Michael Bevan calls it a day

I was quite fond of Ajay Jadeja & Robin Singh and Mohammad Kaif & Yuvraj Singh. They would never drive the crowds crazy with their superlative strokes, they just didn't have the repertoire of a Sachin Tendulkar or Rickey Ponting. But they pulled off something else, something far more important, far more romantic - a victory for your team. They got teams over the line . Like while chasing 245, Sachin would depart at a crucial juncture ( after making a well-crafted hundred for which he would be later given the MOM) leaving the match on the tenterhooks. And from there, it would be my pair which would each make a smallish 20 or 30, paltry enough to not win them the MOM, but big enough for the team to cross the line - towards a win.

If Michael Bevan had been playing for Mumbai and not for NSW, for India and not for Australia, chances are, I would have easily dismissed the above four gentlemen. Michael gwyl Bevan was a master at the game of crossing the line - he was a winner.

Bevan never bothered about the boundaries if the situation didn't need him to. If the chase demanded an asking rate of 7, Bevan would get the 7th one by converting a single into a two. Greater (or lesser, depending on how you think) men would have prerered playing the odd dot ball coupled with a boundary. You don't need to be an ex- test cricketer to figure out what worked better. Bevan showed it time and again - and his contribution to the current run of Australia's ODI success has been truly underplayed and underrecognised.

After a glittering career consisting of 232 one-dayers, 6912 runs at a phenomenal average of 53.38 and 2 World Cup triumphs, Michael Bevan announced his retirement today in Hobart. My salutations to this great cricketer.

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In case Indian cricket fans are wondering, the man-in-blue is indeed Michael Bevan, and not Yuvraj Singh!!

Cricket Quote of the (yester)Day

"We've won a game of cricket"
- England captain Michael Vaughan after their three wicket victory over New Zealand in the Tri-series ODI in Hobart yesterday, 16th January 2007.

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Scores:
NZ: 205/9 in 50 overs ( Astle 45, Anderson 4/42)
Eng: 206/7 in 49.5 overs ( Flintoff 72, Bell 45)

Cricket: From White Flannels to Coloured Pyjamas to Bikinis!!

Can you guess what's common between these 2 lovely pictures?

Besides the obvious connect between sex and cricket, and i think in that order!!, these are just 2 of the many wallpapers which gentlemen who also happen to be cricket lovers can download as wallpapers for their mobile phones!!

These is just one of the many initiatives of some very enterprising people at australianbikini.com.

Since yours truly happens to be just a free member, i couldn't explore the whole lot. You may upgrade yourself to become a gold member and enjoy the complete BIKINI CRICKET experience!

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If you are in India, let me just point out this small fact for you - if you do want to stare at those lovely cricket players as you dial and receive calls from your cell, it will cost you a paltry 6 pound sterlings ( that's almost 500 indian bucks).

India Team for the Cricket World Cup 2007

Cricket Australia has already announced the list of 30 probable for the World Cup which is now just 62 days and 5 hours away. India will follow suit in a couple of days - but the real questions will be answered only next month when the final team of 15 is announced. ( Feb 13th is the deadline) Meanwhile, India's tour of South Africa has come to a close and as we take stock of the future, I couldn't resist myself from picking a possible squad for the big show coming up in the Caribbean. So, here i go...

In batting order, this is my first XI:

1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. Saurav Ganguly
3. VVS Laxman
4. Yuvraj Singh
5. Rahul Dravid
6. M S Dhoni
7. Irfan Pathan
8. Harbhajan Singh
9. Anil Kumble
10. S. Sreesanth
11. Zaheer Khan

( the only real confusion i had was over the no.9 batter, whether Kumble or Sreesanth! Dravid's turnaround in One-day cricket happened when he started coming in at no.5, and that's where he should stay. Laxman would make for a good no.3, though it's a good idea to promote Pathan sometimes. But that should be a surprise weapon only and treated like one. Yes, i have chosen Pathan for his twin abilities - his inclusion provides the team with just the right balance, just what Dravid's did the last time round.)

12. Ajit Agarkar
13. Virender Sehwag ( only if he does something in between now and Feb 13th)
14. Ashish Nehra
15. Mohammad Kaif

It's the biggest stage in the world of cricket, and if performances in past World Cups are any indication, experience has mostly triumphed over rookiness. Among Indian players, Navjot Singh Siddhu is the only rookie i can remember who made his presence felt in a World Cup.

By this yardstick, Nehra and Kaif come in. Nehra was impressive recently, on a flat Kotla track in the capital, he took a fiver. He was one of India's stars in the previous World Cup and my vote goes for him over a very lazy Munaf Patel. ( Munaf should never be allowed to represent the country as he might be having a very bad influence on kids watching cricket - his running speed is just amazing.)

If Sehwag doesn't do anything of note by 13th February, Karthick could be a definite consideration. He was most impressive in the last test against the Proteas and the Indian selectors seem to prefer picking up an extra wicket-keeper. ( Parthiv Patel was in the team last time, though he never played a match)

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Attempt a very interesting World Cup Cricket Quiz. Click here

Cricket's Time Out

Law 31. Timed Out

(a) Unless "Time" has been called, the incoming batsman must be in position to take guard or for his partner to be ready to receive the next ball within three minutes of the fall of the previous wicket. If this requirement is not met, the incoming batsman will be out, Timed out.

(b) In the event of protracted delay in which no batsman comes to the wicket, the umpires shall adopt the procedure of Law 21.3 (Umpires awarding a match). For the purpose of that Law the start of the action shall be taken as the expiry of the three minutes referred to above.
( source: The Laws of Cricket, Wisden Cricketers' Almanac 2006)
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At 10:43 am local time, today in the 3rd cricket test between India and South Africa, Wassim Jaffer got out. India had just lost its other opener just a while back. Tendulkar, the official no.4 was all padded up with nowhere to go - because of yet another Law of Cricket ( Law 2.5, fielder absent or leaving the field) Tendulkar was eligible to bat only at a point of time after 10:48 am. Together, all these were sufficient to create pandemonium in the Indian dressing room.

If Graeme Smith had been as much a stickler of the rules as Stephen Fleming had been a while back in Newzealand, we could have seen international cricket's first case of Timed Out today. India's next batsman, Suarav Ganguly, came into bat only at 10:49 am - 3 minutes after the legal deadline. The Indian manager had however sent a message earlier and convinced Graeme Smith not to press for a Timed Out dismissal. Thank you, Mr. Smith for keeping the spirit of cricket alive.

A couple of interesting questions do come to mind:

- Cricket's Law 31 is not very clear about who would have been given out. Would it have been Sachin, the official number 4 or VVS Laxman/Ganguly, the next eligible batsman?

- For the above I have assumed that the umpires go by the official player list, given in order by the team management before start of play. In the current test, India's opening pair changed - does the captain give out a new list at the beginning of the second innings? Else, the batsman to be given timed out may have already been out!!

- Why did Saurav Ganguly step in? Where was VVS Laxman? The official version is that he was under the shower - in their post match remarks on Star Sports, Messers Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar rubbished the official position. The experience duo (they a combined experience of more than a 1000 days of international cricket) was pretty sure that VVS Laxman was not under the shower at all, though very, very close to it. What shit is that!!

Did India get it right at Capetown?

I didn't see the match yesterday, so this late comment - now based on today's cricket stories in the morning's Hindustan Times...

Neil Manthorp, the newspaper's cricket correspondent reports from Cape Town - Bennet Hewe has prepared a pitched that might have been easily imported from Delhi. " Bone-dry and short of grass, it offered the home side's seamers nothing........but even worse for Grame Smith's team were the scuffed and worn patches at either end that will deteriorate quickly as the match progresses - to the delight of Anil Kumble."

India are comfortably placed at 254/3, but still a few questions cannot be completely stifled:

- If the wicket was a belter, and so similar to Delhi's, was this the right time to demote Virender Sehwag? With all due respect to Jaffer and Karthick, who have both done a wonderful job, if Sehwag had succeeded the scoreline could have been well in excess of 300. High scoring rates is a major weapon with which the Aussies have slaughtered opposition relentlessly now - we will know about the impact of this slow batting rate once the Proteas start batting.

- If the wicket is so very likely to crack, shouldn't Harbhajan Singh have been picked up ahead of Munaf Patel? ( and not the fittest either )

In my previous post, we had discussed the importance of one pre-match element: the toss. This one, one which happens before the toss, might be almost as crucial - it's called team selection!!

TAILs up: India aHEAD after day 1 at Capetown

Come to think of it - Rahuld Dravid could have as easily said HEADS, and the belter of a wicket that has been created for the India vs South Africa decider Test would have possibly resulted in day 1 ending with South Africa batting at 250/3. But at the all important toss, the Indian captain predicted correctly and when the coin completed its short U-journey back and came to rest on the Newlands surface, it was TAILS up for India. In both the previous Tests on this tour, the captains who has won the toss has gone on to win the match. And just like Dravid did today, both chose to bat first.

Come to think of it

- the most crucial event of the match may have actually happened before a

single ball is bowled!!

Come to think of it

- lots and lots of matches are actually decided not on day 4 or day 5, but on day 1.

Come to think of it

- Cricket is a funny game!! No wonder they keep saying it all the time.

If you are the kind who prefer statistical evidence to prose & poetry, you may check out this wonderful effort on the importance of the toss in cricket, by a Stephen Samuleson. Click here.