Shane

Some wonderful articles on Warne around.

They are an odd yet understandable mixture of condemnation and sympathy, admiration and disappointment- much like his life graph has been. As has been the demanding and confusing task of being a Shane Warne fan. One cannot (I, for one) help but admire his greatness when he has a cricket ball in his hand. Off the field, he demands to be cherished, but insists on doing everything he can to make it tough as hell to unequivocally admire him. A fan must, with every statement on his love for the cricketer, add the caveat that his non cricketing deeds are overwhelmed by his bowling achievements. The rare fan might admit to being further attracted by his rogueish deeds, but I suspect a lot of us- given a favourable disposition towards the man courtesy his talent- are entertained by the crazy lifestyle he leads. The power of his cricketing deeds is such that it is easy to find people who are so mesmerized by his genius that they can ignore his ‘social’ transgressions- in fact, be further enchanted by them.

At the most basic level, however, there will always remain the admiration. At this point, it is hard to be unsympathetic. This is a man who has captivated us all many a time-if not all the time- and to have him go through an obviously distressing time in his life cannot be anything but…well, distressing. What will be interesting is how he handles it all. From his track record, you can almost surely expect a fightback (in the larger sense of his life, translating onto the cricket field), though I suppose one must not underestimate the wrench that marriage breaking up can be.

Some excerpts:

from Peter Roebuck's lovely piece

Genius allows a man to inhabit a fanciful world of permanent adolescence. On the field the genius can write his own script. Off it, the magic is lost.

Malcom Conn, with a few anecdotes, on Warne's failings.

Cricket's most successful bowler believes he is constantly attacked by dark forces summoned to persecute him. For Warne lives in a simple world of simple pleasures. There is light and dark, good and evil, black and white.

Trevor Marshallsea on the man who looks for love-too much, and in the wrong places.

What the separation will achieve - apart from peace and quiet for his wife - will be to reinforce the disappointment for so many Australian cricket fans who would so dearly like to love him. The irony is that Warne, insecure despite his achievements, dearly wants to be loved. Sometimes a little too much, as the scandal sheets reveal.

Pints / preachers

The fact remains that sportsmen and alcohol are hardly strangers in the night, and most of the game's mythical booze-ups have involved Australian cricketers. And while such binges are far less common in the new professional era, you'll still spot the odd cricketer at the bar on an evening off, just as you might spy a doctor, journalist or accountant

An excellent perspective on the Symonds affair.

Just when normalcy returned...

Just when things were getting back to normal on the pitch, the ICC figured they had to go and throw the proverbial spanner. The new regulations, if nothing else, are interesting (what a nicely neutral word), and if they do truly start as early as the Natwest Challenge (which I wish they do), we could have some interesting times debating and analysing all of this stuff.

My views on this soon, I hope. For now work consumes, and it is at these times you wonder and marvel at the passion of these people who blog so committedly (not to mention excellently). Of course, most things are not free, and if you have never been (which is well nigh impossible) to Will's site, go there now, and see if you can help the blog out.

Solkar

Indian all rounder of the 70s, Eknath Solkar, has passed away. Most (and definitely this generation) knew him as an outstanding close in catcher (he took 53 in a mere 27 tests), to whom, ineed, many of the spin quartet's scalps can be attributed.

Remembrances here, here and many here.

transition worries

Harsha Bhogle believes that the Australian team goes beyond a couple of losses, but wonders- like many of us- if the transition from the older members of the team to new ones is precariously close to being out of hand.

They will be hoping to stagger the release of their older generation a little better this time. If they wait till the World Cup of 2007, and that in itself might be an optimistic date, they run the risk of having to use a broom.

Mohd Ashraful, fresh from his heroics in the Natwest Series, has credited his time in the Indian domestic setup for honing his skills. Also, SauravGanguly's words seem to have done some good.

Ashraful believes that his batting has become more aggressive due to three reasons: the confidence he gained during his stay in India, the huge expectations back home and, most importantly, his long chat with Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly this year.

5th ODI

> They're back. Believe me, they are.

> This is such slow, attritional stuff. But not the kind you savour in Test match cricket.

> So England are bowling, Vaughan is out, and Symonds and Lee are back. But, um, why is Clarke left out? Any injury? dropped?

age

There is no doubt that this is an ageing, but far from aged, team.

Very well put, in Jim Maxwell's as yet disappointing blog.
I just get the feeling, though, their age will be a hot topic once we are done with this series, irrespective of where the urn travels.

ODI priority?

R Mohan in the Deccan Chronicle is wondering why there is no humour discovered in the Aussie slip ups. For himself he only has this to offer

The better jokes actually came out of the opening of the Shane Warne portrait at Lord’s, when the news was let out of the bag that the artist may have retouched her work because the world’s leading Test wicket-taker was thought to have been portrayed too big Down Under.

...though he does ask a (strangely unconvinced) question about Warney:

I find this quite extraordinary that the world’s best bowler is not turning out for Australia in one-day cricket merely because he thinks he can stretch his multi-million dollar career by sticking to the Test arena, in which he is only 17 wickets away from a magical 600.Quite apart from the huge variety and options that he represents to a captain in the middle overs, his sheer attitude is something the Aussies could do with as they try to pick up the gauntlets after spending some time on the floor, punched by the world’s lowest rated one-day team.

Well, I am not debating (though we could) whether Warne will be an asset to the team or not. But what is "extraordinary" about him leaving the ODI arena? I think it is perfectly understandable, it is his choice, and there needn't be any questioning of the motives.

I am happy Lara, for one, is taking time off from tri-series next month. Seeing how his Test form is, can you blame him?

Sympathy

The Age suggests that there will be little sympathy for an Australian side that loses.
Leaders in any field always have those waiting for their fall, ready to pounce with unabashed glee and bask in the sunshine they have sorely missed, being in the shadows of the best.

Sure, it won’t be any different for this team.But what has been exciting about this last (“disgraceful”) week is that we can expect some good cricket.

We've been spoilt for a long time now. At any given time over the past dozen years there have been five or six all-time greats in the team.

I am not so sure. The number of (nearly) all time greats has not fallen drastically- whether they can perform at their best is the question (if, indeed, it is being asked yet)

Killer Chris

People perceive me as a bit of a gentle giant, but there is aggression in me. I quite enjoy hitting batsmen. I hit Ally Brown on the head against Surrey and that gave me quite a lot of pleasure.

How nice, Chris. We are officially scared now.
From a report where Derek Pringle ponders whether Vaughan missing out today's match is a bad thing or irrelevant.

Bond

This is good news, about Shane Bond. I did not realise tha he is 30 already, though. It doesn;t leave him with much time, which is a pity because he is pretty lethal, so good to watch.

inanity

The first- rather overwhelming- innings has just come to an end, and David Gower is speaking to one of the 2 centurions in the match, Paul Collingwood.

Was there a feeling, after their win against Australia the other day, to teach Bangladesh a few lessons?

Um, and you expected Collingwood to say "Yes, of course, David. That'll put them in their place, those impertinent brats!"

4th ODI

> So ok, they did not manage 400. Not even, 398. Strauss seemd to be tiring, and eventually missed out on carrying his bat by just the one ball. A good couple of overs at the end ensured the Bangladesh would not have an ignominous entry in the record books. As it is, conceding the second largest total ever in ODIs is embarassing enough.

> 350??? Ya right. 30 balls to go. 338. they are thinking of all kinds of records here.
(think of the time KP would have had here!)

>Mortaza is back into the attack with 8 overs to go. What a hopeless task he has in front of him. Will Collingwood get a hundred? Will they cross 350? How much down to earth can you be thrown back in a few hours?

> Trescothick and Strauss launched into the Bangladeshi medium pacers like they were waiting for this warm up match. Because that is what it is looking like. Despite Saturday, Ithink we have seen the last Bangladeshi victory for the summer. One can only hope the surge of beating Australia makes them perform well in whatsleft of their tour.

premature

A one-day cricketing dynasty, it seems, may be coming to an end.

Come now- premature, surely?

Can they handle victory?

John Buchanan after the famous weekend:

...we are now in new territory and, I say this tongue in cheek, England are in new territory, too. It will be interesting to see how they deal with that."

Its good to see he is looking to maintain the Aussie style of throwing everything back onto the Englishmen. I cannot wait for Thursday's match.
And, by the way, I think they can surely deal with victories. Whether they are allowed to keep winning, is quite another thing...but this England team looks nothing near wimpish.

Lists

It is time for some lists. Collingwood's catch has prompted a list of memorable catches. I can never forget Adam Bacher sending Sachin back when he was on a scintillating 169- that hurt. Yuvraj pulled of a ripper against Bangladesh last December, and Vasbert Drakes was pretty unbelievable against Canada in the WC 2003. Rhodes took enough stunners to be confused as to which one you are recalling.

Then there are a couple of lists of upsets here and here . Saturday's is the biggest for me (it is likeJordan-Karthikeyan winning in a face-off race with a Schumacher-Ferrari, which is what the farce last night almost was, by the way- the race, not the win), and Windies losing to Kenya in '96 is probably my first memory of a genuine upset.

And oh, Christopher Martin Jenkins is still reserved and calm about England's famous win, while calling it "the most embarrassing week of their [Australia's] cricket history", his advice is:

Hyperbole must be firmly resisted despite all Australia’s largely self-inflicted wounds and for all the excellence of England’s unified team performance. This was...a much-improved performance by Australia, especially in the field, where they have been so unusually fallible after their two months’ rest from cricket.

...and believing McGrath's bowling "superb" and Watson's "with a cool head" (um, remember his scrap with KP?). Unbelievably though, his unhyperbolic wariness still allows for this statement :

...if Harmison bowls as fast and rhythmically as he did yesterday, England will win the Ashes.

Oh well- the emphasis is mine- and why not. Read it here.

on KP

If I were an Englishman I'd like to whack some of these commentators. They don't, like all commentators(scroll down a bit in the linked post), believe in the mozzy concept. The way they were gushing about Pietersen's innings (while he still played it), was downright unnerving. He gave me no reason to think he'd get out, but they sure did. One that I recall off hand is this from Bob Willis:
"He won't get distracted, he is totally focussed".
That's an invitation for the curse, if ever there was one.

And the other thing I found...well, shall I say a little premature, was the
"these are shades of Viv Richards",
and this was repeated. Oh well, he looked absolutely fantastic yesterday, but that might be a bit much, don't you think?

It would seem otherwise. Mark Nicholas, for one, does not think so.

Of all the cricketers to have illuminated one-day cricket only Viv Richards might have done such a thing, or, at a pinch, Clive Lloyd and Adam Gilchrist.

(Um, There was this guy called klusener I remember, for one)
Again, I think the innings was absolutely breathtaking in its precision and dominance, but slow down guys, slow down with the praise-showering. Nicholas continues:

He hits the ball murderously hard, favours the same leg-side quarters as Sir Vivian but is able to smack the thing down the ground with such venom that fielders barely move a muscle in self-defence, never mind boundary protection.

Please Do Not take the name of someone who is this young in the same breath as Sir Vivian. If not for anything else, for Pietersen's sake.
The thrust of his column though, is pertinent as hell- Australia seem to have lost that aura.

To beat the Australians this weekend an opponent had simply to play better than them. This is easier said than done of course, against such wonderful cricketers, but previously there was baggage to deal with, brought about by the juggernaut of self-assurance that rolls into town with them.

Now work beckons. Though this work, I have been extremely happy to do, surrounded by images and sounds of the Natwest series.

>breathtaking

>2 fours in a row, solanki is run out an they still need 39 to win. 3 wickets in hand.
If nothing else, surely spanking Australian bowlers around the park will give Pietersen a place all his own in the hearts of English fans.....

>Pietresen 43 off 43 balls.
England require 56 of 63.
Make that bloody 51 to the two toned big hitter
and 48 needed off 48
er- 44 of 47...am off to soak it all up

>34/0. 6 overs. a couple of sixes.
normal sericve resumes?

this is exciting stuff

whatever Australia make, though, England will fancy their chances...and more significantly, I doubt Australia will be fully confident of defending it.

oh, my holy...

Oh My God.

49.1 Gillespie to Aftab Ahmed, SIX, slower ball, Aftab picks it up and
       swings it over the midwicket fence.

7 needed off the last over. This is insane stuff.

McGrath to Mohammad Ashraful, one run, 100! for Ashraful.
There you go Will, a hundred for your sportsman's bet...

Bangladesh require another 28 runs with 6 wickets and 22 balls remaining

selling paper

Why would a supposedly leading newspaper like HT print such tripe?
My earlier thoughts on this non- issue are here, when I thought it was unecessarily blown out of proportion to make a nifty headline.

question time

From an interview of Bennet King in the Trinidad Express.

GW: Let's say in a year or two time, there hasn't been significant improvement in the way the team plays, would you consider changing jobs?
BK: What sort of question is that? (Offended by question)...

What is the answer he expected? "Yes, I will be sick of these non performing fools and I will leave them", or "I shall remain here until the end of my days, supporting the players I have grown to love as my own sons"

No, really please tell me what the heck sort of question is that to ask?
via

his mouth is his

As Chappell stressed on the need for the Indian team to focus, one journalist asked him whether the side had earlier lacked it.

"Don't put words in my mouth", Chappell said

I like it

Harsha on Lara

Some of my musings on Lara's recent form are better articulated by Mr.Bhogle:

There seems a new freedom now in Lara’s mind. The conflicts of a brilliant but slightly wayward youth appear to have been erased, the responsibility that seems to replace a smile with a scowl seems easily handled now

and he wonders how Lara shall feel at the end of his glittering (individual) career:

Allan Border and Steve Waugh, two that still stand ahead of him, weren’t quite as gifted, they were like forts to Lara’s horseman, but they played in winning teams. When the record is his, and his alone, even if for the moment, and Lara takes off those dancing shoes, he will ask himself what he would have preferred.

any loss is hard to swallow

A wrap up of the Aussie media's slamming of the team performances, while McGrath is getting tiresome in his verbal attacks. They're just too jaded, Glenn.

Graeme Smith thinks the English can give as good as they get, but he also said a few days ago he believes the Aussies will keep the urn.

concern

So Ranbir Mahendra is concerned about Saurav Ganguly's form? And, um, why shouldn't he be? Its not like he has things like professionalism in the BCCI, television rights or accountability to worry about.

What is really scary, though, is Adam Gilchrist at the crease, if you were to go with the opinion of 26 international bowlers.

MM

Talking of Mike Marqusee, he has a blog. An insightful article there that was recently published in Wisden Asia Cricket (which I miss severely) about his experience watching the deciding test match between India and Pakistan in Bangalore, with thoughts like these:

The economic deregulation of the last 15 years has fostered a cult of success – a non-stop media-promoted celebration of winners. And what many Indians now seem to want from cricket is principally a steady supply of winners, and above all a winning national team. Of course, all fans want their team to win, but dedicated sports fans retain their interest in the game, and their affection for the players, even in defeat.

and also one on Mohali

In England, banners, flags, placards, drums, whistles and klaxons are all banned from Test grounds. Here in India, they’ re essential cricket-watching accoutrements, and they help endow a day at the Test with a wonderfully festive vibrancy. The din is incessant, and prolonged and repeated exposure to an Indian cricket crowd could result in a severe case of tintinitis (the vibrating eardrum syndrome suffered by veteran rock musicians).

Thanks for the pointer, scott.

a perfect series

Mike Marqusee too is looking forward to the Ashes in an interesting article about cricket following in England that salivates at the prospect of the summer thus:

The real excitement...lies in the chance to enjoy a close-fought seesaw contest showcasing skill, sweat and inspiration. Like an ample 19th-century novel, the 12-week Australia-England showdown promises plot and subplot, major and minor characters, a wealth of incident and (if we're lucky) a result that is unpredictable yet somehow just, and in genuine doubt until stumps are drawn on the last day of the final Test at the Oval in September.

He's just described the near perfect series (like this one), but if we get 60% of that I will be thrilled.

Oh my- an update

update: Oh well, the Australians do lose tour matches. They lost in 2001 to Middlesex and in 1997 to Worcester.

Should we temper down the chatter, then? Umm, am not sure- they have still been beaten spectacularly in both matches, and it is this manner of loss that is making us raise questions. First, the batsmen were crushed, and while they are probably satisfied from yesterday,:

There was a worrying sloppiness about the Australians in the field. There were also a shaming number of misfields, culminating in costly slips by Glenn McGrath and Simon Katich on an outfield left greasy by rain.

Thus reported The Telegraph, one of the main reasons for Ponting's anger and embarassment. Meanwhile, though I don't believe this loss is completely inconsequential, the Stumpcam wants all these pointless matches to get out of the way. That's right- bring on the real stuff now! Meanwhile, Warne has his own kind of preparation going on.

Oh my

Oh my.
This is very interesting indeed. Cricinfo refused to load up last night, and here I am now, reading how the mighty-aspiring for invincibility- nothing can hurt us- Australians have been humbled in a tour match, and how. My thoughts are tingling at the prospect that there could actually be some nerves in this team touring the old rivals. Could there? Are the Australians a little edgy coming into this tour? Am I getting as carried away as I believed some other were a couple of days ago?

I think not. My money would still be on the Aussies to retain the Ashes, but that is not the point here. The Australians do not stumble, period. They do not lose even the most insignificant of matches. And they definitely do not lose to county sides in warm up One Day matches. That too, after piling up 342 - three hundred and forty two runs. So what is happening here?
I don't think we can condemn the batsmen retiring after getting in- the idea was to make sure everyone got into some sort of knick. It could, but doesn't, smack of arrogance- after all, they did end up piling on the runs. Yet a bowling attack with McGrath, Lee and Kasprowicz could not restrict the Somerset batting lineup.
Leave aside all the analysis. This one must really be hurting. And these guys are not familiar with this kind of pain.

Kumble & the wave

Hmm, now this I did not know. Don't remember reading about Kumble and the tsunami at all...

"I was at the reception, totally ignorant about what had happened. Our cottage was about 60 metres from the beach and it did get affected, so I consider myself very lucky. It wasn't until we got home and turned on our TV that we realised the full extent of what had happened."

I saw Sky having a chat with him during the match, but by the time I had turned the volume up I had missed most of what he said (now here).

'Warne to cricket fan', no more

The Tsunami match is just getting underway, with Lara leading his team on to bowl to Fleming and Gayle.
But there has been a revelation that is terribly putting off. The great spectacle that some poor/lucky bloke was going to make of himself by facing Shane Warne out in the middle during the innings break, is not happenng anymore. The guy who bid a reported 50,000 pounds to have this honour, it turns out, was a hoaxer.

What a little sh**t.

Read on, gnat

Will you be able to reach the end of this sentence and still actually care what it is that the sentence is trying to say?
Unlikely, if you're from this generation-because you probably have the "attention span of a gnat". Thus opines Martin Johnson while writing about slow death from the frenzy of modern cricket.

Like this on Twenty-20:

It's a bit like cutting straight to the Duckworth-Lewis revised target, but without having to huddle under an umbrella, or watch the motorised whale doing its stuff on the outfield

Or this about changing spectator attitudes:

There was a county match at Old Trafford in the Sixties, with Harry Pilling of Lancashire studiously blocking away on eight not out, when a purple-faced occupant of the members' enclosure threw down his newspaper and shouted: "Bloody hell, Pilling. You're still eight not out in the Manchester Evening News!" Nowadays, if no one's hit a six before 10 past 11, you're more likely to hear a cry of "'ave a go, yer mug!"

Link (free registration required)

Twenty-20

Irrespective of the status of the game (none, really), and irrespective of what this means to the teams per se (very little), 'England beat Australia' has one crucial element that ensures Australia are not going to steamroll the excitement just yet. That element is 'beat'.

So it doesn't matter (surely not to an England supporter) that this match has little bearing, technically, on the rest of the summer. It deifnitely doesn't matter to me. As I see it (I'd like to believe relatively objectively), this adds to the hype, lets us feed off the possibility that Englanda could challenge Australia this season, and we could get to see some hard fought cricket.

Views from all three sides of the fence:
Will is understandably elated, but tries to temper it with some normalcy.
The stumpcam seems more balanced, and the new Ashes blog (which is good stuff if you want to follow this season closely) seems unconvinced that this is a sign Australia's form, but more of its initial lethargy.The gameboys call it a real hiding but end off on a realistic note, while the pundits maintain their silence. Wake up, gentlemen, the summer is upon us!

update: Andrew Miller's unabashed joy is apparent, but what is disturbing is that he seems to think Australia are really in for it this summer. A sample of some of the terms he uses: Exhilirating, , wildest fantasies, extraordinary, and most notably 'surpass all expectation' (that England could well do so) . Over the top? You bet. This is a particularly flippant part:

Forget all the pretence that this performance will count for nothing when the real event gets underway on July 21. England were victorious in their last Test against Australia in 2002-03; they won magnificently over 50 overs in last summer's Champions' Trophy, and now they taken a howitzer to the popgun variety of the game as well. If the secret in Test cricket is to win every session, then Australia have just put in a 34.3-over performance that would have shamed Bangladesh.

Easy does it. Crush Australia similarly in the Natwest Series, and we might be seeing a really driven side. Ponting, of course, plays it down as just an ordinary day that will have little effect on either side.

Shonar Bangla!

Bashar and his boys finally have something to smile about- an actual win. It's not bad at all actually, even if it was not against the best Worcester side possible. A tour win in England still counts for much. Whether, as this bulletin puts it, it could be a turning point for them in this tour, I don't know. Will the (only slight, surely) confidence gained from this take them to an ODI win against Australia or England? I don't think so. Maybe though, just maybe, they could not fall apart as spectacularly in the Natwest Series as in the Tests.

Warne

Atherton has written a piece on Shane Warne, and it makes for interesting reading.

I always felt in a battle against not only a great bowler but a dominant personality as well. The pause and gather at the end of his mark; the slow, measured run-up, the ball dancing to his tune, the inevitable stare once the ball was dead, the knowing smile whether it had gone for four or none, and a well-chosen word or two were all designed to give the impression that it was the bowler who was in control.

This truly is such an integral part of the Shane Warne performance- and it looks to me like that attitude is what the painting at Lord's has captured the best.

The one area where Warne is still incomparable is what I would call his cricketing craft. He is simply the smartest bowler I ever played against, and is still the smartest around. As his physical powers decline, and his genius fades, it is his knowledge, his nous, his competitive instincts and his ability to work out a batsman quicker than anyone else that are keeping his ageing body ahead of the pack.

And this is something I have loved to watch. It is the reason i will come back after ad breaks or other distractions, even if I have missed the other bowler's over in a not so interesting match- to watch Warnre bowl with that glint in his eye. Many years ago, when my interest in cricket turned into some sort of passion, I started admiring Warne. None of that has diminished. It has been complicated by his so called misdemeanours, accentuated by his steely resolve, confounded by his maverick tendencies, but always, deepened by his undying craft.

in a hut...

and we worry that the Windies may not have their stadiums ready in time?
Learn from the Germans, I say!

The India Room, and Sachin

So The Oval is going to have a new stand with an 'India Room' ( to be inagurated by Sachin). Interesting.

It will seat about 160 people, but 160 very rich people I am sure ("well heeled expats" as the report offers). I am interested as to what memorabilia they are going to have there, and what are the technicalities of the 'India Room'- will it accommodate only Indians? (Maybe Will would know)

If you have gone and read the above Telegraph report , you would have read this about Sachin Tendulkar:

Speaking from his Mumbai residence on Wednesday evening, he added: “I realise a role awaits me both at Lord’s and The Oval, but I would have gone even if I had nothing to do. It’s about supporting a cause.” Of course.

Can someone please explain to me what this 'of course' means? Is it, unbelievably, a dig at Sachin? If it is, it's ridiculous, and if it not, it is redundant in the context.

And talking of pointlessness, what is the need for this, in the footnote of the same report:

Sachin hasn’t exactly been following international cricket for the past few weeks, but is aware that Brian Lara is fast catching up. The West Indian had 26 Test hundreds when Sachin got the world record-equalling 34th last December. Since then, Lara has added four to be only four adrift…

The 'hasn't exactly been following...but is aware' (er, well, what do you think?), and the '...' at the end, trying to create a sense of competition...ooohh, I'm all excited now.

Pointless...

...and, awake (on Lara)

Continuing from my previous post, which was a beginning to these thoughts:
Brian Lara’s batting has been sheer magic. It does not seem to matter that the team is crumbling around him (less so, of course, in the Pakistan series), or that age is rapidly demanding some respect. With a typical flash of the blade as his only salutation, Lara is asking age and all other constraints to kindly take a walk, and let him do his what he does best (score boundaries and hundreds).

I find the Fourth Umpire has this to say about Lara’s recent performances:

...what's really startling about this phase of the Brian Lara story is his incredible, almost Bradman-esque consistency. To rack up 3246 runs at 70.57; to score 12 centuries and nine 50s in 27 Tests -- it's an incredible, and incredibly long, run of consistent success.What makes it even more remarkable is the fact that Lara has bucked the trend, and scored these runs as part of a team that has consistently lost almost everything it has played during this period-- how easy can it have been to go out there, innings after innings, and perform in the company of mediocrity.

The question to be asked here is this- the man is now 36 years old. That’s not exactly the prime, even for a bastman (though that was not exactly a question either, but a statement); and while I am not asking for him to suffer a terrible slump and fade away ignominiously, it would be a tad more normal for him just play, well normally. Instead, he is batting like a man possessed, a man who knows that time, despite his overflowing talent, is running short; a man who either has (yet again?) a point to prove, or a man who has no points anymore, only accomplishments. So what’s the secret of his sudden burst of performance?

Secondly, is this despite the team’s mediocrity or because of it? Is he inspired to salvage some pride for his team, or is he scoring by not caring about the burden of team failure that is constantly on him? Is he, in fact, as is being talked about,(and claimed by the likes of Ridley Jacobs and only bothered about his own achievements, now that it seems to late/ too pointless to try and resurrect his team?

Lastly, where would such a discussion/thought process leave Sachin? Most Sachin supporters (and even those who don’t like him too much) have at some point or the other understood that he performed, through the first half- and more-of his career, despite his team. He has always had to shoulder the burden of lifting India from inconsistency and mediocrity. Whether he has done so or not (which is the cause for much debate, needless to say) is not the point here. What is, is how Lara’s recent (ageing) upward trend compares to Sachin’s recent dull phase. ( I say dull because statistically his consistency is still pretty darned good. Except we all know that some spark is missing-if only seen occasionally), and that he too needs a serious shoot upwards in form and performance to finish (ouch!) his career on a high that goes along with his 1989 talent.

As you can see (if you have go this far) this post is pretty unstructured and random. My idea is not to make a statement. I would like to throw up this question, though, and hopefully the teeming masses who read this blog (ahem) might have some answers or views.

sleep tonight, blog tomorrow

Ok. So Brian Lara has gone past the Don, and that is as it was always going to be. Nothing stunning about that. But just look at the way the man is performing off late! This in the middle of his team messing up pretty much anything they tried their hand at, issues regarding him being a team player, losing his captaincy...not to mention the fact that he is not exactly getting any younger.

So how crucial is age in performance. Or is focus, intensity, awareness of the role in the team...is it any of these that is more crucial.
It's late. I must blog on this tomorrow, by when of course, thoughts on this that are brimming in the head would have stuck their thumb out and hitch-hiked their way to some obscure sphere of thought.

bluey

So there you have it. I have been thinkin about it for long, though how this thought process is relevant to you, is your guess.
Umm, I mean I have changed the look. To go with it's freshness is the hope that some of the writing habit will return as well.

Fitness

"Everyone is better than me at something so I have got to stay ahead somehow"
There's an admission, and a show of positive attitude if ever there was one. Who would have thought- Hogg, the fittest in the team.
and WHO would have thought- Buchanan, age 52, fitter than Bracken and MacGill!

Interesting.
Who are likely to be the fittest in their respective teams? My immediate, unpondered-on guesses:

India- Kaif (I think this was specifically mentioned at some point)
Pakistan- Afridi
Sri Lanka- Sangakarra?
Bangladesh- Dav Whatmore ( he can play cricket, the first criterion)
New Zealand- Shane Bond. er, I mean Oram, um-Tuffey...no, Cairns. um make that....Styris?
South Africa: Ntini
Windies: Bravo?
England: could it be Flintoff is the fittest when fit?
Zimbabwe: The one who runs out fastest at the recess bell in school

Glare strips

So we now have Internet evidence of why the already stunning (looking) Chanderpaul further glamourises himself with the riveting marks under his eyes.
Yes, along with his charmingly odd walk, exquisite strokeplay, skillful bale-hammering and terribly appealing spitting, he is now second only to Mandira Bedi in the looks stakes. Sorry, Roshni Chopra.

link via ramanand