I'm back everyone and well rested after a frenetic World Cup that capped off an equally frenetic year in cricket (match fixing, Ashes, 4-0 to Bangladesh and John Wright as coach). I noticed that several readers have frequented this blog in my absence and I applaud your support, sadly after producing 3500 words at the end of the World Cup I decided to take a break; the time seemed right given the lack of cricket on offer (proper cricket that is). Now it's back into the trenches for what should be another fascinating twelve months.
A new season finds us fighting the same battles as the last one and the same enemy facing us across the battlefield of progress. That opposing force would be of the same cloth of the school of thought that said players shouldn't be paid in the 1970s for the entertainment that they were about to provide in one day cricket. That easily offended, weak chinned being across the table would be the same mentality that allows a fuss to stir up around retaliatory comments by an Australian cricketer while downplaying the racist nonsense uttered by its own favoured off-spinner. That self righteous, self pitying, stale-void-creating entity and subsidiaries would be the BCCI and the seemingly impenetrable armour that has been erected around it by the media and other cricketing nations. Today the fight is over the umpire review system that they clearly were uncomfortable with before but now flat-out oppose. Well we need to say that we have had quite enough of that!
Their opposition to this long awaited, long wanted and long needed innovation is born of an ignorant, defensive and baffling attitude to progress in the sport. You hear loose babble about how the reviews take power and respect away from the umpires which completely ignores the obvious truth that by seeking to remove the quite human, natural and understandable errors, the relationship between player and umpire is exerorcised of ill feeling generated by missed inside edges, balls hitting outside the line and deliveries missing the stumps etc. The use of this system will quickly clean up the 'walking' debate as the players of less integrity will be found uot and the players who cling, as to a mast on a sinking ship, to the excuse that 'you get the bad and the good so why walk?' can rest easy that the status quo no longer allows such a notion.
The BCCI still tries to pretend that it is the champion of an oppressed nation of talented, but underfunded cricket enthusiasts despite its clear transformation into the opposite of every word in that description. Although I don't have room to attack every sinue of that facade I will say that the claim that Indian cricket is still an international punching bag is about as credible as the wish that one successful IPL season should allow or entitle a player to a test debut. The ICC lives closer to India than to England, South Africa or Australia now! The BCCI deals with 70% of the wealth generated by international cricket, they just won the World Cup and, pending a series victory in England this winter, are poised to become the top test team as well.
Indian cricket needs to stop playing the hurt feelings card and realise that if they wish to lead the sport they need to look out for its best interests some of the time (instead of none of the time by blocking every innovation that presents itself). Next they will be trying to block the test championship because heaven forbid they are robbed of playing in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh every year and are forced to play a few more tests in New Zealand (i.e. on wickets that have actually seen a blade of grass). Play the world's smallest violin! The BCCI must realise that if they insist on benefiting from 'professional cricket' they must act the part of the first word instead of sucking the life out of the second.
...And we need to make a stand and say we will not be talked to in that tone of voice that says we can't have the review system. Draw a line at this argument, which is so obviously a crucial improvement to cricket (see the 'article of interest below' for useful analysis on this topic)
Also it would appear that the players themselves are feed up with the BCCI influence in the game as well as the ICC's inability to resist it: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/current/story/517518.html
NEWS
- Shane Warne has now retired from all cricket after his Rajastan team did not make it through to the IPL finals of 2011
- After a quiet start to the County Championship, Kane Williamson scored 149 at no.3 for Worscestershire and then took 3 wickets. He is just 20 years of age
- Pakistan cricket has issued contracts to its top women players for the first time. They will be paid 1/5 the salary of their top male equivalents but we can say it is progress of a kind
- On the other side of that coin, Afridi has 'retired' after having the captaincy taken from him. Suspicions are that he and Waqar Younis did not agree on much (particularly in the area of team selection). Basically the PCB has made the same mistake that England made in 2009 when Pietersen lost the captaincy although Pakistan don't have the luxury of Andrew Strauss waiting in the wings
- In New Zealand, John Buchanan has been appointed to the new position of Director of Cricket and Allan Donald's services appear to have been retained despite Australian interest
RECENT RESULTS
- Australia defeated Bangladesh in an ODI series right after the World Cup (so who really cares at this point). Shane Watson produced a particularly brutal innings in one of the matches but it will hardly go down as one of the great ODI moments - I would be suspicious of anyone who tries to say otherwise
- West Indies and Pakistan drew a test series 1-1 that provided much food for thought as the home side bowling attack looks more settled in the form of Roach, Rampaul, Sammy and Bishoo (a new legspinner of some talent)
- Sri Lanka provided the surprise result of the year perhaps, by capitulating to England late on Day 5 in Cardiff when they were knocked over in just 24.4 overs to lose by an innings. Not even Cronje could have picked that one. Trott and Cook continued their winter form with large, confident centuries; Trott averages 66 now so my advice would be to retire with the second highest average in test history
ARTICLE OF INTEREST
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/517334.html
'india vs the rest of the world'
I couldn't have put it better. This article looks closely at the battle plain that lies ahead and how India must surely and, while it can, gracefully accept defeat on this review system issue
Well that's it from here and I hope you join me again
It's good bye for now
