...when Pakistan was humiliated at Lord's in a World Cup final; can they make amends on the same ground and earn a title?

I know I'm getting ahead of myself here. Pakistan has a semi-final date first. A tough one, regardless of the opposition. But if (and it's a big if) they do make the final, they can at least attempt to erase the pain and shame that was forced on the country 10 years ago.

South Africa will also be looking to avoid repeating the heartbreak of a World Cup semi-final in England, once again almost exactly 10 years to day of their legendary loss to Australia.

New Zealand will also want to turn around their decade-old semi-final result and make it to the final. They have a lot of work to do before that though.

And England would like to be more than the spectators that they were 10 years ago when they hosted a World Championship.

West Indies and Sri Lanka have no time for the "10-years-ago" romantic musings of the other teams. They have no recollection of their performance a decade ago, and they are ready to create their own history. In one case to open their account at Lord's. And in the other case, to cement their dominance at Lord's.

10 years. Unfulfilled dreams. Six teams. One winner.

I read an article on Cricinfo that really touched me. It's about the NZ pacer from the 80s - Ewen Chatfield. I remember him well - his thin frame and signature mustache can not be easily forgotten.

It seems that life after cricket has not been too great for him:

It hasn't been a great time after retirement. He coached his minor association, Hutt Valley, for a long while, only to lose the job when Hutt Valley merged with Wellington. His last job before the current one with Corporate Cabs, was that of a lawn-mower. Then two successive wet winters came.

"There was no income. I got frustrated that I couldn't do enough in summer without killing myself to make up for that." And just like that he called Corporate Cabs, because he "liked driving around". He got the licence and was employed. In between he has worked as a courier, a salesman at a chip shop, and has driven a dairy van. "One of your compatriots," he says of the dairy owner.

"I start at 5.30 in the morning, and I am only allowed to work for 13 hours a day. That's all. You think that's enough? Thirteen hours a day?"

He is not in touch with any of his team-mates. He claims he doesn't get nostalgic, doesn't watch old tapes ("I haven't even seen the 50-run partnership with Jeremy Coney, against Pakistan, to win the match"). There's no bitterness either. [LINK]

I am filled with so much respect for the man. This really is true character. To be content with what you have, to work hard regardless of circumstances, and to hold no grudges or bitterness - now that's a role model.

I know it's not necessarily the responsibility of the cricket boards to take care of the post-cricketing career of its players, but I'm sure they can help out through their contacts and influence. Sure Chatfield is no Hadlee, and he's not had the success of the Crowe or Cairns families either. But he represented NZ with pride and dedication. He played more than 40 Tests and more than 100 ODIs.

This story reminded me of a random encounter I had back in 1999. My mom was visiting me in Atlanta and she wanted to buy some stuff for my home. I dropped her off at a Home Depot Expo (home furnishings) store and came back a little later to pick her up. She said a very nice employee was helping her out and was bringing out the stuff from the backroom. She said he was from the West Indies and was talking about cricket and Pakistan with her.

So when this person came out with the stuff, he started talking cricket with me too. After a bit he said: "You know Ijaz, Wasim, Malik? I played with them." Played with them??? I took a look at his name badge and it said "Lambert". A lightbulb went off in my head, and I asked him, "Are you Clayton Lambert?" And sure enough it was him!

Really enjoyed talking to him, what a wonderful guy. Later I found out he totally dominated the Atlanta cricket league - he even slammed a friend of mine for six after six, on his way to a double century in a 40 over game. Lambert also eventually made it to the US team, and played an ODI for them.

There are so many cricketers I wonder about. Would love someone to do a "where are they now" style show for some of the lesser known cricketers of the 80s and 90s.

The reality is that cricket has not been typically a financially rewarding sport. And in any sport really, there's a small percentage who are well set for life, whereas the majority will have to rough it out like the rest of us. And given that so many sportsmen don't have a solid educational background, things are often tougher for them.

If someone ever asked me who the most intelligent people in cricket are, I would put Daniel Vettori up there on the list. Not only does he look professorial, his skill, acumen, and achievements warrant such accolades.

However, he has seriously damaged his credentials today in my eyes. Here's what he had to say after the end of the 1st Test against the Windies:

[Vettori] also proposed only one referral per team per innings instead of the three being used in the New Zealand-West Indies series. "What's happening a little bit is the 50-50 ones are coming into play and I don't think that's what it was invented for," Vettori told NZPA.

...

"If you look at it [the Flynn replay], you can see it's out but is that the reason it was brought in ... to decide on such a fine-line decision?" asked Vettori. "The premise of cricket is the batsman always gets the benefit of the doubt and I think you want to still keep that part of the game in." [LINK]

So the referral system is helping umpires make correct decisions, but you're not happy with that? You want the benefit of doubt to remain a part of the game, when there exists a pretty straightforward process to reduce it drastically?

Strange comments really. Not sure why players are so reluctant to embrace this system. And I like how these players use the diminished role of the on-field umpires as their cop-out. Uhhh...hello??? The third umpire is not a backup umpire - he's an integral part of the game. If he gets a bit more responsibility, what's wrong in that?

My biggest concern is the time factor. But so far I have seen little or no complaints about the time factor by the players, umpires, or analysts.

Bad decisions have been extremely costly to teams in the past, and that's why the referral system is a good idea. I'm disappointed that someone like Vettori is acting quite ignorant about the whole thing.

Not only did they win the test series against New Zealand, one from England also displaced me from the top position in Sportsfreak's tipping competition.

King Cricket is now at number 1 on the leaderboard and I have to take off my orange cap that I had been proudly wearing for the last 2 weeks.

I have a chance to get it back when Sportsfreak adds on the series tips, but I think my tipping form has slipped.

Typical Pakistani - start with a bang, end with a whimper! Though I'm holding on to the 2nd position currently, I could drop lower. (Need for some bonus points Sportsfreak).

Well I guess since they have been in the Wisden and all and England have won the test series, its only apt that King Cricket sits on top of the leaderboard.

At number 3, there is another Englishman - The Suave one from Republique Cricket. England have reclaimed the number 3 spot in the test rankings and Suave has done the same jumping up from number 5, where he stood after the 2nd test.

Sportsfreak, who is running the competition and at the same time has claimed to "blatant and careful rigging" is at number 4, dropping a spot from the previous tips.

The first Australian, in the form of Miss Field, makes an appearance at number 5 on the leaderboard. Its strange seeing anything Australian so far down a cricket leaderboard, particularly more so when those above are from England, New Zealand, and Pakistan.

The Silly Point, who was sitting pretty at number 2 at the end of the 1st test has dropped to number 6 at the end of the series. He is followed by Moses from Beer and Sport at number 7 and Martyd from Cricket Action and Art at number 8.

The bottom 4 on the board are equal on points with Cricket with Balls, Sports Review, and Ben & Mike from Mike on Cricket completing the leaderboard.

The fact that Cricket with Balls ended last on the leaderboard goes to show that there is no correlation between tipping and cricket blogging.

Sportsfreak promises more excitement with tipping competitions for the upcoming 20-20 game as well as the following ODIs.

Hopefully the Kiwis will do better in the ODIs and the 20-20 game.

Actually, definitely they will do better.

These days we have 24/7 live coverage of cricket games all over the world, from first class games to international ones, from women’s games to men’s ones. The emergence and proliferation of TVs and TV channels has made it easy for us to watch the games live. For those who can’t do that, there is vivid and detailed commentary as well as analysis available on CricInfo.com. Credit must be given where it is due – CricInfo has served millions of cricket fans all over the world and the world is a better place with it.

However, I remember the 80s and the 90s when the only available mediums for following cricket were print, TV and radio. The game was not as commercial then so it was not feasible to broadcast games live. Living in Pakistan and even India at that time, there were no sports only channels. For the only local channels, Pakistan Television (PTV) in Pakistan and Doordarshan in India, it was far more lucrative to broadcast soap operas compared to cricket games.

If you were a cricket fan in the sub continent and were really lucky, the state run channel would carry a short highlights clip after the nightly ‘news’. If President Zia and his many chief ministers, governors and generals had had a busy day in the field chairing various boring meetings, cutting inaugural ribbons etc, the cricket highlights would be the last thing shown on TV. If the country was going through bad times, highlights of a lost match wouldn’t necessarily be shown. The backup option was always to quickly glance at the scorecard in the morning paper before scrambling to school.

But true joy came from listening to live cricket commentary on the radio. For me, there is no cricketing memory better than Chishty Mujahid or Omer Kureishi passing verdict on Pakistan Radio, that the old ball in the hands of Waqar or Wasim had started to swing. Hallelujah! The beginning of the end had started! That’s when you closed your eyes and pictured a rampant Waqar steaming in to bowl. The batsmen’s fear, the tension in the air and a warm tingling sensation in the base of your gut that Pakistan’s ascendancy was imminent; all made the air thick with excitement and anticipation. To their credit, the commentators only added to the drama, sucking the listeners in and using a scarcity of words to keep the listeners engaged (its funny how TV commentators these days feel the need to keep talking, even if its crap). The gathering roar of anticipation by the crowd as Waqar or Wasim ran up to the crease was typically accompanied by the following words

“Waqar goes back to his run-up…
[the buzz in the crowd grows]
He starts his run-up
[buzz grows to hum]
Crowe to face him…
Comes in to bowl
[hum reaches crescendo.. ooooOOOOOOAAAAAAHHHHHH!]
[dull thud of the ball hitting the pads]
[loud appeal!]
AND HES GONE!
[high fives all around, jubilant jumps etc]”

Im sure all readers don’t have memories as magical as mine, especially if their team was at the receiving end of the W magic. However, my point is that for me the radio and following cricket went hand in hand. If Pakistan were in deficit, I felt it was my responsibility to turn the radio on and guide Miandad or Salim Malik through till the deficit was wiped out or follow on averted. Visits to family at the other end of town or tuition center rounds were planned such that your could hear commentary for the first twenty overs of the test match. If you got to hear commentary when the ball started to swing, then that was a bonus.

I still remember very clearly, one of Pakistan’s greatest overseas triumphs when Waqar and Wasim combined to bowl out New Zealand for 93 when they needed 127 at Hamilton in 1993. I remember being glued to the Radio, hoping that the ball would swing and that Pakistan would give New Zealand a tough time in their run chase.

What are your fondest memories of associated with following cricket? Has the radio figured prominently? Please share your thoughts by posting a comment

The traditional summer test series of the Southern Hemisphere get underway tomorrow with Sri Lanka taking on Australia and New Zealand taking on South Africa. It is interesting to note that the top 4 bowlers in the ICC LG Top Test Bowlers list, namely Muralitharan, Makhaya Ntini, Shane Bond, and Stuart Clark would be involved in the action starting tomorrow. How these ratings change after the 2 tests in each series, would be interesting to note.