January Round Up

It's been quite a while since my last post... and that's partly because the 2009 cricket season in Singapore kicked off on 10-Jan with the Twenty20 Championships (Clubs & Corporates). The weekends then whizzed away with full days being spent umpiring - 3 games a day. Weekdays were spent in making sure that all loose ends at work were tied up before I left for 2 weeks leave on 24-Jan. So here's the catch up on all the happenings in Jan.

• Rain was the real winner in the New Zealand vs West Indies ODI series, taking 2 out of the 5 games and forcing a Duckworth-Lewis result in 2 of the other 3. Officially, the hosts took the ODI series 2-1, finally providing a result after the Tests & T20s were shared. The win helped SA maintain their strong 4th position in the ICC ODI rankings.
• Sri Lanka & Zimbabwe joined hosts Bangladesh in a Tri-Nation series that went closer than what most would have expected. The hosts qualified for the finals by beating SL in their league match, and then fought tooth-and-nail before SL stumbled over the finish line with 2 wickets & 11 balls to spare. Young 21 year old Shakib Al Hasan was by far the player of the tournament scoring 153 runs @76.5, double the next highest run scorer (Jayasuriya with 76)
• Zimbabwe stayed on for a 3-ODI series against hosts Bangladesh which the hosts took rather convincingly at 2-1. With no great performances to talk about, and no real significance to the rest of the cricketing community, I shan't spend any more time on this series.
• Sri Lanka travelled to Pakistan where they beat the hosts 2-1 in the ODI section of their tour of the troubled nation. Dilshan top scored with 255 runs and Gul was the leading wicket-taker with 10 wickets. They will return for the Test series post the ODI series against India.
• India reached Sri Lanka and convincingly beat the hosts in Game 1. 4 ODIs and 1 T20 to go in this series. Game 2 is tomorrow, on 31-Jan.
  
• Zimbawe are in nearby Kenya for a 5-ODI series and lead 2-0 in the series.
  
• Australia's summer appeared to be heading upwards when they convincingly won both the T20s against South Africa. When the world #1 & world #2 shared the 1st 2 games, there were hopes abound that the series would go down to the wire, but the contenders ensured that Australia won no mental advantage ahead of the return series in South Africa by taking the ODI series 4-1 and with it, the title of ODI Team Number 1. Albie Morkel was awarded the Man of the Series for his all-round performance of 105 @52.50, 3 wickets & 2 catches. The final game on 30-Jan ended the almost-2-month-long tour dominated by South Africa who beat the hosts 2-1 in the Tests, lost 0-2 in T20s and won 4-1 in ODIs - clearly Australia has passed the baton on.
  
• England have landed in West Indies for a 70-day tour comprising 4 tests, 1 T20 and 5 ODIs; a good start winning their opening 3-day tour game by 217 runs.
• New Zealand have returned to Australia for the ODI leg of their tour, one that has started badly with a 6 wickets loss to NZ President's XI.

In IPL news, 111 foreign players will be available for the auction ahead of the 2nd edition of IPL. Key players include KP, Flintoff, Clarke, Haddin, Clark, Monty, Shakib, Duminy, Nel and Tharanga. However, poorly performing Australian captain Ponting has questioned if Aussie players should take part in the IPL at the risk of their national performance. The 1st 'transaction' of the transfer window saw Delhi Daredevils swap opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan with Mumbai Indians' bowler Ashish Nehra. The 2nd transfer saw Mumbai Indians' Uthappa swapped with Bangalore Royal Challengers' Zaheer Khan.

Sydney - similarities abound?

The 3rd Test between Australia and South Africa at Sydney Cricket Ground had amazing statistical similarities to the 1st Test. These stats were compiled by me at the start of Day 5; hence not really valid now, but still an interesting read I guess :P

                  | 1st Test | 3rd Test |
1st innings (Aus) |  375     |  445     |
2nd innings (SA)  |  281     |  327     |
== Lead   (Aus)   |   94     |  118     |
== Lead % (Aus)   |  25%     |  26%     |  (of 1st innings)
== Trail % (SA)   |  34%     |  36%     |  (of 2nd innings)
3rd innings (Aus) |  319     |  257/4d  |
== Target  (SA)   |  414     |  376     |
== Target / wicket|  41.4    |  41.7    |  (since SA only have 9 wickets in 3rd test)

As mentioned in the previous post, since Graeme Smith came out to bat with a broken hand, the last stat doesn't hold any more; just take it at it's face value and don't come at me swinging a cricket bat :P

This match also had remarkable similarities to the 2nd Test between Australia and India at the same venue at the same time last year.
Both matches were very important for Australia - last year the fight was on for glory as Australia tried to equal the world record of 16 Test wins on a trot; this year it was for pride as they hoped to bounce back from a 2-0 series loss and get themselves on the scoreboard.
Both games entered the final day with the visitors needing to bat out almost the entire day - last year Australia declared on Day 5 morning leaving India a rather unfanthomable target of 333 in about 2.5 sessions; this year South Africa went into the final day needing a further 314 runs with 9 wickets in hand.
Both games had some contentious umpiring decisions - last year on Day 1 of the test, Mark Benson gave Ricky Ponting 2 lives before Steve Bucknor gave a shocking life to Andrew Symonds when he was clearly caught behind (and I say 'clearly' because I was at the ground when it happened). More umpiring errors followed on Day 2 and then the final shockers on Day 5 - the 'catch' off the pad of Rahul Dravid and the controversial decision by Benson to take the Ponting's word on Saurav Ganguly's catch rather than refer to the 3rd umpire. This year, yet another close catch on the final day and Ponting puts his finger up when even his own bowler wasn't sure, replays showed some doubt, but Jacques Kallis was still given out. Later in the evening as the fight got even closer, Boucher was sent on his way with a shocker from Asoka de Silva.
Last year Australia got past the Indian rear-guard action with 7 balls left in the match. This year Australia got past the South African rear-guard action with 10 balls to spare.
The SCG surely is building up as a great venue for testing photo-finishes.

An Up-and-Down week

This week saw quite a bit of cricket... some rather one-sided, others extremely closely fought... some with exceptionally low scores, others with huge batting performances... Here's a quick round-up.

The 1st international of 2009 kicked off in Sydney with the hosts Australia looking for a consolation win and keep some of their pride. The visiting South African team had already won the series and were looking for a 3-0 whitewash to take the #1 position in the ICC test rankings. What a match this one turned out to be - Australia scored a mammoth 445 batting almost till tea on Day 2. South Africa suffered a major blow early in their innings as Smith was forced to retire hurt with a broken hand. Perhaps the effects of Melbourne lingered as the South Africans didn't look the same dominating team that had been on display a week prior, and they ended the 1st innings conceding a lead of 118 after Siddle took 5. The OZs (except Matty Hayden) had a gr8 2nd innings and Ponting once again showed signs of why the OZs have been so feared over the last few years. Leaving aside the pressure on himself & his team, Ponting declared extremely sportingly, risking it all for a chance to get on the board in this series. Set with a target of 376 in 116 overs, South Africa didn't start well with make-shift opener Morkel falling for a duck. The 1st 8 wickets fell at relatively regular intervals save for a 56 run 5th wicket partnership between SA find of the series Dumminy and deVilliers. But from 202/8 began the fight back. No one in their wildest dreams would have expected Steyn & Ntini to bat out the 25.5 overs required for the draw.... but bat they did, frustrating the OZs no end. Unfortunately, Steyn fell with 8.2 overs yet to play. Just when everyone thought it was all over, out walked the captain - injured elbow, broken finger and all. Odds were still pretty high on an OZ victory at that point, but Smith & Ntini managed to keep the OZs at bay for a further 7 overs, providing a nail-biting finish that saw the OZs win with just 10 balls to spare. Never mind the winners or the losers in this match... the real winner was Test match cricket.

Borrowing a from a Cricinfo article (and thanks to my friend Nichoo for sharing this with me), this line pretty much summed up the atmosphere when Smith walked out to bat against all odds:

They thought it was all over when Steyn was finally adjudged leg-before-wicket to Andrew McDonald following a 50 partnership. But then Smith crumpled his sick note, and the Members Pavilion roared - yes, roared rather than gasped, despite all Australians' desperation for a victory - as his unmistakably fulsome frame came into view, descending the stairs to the compelling conflict zone.

Pretty impressive that he came out to bat with a hurt elbow (albeit a carried injury) and a broken finger. The only more dominant image I have of resilience on the cricket ground is of one Mr. Anil Kumble a.k.a Jumbo walking out to bowl to against West Indies at Antigua with a broken jaw, bandaged face and all.

To be honest, with this game in the week, all other matches pretty much just make up the footer of the post. Normal service resumed in Bangaldesh as the hosts were trounced by Sri Lanka by a whopping margin of 465 runs with one full day to spare. If not for the 1st Test, this match would most definitely have reignited yet another round of "should Bangladesh be playing test cricket" debate, and in my opinion, they really shouldn't be. The competitive Bangladesh tests have been far too rare and far between in the last 9 years and 59 test matches. But, thats an argument for another day.

Over in New Zealand, West Indies beat the hosts in rain-affected ODI #2 taking a 1-0 lead in the series (1st ODI was washed out). WI would take gr8 pleasure from Sarwan's unbeaten 67 and know that their best chance of doing well in the rest of the series depends a lot on Sarwan & his form.
NZ bounced back in the 3rd ODI beating WI so comprehensively that the match was a complete bore to follow. Losing a match with 30 overs to spare must be a terrible disappointment for a young team like WI. NZ once again depended on captain & lead-bowler Vettori to pick 4 quick wickets and restrict the WI from getting any more than 128.

Back home in India, the 2008/09 Ranji Trophy Super League reached the semifinals stage where again there was a massively one-sided affair between Mumbai and Saurashtra; never mind the controversial BCCI playing condition that could have seen Mumbai lose the game despite scoring over 600 runs. The 2nd semifinal between Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh was almost as close as the Aus-SA test, with the game being decided only in the last hour of play. Tamil Nadu were just 2 wickets short in the end, and UP were carried home by a unbeaten 150 by Shivakanth Shukla. The finals between Mumbai & UP will be played in Hyderabad from the 12th.

In other news - Mohammad Asif (remember him?) still does not know if he can play cricket ever again, SCG went pink in support of the McGrath Foundation for breast cancer awareness, Sri Lanka are trying to get India to travel and have even split their Pakistan tour into 2 to accomodate India, the ECB has offered English players a clear opportunity to play in IPL, Pakistan for the 1st time in many years have some form of stability with Malik appointed captain for an 'indefinite period of time', England dive into instability as captain resigns and coach is sacked, and Hayden is given the boot from the ODI team.

And finally, the Cricinfo Awards 2008 nominees are out. Please vote for your favs.

IPL Idol

American Idol started it. UK Idol, Singapore Idol, Indian Idol continued it.

So You Think You Can Dance started a new phase of it. Nach Baliye and Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa were spawned from this series.

America's Next Top Model kicked off yet another another stream of reality television.

Now Shahrukh Khan brings them all together... The innovativeness of American Idol (with the uniqueness amongst peers),the dancing capabilities of So You Think You Can Dance, and the beauty-quotient of Next Top Model.

He brings to you - Kolkata Knightriders' Next Top Dancing Cheerleader!

Back to the playing field

The 1st international games of 2009 begin today. The somewhat traditional New Year's test at Sydney began today (03-Jan) a day later than usual - this is just the 6th time in the last 20 years that a SCG test did not begin on 02-Jan; and in 1995 it actually began on 01-Jan instead. In these 20 years, the SCG has seen 21 completed games (i.e. not including the one that started today) - Aus have won 12 of them, 9 (out of 11) since 2000 with just a single loss to England back in 2003. After last year's acrimonoues 2nd test against India with it's terrible umpiring decisions and the now infamous racism charges by Symonds against Bhajji. For perhaps the 1st time, the BCCI showed it's might in a full blown manner against CA and the ICC. BCCI's financial clout won the day eventually, with Bucknor removed from the 3rd test at Perth and CA dropping the racism charges on Bhajji. First time that world cricket probably saw money speaking lounder than the bat & ball.

Anyway, back to cricket... South Africa look to whitewash Australia in their own backyard and get going in their quest to be the new World #1. Australia have the 1st strike in this game by winning the toss and taking 1st strike on a Sydney pitch that usually wears down a tad over the 5 days. This time though, I don't think either team has the spinner to make use of the wearing pitch. Australia are really fighting for pride in this dead rubber; a team that this time last year was setting world records for the longest winning streak, is now fighting to avoid a new record of being whitewashed for the 1st time in a home series. But the going is tough for them with Lee and Symonds being forced out of the team with injuries. So much has been said about Johnson having to lead the Aussie bowling attack after such a short stint in the team, that I don't need to mention it again (wait, I just did, but what the hell... it was worth mentioning :P) South Africa are not without their injury woes - Prince remains injured and Smith is playing with a hurt elbow, but SA's batting depth coupled with Aus' bowling lack of depth should make it pretty tough for Aus in this game. Already Ponting has fallen for a duck, but Hayden is surviving and that should be good news for the Aussies.

In neighbouring New Zealand, rain continues to hamper cricket. After the 1st game was washed out, the 2nd game started on time only to be interrupted by rain in the 7th over. After drawing the test series 0-0 and the T20s 1-1, both teams should be looking for the ODI series to settle the scores between them. If the rain holds, this should an interesting series between rank 5 (New Zealand) and rank 8 (West Indies). Both teams have relatively young teams with some up & coming players to watch out for.

After the challenging fight that Bangladesh put up against Sri Lanka last week, the 2nd test starting today is unlikely to provide the same level of competition - especially with carrom-ball specialist Mendis after an injury layoff. The Mendis effect cannot be underestimated, esp after the terrific performance against the Indians in his debut series.

In other news -

• ICC have launched a ICC Cricket Hall of Fame yesterday and inducted 55 initial international players
• England appear to have a serious conflict between captain & coach; more development expected over the weekend
• ICC has officially acknowledged that day/night test cricket is the way to the future for test cricket

Goodbye 2008... Welcome 2009...

2008 was a very unique year in every sense of the word...
The financial industry as we knew it in Jan 2008 no longer exists, Wall Street no longer exists, numerous banking mergers have led to fewer names making it to 2009...
Terrorist activities hit the world hard throughout 2008, none more so than in Mumbai...
The World's most powerful nation elected a young & charismatic leader, a leader who has since selected a former Democratic rival & former First-Lady to be his international front...
The World's Largest democracy conducted multiple state elections through the year including in the terror-prone crown of the country, signed a world-changing nuclear deal and witnessed a controversial parliamentary vote of confidence in the process...
Yes 2008 was unique, and such a year of unexpectedness will probably not be seen for a while to come.

In the cricketing world as well, 2008 was unique...
The start of the year saw the cricketing world reach the brink of "war" as racism allegations & counter-allegations almost split the world... arguably this generation's best keeper-batsman played his last game... Warne's expected replacements retired over a span of weeks... India saw the end of 2 of her stalwarts... India got a single captain for all 3 forms; an energetic, youthful and competitive leader... a whole new spectacle called IPL was born... and flourished... national team mates slapped & bawled... Pakistan were isolated from the rest of the cricketing world... terrorism disrupted cricket... and cricket (much like everything else) fought back...

Controversies & tragedies were abound... but in the end, 2008 ended with exciting cricket all around... First India's exciting chase at Chennai, then South Africa nearing the end of Oz domination in test cricket and finally Bangladesh fighting tooth & nail for their 1st test win against credible opposition...
That was a fitting end to 2008... Here's looking forward to even better and more competitive cricket in 2009.

Happy New Year folks!

Addition at 03-Jan 02:00 AM
Cricinfo's Review 2008 piece is pretty good with multiple views. Check it out at:
http://eap.cricinfo.com/db/INTERACTIVE/FEATURES/REVIEW08/

Cricket... over Chai!

Where do I start.... I am an avid follower of cricket and as with most cricket enthusiast, the topic of 'cricket' inevitably comes up over lunch, dinner or a cup of coffee. Often friends and I exchange emails on various aspects of cricket - news, rule changes, ongoing matches, exciting players and what not. So, I picked up an idea floated by one of my friends and decided to try penning a Blog.

As 2009 begins, the cricket world has been turned topsy-turvy with South Africa having just beaten Australia at the MCG and taking series winning 2-0 lead. India beat England at home 1-0 and went upto 2nd in the ICC Test rankings, a position that India will lose to South Africa once the rankings are next revised.

West Indies are currently in New Zealand where both teams waited through a rain-interrupted 1st Test, followed by an interesting relatively evenly-fought, yet drawn 2nd Test. The 1st T20 saw International cricket's 1st ever Super Over contest after a thrilling tie. The 2nd T20 was more one-sided and both teams were level in Test & T20s as they headed into the 5 match ODI series.

Having beaten the World Test Champs in the 1st 2 tests, South Africa continue their stay Down Under hoping to make it a 3-0 whitewash at Sydney and become the new World Test Champs.Soon after, they will compete in the first international T20s of 2009, followed by the battle for the World ODI Champ title - a 5-0 whitewash in the ODIs will see South Africa regain the #1 position in ODIs, a title they are the only team apart from Australia to have ever held; last held in April 2008.

Sri Lanka have have travelled to Bangladesh where the teams have just finished a 6-day Test. No, they are not playing for 6 days, but instead have a rest day in the middle of the Test. This game was far more interesting than expected as Bangladesh went into Day 6 dreaming of victory and the Tigers stayed in the game all the way until past lunch on Day 6. A sad case of so-near-yet-so-far. The 2nd Test follows in the new year.

Early 2009 will see some more exciting cricketing action:

• In Jan, Zimbabwe travel to Bangladesh and join the hosts and Sri Lanka in a tri-series.
• Zimbabwe stay on in Bangladesh for the clash of the ODI minnows.
• Sri Lanka travel to Pakistan after the Indian government refused to approve India's tour.
• In Feb, New Zealand travel back across the Tasman Sea to complete their tour of Australia.
• From Feb onwards, England clash with hosts West Indies in 4 Tests and 5 ODIs.
• And most importantly, the top 2 Test nations will clash again.

With so much to look forward to, we sure have a lot to talk about Cricket... over Chai!