Thursday, September 11, 2008

ICC's Not Biased, Just Plain Stupid!

The first cricket related news I heard as soon as I got back was that the ICC awards were being held in Dubai and I was asked if I was attending them.

The awards happened last night and I still don't know where they were held, who was invited, and whether there were tickets available for it or not.

So nope I did not attend them nor did I know how to.

But the awards took place and the ICC gave away a few honours to some deserving men.

When I was going through the nominations a couple of days back I read a category that said "Twenty20 International Performance of the Year".

I wondered why the awards were being given to a "Cricketer of the Year", a "Test Player of the Year", an "ODI Player of the Year" but not to a "Twenty20 Player of the Year".

Hell they even gave awards to an Associate Player and a Women's Player but there wasn't one for a Twenty20 Player.

Why?

Does it make sense to give a cricketing award for one single performance and that too for a performance in a match that spans for 20 overs a side. And moreover, for a performance that was achieved in a mere 6 deliveries?

Definitely Yuvraj Singh deserves accolades for those 6 sixes but an ICC Award? Really? Wasn't he Ferrari he got from some BCCI official enough?

It would have definitely made more sense to have given an award to a "Twenty20 Player of the Year".

I read somewhere that Misbah Ul Haq should have atleast been nominated in the Twenty20 award category and that the ICC has been biased and unjust for not even considerng him for a nomination.

I've heard the same arguement from a number of colleagues and friends over the last 2 days as well.

I don't think the ICC were biased since the award was not for a "Twenty20 Player of the Year" but for a single performance in a Twenty20 match.

Misbah has had an outstanding year as a Twenty20 player since making his debut in last year's Twenty20 World Cup. He is currently the 3rd highest run scorer in Twenty20 cricket, he has the highest average in that form of cricket, he was definitely the best batsman in the World Cup last year, and he has actually shown the world how Twenty20 should be played.

But what he didn't have was a single exceptional performance like Chris Gayle's 100 or Yuvraj's 6 sixes that would have got him a nomination in the pointless category of "Twenty20 International Performance of the Year".

So no I don't think the ICC were biased, nor were they unjust, they were just plain stupid like they always have been.

Make your pitch on this post...



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11 Pitched:

  1. straight point said...
     

    the are stupid dumb no doubts about it...

    sometimes act biased too when they are bored of doing their regular dumb act... :)

  2. Trideep said...
     

    Q.. its not news that they are acting in such a stupid manner. Thats how they are...

  3. Anonymous said...
     

    Ok sir, we know that none of Pakistan player was nominated in any of the award category. so this post ?

    But is is not fair that a major and colorful Test playin team like Pak hasnt played a single Test in 2008 and wont play any.

    Didnt Yuvraj singh deserve the award ? Cud u let me know any better t20 performance ? Why did Misbah need to be nominated ? For choking ? not once but twice.

    he could well have been nominated for a stupid run out dismissal in last year test series at max.

  4. Anonymous said...
     

    Q

    Nice to see your return. Hope you enjoyed your time.

    I don't think this is a biased decision. You can say it's stupid or a reckless oversight for the ICC missing this crucial recognition.

    Misbah averages about twice as much as Yuvraj in T20, however Yuvraj's average of 36 is pretty good too in T20.

    Even if the award was considered, you can't say for certain Misbah would have received it. This is because despite being a great T20 batsman, Misbah has not proven to be a match winner and he has choked a few times playing some silly shots.

  5. Unknown said...
     

    would Shane Warne be worthy of nomination for T20 player of the year?

  6. Q said...
     

    Buzzz, welcome to Well Pitched.

    You missed the point of the post.

    I was not pressing for Misbah to be nominated for the "20-20 exceptional performance of the year" award.

    What I was pointing out was that this award category did not make sense to me since for the other forms of cricket there was a "cricketer of the year" so why not one for 20-20?

    I also added that those who said that Misbah should be nominated were wrong because Misbah did not have a single exceptional performance.

    However if the award was as I would have liked it, i.e. 20-20 player of the year then yes Misbah should have been nominated and probably won it as well.

    I hope I have clarified my stance to you.

    And just for the record Mohammad Yousuf was nominated in the ODI player of the year category.

  7. Q said...
     

    Moses - if IPL is taken into account then yes Warne will definitely be!

  8. Q said...
     

    I totally agree SP and Tri!

  9. Q said...
     

    Thank u Khansaahab.

    I agree about the reckless oversight.. and agreed Misbah choked but he's batted in 20-20 better than any 1 i've seen...

  10. Gaurav Sethi said...
     

    Q - no matter what, just can't keep some guys outta the news. It could've been the "most exciting T20 over" award. small mercies

  11. Q said...
     

    Your right NC..

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