Too Much Cricket?

I am back to writing on the blog after some absence where life/work had just gotten too hectic for me and believe it or not cricket had taken a back seat:-)

I guess you are over the shock and disbelief of my statement if you are reading on. During this absence from the blog I began to wonder if there really is too much cricket played. I also decided to ask people here in California who come from cricket playing nations.

The unanimous feedback I got from everybody was that yes there is too much cricket played in the world and that they have lost interest in the sport. Why would somebody lose interest in this beautiful sport? Would it really be because of it being over played?

My conclusion is that even though I do feel that cricket needs to have more seasons - 9 months in the year cricket should be played and the other 3 months players should be given the chance to train, work on their fitness, etc. Much like the NBA, NFL, MLB work. However, I do not think this contributes to the general perception that interest in cricket is going down.

I do think the game needs to have a better committee that looks at rule changes. Every game needs to continue to evolve and in some other professional sports we have seen excellent rule changes that have improved the game. We have not seen the same in cricket and in fact in cricket we have seen some bizarre rule changes!

Just some food for thought - we all know that all of us are not the ones in trouble of losing interest in this beautiful sport.

Smith Displaces Tendulkar for Top Spot

Smith displaced Tendulkar for the top spot in the ICC ODI Batsman rankings. Ponting, M Yousuf and Hayden round up the top 5. The age old saying of nothing beats experience is demonstrated in the ODI batsman rankings.

Vettori is on top of the ODI rankings for bowlers with Bracken, Bond, Vaas and Mills completing the top 5. 3 of the top 5 ODI ranked bowlers are Kiwis.

Australia and New Zealand are definitely dominating the ICC ODI rankings. The rankings are definitely a good way of determining current form - though I would like to see some revisions to the rankings. This will have to be a later post when I have constructed exactly what I would like to see changed :-)

I will leave by saying that ICC should also publish their ICC ODI Umpire Rankings! :-)

Best Swing Bowler

Somebody told me that during the lunch break of the England versus New Zealand, Alan Davidson said that Wasim Akram was the best swing bowler he has ever seen by a long way! I could not agree with that statement any more.

Akram could do things with the cricket ball that nobody could before and nobody has been able to since. He made the ball talk! Mark Waugh once said that if he was born again, he would like to be Wasim Akram because he can win matches in so many different ways by himself.

One of Akram's greatest strengths was his uncanny ability to know his limitations and his strengths and bowl accordingly. He never tried to lengthen his run up or bowl faster. He was always focused on bowling the best!

The art of reverse swing was really revolutionized by the 2 W's - Wasim and Waqar. I would say that the two of them are the best swing bowlers the game has ever seen. Boy, do I miss not having them in the Pakistan side!

First Century in Australia

The little master blaster has added another achievement in his list of never ending list of accomplishments. Sachin Tendulkar scored his first century in Australia as he led India to a six-wicket victory in the first game of the three-match CB Series finals.

Tendulkar has been in wonderful form in the 2007 - 2008 season. It is not just the runs that he is scoring, but the style and class with which he is playing is reminiscent of the Tendulkar of old. This innings was no different as Tendulkar effortlessly hit boundaries on both sides of the wicket. With Tendulkar in such ominous form, the Indian team looks like a completely different outfit.

Tendulkar opened the innings and scored an unbeaten 117 off just 120 deliveries. He hit ten majestic boundaries in his innings. Tendulkar being in such prime form is a treat for cricket fans all over the world!

Closer Look - Shahid Afridi

It has been quite a while since I have had the chance to meet a cricketer in person. This past weekend I was fortunate to meet one of my favorite current cricketers and definitely one of the most exciting ones the game knows. The experience was rewarding.

Shahid Afridi is currently on a US tour doing fund raising for water projects in Baluchistan. This is a cricket blog and I will not comment on this any further apart from saying that this is a noble cause for which Afridi is passionate and genuinely and whole-hearted involved. For this passion he has even further won my respect and admiration because now it is not only for him as a cricketer but also for Afridi the person.

Afridi agreed to my doing an interview after the fund raising but once the fund raising was over the mood was solemn for both of us as really compared to the plight of the people in Baluchistan without clean water cricket did not seem all that import. Both of us chatted for a bit instead.

Afridi really impressed me as a person. He has a witty sense of humor which was apparent both by his quick-witted remarks in his presentation and his jokes when chatting with me. He is moved by this issue for which he is campaigning and it really reflected a 'seriousness' to his personality which some of his strongest critics have lashed out on. His drive, determination is admirable and I think he has that both in his professional and personal life.

The event organizers were commenting on how at US Airports Afridi has had quite a few spectators waiting to catch a glimpse of the flamboyant celebrity. The interesting thing was that all the fans at the airports were Indian and there were no Pakistani fans at the airport. The author of this blog is also guilty of not being present to receive Afridi at San Francisco airport :-)

In my opinion Afridi is the kind of player that you need to give a free reign to, within bounds of course and I think he does a great job of staying within those bounds. There have been great players in various sports throughout the ages that have had this free flowing style which is difficult to coach. I am sure no other basketball player is or will ever be coached like Michael Jordan; the snippet of Phil Jackson turning to Jordan and simply saying, "Michael" and then giving him the look is being played again in my mind. Then you have Federer who has played for the longest time without a coach and is without doubt the most dominant and the best tennis player in the world!

I am not putting Afridi at the same level as those two athletes who can easily say they are the best in their field, but still feel that Afridi is one of those players that needs to be coached differently and perhaps less than other players. Some of Afridi's centuries have been innings were he has blasted all bowlers all over and out of the ground and then he has gotten out to a forward defensive shot. The century against India when he got bowled by Harbhajan on a forward defensive prod comes to mind.

I think Afridi needs to know which position he is going to be batting - and I for one do not want to see him open and would like to see him come lower down the order. He needs to be communicated what his job/role is and then he needs to be allowed the freedom to get the results as best he sees fit. I think with this formula more often than not he will succeed.

Afridi over the last couple of years has shown determination and has applied that to his bowling. He is one of our best ODI bowlers and I feel warrants a place in the side just on the basis of his bowling and fielding and exuberant on field presence. His clean and powerful hitting is just an added skill he brings to the field.

I end with a warning that if you ever meet Afridi, count your fingers after shaking hands with him; he has got one of the firmest hand shake that I have ever seen!

Political Knockout

All facebook users out there go and add this new cricket game application on facebook called Political Knockout.

The game features various Pakistani politicians and you as the user select one politician and select another politician as your opponent. Each player/politician bats for an over and at the depending on how good the batting/bowling was the total votes for each candidate is computed.

The game is developed by a talented company based in Pakistan - tintash - two of the founders are in the US.

You can add Political Knockout bygoing to http://apps.facebook.com/politicalknockout

Have fun!

Gilchrist - Farewell Series

As Q has pointed out there is a lot to look forward to in the current CB Series. For me personally, I want to see Gilchrist go out in style - I am rooting for him to score many runs and take a few memorable catches. In my opinion the greatest wicketkeeper/batsman the game has ever seen deserves nothing less.

Gilchrist will be retiring with the record for most dismissals in Test cricket by a wicketkeeper. He may not be the most athletic or the best wicketkeeper ever, but he is definitely right up there with the best of the best. Without question he is one of the most consistent and reliable that the game has ever seen.

Gilchrist also holds the record for the highest number of sixes in Test cricket. The attacking batsman hit his 100th test six versus Sri Lanka in November 2007 cementing his name as the first batsman to hit a hundred sixes in Test cricket. He will definitely be remembered as one the most aggressive batsman to play the game - a clean striker of the cricket ball. In ODIs Gilchrist was always one of the most feared opening batsman for many bowlers and he definitely delighted crowds all over the world with his squash buckling style of play. His last World Cup innings was a memorable 149 from just 104 deliveries versus Sri Lanka in the 2007 Final.

The tributes for Gilchrist flowed from all over the cricket world. Former teammate Slater said, ""He was a superstar who changed the face of cricket. He has set a standard for keeper/batsmen that I don't think will ever be matched." Fellow wicketkeeper Boucher said, "He revolutionized the game in terms of being a wicketkeeper-batsman. Gilly is streets ahead of the rest in that regard. He is the guy who set the tone for everyone else in the game, and he has changed it forever."

Gilchrist has left his mark on the game forever and will always be remembered as one of the greatest to over play the game. I just am in a greedy mood and want just a couple more Gilchrist memories - is that too much to ask for? Perhaps, but then again I have full faith that Gilchrist will deliver!

Didja Notice?

Now isn't this strange that Pakistan just completed a cricket series and there was no discussion - no mention on this blog. Nobody reflected on the series with inflated kudos on heroic performances or harsh criticism on subpar efforts. Have the Well Pitched authors stopped caring about Pakistan cricket?

I feel actually the fact that nobody even so much so as whispered anything about the series or even unconsciously let out an approving clap proves that actually all of us care a lot about Pakistan cricket and are not paying much attention to a meaningless series! I have full respect for Zimbabwae and feel for their cricket going through an extremely rough patch - gone are their heyday of cricket with the Flower brothers and Streak/Strang. But at the same time I think that Pakistan cricket has the danger of getting an inflated ego and a false sense of calm with this 5-0 victory. I would have liked to see Pakistan go in with all youngsters in the series and then even a 3-2 victory would have been significant.

There are a couple of promising openers in Nasir Jamshed and Khurram Manzoor who passed their first test and may be the openers for the side in the future.

The Promise of Better Results

Pakistan and Zimbabwae ODI series has started. The Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik has promised better results. Frankly, I do not understand what he is trying to say. Is he implying that Pakistan will do better than the 2-3 performance in India? Or perhaps he is saying that Pakistan will do better than they have been doing in the past in general?

Honestly, this is a ridiculous statement to make. Anything less than a 5-0 result will be a disappointing result for the home side. Even a 5-0 result would not be something to celebrate. This series should be used by the home side to try some youngsters and give them sort of a cricket entrance test to see if there is any potential. Hopefully, we will see the team selections in the ODIs to reflect this strategy.

Historically, however, we have a habit of making meaningless and trivial victories and treating them as pivotal turning points in Pakistan cricket. We did this after the last World Cup when we beat Sri Lanka in an ODI series in which Sri Lanka played their 'C' team and we hailed that as a momentous victory that reflected reversal of our cricket fortunes and thats what continued the troubles in Pakistan cricket. We need to learn that winning and losing is important but not the end all; you need to see what the situation, opponent and skill level of the opponent is. It is my hope that we do not treat a victory in the ODI series versus Zimbabwae as nothing more than just uncovering some 'potential' talent. But I think our press, public and the players themselves are going to hail this as an impressive and awesome victory!

Shaun Pollock - Chaired Off the Cricket Arena

One of the great modern day all-rounders has quit the game. Shaun Pollock will definitely go down as one of the best all-rounders in the game ever and is definitely right up there at the top as far as modern day all-rounders go.

Pollock was chaired from the field in his final test by captain Smith and Nel. That picture of the great leaving the field will be long remembered. Pollock was an intelligent cricketer and one of the most consistent ones the game has known.

I personally never liked Pollock. But the primary reason for that was because he was such a competitor, an in your face one and would always perform well against Pakistan. But now that he has retired I can look back and say most of it was just his competitiveness that I hated so much. He was a fierce competitor but generally respected in the cricketing world. Most cricketers did not have anything bad to say about him.

For me Pollock was hope in the cricketing world for the diminishing class of all-rounders - he truly was a genuine one. He was heavily criticized for his captaincy, but handled being axed with tremendous class and grace. I think the label of chokers will stay with the South African team in the Pollock era. I do think as a team they underacheived since they had 3 genuine all-rounders in Pollock, Kallis and Klusener.

Pollock was an exceptional cricketer and will be remembered both for his ability, grit and will to win. Pollock played 108 tests and took 421 wickets at an average of 23.11; he also scored 3781 runs at an average of 32.31. Pollock also played 299 ODIs and took 388 wickets at an average of 24.53; he also scored 3476 runs at an average of 26.33.

The cricketing world says goodbye to one of the best all-rounders in the game. The South African team and the cricketing world will miss him.

The Fighting Pathan

You gotta love what the Indians are doing in the 3rd test versus Australia. The visiting side has got the home side in a spot of bother at the end of the 3rd day of a very gripping 3rd test. Will the Indians end the Aussie winning streak at 16 just like they did back in 2001? Most of the cricketing world is hoping to see the invincible Aussies lose to make some in-roads to making the playing field somewhat even.

The spring in the Indian team really can be attributed to the inclusion of the talented all-rounder Irfan Pathan. It is mind boggling why he was not included in the first two tests. In my opinion he is one of the best all-rounders in the game today and he has proved it again in this test match.

Pathan's bowling has been spot on in this match - bowling aggressive and with a lot of variety. He was among the wickets in the first innings and has removed both the Australian openers in the 2nd innings to put India in a commanding position. But perhaps what really has put India in a commanding position at the end of day 3 is Pathan's gritty and fighting innings of 46 with all the batsmen around him falling. This really gave India the impetus to put up a sizeable lead and Laxman built on that and ensured that the visiting team put enough runs on the board to give their bowlers the marked advantage.

Pathan brings a lot of the intagibles that I was referring to in my last post. To add to that he is a really good bowler and a decent bat. Pathan should be an automatic selection in the Indian team in any form of the game!

Intangibles

I am back after a long absence - and it is good to be back. My life has just been extremely busy with work and nursing a back injury and then over the past month or so have just been more involved with other happenings in the world. I will stick to cricket on this blog as this is a cricket blog and besides it is good to be back and writing on cricket because cricket is important.
I am also an avid Basketball and NFL fan. I have been following the NFL playoffs over the last few weeks and that got me thinking on how in American sports the commentators, experts and analysts know and understand the game so much better than their cricket counterparts.
I am really tired of the cricket commentators stating the obvious; making comments that any of my casual female family cricket fans can make. I am tired of phrases like "the last thing they wanted at this stage was to lose a wicket" Can somebody please tell me when it is a good stage to lose a wicket? When will we stop hearing the experts say that the batting team should aim to get maximum runs without losing wickets and the bowling team should try and get wickets giving away a minimum amount of runs. Oh really? How many years of international cricket does one have to play to come to that realization?
We need experts, analysts and commentators who can point out how Inzimam used to keep maximum strike against Muralitharan, point out Steve Waugh's grit and determination in adverse situations where his 30/40 proved to be the difference in making his team win, etc. Some times it could just be something as subtle as a bowler setting up a wicket for his mate on the other by bowling a tight line. I would like to see a commentator praise the bowler bowling the line and length rather than giving all the credit always to the bowler taking the wicket. Similarly, sometimes it is a couple of shots that a batsman plays (not necessarily boundaries) that completely upsets an on form's bowler line and length. Now it would be something if we got the commentators and experts talking about that rather than how well a batsman scoring a century played, which honestly even my grandmother could tell all of us.

India Dominate Day of 2nd Test

On a batsman's Paradise in Kolkata the Indian batsman dominated the Pakistani bowlers after winning the toss and electing to bat first. Jaffer dominated proceedings with an unbeaten 192 as he played an exquisite and elegant innings with shots all around the ground.



Tanvir did provide Pakistan an early breakthrough as Karthik was dismissed cheaply yet again as he edged one to Younis. Jaffer and Dravid then took control as they built up the innings. Dravid scored another sold half century before he was unlucky to be given out caught behind off Kaneria.



Out came Tendulkar and the Indian innings was in high gear from that moment. Tendulkar and Jaffer just went bilistic as they severely punished a mediocre Pakistani bowling performance. The fielding was lethargic and quite lackluster.



Jaffer was timing the ball immaculately and his placement was exceptional as he played some breathtaking drives and flicks reminiscent of Azharhuddin and Dravid. Sachin was in full swing with his blasting cover drives and majestic flicks. Tendulkar was provided with a lifeline as Kamran Akmal dropped a regulation keeper catch; it is really time for Pakistan to play a true keeper, Safraz really needs to be playing.



Kaneria did get Tendulkar with a beauitful googlie; not sure why he was not bowling more of those. The Prince of Kolkata walked in and stayed with Jaffer till close of play with India putting up a mammoth score of 352/3. Jaffer was unbeaten on an awesome 192 with 32 brilliant boundaries. A tough day for Pakistan's makeshift captain Younis Khan.

Batsman's Game

In recent years there have been changes to the game of cricket. Change is generally considered a good thing as the powers to be review and make ammendments based on the general widely public opinion. In sports in general, and in cricket in particular, this has been the case over the last some years as modifications (improvments?) to the game have been made.

I am all in favor of modifying the game and changing the rules, though I feel there should be more current coach input in making the rule changes as opposed to retired players who did not have much experience in ODIs. Coaches are close to the game and can make intelligent suggestions on improving the game. In American sports, generally coaches/managers/owners, etc have a say in rule changes to their respective sport.

The test game is pretty pure (still my favorite form of the game) and that is why most of the changes have been made to the ODI format of the sport. What is appalling to me is that all the changes, or almost all of them, favor the batsmen. Has the standard of batting fallen that these batsman need so much help?

A recent rule change has been the mandatory change of ball in the 34/35th over. The intention behind the rule change is to have consistency so that the ball is changed every time rather than leaving it up to the discretion of the umpires. While I think consistency is a good idea generally in the sport as it leaves less room for human error in judgement; in this case I think it is favoring the batsman too much and totally getting rid of the bowlers advantage of reverse swing. The umpires need to use their judgement and definitely change the bowl when there are visibility issues - maybe the idea of using pink balls as per Q's blog is not that bad of an idea after all! But if there are visibility issues then why change the ball? Give the bowlers the ability to use reverse swing as long as the batsman can see the ball they should be good enough to play any bowler who is reversing it!

The power play rule - what a ridiculous rule! I again like the intention of getting captains and teams to have a strategy of using the power play. But again it favors the batting side. Every team, with the exception of Fleming NZ's captain, uses the power plays in the first 20 overs reducing the rule to basically having the field restrictions for the 1st 20 overs. I would like to see the overs for power play reduced to 10 in total and have captains use them in spells of 5 with the rule that you cannot use consective 10 overs.

I am a batsman myself, but would hate to see myself given so much advantage in anything in life - you gotta earn it! :-)

Inzi - Our Best Batsman

The Pakistan - S.Africa series has come to an end in a rather disappointing fashion for the home side. I believe most people were expecting a better outing and a result in Pakistan's favor in the ODI series and it appeared that way till 30 minutes or so before the match ended. Oh well, I believe the banging my head against the wall and pounding my fists on the floor has been my source of lamenting and allowing myself the much needed outburst and reading Q's post has definitely covered it so thoroughly that I am not going to dwell on it more and move on.....

Despite the poor performance and the loss in both forms of the game, this series will be remembered in positive light in years to come because it included the farewell test of Pakistan's greatest batsman and one of modern cricket's greatest batsman, Inzamam-ul-Haq.

Inzi burst into the spotlight and was an instant hero after the '92 WC semifinal cameo! And really never looked back or disappointed since then. He has played numerous match winning innnings for Pakistan, probably has one of the best ratios of innings to win a match ever, his batting average in both forms of the game is outstanding and his captaincy record is one of the best for any of Pakistan's captains.

However, Inzi brought more to the game. So much more! He brought intangibles. He would always face the opposition's best bowler, in recent years I remember it was always Inzi who would face up to Murali and protect his teammates. Or who could forget the test match in India when Pakistan had lost early wickets and Inzi came in and hit Balaji for emphatic boundaries.

The cricketing world will also miss Inzi, the person. In numerous countries and by numerous people he was called an excellent ambassador of his country, a title not given to too many Pakistanis. His dry wit humor was just too classic and outright funny!

Words cannot describe the impact and the service Inzi has provided Pakistan cricket and cricket in general. Inzi will be missed and really it was so great to see this batsman get a farewell test match and bow out of the game with the tribute that he merits (albeit that he still has so much cricket left in him and should still be playing!), especially when other greats like Akram, Waqar, Anwar did not get a farewell test.

Cricket - Play Your Best Team

Pakistan cricket has long been a victim of different agendas being in the forefront of our selection, preparation and in the end our performance in various series and tours. The latest and really one that has hampered our progress in the cricketing world since the disasterous '99 World Cup final is 'preparing for the next World Cup'.

After every World Cup we begin planning and preparing for the next World Cup and the PCB is completely obsessed with this planning and preparation (not sure what exactly they do as far as preparing and planning because really they have no results to fall back on). Usually what this planning and preparing for cricket's biggest event entails is enthrusting 'young blood' in our team and historically calling for an end to some of the greatest cricketers - most recent example being that of Inzi.

What this does result is in lack of consistency in our team, no rhythm and no chance of any team synergy or spirit to develop. Players are brought in for one or two matches and then dropped and other players, always the youngsters, are given a chance and then dropped after a few failings. This miserable cycle is repeated until the World Cup when we suddenly realize that all these youngsters we had been trying for 4 years really do not stand up to the task and then we enthrust our senior players and try to field the best players in our line up. We saw this with Saeed Anwar in the 2003 WC and most recently with Azhar Mahmood in the 2007 WC.

This strategy, I hate to use this word but for lack of finding any suitable alternative will resign myself to using it, always fails. This strategy is so flawed and is really the sole and primary reason for our poor outtings in the last two WCs.

Winning is a habit and a good one to have generally in most things in life, but definitely a must to have in the sporting world. The best and most guaranteed way of winning is to play your best side in every match; and I mean every match! We can take a leaf from Australia's page on this one and really learn that lesson. If we play our best available players in every match, we will automatically be ready for the next WC. If nothing else I hope our new Australian coach can instill that in our board and team; why does my gut tell me the board will not listen!