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Meanwhile The West Indies have just been bowled out, failing even to get the bonus point. At least the race for a place in the finals is really tight, with Pakistan just a couple of points ahead. There's just not stopping Australia though, is there. A couple of us were walking by the score in the morning (in office), and we noticed the Aussies was 38/4. Oh well, they're still going to win. It was hardly a thought that they might lose. Their ability to comeback from absolutely anything and anywhere is amazing.

Bangladesh has fought back in the series. It is still alive at 2-1 for the Zims, but it is true- their perfomances are not getting the sort of importance they deserve. Something you can't say about the English. Their hopes of winning their first Ashes in gazillion years are alive and well... at least in their minds. Stuey McGill has a good chance of making it there, it would seem- while he shall stay back at home for the series across the Tasman. I came across quite an interesting fact today- the only Test series win the Kiwis have against their neghbours- home or away- is in 89-90, and that too was a one-off! And they have not won against the Aussies for almost 13 years now.

I may have missed it, but the venues for the Ind-Pak series seem to have been finalised- for now, at least. Delhi loses yet another Test match because the Kotla ground is still not available. It was to be ready by April last year but, like I blogged earlier, the Delhi wise men seem to have other priorities. So another Test goes to Bangalore, not a happy hunting gound for India by any stretch. And a particularly acceptable one for Pakistan. Ahmedabad is not being highly reccommended to the PCB, so lets wait on that one too.

at the Laver Arena...

Getting to see much more of the Australian Open this time around. I think it might have a little something to do with my surroundings...!
Nalbandian has made the beginnings of an improbable fightback, winning the 3rd set 6-1. Hewitt, I find, is so often unpopular (outside of Australia and away from Australians, of course)- much like, though not as consistently, as the Williams sisters. The winner here heads for Marat Safin, while an anti climatic quarter final yesterday ensured that the top seed would play Marat Safin in the other semi final. Federer- Agassi should really have been nothing short of a semi final, though in hindsight you could say it would have made for a boring penultimate round. I guess I like the both of them, so I would rather both made it closer to the final stages, but not at the expense of the other. Federer actually said that Agassi was the better man from the baseline...

Dull?

Never a dull moment.
The Sena is already whining about Pakistan playing in Delhi (pray why are you only making a big deal of them playing in Delhi and not elsewhere?).
The PCB threatens legal action claiming the whole 'Pakistani cricketer raped an Australian' bit was the figment of some Aussie imagination.

Meanwhile, South Africa and England continue their good series. Already ( though I dont know what the South African press or public's take on this is), I believe South Africa have redeemed themselves much better than was expected of them. With rain playing spoilsport, a 2-1 scoreline won't be such a bad one, while 3-1 will be very disappointing yet not disastrous (though in keeping with what I predicted!)

Stephen Fleming- what happened to him??? I did not see the innings, but his thrashing of a bowling attack that included Warne and Murali sounds like an absolute stunner. What a pity it dos not have ODI status (and why should it). I guess this was not an ICC recognised XI, and that is meant to explain why it is not 'official'. Spare me...I just do not agree with this.

I do miss the surfeit of cricket on TV though- there is none here in Singapore, and though I work at ESPN StarSports now, weekends are still strangely empty.

Afresh

2pm, IST (but then...)
For all those unlikely souls in cyberspace who are still visiting this depressingly untouched blog, it is alive!
I am alive. Alive, and well, if a bit disoriented. The last few weeks have been times for major upheaval, which should explain the unexplained absence from the 'blogging scene'. I have missed writing on cricket, to be honest, but after the chaos that everyday has been, I just did not have the energy left to write anymore!
Now to the said chaos and upheaval: I now write this from a good 4000km away from my home of 26 years. I have moved to Singapore with work.
So: 4.30pm MyTime
Its been a crazy time, and lots of exciting things are in prospect, and in action already. I will not be with News (the most identifiable face of the channel) but will be handling Promos- and initially, I suspect they will be lots of cricket promos!
So thats been the craziness- moving countries is no small affair, and the hard work has only just begun.
Meanwhile, the Eng SA series has been great- far more riveting thatn I expected, though it always promised to be interesting. Only Pak-WI matches hold interest, and I missed the Akmal century. I was mighty impressed with the response and the organisation surrounding the Tsunami Appeal match in Melbourne, and singularly unimpressed with the decision to award it ODI status. Made no sense to me whatsoever. With many statisticians having refused to add these figures to their records, its all a mess right now.
The BCCI mess, meanwhile, is a bit better off than its woeful state in recent times. The President thing is sorted out (for now), but the telecast wrangle seems endless. The Board has finally fixed on venues for the Pakistan tour, and inevitably two are withink striking distance for me to have attended till only a couple of days ago!
Sigh...thats life.
On that note, I shall sign off. Enough faff for the first day at work; but I certainly hope there is some regularity that creeps back in to this blog- though I dont expect the frequency that feelancing allowed!

who is this guy anyway?

-A- (or 'shakester') is rather fickle and indecisive. He very often has ten things to write about, but eventually posts on an eleventh. He thinks a lot but rarely writes as much on the game he so loves.

He is also slightly schizo, as is evidenced in the other blogs he writes at. In one, he co-exists with his better half, D. There they write about their (now not so new) life in Singapore, food, beer, whisky, movies, books, the city they have moved to, and other miscellaneous ramblings and rants. In another, he writes on the places he wishes to travel to, the places he researches about and the places he (they) actually do visit (what he’s trying to say is, it’s a travel blog).

Shakester also has the ability to say in 20 words that he can say in 10. Erm, you might have glimpsed that in this paragraph.

what, another cricket blog?

No view of cricket is more convenient than the one from the living room. Or the other parallels- the couch, the bedroom, the PC, the pub. This is that view, which basically amounts to an easy way of saying I could talk about anything and everything cricket. I could pontificate, react, wonder, vent, ideate, hope and ramble.
How is that different from the thousands of sports fans who, it sometimes seems, follow their game only to be able to do the above? Its not.

Hopefully what I write will be, though. And if not different, at the very least interesting/ informing/ curious/ heartfelt.

Gentlemen, lets play.