Weekend, & one-dayers

What a weekend.
Schumacher manages a podium though Alonso still wins and Raikonnen comes in second after starting the 13th position on the grid. But I could hardly be concerned with F1, the number of other things that were happening. The Championships in its final three days, with classic matches in the women’s half as Venus won. Federer is walking on another plane these days. Beating top seeds in the semis and finals, that too in straight sets. The man seems absolutely unmatchable. To crown the tournament (for Indians), Mahesh Bhupathi and Mary Pierce won the mixed doubles late last night. If that was not enough, Saturday was consumed by the Live8 concert, a marvel of conceptualisation and execution.

That it coincided with one of the most amazing matches in recent cricket history, is quite another story, which has been well documented in many places. Suffice it to say that these are the times when doubts are spectacularly dispelled for the disbelievers in cricket’s ability to excite, unnerve and overwhelm in equal measure; and for those who are unsure about following cricket not involving their own nation. This was a game for anyone, anywhere who knows what cricket is. Simply brilliant.

There is some irony in all of this though. In the weeks immediately preceding the introduction of ICC’s new experiments in ODI cricket, the cricket world has gotten to see some exceptional cricket matches like this and this, even more so this and this. And this, of course, crowned a happily unpredictable tournament. But, in all their wisdom, the people in the know have brought in new rules. While I have been sitting with my backside comfortably parked across the ample surface area of this hotly debated fence, I doubt if anyone can debate that these new rules will, at the very least, be interesting. With every surge of resistance that I feel regarding the spirit of the game being violated, I cannot help but think about how the cricket world must have reacted to the advent of the shorter game, the use of a white(!) cricket ball, coloured clothing… I think it might be worth remembering that our first reaction is mostly always to resist change.
Let’s give this a chance- if we let ourselves, we might just enjoy this.