So, what are the rules of cricket?

Those final moments left me more confused about the rules of cricket than ever before. In particular, the World Cup rain/bad light rules. Surely, the ICC can do much better, at the very least for the showpiece event of the game they administer.

What is a reserve day? When is it used? More importantly, when can it not be used?

Why was the match reduced to 38 overs in the first case? Wouldn't it be a smarter idea to complete the match over 2 days, allowing maximum opportunity for the maximum overs to be played? If, the ICC is okay with that long a World Cup, they can't mind an extra day for the final.

Could the umpires, technically have asked the teams to come back the next day to complete the remnant of the final? Didn't we have a complete match already, as Sri Lanka had already faced the minimum 20 overs?

If it's technically possible for the match to be completed the next day, why was Jayasuriya so worried about the rain clouds hanging over his head? Why didn't Mahela Jayawardene accept the lights that were offered earlier?

If the match could have been completed when it finally was, then why the hurry or need to reduce those 2 overs off the Lanka innings for that very short rain-break?

Wouldn't it have been more sensible to start off with a 35 over match instead of a 38 overs one, allowing for anticipated small-breaks in the middle - those irritating breaks which matter more than the one at the beginning?

A dark, bizzare end to a sad World Cup

The Australians are celebrating their third successive World Cup win, and funnily enough the final match of the 9th Cricket World Cup is still not over. Even as I begin writing this piece, the players are trotting back to the pitch to complete the final rites of this most amazing finale of the final.

What happened was this: It was absolutely dark at the Kensington Oval, Barbados and Sri Lanka needed an impossible 60+ runs to win the match in the remaining 3 overs. So, when the umpires Aleem Dar and Steve Bucknor offered the lights to the batsmen, they took it. Everyone thought the match was over - Ponting and his men began their celebrations, the groundsmen got busy removing the 30 yard markers, the presentation podium was being dragged in - but wait, said Aleem Dar. The match ain't over. 3 overs still left, and with a reserve day left, technically the teams were supposed to come back the next day to finish off the match !!

So, the final 3 overs were played in pitch-darkness, and the saddest Cricket World Cup came to a farcical end. Thankfully, the team which won it wasn't a farce. The Australian team was like a juggernaut, crushing everything that came their way, and they deserved the Cup, like no else has done before, the super West Indies of the 70s included. Congratulations, Rickey Ponting. Adieu, Glenn Mc Grath and Russel Arnold.

Should Sri Lanka bat first, or second?

So i thought Sri Lanka would do it. Then i pined my hopes on Fleming. Then, on Graeme Smith, again. And now, its Sri Lanka once more. Surely, i'm going to get it right, this time round.

In about 48 hours from now, we will have a new World Cup Cricket Champion. Or will we? It's been 18 years now, and it's getting more and more boring to watch the Australians bull-dozer their way over everyone else. It's frustrating to see that one of the top stories on Cricinfo after the semi-final between Australia and South Africa is on "South Africa's lowest ever ODI scores". Can't get worse, can it? Warnie was probably right when he said that the South Africans are too boring to win the World Cup. Which leaves us with Sri Lanka.

In about 48 hours from now, the Jayawardene-Moody strategy of un-exposing Vaas & Muralidharan may be beginning to be hailed as as a master-stroke. Ponting may lose his control over his tongue yet again and tell the world that it was the illegal Malinga who stopped him from emulating Lloyd. BCCI may rue the fact that they chose Greg Chappell and passed the ace to Sri Lanka. Marvan Attapattu's ODI career may come to a permanent close. So much can happen on the 28th of April 2007. Only if everything goes right - that is. Let's look at just one, the first one.

When Jayawardene goes out for the toss with Ponting at the Kensington Oval, Barbados he cannot forget history. Especially, two decisions. One - which Ganguly made in South Africa after he won the toss in the 2003 World Cup Final. No one can forget the carnage that Ponting and Martyn unleashed on the hapless Indian bowlers. Two - the last one, which Graeme Smith made. Australia's weak link is their bowling..if you want to beat them, the only way is to bat first, put up a good score and put some pressure on the Aussie top order. Unfortunately for Sri Lanka and Jayawardene, there are only two options for the guy who wins the toss - and neither seems to be working against the Australians. What should he do?

One way or the other, I'd go with Ganguly unless there is a threat of the wicket crumbling in the second half. The World Cup final is a big thing, Australia or not. What happened on that day in South Africa cannot be allowed to terrorize the progeny for ever. Gilchrist is not in the best of nick, and Hayden and Ponting will not want to miss out now. Let them face the heat, first. If they come out trumps, well they are good, and you will have to give it to them. But make it more difficult for them - let Ponting and Buchanan worry about what a good score is going to be. Let them worry about making the most of the powerplay overs - before Murali comes in. Batting first, Lanka would be chasing )(an imagined) 300. Batting second, it's unlikely to get much worse. And if it does, there will be the inspiration of the 1996 chase to look upto.