnership record earlier this year at Lahore. On that occasion Sehwag faced ire from old timers after his innocent declaration that he never heard of two gentlemen by the names of Pankaj Roy and Vinoo Mankad.

Sri Lankan authorities must have watched the Sehwag episode with consternation. However they failed to realise that the pitfalls associated with a 50 year generation gap do not apply to a mere 9 year old record. Consequently they overdid their attempt to prevent similar embarassment: they ended up inviting Sanath Jayasuriya (still a teammate of the new record holders) and Roshan Mahanama to the dais for official 'handing over' of their record during a never-ending prize distribution ceremony. The duration of that event should have been another record if someone would care to note.

Now some REAL breaking news

Today has been a phenomenal day for cricket newshunters.

First comes the preview of ex-India coach John Wright's autobiographical book Indian Summers where he expresses both reverence and reservations regarding skipper Sourav Ganguly. I guess after a 5 page email it is a whole book that Sourav now has on his plate.

Soon after we get the confirmation that Shahriyar Nafees of Bangladesh is growing in stature as an opening bat with every game.

Then comes the predictable stuff: early dismissal of both Pakistani openers in their second innings (too) on the 3rd morning at Old Trafford. By now it has almost become a part of the deal.

And then the one we all forgot to check out on: The 1st test between Sri Lanka & South Africa at Colombo! Sure we knew that the guests were all out for 169 and that not a single wicket fell yesterday as Jayawardene and Sangakara remained undefeated on double centuries at the end of 2nd day's play yesterday. But that only meant terribly one-sided fare and little more.

Now it means a little more to the record books though - Sangakarra stopped 13 short of a triple century and Jayawardene stopped 26 short of a quadruple. Yes - 374! They have also broken the record for the highest partnership for all wickets with their 624 run 3rd wicket duet.

Pakistan batsmen may learn of that development at Colombo and even find a reason in it to console themselves. After all Pakistan's position in the 2nd Test is vastly better than Ashwell Prince's South Africans, having conceded a lead of only 342 runs compared to South Africa's 587.

That was consolation for Pakistan, but what of South Africa? Well they always have Jaques Kallis. He may just urge his teammates on to another impossible mission by simply pointing out that the lead may be 13 runs short of a winning one!

Cricket buzz

Psychiatrists and plastic surgeons of Hampshire, in no particular order, are having a tough time attending to an unprecedented number of female visitors from various age groups. All of them have a common reason for depression: Not getting that sms even after sighting Shane Warne.

While on medicine, sure you already heard about the invitation received by half the English side for turning up as live demo during a session on 'Joints: All that can go wrong will go wrong' at the world sports medicine forum? Insiders say the boys are sore about the invitation, coming as it did only after the Pakistan Board refused it.

By the way, guess who are the fastest of friends in the Pakistani team?
The openers, of course! They spend so much time together in the dressing room.

Meanwhile, Irfan Pathan has instructed a ghost writer to start work on his autobiography. It will be titled 'The sine wave'.

His skipper Dravid is looking grumpy these days. Reason: He sees no further scope of using the word 'historic' for describing India's away performances in future tours. 'Historic' found its way into the Indian skipper's larynx at the time of 2004 Pakistan tour, charted its course through Zimbabwe and other controversies, got itself another skipper and exhibited lasting power in its new abode till the recent West Indies tour. Some fringe players of India expressed secret envy at the h-word's knack of ending up as every Indian skipper's favourite.

Glenn Mcgrath comes back to international cricket and immediately wants Troy Cooley to make him a 'faster' bowler. The university of biomechanics would do well to stop their usual arm twisting fare and check these Australians for intake of some strange potion that reverses ageing.

The seeds of doubt were sown as Australia kept inducting new players aged 30 that continue to improve with age, and now this Shoaibesque desire from the monumental metronome after attaining grandfatherhood in a veteran Australian side! Reincarnation is a favourite theme these days; and who can say with any authority that John Buchanan was not Getafix in an earlier birth? On that note, I am willing to bet my earnings that Merv Hughes is none other than Obelix reincarnated.

Accomodating international guests is going to be a problem in the sparsely populated Caribbean isles during 2007 world Cup. The West Indian team have discussed the matter and graciously agreed to "take a trip on a sailin' ship" for the nights they have to spend at venues most pressed for hosting space. Maybe the smart Calypso guys plan to maximise performance by staying bouyant.

There's some opposition from the selectors though: Brian Lara's overbearing desire to be a captain is an area of concern with that gesture, they point out.

[sources: unreliable]

5 all out

A side in Yorkshire got themselves all out for 5 runs, all extras.

These were some of the explanations on offer:

"It was a very, very dodgy wicket." Henry Webster, chairman of Yorkshire side Goldsborough, comes up with an international-quality excuse after his side were dismissed for 5. None of the runs came off the bat

"We almost got a run but the batsman turned it down because he'd just been hit on the foot the ball before." Goldsborough captain Peter Horseman explains how it could have been so much better

[courtesy: cricinfo quotes]

Updates:

The Yorkshire Post says: The team's captain, who perhaps understandably did not want to be named, described the experience as both "surreal" and "embarrassing".

To their credit Goldsborough came back and immdtly hit back at the opposition to get them 2 down (with again only 2 extras scored). However the opposition, Goldsborough's North Yorkshire neighbours Dishforth and division four leaders, scored the winning run with no further loss.

That winning run was reportedly the first run to be scored off the bat in the match! Besides putting up that brave defence for not scoring a single run with the bat the skipper of the losing team Goldsborough had more aces up his sleeve.

"When we were nought for four I jokingly said it would be strange if we were all out for ducks," said the captain. "But I certainly didn't plan it like that."

and....

"You would have thought even when we were seven or eight down someone would have got an edge or something to get a run."

If it is any consolation, the side was a second XI. Amazingly all ten Goldsborough batsmen were out caught, which means all hit the ball but none scored.

A fan of the side summed it up just right at Goldsborough cricket club's official website:

"I know it was wet on Saturday, but nobody expected so many ducks."

[Indiatimes article here]

The madness is here

As speculated in the previous post the Indian ISP's are indeed blocking blogspot blogs like the one you are reading now. Amit Varma of indiauncut.blogspot.com suggested a few solutions that enable Indian readers to keep visiting their favourite blogspot blogs till this madness is over (one hopes it will be). The easiest of them I guess is to simply visit http://pkblogs.com and type in the relevant blogname in the box there. Alternatively you can directly go to the desired blog by keying in http://pkblogs.com/blogname on your browser address bar [e.g. for visiting Pavilion View you need to type http://pkblogs.com/pavilionview]

Update, 20-Jul-06: The reign of blogblock is over, it seems.......

Classic sledges - and we all are having some BIG reasons to use them

Here's a load of these sledging masterpieces painstakingly uploaded by some blessed soul on the wiki. And no sooner than I devour the stuff I get completely valid reasons to use them.

Amit Varma writes:

"The block on Blogspot blogs that I mentioned here seems to be spreading across ISPs."

There's a real possibility that you may not be able to visit this and other blogspot blogs unless you opt for the solutions suggested by Amit.

The Ashes 'war' turning out to be a hoax...

What else do you say when a team said to be harbouring a big dream finds excuses left and right to stop trying to win a Test match as early as middle of the 4th day? Decision making is indeed tough business when a long injury list adorns your first choice team sheet; but the English are doing their chances no favour if they constantly allow opposition to sense that they are content trying to 'save' games that they should really be disappointed not to win. Even the 'memorable' triumph at Mumbai 2006 spoke more of Indian surrender than English conquest.

With each cricket match this English side plays the talk of making a war out of Ashes 2006-07 sounds more like a desperate shout devised to conceal murmurs that English cricket is steadily going back to its defensive days of the 90's minus Vaughan's leadership, that they are happier letting opponents lose matches than them winning it, that the English would be more than happy to look for a handful of draws when they land in the Southern enemyland a few months later. And we all know the result of taking that approach against Australians, right Mr. Nasser Hussain?

When Greg Chappell takes over from Marcello Lippi

Amit Varma fantasises about the Indian cricket team playing football, World Cup ishtyle.

Brilliant buggers

Osman Samiuddin vents out his take on all that is wrong about Pakistan cricket and also the amazing 'right's that manage to outweigh them on such regular basis. Makes for good reading if you like the brand of cricket played by the Pakistani bunch.

The impatient Crowe

All of you must have heard of the fable where a patient crow keeps dropping pebbles one by one inside a pitcher till he succeeds in drinking the water inside it. Well here's a Crowe that is quite unlike the legendary bird, at least when we think of the patience aspect. Going by indications this one rather loves picking up stones from such a pitcher and dropping them on unsuspecting soft targets.

Andr-eulogy

'I can be replaced, everybody else can be replaced. But, at this moment in time, Fred (Flintoff) can't be replaced because we haven't got anybody else in the country who can bat at six, bowl at 90 mph and stand at slip. I don't think you'll ever replace that."

That was English quickie Steven Harmison on the eve of a long-dreaded Fred-less Test for the Englishmen against formidable Pakistan. Even for a person as used to high praise as Andrew Flintoff of late, that beautiful thought from a peer must have pride of place adorned in frames of gold on some wall in the Flintoff household supporting most things dear to Andrew.

Now for the Strange World cup

For those who are still in the dark about the Cricket world Cup in its 'Frankenstein 2007' avatar (like I was, until Pratik pointed out in a cricinfo post) this link may be helpful. It is a rather strange format that strains to be foolproof and compromises the basic duration of a quadrennial showpiece in the process. Mutual isolation of the host countries renders the DNA strand like structure of the tourney all the more insufferable.

Come to think of it - the tournament lasts from March 11 to April 28......ONE AND A HALF MONTHS! ICC may as well have "Who awakes wins" on their logo. Seriously hope all the teams are allowed 16 man squads instead of the customary 14 (hotels permitting, of course - learnt that there'll be acute shortage of those!). The last thing we want is a final where a limping Pakistan team struggle to put up 200 on a belter and half-dead Indians struggle to chase it.

As for the Frankenstein part I can only pray that the apex competition in the game does not achieve the opposite of its basic aim of popularising the game beyond its present bounds. The 2003 edition of the Cup was not too successful in that respect, other than the bursting ICC coffers.

There are people that watch cricket once every four years, and they were virtually shooed away by a million inconsequential (mis)matches that had to be endured before the real action started - and ended soon after. Maybe enlightenment will dawn upon ICC some day of this auspicious millennium and they will be able to see that the world Cup is not exactly the stage where cricket lovers around the world would love to see fledgling sides learn their trade.

Dividing the 16 teams in four initial groups instead of the usual two is the first step the 2007 World Cup rulemakers have taken to curtail those 'promotion games' (cannot find any other words for those matches after the soccer world cup where even the 32nd ranked team looks consistently capable of causing an upset) . But in the process the Cup gets an overly long 'Super 8' phase that worries me no end. 24 more matches will be played during this phase, after the 24-match group league, and then only are we allowed to enter knock-out teritory. Hope you're still reading....

On the flip side, that very stage actually offers the cricket world a rare chance to compare the real strengths of so many leading cricket nations in the one day format while playing against each other. [I mean, even the semis and the final may pale in comparison to that cricket feast]. Reminds of the mini world cup of 1985, this Super 8...

Ask You: 03

Sanath Jayasuriya scored 150's in consecutive ODI's [5thODi vs. England, and versus Netherlands yesterday). I cannot recall that to have ever happened. Am I right?

Update: Jagadish says I am indeed.

The 6-6-6 men for Australian batsmen

Cricket funda: Hadlee's comet comes once in 29 years

The only 2 bowlers to take modern Australian batsmen for breakfast, lunch and dinner over full series, Sir Richard Hadlee and Harbhajan Singh, were born on the same day, 29 years apart.

Corollary: If we extrapolate that occurence then someone born somewhere on the 3rd July of 2009 may grow up to manhandle Aussie batsmen again.

Ask You: 02

This is another knock at the doors of my cricket loving friends asking for more. The question would be of purely statistical significance were Australia not the team against which these figures were achieved. The longish question this time has 2 parts:

1) Harbhajan Singh took 2 five wicket hauls against Aussies in the First test of 2004 series in India. This followed the 4 consecutive 5-wicket hauls by him against the same team in the unforgettable last 2 Tests of 2001 series at Kolkata and Chennai. [In between Bhaji played a test in Australia but we are talking home matches.]

Where does this string (of six consecutive 5-fors at home versus Aussies) feature in the list of highest consecutive 5-for innings by a bowler in Test matches between any 2 teams played at any one country?

2) After that six consecutive 5-fors by Bhajji, Anil Kumble went on to take 2 more five fors in the next 2 innings [i.e. 2nd Test at Chennai in 2004 home series versus Australia] against the same team. Surely this string of eight consecutive home 5-fors must be some sort of team record against Aussies, or even against any team?

Wanna test yer CQ?

CQ = Cricketing Quotient

Ankur Nagpal has compiled a fun cricket quiz at Caught Behind. The questions are not exactly TTP type [The Toughest Possible type...] and that makes it fun to try out for all sorts of cricket followers barring, maybe, cricket historians.

Answering is via comment. More answers with interesting takes will make the results more colourful...

TAFHCA and its noble cause

Bad hair styling has always been a necessary evil of both life as well as sport. TAFHCA - The Anti Foolish Hair Cut Association - is trying to do some work on this front. Emphasis is on damage mitigation and rectification, as well as spreading of awareness amongst potential defaulters.

President Zainub Razvi needs to be applauded for her noble efforts to set the ball rolling. While the responses to the work by TAFHCA have been encouraging, the real measure of TAFHCA's achievements is the resistance it faces from some quarters. I am proud to be the Vice President in this inspirational organisation. That demonstrates TAFHCA's sympathetic attitude towards follically challenged (as against tonsured) people unless, of course, they are bent upon causing shockwaves with the 'remainder'.

As part of their regular watchdog activities, TAFHCA has pulled up some Cricketing culprits here while the soccer shockers, growing in geometric progression this World Cup season, have been decried in these lines. [Guess the 'watchdog' metaphor assumed real life proportions in that last mentioned article..]

The truth about Ganguly conspiracy..

...is that it is orchestrated by Fate herself! I mean, who else do you blame when two people on the fringes of national selection (and losing their standings steadily), each having a world of respect and gratitude for the other, are always finding each other to be the persons to beat in order to strengthen their individual claims to re-selection?

Whenever Sourav Ganguly supporters hope to see a big score against his name it has to be a fast bowler named Zaheer Khan, nurtured mostly by Ganguly himself, that comes back to blistering form and picks up his mentor's wicket very cheaply. It happened at the Duleep trophy finals last year, and it is happening again in distant English counties, thousands of miles away from their home nation.

All this happens while another struggler named Sachin Tendulkar tries to claw his way back to international cricket in the same country and their team, India, are playing in the West Indies....Imagine the looks you would get if you woke up an Indian cricket fan who had fallen asleep Rip-van-Winkle-like after Australia 2003-04 and said that to him! Can have a look at this post and its comments discussing the Ganguly misfortune.

Mr. Anecdote once again: the delicate art of captaincy

During the morning session of 2nd day’s play in the St. Kitts Test Rahul Dravid took the new ball as soon as it was due. Sreesanth, during his short Test career so far, has looked the part of a seamer far more often than not. But there was little doubt that Rahul’s decision to override any inclination to grant extended spells to 750-plus scalps of spin wizardry adorning his ranks was his other fast bowler Munaf Patel, one that India has turned to on a number of occasions during this series and the last.

Contrary to Dravid’s plan Sarwan took Munaf apart during that spell with the new cherry. The hammering included 6 boundaries in six balls off one seven ball over. Rahul kept standing in the slips all through that over without once approaching the amused-looking bowler. Instead the skipper preferred an alternate show of solidarity, by giving Munaf another over from that end, and a change of ends thereafter. Munaf promptly got back his lost plot to Dravid’s relief, dismissing a centurion and a 32-time centurion in quick succession.

All of it set up an interesting session review by the experts’ panel during lunch break. Three gentlemen duly appeared wearing the right smiles at the right hour. They were Desmond Haynes, Ian Chappell and anchorman Sanjay Manjrekar. Expectedly the reactions centred on the skipper, the bowler and that one over. Those included question marks on Dravid’s non-reaction in changing field placements after the first few balls of that over as well as his non-communication with Munaf, while generous praise also flowed Dravid’s way for his silent show of faith in continuing the quick bowler even as another expensive over came from him after that massacre.

The discussion up to this point made something clear: like cricket followers, most commentators and ex-cricketers believe that there is only ONE way of doing a thing – their way. I recalled when Ganguly used to walk up to the bowler and bombard him with advices galore. On days that method refused to work, Dada came across as the perfect irritating pest overdoing his leadership and making his bowler look like a mindless idiot.

Now that his successor Dravid exhibits a contrasting approach and prefers to do most of his discussions with bowlers away from the public eye, the ‘inaction’ of it once again gets to us. ‘He is just a new bowler and needed a talk up at the time.’ And why do we react like that? Because neither Ganguly's overtalking nor Dravid's sitting back complies with the way WE think it right to handle the situation!

Perhaps both of the skippers discussed could do better at the times mentioned, and maybe they had some good things to learn from each other. There is another point, though, that we miss. ‘We’, in this case, are the game’s followers, commentators and (surprise) ex-cricketers that would not make great skippers. Fortunately the panel had at least one ex-cricketer today that could demonstrate the missing point in his inimitably anecdotal style: essentially that the methods employed in such situations need not be one and the same for all skippers and all bowlers.

“Well there are a few different ways to do it [a skipper reacting to a situation when a bowler messes it up]. Maybe Dravid wanted to let the young bowler do his stuff and then chat with him during the luncheon interval saying ‘Hey I think there were some lessons you could learn from that’.”

Pardon me that inability to quote Ian Chappell in toto but his opening words were along those lines. As is his wont, Chappell then went on to illustrate his observation by narrating one of those famous little incidents of his from the past when his WMD#1 Dennis Lillee decided to blast Alvin Kallicharan off with a plethora of short balls and got adequately hammered in the process.

“I was inclined to walk up to him in the ground but then thought of letting him go through it all by himself at the time. I went to him later and just said, ‘Hey mate, next time you think of throwing the kitchen sink at anyone would you kindly bother to mention it to me so that I can set fields accordingly?”

Again I may be alzheimering out Ian’s exact words but the above words represent them without twisting their message beyond recognition. Without ever negating his co-commentators’ observations on the specific case in point the tactful man and able commentator in Ian Chappell could effortlessly make it clear that skippers need to weigh their options while handling such situations and the choice is best made in view of its possible impact on the person in question. In the end captaincy is not about handling machines but humans.

Even a viewer who had never seen or heard of the three wise gentlemen on show could have told which one made a grand team leader in his glory days.

Ask whom?

With Steven Lynch enjoying continued success in assigning his bottomless trash-can to take care of my finest email questions I can only ask my reader friends to help me out with this:

Steven Harmison had figures of 10-2-31-3 in the 2nd ODI his team played against Sri Lanka yesterday. He achieved that bowling in a 50-over innings of 319 runs. I do not recall better figures by a bowler in an ODI innings that big. Please let me know when you spot someone who has bowled better than Harmison in a 300-plus one day innings.

[Publishing responders' names in this blog is the only affordable appreciation, I'm afraid...]

On second thoughts, how about firing a quiz question every week in this space? Sounds interesting - except that I must know the answer then!

Update: S Jagadish has come up with a fantastic detailed response to this query (see comment) and completely bowled me over. I am going to post my queries to my friends here henceforth, no need to Ask Anyone!

Robin

He was the quintessential bits and pieces man - a lower middle order power wielder with the bat who could roll his arm over adequately and field like there was no tomorrow. If I were to name one man from the large pool of India's international cricketers who received less recognition than they deserved for their efforts (if not substantial contributions) then it must be Ravindra Ramnarain Singh or 'Robin'. Although he played a few one-dayers for India unsuccessfully in the late eighties, people identify him more as a late-90's player because he was drafted into the side for good only during the tri-nation Titan Cup in 1996, a tournament that India miraculously won beating two great sides.

Robin was 33 years young at the time and only Azharuddin in the side was older than him. 4 years and many ice-nerved finishing acts later, Robin was dropped after an ICC trophy campaign that gave Indian supporters hope and Sourav Ganguly's nascent leadership some more time. He was perhaps still the fittest person in that squad, rivalled on that count only by an 18 year old debutante named Yuvraj Singh.

Robin struggled during that 2000 ICC trophy tournament and in all fairness he did not have the backup of steady performances to see him through the extended lean trot. He was perhaps nearing the end of his international career as a player and the decision to discard him seemed logical. Robin refused to take his omission as a natural consequence though and held it as a manouevre by the team management, if reports are to be believed.

Those were speculations; after all it is rare for an omitted ex-cricketer to be enquired if he is upset and get flashed on the headlines unless you are an ex-captain that died in harness. Part of reports about his disenchantment seemed to be true during the sponsorship row before 2002 ICC trophy when some key international players almost did not go to Sri Lanka. Robin at that time responded positively to the Board's request to get prepared as cover instead of 'showing solidarity with the senior team and refusing'.

But fruitless emotions are no good preventing someone like Robin Singh from being a contributor to the team cause. After a hiatus he was back to his destined duty as a valuable worker bee in the hive of Indian cricket. This time Robin found a role to play beyond the playing arena and assumed charge as the coach of Indian A team. He continues in that capacity to this date and true to form, he does his duties with acceptable end results.

Robin must get overshadowed by other bigger fish in his new trade, once again. I mean, no one was ever heard referring to Robin as the 'guru' of A-team or his wards as members of 'Team Robin'! But malice is never a constituent of people in his mould. This piece about Trescothick could easily be reworded to describe this invaluable Caribbean import of Indian cricket during his playing days. Men such as these think nothing of never getting worshipped like some more fortunate mates for doing their best. They are prepared to smile through hardworking days that lead to obscurity of backpages, all for the crime of not being flashy.

For the moment, the man is in action and has a purpose that is greatly relevant to cricket in his beloved adopted country, and from what we know of him that is all that he cares about in this world.

An Ashes of words

Nasser Hussain finds that cricket is more pro these days. Bobby Simpson disagrees - on no less than 17 counts!

Soccer musings: some new 'home' favourites

Let's talk football, for a change. Just finished watching the Brazil versus Australia World Cup group league match. I am one of those once-in-4-years soccer fans who put on their soccer caps precisely around the World Cup season and vow to devote more of themselves into the game, only to forget all about the resolution once the Cup is handed over to the champs.

I've been doing this for six soccer world cups now. 1986 was the first one that I followed with any intensity, and my heart went out to the West Germans who pulled back from two down in the final only to lose 3-2. I continued to support the tenacious unit into Italia 1990.

By the time Lothar Matthaeus held the Cup aloft though, I was already searching for a new identity. Tenacity was fine and recpectable even then but the 2nd round match against Holland took its toll on a fan that was not prepared to see sports and winning tactics going to that horrid extent of planning a red card for key players in the opposition.

USA 1994 started with a clean slate for me, still searching for a 'home team'. The group league phase ended and my search was still on. Then that July 4 match happened. USA was expected to be a soft opposition in the second round for favourites Brazil. But the home team advantage and a few good players meant they were a tougher unit to beat then than they appear here at Germany 2006. Add to it the fact that the match was played on their Independence day.

I loved the way Brazil overcame their 1 man deficit [of left wing back Leonardo] to win the match cleanly. The weaknesses of their 1986 team of more talented craftsmen were getting mitigated with more of their players gaining European exposure. More importantly, the unit looked willing to grit their teeth at critical moments and sweat out the difficult minutes patiently and unitedly. I decided to place my emotional bets on this team. The team did not disappoint me, although the goalless final did.

Came 1998, and I kicked off with my old favourites Brazil. The Nigerian team and their refreshing soccer got me hooked as well. However it was a great joy to watch a struggling yet dazzling Holland beat some steep odds and come up with the goods as the tournament wore on. The man orchestrating all of it was none other than the person who stole my heart after nearly stopping it in the unforgettable Holland-Brazil 1994 quarter final tie, Dennis Bergkamp.

I experienced a 'QF-to-QF' fulfilment of sorts, a lot like today's 'World-Cup-to-World-Cup' warrantee offers declared for televisions, when Dennis stayed on till the last minute against Argentina in that dogfight of a France 1998 quarter final and scored a wonderful late decider after dribbling two defenders off a long Overmars cross into the opposition box. My admiration for the man and the team was complete at this point, and Holland was my new home team.

Imagine my identity crisis in the ensuing semi final that saw Brazil clashing with Holland! After some heartburn I decided to make Holland my 1st preference. They were unlucky and lost in the penalty shootout to a Brazil side that kept losing steam as the tournament climaxed. Till this day I believe that a thrilling final in the 1974 Beckenbauer-Cryuf mould was the only outcome possible had Holland moved to the finals, and Holland could have made France pay for their strikers' profligacy over an entire tourmanent.

Japan 2002 was a strange World Cup in that upsets started taking their toll pretty early. France, Argentina and Italy were out even before the players' boots had warmed up and Ronaldinho's brilliance ensured the same fate for England in quarter finals. The only big European country that hung on to their reputation, and far exceeded the popular expectation by doing that, were Germany.

Brazil, on the other hand, looked more Brazilian than the previous two cups, a fact endorsed by the brand of football they displayed in a memorable last league match against Costa Rica [5-2]. I was back supporting Brazil, and they again kept my head high by winning the Cup far more convincingly than in USA 1994.

A point of time just before Poland's 1st match in Germany must rank as the sweetest moment for me in 2006 World Cup viewing long after the Cup is won. For that is when I came to know that Ebi Smolarek was indeed the son of a Smolarek all of West Bengal knows from the 1984 Nehru Gold Cup tournament held in Kolkata. It featured Poland, Hungary, Romania, China, Argentina and India. I felt amazed at the fact that I had indeed travelled the equivalent of a generation length on the road called sports viewing!

My old flames Brazil and Holland continue to own soft spots down inside me. This year I have earned two new home teams for myself - Ivory Coast and Australia.

Ivory Coast reminded me of Nigeria of 1998 and Cameroon of 1990 and their Didier Drogba is simply a reminder of Zidane's 1998 incarnation. However this team was significantly less fortunate than the African teams mentioned above in first drawing the pool of death and then having less luck in the opposition's half than their opponents had in theirs.

The Australia-Japan group league match gave me the other new home team. There was a touch of Steve Waugh and that 1999 cricket world Cup semi final in Australia's first win ever at the Soccer showpiece.

As Brazil remained lacklustre for most of their league tie versus Australia I found myself swaying with emotions that were more Aussie than Samba. The late second goal in that 2-0 result for Brazil did not have much of an impact as the match was more or less decided by then, but the wish to see Australia into the next round was far outweighing a willingness to egg on the South American stylists to a few late goals that would redeem them from the low flight they have had till date. Against another team I would have wanted Brazil to net at least another goal but not today.

Welcome home, Australia. I have admired your cricket in its early 1990's ugliness and loved it in turn-of-the-millenium ethereal form, and now I cannot but admire your never-say-die football.

Catch me if you can!

This post on Caught Behind acted like a lid opener to a pressure can inside me that can keep on talking about catching and fielding. So off I go and make not one or two or three but a SEVEN-post series on Indian catching and everything that I could think of about it. They are scheduled to be posted one-a-day on cricinfo, and this is the first of them.

Update [23/12/2006]: The full series is out now! The sequel posts: # 2,3,4,5,6 & 7. [Seventh one's on wicketkeeping]

Mirror mirror on the wall, who'z the most elegant thrower of all?

The other day I sent this interesting excerpt from cricinfo to my friend Samir:

"David Gower was certainly not in the same league as any of the others on this list - indeed, it could be argued that he was one of the worst bowlers ever to have been unleashed on Test cricket. Nevertheless, he became the eighth person - and second Englishman - to be no-balled for throwing in a Test. He had few complaints. With New Zealand needing one to win in the second Test at Trent Bridge in 1986, Gower came on and openly threw his first ball which Martin Crowe smacked for four to end the game. But Ken Palmer at square leg called a no-ball, and so Gower ended with the figures 0-0-4-0."

Howlarious as the incident was, its narration also earned this subtle note of appreciation from Samir:

"(I) liked the word "unleashed" - imagine using it to describe someone like Gower!"

Reminded me of a particular chap, a Chappell actually, who also had the opportunity to bowl a particular kind of delivery just once in his career.

Some more impressive stuff on Ajit Agarkar

4 wickets per innings is now an official ODI stat in cricket circles, as 5 wickets in 10 overs are justly considered too high an ask for a bowler, comparable to 6 or 7 wickets in a Test innings. Now here's another piece of information which shows how our prejudices can make us ignore facts that have happened right in front of us.

While I hate his propensity to bowl this compulsory four ball every over [till he struck the recent sublime patch, that is], I like to be counted as a supporter of Ajit Agarkar in ODI's and I have noticed that his strike rate (wicket taking ability) is not too inferior in comparison to Irfan Pathan in the shorter version. Not so long ago I had blogged about him here.

However even while following his stuttering career right since his phenomenal debut phase I never realised that his one day career graph was shaping up THIS well, at least in terms of 4-wicket hauls taken in his 164 match career [see pic]. Dread to imagine how he must then fare in the rating charts of people who shout for his omission.....

I mean, everybody else on that list is saluted as a top performer but no such luck for poor Ajit! Interestingly though, his conversion of 4-fors to 5-fors is pretty dismal! "There, there - I knew there was a catch in this"..;)

On a different note, it is time that a similar yardstick re-appraisal exercise is undertaken for lower order one day batsmen. How about making 40 runs a landmark for poor souls batting lower than number 5 in ODI's?

[stats courtesy: cricinfo "List"]

Caught behind

Ankur Nagpal has started this new superblog exclusively on cricket. It has a catchy name: Caught Behind. Bold, isn't it? It is fun to visit the blog for interesting articles, humour and reviews on cricketing matters from a variety of cricket bloggers. I am happy to be one of them.

The dreaded 6 - 6 - 6 strikes...

.....a couple of hours after the clock strikes midnight, Indian Standard time. The 'Ominous' Dhoni unleashes three successive sixers off rookie West indian chinaman bowler Dave Mohammed. However back in the West Indies it must have felt a bit premature, it being the afternoon session being played on the 5th of June.

Even horror, it seems, prefers to arrive at its own sweet and, importantly, national time....

Afterthought:Dhoni's score after the triple hit hadanother two sixes in it - 69.

When in Sehwagland do as Sehwag does

So during my Delhi trip I ate too much, refused to move around, and made this post.

Reyal saad story of an 80’s Caribbean faan

Statutory Warning: This story may be shared with friends and families to evoke a guaranteed guffaw. However in case you have one Yuvraj Singh amongst them you are advised to hold back on this winner till that 2nd ODI is just a hazy memory from the distant past. Anyone that watched the match live will agree that this 'won-it-and-lost-it' saga can remind him of something that he does not deserve to be reminded of...


Date: 11th March 1983
Setting: 1st day of 2nd India vs. West Indies Test, Trinidad

Early in tha mornin aa maan - we just call him Mr. Maan - comes to Queen's Park Oval to watch his team play the Indaans. Maan is aa big faan of Indaan opener Sunny Gavaskar who is worshipped in these islands since his prolific debut series here more thaan aa decade aago.

Maan is reyally pumped up to see his idol succeed und in aa spontaneous expression of solidarity he places un unofficial bet on Gavaskar scorin more runs thaan home boyz Gordon Greenidge und Desmond Haynes put together.

Maan collects money from aa numba of peepal in tha growun who accept his challenge.

Play begins and Gavaskar comes out to baat after tha toss. Holding sens baak Gavaskar soon after he scores one run.

Mr. Maan retraces his path und returns all money to evrawon. Dejected, Maan leaves tha field early.

Indaans are bowled out cheaply on 1st day und tha West Indies are soon baatting.

Tha visitors’ haav medium pacer Balwinder Sandhu opening tha bowling for them. Sandhu sends baak both Greenidge und Haynes with West Indaan team score still on nought.

----[End of story, anecdote courtesy: Tony Cozier’s live commentary]---

PS: ....aand you have just guessed rightly about Maan comin back next day in hope.

[cross posted at Caught Behind]

Behind every unsuccessful bowler there is...

...a real bad haircut!

Is Ajit Agarkar too late for the party?

Agarkar is in the midst of a purple patch in ODI's being played at the West Indies and yet could not make it to the Test squad against the same oposition. His past comes back to haunt him when he least deserved it. Here's my post on the issue at Different Strokes.

Sarwan: An Enigma

The first time that a young talent called Ramnaresh Sarwan attracted worldwide attention was in a West Indies v Pak series in the Caribbean in 2000, one which ended in a cliff hanger of a final Test, featuring an epic bowling effort from Wasim Akram for the losing side. Sarwan was an extremely attractive batsman then, perhaps even more than he is now, and with supreme wrists and concise footwork he looked capable of scoring in bulk for his once-great side against bowling of all kinds during the years to follow.

Sarwan's underachievement in Tests since has disappointed millions supporting his team across boundaries, people who patiently continue their seemingly eternal wait for The Turnaround. His case adequately represents a general non-fulfilment of potential by other lip-smacking West Indian batting prospects like Marlon Samuels, Chris Gayle and Ricardo Powell - the most potent batsman on show over the last cricketing decade in my book.

Here are a few telling stats about the Sarwan Enigma. As much as a study in 'what could have been' in terms of a ravine of greatness separating his Test and ODI performances, these engaging figures also help replenish a fast depleting resource named hope in West Indies fans while yet another opposition vice captain makes a career out of thrashing Indian bowling.

Marlon's Hurl-in

Marlon Samuels exhibited fine fitness in the first two ODI's versus India at Jamaica. That takes care of his 'knee-gling' fitness woes of late. He contributed to a stabilising partnership with Sarwan, and that must give him batting hope for the coming matches. And as always his off-spin bowling was a handy plus for his team. Samuels bowled exceptionally well during each of his spells in the 2nd match that culminated in a classic final over, reminding viewers of the tied Australia - South Africa semi-final of 1999 World Cup. His constrictive bowling was pivotal in a stunning West Indian effort that broke India's 17 match streak of consecutive successful chases by a solitary run.

But what on earth was an 82 mph delivery doing in his armoury?? Yeah, that is EIGHTY TWO Miles an hour!

Faster deliveries from spinners are getting to be as commonplace these days as slower ones from the quickies. Kumble once bowled a quicker one at about 73 mph in some match from the late nineties and it stuck in my mind then.

Then came Shahid Afridi, the leg spinning all-rounder. After playing at the highest level he re-assessed his bowling capabilities, quickly developed a faster one - and delivered it just as quickly. Seriously it is a fast yorker that looks more Waqar than Qadir. Even as Afridi keeps improving as a leggie in every match, that rocket delivery remains a weapon used by the strongly built all-rounder to engender doubts in minds of accelerating batsmen.

Afridi has gone past Kumble's 73 mph (or whatever) numerous times bowling it. The quickest I saw Afridi bowl that one was at 80 mph in a recent Indo-Pak one dayer. At the time I considered it to be a miracle of sorts. The sucker for records (even dubious ones) that I am, I even considered it to be a scarcely noticed feat achieved while bowling from a spinner's run up, one that looked as difficult to surpass as Jayasuriya's world record 48 ball ODI ton at Singapore'96 appeared then.

Not any more. Marlon Samuels, in a final spell that started off with brisk deliveries and gained in pace as the match got tighter, has done an 'Afridi' on Afridi with his 82 mph scorcher. I rubbed my eyes after I actually saw this ball, bowled off the normal slow bowler's run up, I rubbed my eyes after I actually saw this ball, bowled off the normal slow bowler's run up, get rated by the broadcasting folk at 130 Ks! Some internal doubts about diminishing vision may have lingered if one of the merciful commentators had not shrieked out the speed in subdued disbelief.

AND.....this creep n' slime delivery got unleashed while their fast bowler Ian Bradshaw was consistently clocking late sixties from the other end, with a flummoxed Carlton Baugh standing up at the stumps. I almost screamed in protest (muted it with great difficulty, as it was midnight in India) when the otherwise lovable bore Tony Cozier tried to vilify the poor keeper for missing a stumping chance. Guess he wanted to call the little gloveman a dumb ass for not realising, after all those years of keeping to 'fast' and 'slow' bowlers, that a stumping was easier attempted off quickie Bradshaw?!

West Indies cricket losing potential quick bowlers to basketball? Huh! Ever thought of blaming off-spin?

A hundred years ahead of his time

19th of May happens to be the birthday of Gilbert Jessop, 'The Croucher', who was perhaps born a hundred years ahead of the era that he could have made his own (b. 1874). Here's what Cricinfo has to say about the English cricketer on 'All Todays Yesterdays':

"Gilbert Jessop was arguably a fiercer hitter than Viv Richards, Ian Botham, Adam Gilchrist, or anyone else who has belted leather for a living, and his feats with the willow are legendary. Known as "The Croucher" for his unusual stance, he hit his first ball for Gloucestershire for four, having come in on a hat-trick, and his 53 first-class centuries came at the unbelievable average rate of 82.7 runs an hour. At Hove in 1903, he smashed 286 against Sussex in under three hours. He also creamed 157 in an hour against West Indies in 1900. In 18 Tests he made only one hundred, but what an innings it was. Against Australia on a poor Oval wicket in 1902, England were 48 for 5 chasing 263 when Jessop entered the arena. He walloped 104 in only 77 minutes, out of 139 runs scored while he was at the crease, and England eventually crept home by one wicket. Jessop was also a genuinely fast bowler and sensational in the covers."

More plaudits appear on Wisden Player page of the original Master Blaster.

"A fast bowler good enough to be selected for England purely in this role, a superlative cover fielder, Jessop is best remembered for his thrilling batsmanship. To quote HS Altham "no cricketer that has ever lived hit the ball so often, so fast and with such a bewildering variety of strokes". By no means a big man at 5'7" and 11 stone, he was a powerful driver, fierce cutter and hooker, but could also play delicate late cuts and glances. In his best innings he scored at rates of close to 100 runs/hour."

Pity then that none cared to invent the television camera half a century earlier. Those figures would make a few 'destructive' batsmen of today look like freshers from the Chris Tavaré school. One-day cricket (not to mention Twenty20) could have benefitted as much from Jessop's contributions as that other big J from 1990's Sri Lanka.

Jessop averaged 21.88 with the bat in Tests. At the time it was not as bad a batting average as it appears today if one considers that an average of 24.9 runs were scored per English wicket in the 1st decade of last century while the corresponding figure stands at 34.6 a century later. His career bowling average was up around the pedestrian mid thirties for the 18 Test matches he played. But the very decent figure of 22.79 in his First Class career bowling average column indicates he was more than handy with the ball.

These 'highlights packages' of the man's cricketing deeds makes me chew off nails. The disappointment of not having witnessed him in action is no less than that of missing out on Bradman, WG, Hobbs, Ranjitsinghji, Lala Amarnath or Jessop's contemporary George Lohmann (the man who had a Test career bowling average of 10.75).

Gilbert Jessop is one of the precious breed that stands out in every generation that plays cricket, that does more for the spread of the game than even some truly great peers, that hooks most of us on to this game as very young kids through their 'straight from the heart' approach much before increased knowledge of a heavily statistical game silently shifts our attention and admiration towards players having methods supported by successful numbers and results.

Coming back to that wishful first line, Duncan Fletcher would have been snoring a lot louder under his blanket today if he had an extra Freddie (and maybe more) up his sleeve for THE title defence Down Under.

[cross posted at Desicritics]

Beware of the Imposter!

There's a strange cheat lurking around the world's cricket grounds these days. He loves to hijack some specifically chosen international cricketer on the eve of a Test match. Then he painstakingly dons an impeccable physical makeover, Hollywood style, in order to resemble this missing player, all for the sake of a scarcely believable kick. And what's his kick?

Pretending to be that player and going through an entire Test match on the field and in the dressing room in full view of teammates, spectators and media - without ever getting caught!

For the well being of our beloved international cricketers' fraternity I tried to play Sherlock Holmes and figure out a way to trap him. Apparently he has an eye for one day specialists who are brilliant on the field and still finding their feet in Tests. And here's the clue: Mr. Imposter isn't too clever a fielder.

He 'replaced' Yuvraj singh of India in the Mumbai Test a few weeks back and dropped more catches there than Yuvraj did in his entire ODI career of nearly six years. After a few weeks of hibernation he was back to his favourite trick once again and this time he chose no less a stage than the Headquarters itself to brandish his unique trade. As per reports (lack of them, rather) Paul Collingwood appears to have returned home safely.

So if you find Shoaib Malik dropping a few catches in a Test sometime this summer make sure you watch the replays keenly and follow it up with a call to that eternal third umpire, the Interpol.

[cross posted at Different Strokes]

Dus ka tees, dus ka tees...

World Cup '07 tickets are on sale now and the early demand delights the organisers!