It’s not the umpire’s fault that the technology is better than the past. Also they travel an extra ordinary amount of time which doesn’t make their task easier. Blame the ICC for not implementing technology where its conclusive and the ICC for not appointing at least a few more umpires than they do currently. The ICC panel of umpires has gone down to 7 from 12 when it started off if I am not mistaken.

Make the job more lucrative and make their schedules less hectic.

Both type of players have their utility in a team. So just because player X scores faster than player Y, it wouldnt put him ahead in a test match.

Its a 5 day match and a team game and to build a score, a sheet anchor, anattacking player - all are useful.

A common arguement which people give to rate Ponting ahead of Dravid - in a scenario where quick runs are needed Ponting will be more useful - he is a far more attacking batsman with a higher strike rate.

1) Even in that scenario a Dravid at an end could be useful for the attacking players to pile the runs from the other end having the assurance of one player keeping an end safe.

2) There are scenrios where you have to play a defensive role (when encountering difficult weather conditions for instance where there is excessive swing, unfavourable conditions to pile the runs) and Dravid would be more useful there. Playing a defensive role in an inning or 2 sessions can contribute as much to a winning cause as an attacking inning.

It is too close to call but I would have Dravid because he adds solidity.

Here is wishing all the visitors to my blog a merry christmas and a happy new year.

I have had a busy schedule with business which may partially explain me not posting regularly.

Thanks for stopping by in 2005 and hope you will do the same in 2006!

Its more than 24 hours and I am still devastated and do not know how to react to it. Latino Heat will live on forever.

The laws are quite clear on this. The umpires have the final say on the pitch. Also if the conditions or the pitch, ground etc are not dangerous it is playable.

In a test match in India vs England play was stopped and the match abandoned because the ball was bouncing so awkwardly that it could cause serious damage to the English batsmen. Hussain was right to protest and the umpires were right to stop play.

But if the pitch is not dangerous, and its within the laws So what is the issue why so many English fans are disgruntled with the pitches provided to them.

A great team wins even in the most adverse of conditions.

It had nothing to suggest it is going to be what it ended up in. The Guyanese batted a few more overs since I last posted and it looked,, with 7 wickets in hand, that it is going to be a comfortable victory. Certainly the commentators were laughing that its all but over but any thing can happen in one day cricket, despite not believing there was any thing left in the match except the last rites.

A few more overs down and we come to the end of the 46th over. People kept getting out to rash shots. The situation thus came to 3 wickets in hand, 4 overs and more than 6 runs an over required.

To add to the drama of the situation it was extremely dark. Bulbs in the guest pavilion where the crowds sat could be seen quite distinctively. No lights offerred to the batsmen to the astonishment of the commentators.

The 46th over gone and 3 overs to go, it was a tie by D/L system (Guyana would have won on past record in the tournament) and yet no light offered despite the batsman trying to flick to the leg side on two consecutive balls on the off side.

The 48th over finishing, the commentators put their money on Barbados. Light finally offered to the batsmen but they of course did not take it because they were behind in D/L.

And Benn, the tallest left hand spinner I have ever seen, who was sensibly bowling flat balls till then, decided to give a ball some flight to experiment. Lo and behold - a six! Guyana ahead on D/L now.

The umpires offer lights. The Guyanese batsmen go off to the dismay of the Courtney Browne and other Barbados players!

Lokendra Pratap Sahi puts all the blame on Chappell and gives a clean chit to Ganguly. Little surprise there. What is even less surprising is that he has raised no apparent objectivity of his on the out burst of Ganguly to the media.

On the from page of the same newspaper, By the same Mr. Sahi, Chappell is compared to Fergusson and it is stated that:

It’s a fight, essentially, to occupy the one Big Boss chair in the Team India dressing room.

Also Ganguly is painted as a rose boy waiting till meeting BCCI officials before telling all. Really again I ask, why did Ganguly open his mouth initially in Zimbabwe if he was so goody-goody.

The article goes on:

The e-mail was sent after the first Test (Bulawayo) which is why Chappell didn’t nail Sourav for lack of form. He scored a hundred there.

Frankly, the coach’s accusations don’t exactly add up.

Really Mr. Sahi, it would be better if you stuck to journalism rather than making speculations.

The latest comments from Ganguly are irritating to say the least. Ganguly tries to draw the lines the crisis should be embroiled in by saying:

I don’t think the entire team should be dragged into this

This comes a two days after Tendulkar’s statement that it was wrong on Ganguly’s part that dressing room matters were told to the press. Why should team members not have a right to comment on an issue as important as the decision of a captain and a coach when their own captain has not been responsible enough to deal with a matter with the BCCI rather than make a media circus of it? Who is Ganguly to say team members should not drag themselves into it if they want to.

Also Ganguly remarks:

It was some statement made by the coach. It is between the coach and me and we have to sort it out.

Sorry but it was a statement made by you Mr. Ganguly which spilled the milk. The statement of Chappell was his opinion told in private to you. If you had qualms with his opinion you should have dealt with it in a better way. If you really felt it was to be sorted out between you and the coach, you should not have gone to the media in the first place.

It is important that the team does well regardless of whoever leads it or coaches it. The team is more important than individuals. We need to play good, hard cricket as we will be facing very good teams. We will be playing Sri Lanka at home, then tour Pakistan and play England at home before going to the West Indies. It is going to be tough and we need to get our act together.

Really are all these things required to be said. I doubt if its not a way of Ganguly trying to show he is very much a team man. Really shows his insecurity.

Add to all this, Sambit Bal gives a perspective on the timing of things. The timing of the remark made by Ganguly a few days before the AGM of the BCCI where Dalmiya faction was likely to lose. The leaking of the coach’s e-mail diverting the attention from the adjourning of the AGM.

All this leading to a Ganguly supporting Dalmiya faction organising an urgent meeting on the 27th of September to sort things out.

I watched more than six hours of good tennis live at the Sunfeast Open. I wanted to comment on the Uberoi sisters, Sprem and Myskina. The current scheme of things in Indian cricket had to clog my mind regretfully.

The gladiators of the sporting world continue to create their mark. England has won the Ashes and the cricketing world cannot get enough of talking about it. Kim Clijsters has won a slam finally. Andre Agassi has been denied by the indomitable Federer. The Champions league has begun and I am happy Barca has managed to win its game.

Closer to home the Sunfeast Open WTA Tennis tournament will begin in Netaji Indoor Stadium right here in Calcutta on September 19th. I have the tickets for the last three days.

Will I be able to meet some of the stars? Keep track of sportolysis for my experiences from the tournament.

I watched the full match and was quite impressed by what I saw. I have always been a fan of the Mirza forehand but the back hand was not too bad either in the match. Mirza always hits a lot of winners but I did not expect her to hit so many versus Sharapova. The fact that she could match Shrapova for power, break her, take games into 40/deuce was over whelming as an Indian sport fan.

So how a score line of 6-2/6-1?

The thing called experience. Mirza was horrible on the second serve. She tried to play it safe after a fault and Sharapova would attack the weak second serve. Also, the unforced errors, though much lesser than the previous games, were a bit more that feasible to win games.

This are not huge errors and can be minimised. I definitely think now than Mirza is a top 10 player in the making. Mirza is going to play in the Sunfeast Open in Calcutta from September 19th. I will go ona weekday and on the finals Sunday for the tournament, which promises to be a treat for tennis fans.