Archive for June, 2005

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West Indies cricket in worse mess than ever before

Wednesday, June 29th, 2005

The downhill continues. Colin Croft shows his angst and anger and the question to be asked really is who benefits from all this. The WICB, Sri Lankan cricket board, the players or even the sponsors who seem to have agreed to some clauses with the WICB which the WICB cant backtrack.

Indian cricket had a similar problem earlier and thankfully better sense prevailed and the horrors of ambush marketing didnt mean India would have to field a second XI.

The spectators – real share holders of the game will not take the joke beyond a certain point. Already the selection process and the performance of the team is a joke.

Why should the Windies supporter root for the team if they cant see the best XI players on the field? There was the contract dispute before the series in South Africa, before the series in Australia, meant the team fielded a second XI in the home series versus South Africa and now such a disaster at the moment.

The ICC has decided to grant one day status to 5 more teams. Would I really have to live to see a Windies squad lose to one of such teams? I dread such a scenario and pray that day doesnt ever come.

Posted in Cricket | No Comments »

Sport: You Beauty!

Wednesday, June 29th, 2005

Its been raining every where, Calcutta, Edgebaston and Wimbledon. That didnt stop some excellent sports to ensue yesterday. Whether it was classic McEnroe playing doubles with Fleming with trademark Nadal pants, or Hayden and Jones slugging it on the cricket pitch or the pencil thin, still growing Sharapova as the commentator so aptly described her.

That the England-Australia match contained classic cricket with a tussle all the while, entrhalled me. The bouncers, the early stroke play from Martyn, the building of pressure from Giles and Flintoff before an excellent partnership between Hussey and Symonds got Australia out of trouble was a pleasure to watch.

And Gough struck again and Lee managed a few runs before a low scoring final over to balance it and make every one smack their lips.

Almost too early though as the rain gods had the last laugh.

So Wimbledon Quarters today and another classic tussle between Brazil and Argentina likely in football. The rain gods will hopefully take a rest for the sports gods to have the say on this day.

Posted in Australian Cricket, Cricket, English Cricket, Football, Tennis, Wimbledon 2005 | No Comments »

And one day cricket becomes more meaningless

Tuesday, June 28th, 2005

What is concerning about the rule changes in limited overs cricket is how much more batsman friendly it makes it all.

The twenty over field restrictions instead of fifteen means more runs will be scored than ever before. The general feeling is that teams will replace a batsman with a bowler and vice versa while substituing. This would mean the bowling will become more effective.

However, the flip side to it is that chosing an extra batsman keeping the same bowling line up would usually give the team a lot more space to bat freely and treat the bowlers with disdain. And with the twenty over field restrictions in place, it would make around 330 the norm in one day cricket rather than 300.

The new rule changes also go away from the basic aspect of cricket of chosing the best eleven with an oft faced dilemna of whether to chose an extra batsman or play with an extra bowler and the likes. The teams usually have to do a lot fo delibaration in chosing the 11.

The 5 over rule means more confusion than ever before. When you want to attract new people to the game, you want to make things simpler, not make them more complex. And how will Saurav Ganguly, who has problems finishing the overs in time under the earlier rules, ever manage to finish them with all these complexities? ;)

Did I ever take the one day game seriously? No.

Will things get more interesting and worthy now? Not a chance.

Perhaps the ICC’s defence would be that the fools watching cricket will continue to watch it no matter what they do and with a few quirks like increasing the over restrictions for the fields, the 5 over rule and substitues, it would keep the couch patota from switching the channels in the middle overs, thus ensuring more revenue.

But do you really want to change the rules so much that the game itself changes? Its silly.

Posted in Cricket, ICC | No Comments »

Another Indian cricket legend passes away

Tuesday, June 28th, 2005

RIP : Eknath Solkar

Its sad to here about the death of Eknath Solkar at the young age of 57 after the recent death of Mushtaq Ali. One of the best fielders India has produced, it is indeed a tragic loss to Indian cricket.

Here is the story of one of the most important catches taken by ‘ekki’ in his own words. Wisden does a detailed obituary on the man who was indeed a magician.

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New Barca Kits

Tuesday, June 28th, 2005

The new kits:

The home shirt maintains the club’s tradition of blue and maroon, but there are more stripes than in previous seasons. The shorts are red, described as cochineal, for the first time in the club’s history. The Catalan senyera is also present on the colour at the base of the neck for the first time.

The away shirt is bright yellow, described fluorescent pistachio, with blue and black trim and the traditional home colours are detailed on the sleeve.

I do not like the fact that the home shorts have been changed to red. The traditional home kit colour combination was top notch according to me.

The away kit is a marked improvement from the dull thing they used earlier though.

Posted in FC Barcelona, Football | No Comments »

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