Sportolysis – The World Sports Blog

West Indies, the home team, are playing New Zealand at Antigua but strangely, there is negligible crowd in the stadum. It just isn’t right for a stage as big as the world cup. Modern sport’s money comes in through advertisements, sponsors and the television audience and the stadium audience forms a tiny fraction of the money generated. So organizers can feel that lower the number of crowds, lower the hassle.

This time, weird restrictions have been imposed about which Mark Nicholas and Tony Cozier were discussing during commetary. For instance, people cannot leave and comeback to the stadium if they feel. In a cricket match which spans 7 hours, this is impractical. Also, horns, honks and other musical instruments which bring in the flavor of a West Indies crowd have been disallowed.

Add to that, the ticket prices are pretty high and you know why more people are not coming into the stadiums. Atmosphere is vital in a sporting event. It is the third team out there which many people remember once the event is over and done with. A better way would be to lower prices and bring in more crowds. The younger generation should be tapped by allowing school children in for free for particular matches.

Regardless of how important or unimportant money from the stands is, where this aspect is concerned, the most vital point to take in stock should be how to fill the stands as much as possible.

Despite the Smith injury after which South Africa lost momentum and the brilliant spell from Tait, South Africa shouldn’t have succumbed the way they did. While Australia had Clarke and Ponting after Hayden was out, South Africa had Kallis – competent batsman but couldn’t hold onto his wicket and play aggressively at the same time.

That was the real difference between two otherwise very evenly matched sides – South Africa had Smith, Australia had Hayden; South Africa had Andrew Hall pegging the run rate in the end, Australia had Tait bowling a superb spell.

The match also shows that Australia will kill you if you give them even the smallest of leeways and why Australia is the best team in the world despite what the ICC rankings will try to tell you.

[Match scorecard]

India’s world cup debacle is a golden opportunity to correct things in Indian cricket. For too long, Indian cricket has been structurally weak despite having so much money. In a piece in Wisden in 1959 for instance, Vijay Merchant said:

Unstoppable as they (India) are on pitches that suit their style, most of the Indian batsmen remain seriously suspect when the ball starts moving off the seam.

The whole piece is a must read. In it, Merchant talks about the problems ailing Indian cricket it is scary how not much has improved in almost 50 years. Tap talent, build better cricket training schools and only then, maybe after 10-15 years, will we really be able to say that cricket is in a healthy state in India.

Allan Donald says that the world cup should be called off.

The ICC differs in viewpoint. At this moment, as suspects of Bob Woolmer’s murder aren’t known, the show going on is okay. However, if some one is arrested who is deeply associated with cricket or associated with betting/match fixing or some thing, it will be very difficult for the world cup to carry on.

Update 2: Woolmer was strangled. The world cup and cricket comes under a shadow.

Update: Cricinfo is reporting breaking news on Woolmer.

Pervez Mir, the Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman, told AFP: “The police suspect that Woolmer may have been murdered. They have started an investigation.”

A lot of people said to me after hearing the news of Woolmer’s death that cricket is just a game. However, with so much money involved in the game, cricket is far more than that today as is most professional sport. Modern sports generates so much money and provides employment to so many people, not just the sportsmen playing the game. It will be a sad day for cricket if Woolmer was indeed murdered regardless of who did it.

*****

Bob Woolmer’s death has come as a huge shock. As a keen follower of South African cricket in the 90s, I had the opportunity to see how brilliant Woolmer’s cricketing mind was. Cricket is a game which has plenty of room for strategy and innovations if some one is creative. Cricket suited Woolmer perfectly in this regard. He brought innovations and thought about the game with a modern perspective for which he was widely regarded as the best coach in the world.

As a coach he had success with Warwickshire county club and then reached great heights with South Africa. Australia has been the best cricket team in the world for what now seems an eternity. However, for a period in the 90s – 1996-99, South Africa had the best one day side in the world. No small credit for that goes to Bob Woolmer. Woolmer always had that new point of view no one could have thought about and it was evident every where – whether it was team strategies, field placements or team compositions.

All rounders and lower order batsmen started getting a new meaning in international cricket. South African lower order batting would have guys like Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Nicky Boje. Even Pat Symcox made runs and was contributing to the team apart from his bowling. I remember a match versus Australia where Woolmer opened with Lance Klusener and brought Pat Symcox in at number 3. Klusener made 92 and Symcox made 26. South Africa ended up with 301 and won comfortably in the end. That’s just one match which shows how brilliant Woolmer was.

Many people suggested that Woolmer shouldn’t coach Pakistan but he followed his beliefs. Not that long ago, the team was progressing exceedingly well. Woolmer was creating depth in the batting and bringing in more options for the team in bowling. Woolmer always had a vision with a team and specific players were backed if it was believed that they could do a job which would add to the over all team strength of the team. So Shahid Afridi was brought back when no one gave him much of a chance. There were many other interesting things done in Pakistan cricket in that phase where they were looking good – things like Shoaib Akhtar being disciplined and then brought back which could extract the best output out of him. In his short time with Pakistan, Woolmer managed to create an attachment in the hearts of the common Pakistan cricket fan just like he had done in South Africa.

In 1999, Woolmer couldn’t win the world cup with South Africa. Pakistan in 2007 was to be Woolmer’s redemption. Sadly, Pakistan cricket went from one low to another in the past months culminating with the exit of Akhtar and Asif from the world cup. Without the bowling spearheads, there was little chance of Pakistan winning the world cup.

First as a player, then as a coach, Woolmer served cricket and added a lot to the game. RIP.

The two upsets will give hope to the minnows in cricket for many years to come. Hope can lead to formation of goals and goals, when aided with proper plan of action, can lead to great things. So 17th April, 2007, has the potential of having many positive effects.

There is another aspect I am wondering about. Pakistan is out of the world cup in the first round and India has a very real chance of following suit. So will this trigger off lowering of following of cricket? Has the lowering of following already started but we just do not notice it yet?

Earlier, people used to follow every ball when India played. Now, many are happy with just following the score. I remember how the Eden Gardens used to be full and you had to pay double the price written on the ticket to watch the game if you didn’t buy your ticket early. However, the last few years have seen lower number of crowds and empty seats – some thing unimaginable earlier.

People will not go on following a sport forever and are not immune to factors like results. Many years ago, hockey enjoyed huge popularity. However, losses and disappointing performances over the years has meant that hockey is a shadow of it’s former self in India. Wins are very crucial for increasing and/or sustaining the popularity of a particular sport in a nation in the long run.

Given the following cricket enjoys, India and Pakistan should produce far more successful cricketers and cricket teams. However, the lack of infrastructure over the years has meant that talent cannot be tapped or honed properly. 17th March should be a warning sign for the authorities in India and Pakistan to get their act together and chart out a proper plan for cricket for the people wont always keep following, the sponsors won’t always keep coming and the money won’t always keep flowing.

The bubble can indeed burst.

Marlon Samuels is arguably the most talented batsman to emerge out of the West Indies in recent times. He is very stylish but adds a lot of substance along with it because of the talent he possesses – the perfect package whether you are a marketing man, a general fan or a purist who likes to see quality out there on the field.

At 26, Samuels can be termed an under achiever. He will play the most beautiful shots and deceive you into believing that you are in for watching some thing special before getting himself out. The test and one day averages of 28 and 30 respectively do not do his talent justice. In this, he has been following the path of V.V.S. Laxman and Carl Hooper.

However the good part is that he has time on his hand and seems to have finally turned the corner. The 63 off 70 balls in the inaugral world cup match was not out of the blue. In the 2006/07 season, Samuels has an average of 38 from 19 matches. It gets better if we consider only 2007 – an average of 51 from 5 matches which includes 3 fifties.

Crisis brings out the best in the mentally strong characters and the match fixing cloud may be a trigger for him to do greater things. With the likes of Bravo and Dinesh Ramdin, Samuels represents a core group of young cricketers who make you feel optimistic regarding West Indies cricket. They seem to have a fire in the belly which can transform the talented and gifted to performers on the world stage.

The world cup is just hours away. So what is the blogosphere and internet in general talking?

House of Honcho has a nice world cup preview.

If I had to get off the fence, Aus would be my pick to win, but at $3.20 on Betfair no thank you. I expect the South Africans to somehow stuff it up again, and if I didn’t have to take conditions into account, Sri Lanka is in my mind the main danger. India will leak too many runs in the field, and the remaining four teams who are all paying over $10 are a little over-priced as despite question marks over their consistency, all they have to do is win enough games to qualify for the semis and then win 2 games on the trot. Any of the eight sides can do that.

Vishnu on the other hand asks us not to forget the minnows, considering the past record. Given the number of matches minnows play this time, a few upsets are very much probable.

An astrologer thinks that India will play in the final.

Kalyan is clear regarding his expectations from the world cup and he explains them with strong reason:

I think if the team plays at it best and gets beaten by a better team (ala WC’03) and not panic (ala WC’96) – i would be smiling at the end of the WC campaign – WC in hand or not!

The world cup is being held in the West Indies but you would think it is being held in India if you look at the hype. A world cup road show is being held by google across India. Google also has the world cup venues in google earth.

As a cricket fan, I am hoping that the West Indies reach at least the semis and the world cup heralds a new era for them. I do think that they have the team to be able to reach the semis as well if they play to their potential. Rahul Bhattacharya says it best – rally round the West Indies.

I was thinking that Pakistan has a very good chance this year –good bowlers, very good batsmen, good depth in the XI, Bob Woolmer and a track record of doing quite well in the world cups in recent times if they do not run into India. However, this was before Asif and Akhtar found themselves out of the tournament.

Coming to the actual tournament, round 1 matches versus the minnows are very much like the warm up matches which precede them. Given that the world cup will carry on for nearly 2 months and we will see a marathon of matches, the semi finalists will in all likelihood be those who deserve their spot. My semi finalists, in order – Australia, South Africa, India and West Indies.

Semi-finals –

Australia over West Indies;
South Africa over India

Finals –

Australia over South Africa.

Given the unpredictability of the one day game, the cliché – ‘any of the top 8 teams can reach the semis is very true.

It will be an unprecedented and a huge accomplishment, even by Australian standards, if they do manage to win the world cup for a third consecutive time. The West Indies couldn’t do it in 1983 when they were thwarted by India the current era where one day cricket is more understood by the teams compared to the 70s and 80s, and the game is more competitive on the whole, it would be a much bigger achievement.

Where individuals are concerned, I am looking at Nathan Bracken and Sourav Ganguly to have huge world cups. Bracken has been nothing short of exceptional for Australia in the last few seasons. However, 2007 has been below par for him and he will look to reverse that. Ganguly, on the other hand, has had a tough last couple of years for various reasons. With the 2007 world cup, in all likelihood to be his last, he will look to go out gloriously.

However, given out of the blue performers in the world cup, be it teams (India in ‘83, Pakistan in ‘92, Sri Lanka in ‘96) or players (Gary Gilmour, Geoff Allott), I am not very sure how any prediction can be made with a lot of conviction. So take the above predictions with spoonfulls of salt.

Now, who do you think will win the world cup?

Picture taken by Smither Jones.