Either way, it feels like the final nail in the coffin for a man whose career sadly slipped in to almost farce in recent years, as he fell out of form, was WI captain, wasn’t captain, was captain, wasn’t captain and… when he finally left he did so with a modicum of dignity.

Sure, he will always be remembered as one of, if not the, greatest batsmen of all times, which further begs the question why he is risking it all to join something which can only turn out at best another Kerry Packer World Series Cricket, or at worst rebel tour of South Africa.

It doesn’t make much sense to me.

Post from: EveryJoe

Lara to totally bugger his career

Despite the implication of the ridiculous title to this post, the West Indies would certainly have wanted to play, if only to save some face in this largely disappointing series. They very nearly pulled off a shock in the 3rd test during which England would have certainly been a little nervous – from England’s point of view, the Windies should never have got within 60 runs of their 450 target. They did thanks largely to some determined batting, led by Chanderpaul, whose 7 hour 116* demonstrated the type of concentration and commitment that is required of a test batsman, a quality severely lacking in the rest of the West Indian (and English) line up. In that game, Monty was the pick, albeit in very spin friendly conditions against a generally lacklustre batting lineup. Sidebottom also impressed, however, enough to keep his place for the final game of the series, even with Hoggard back from injury.

As and when play actually gets under way, Harmison is likely to play and it seems a good idea to give him a game at his home ground. But should he chuck down the type of pies to which we have become accustomed over the last 6 months then he surely must get dropped in favour of going back to the county game for the rest of the season. The same is true of Anderson, Mahmood and Plunkett – they must not be included in the side and allowed to get back in to form in the usual way. It’s what Nasser Hussein has repeatedly referred to as “the groove” – an expression that if I hear it one more time, I’ll be certain to groove the inside of Hussein’s inner passages with the long handle of my cricket bat – and the pick of English bowlers in the county game, such as Sidebottom, should replace them. I’m not sure who those players are, but we need two (to accompany Sidebottom, Hoggard and Monty).

Surely that can’t be so hard to find?

(photo from BBC).

Post from: EveryJoe

Wet Weather Washes Windies Woes aWay

Perhaps some time off will be good for Flintoff – there’s no question he has been worked in to the ground over the last few months – but with the cricket season in full swing, it could have come at a better time.

Ironically, this may secure a place for Andrew Strauss in the test side – with Flintoff unfit and Vaughan ever a worry about picking up a new injury, you can’t really have your third-in-line skipper on the sidelines.

Post from: EveryJoe

Flintoff out

However you feel about what is happening in Zimbabwe, it is absolutely right for this decision to be made by a government and not by the sporting body and will hopefully set a precedent for all International sides in the future. This is by no means the first discussion of cancelling tours over concerns about the situation in the host country, but it is the first example I can remember of of a government stepping in and making the decision. I don’t believe that sport should be used to make a political statement which arguably this is, but nevertheless when you have a situation such as that which is going on in Zimbabwe, then it seems to make sense.

The only losers here are the Zimbabwe cricket team, and hopefully all those involved will be able to agree to play the series at a different venue. However, it’s sadly pretty much win-win for Mugabe – if Cricket Australia do not tour Zimbabwe, then they will be liable for £1m in compensation to the Zimbabwe Cricket Union – and knowing how Mugabe operates, it seems unlikely much of that money will actually stay with the ZCU.

Post from: EveryJoe

Australia won’t tour Zimbabwe

Now, it all seems like a pretty remarkable thing to me. For starters, what on earth prompted him to try it? Well, we know for one thing that former Australian opener Micheal Slater used to do a very similar thing, albeit with only half a squash ball. So it’s not a new technique, despite there not being any wide-reaching knowledge of the trick. And the fact that it helped Gilchrist in such a way is both remarkable and unremarkable, that is, that he can score so freely with an alien object in his gloves is remarkable, but equally, he has always been known as a destructive batsman, who, on his day, can destroy even the finest bowling attacks, squash ball or otherwise, and so the manner in which he scored the runs is decidedly unremarkable.

The point of all this? Sri Lanka have decided to appeal to the ICC about the use of the squash ball, saying that it’s “not in the spirit of the game”. Wowzer. Never mind the fact that they lost the game, no, it’s certainly not sour grapes on their part. On the face of it, it certainly seems like a frivolous complaint, I mean, it was only a squash ball. But it does raise an interesting question. Where exactly is the line between “the rules” and “unfair advantage” ? In support of the “it was illegal” argument, had Gilchrist walked out there with a solar-powered mechanical “batting arm” then there would have been some complaints. But when bowlers use shoes with special modifications to help when dragging their feet through (Andy Caddick / Allan Donald style) then it’s OK. The other question, therefore, is if the squash ball had been engineered in to the design of the glove (and no doubt all the major manufacturers are queuing up to talk to Gilly for the rights to the next big gimmick innovation), then would it have been OK? The Sri Lankans would not even have known about the squash ball had Gilchrist not told everyone in the post-match interview. Surely had he kept it “secret”, then that would not have been in the spirit of things. And again, had it been Monty Panesar out there smacking the ball around like it was on a bungee rope, then you might have argued the squash ball had given an unfair advantage, but every International team has been on the receiving end of Gilchrist at some point, so it was hardly a surprise.

Rather than worrying about squash balls, seems to me like the Sri Lankans should be asking the ICC why on earth the match was allowed to conclude in near darkness.

Post from: EveryJoe

Ooh boy. World Cup gloves (and squash ball) have come off

The finger is being pointed at ridiculously inflated ticket prices and the decision to market the event to a foreign market which has not responded anywhere near as much as hoped has truly backfired.

You can’t argue with comments from people who are actually there:

I am English and live and work out in Antigua, but the writing was on the wall with regard to stadia crowds a long time ago. Most people here would have to work three days to earn enough for one seat ticket, then they will also lose the money from not working…that’s nearly a weeks pay to see one game once they have eaten and drank. What on earth were people kidding themselves about? The Stanford 20/20 cup last year was packed with games in the evening and entry free or at a level people could afford. The ICC has got it wrong, if you want cricket to be taken up by more people in the countries the competition is played in then let them join in….don’t build stadia that no-one can afford to go to.

(Paul)

Says Harvey:

Unfortunately for the organisers, the expected English supporters were never going to materialise in the numbers they expected, due partly to the counter-attraction of the Ashes (most couldn’t afford the time or money for both tours), and partly due to lingering bitterness over the WICB’s ticket rip-off of English fans in 2004.

Valid point. Especially when combined with:

Meanwhile, hoteliers and airlines believed the organisers’ hype about the numbers expected, and thought they could charge what they liked, too. The result was that most overseas supporters will have taken one look at the prices being mooted, and immediately taken the decision not to go.

Absolutely! I couldn’t get to Australia for the Ashes so had firm plans of going to the West Indies for at least some of the World Cup. But when doing the sums, it was always going to be totally inaffordable. I looked at packages for the week that England will be in Grenada. The difference in price for that week, compared with the weeks either side was in the region of £500 – no difference in package, just simply that the Super 8 will be there. I understand “supply and demand”, but judging by the attendances, there simply hasn’t been the demand that everyone expected. The question is “why hasn’t there been the demand?” and most people are pointing the finger at the over-inflated prices.

Considering that this World Cup is likely to be the last time we see Glenn McGrath, Brian Lara and possibly Sachin Tendulkar in one day cricket, the match-fixing rumours, the Bob Woolmer murder and the problems with attendances, it’s certain that whichever team actually wins this tournament won’t do so with the pride that should be attached to winning the biggest trophy in your sport.

Post from: EveryJoe

Price of the World Cup?

Recent problems, such as Shahid Afridi’s ban, Shoaib and Asif’s bans / injuries and the failure to get through to the group stages of the World Cup have led to a shambolic state of affairs, which have been finished off by the resignation of captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, not to mention most of the PCB.

Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the PCB for only five months, tendered his resignation yesterday to General Pervez Musharraf, president of Pakistan and chief patron of the PCB. Ashraf was appointed chairman after Shaharyar Khan resigned in October. Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Wasim Bari, chairman of selectors, followed by resigning on behalf of his three-man committee, who accepted collective responsibility for Pakistan’s dismal showing.

(source)

As inquiries into and the speculation over the death of Bob Woolmer continue (natural? suicide? murder?Some people even think it’s to do with match-fixing), one thing is abundantly clear – Pakistan have a chance now to rebuild their side and do it right. With so many empty spots and being in such a low position, they should have no fear in being committed and asserted in what they need to do. Overhaul everything. They have the opportunity to look at what has worked and what hasn’t, identify the areas which caused the problems and start over and do it right.

They have a core squad of very talented players and now is the time to galvanise that squad in to a match-winning, not a match-fixing, team. From the smouldering remains of the Pakistan cricket team and the heartache that surrounds the death of Bob Woolmer, it must be possible and is fundamentally important that something positive comes of it all. There could be no better tribute to Bob if in four years time, Pakistan lifted the World Cup again.

Post from: EveryJoe

Time for a new Pakistan

At one point, the players left the field for rain and bad light, which would have been enough to seal the victory had they not come back. Fortunately they did return, giving Ireland the chance the win the game in they style they deserved and finish the embarassment job against Pakistan. In combination with Pakistan’s opening match loss to West Indies, they are as good as out of this competition, forcing them to leave the West Indies with their tail between their legs and the rumour mill already working hard that that will be the end of Bob Woolmer at the helm. Maybe even Inzy.

Ireland, however, are through to the Super Eight, and I can’t believe I picked it and even with the excellent odds, I didn’t put any money on it. More fool me. It’s unlikely they’ll progress beyond there, but then this competition has already shown to be completely open-ended.

But that was merely the start of crazy day, however, as India, arguably even more likely to win the competition than Pakistan, failed to negotiate Bangladesh, losing in equally humiliating circumstances. Again batting first, India managed only 191, where batting first was possibly a mistake, but the the Bangladeshi men dealt with the total for the loss of just 5 wickets. Tamim Iqbal was the man in form who crashed 53 from 51 balls, and it wasn’t a bunch of half-chances and fluke boundaries. India’s bowlers were dispatched to all parts of the ground in a masterclass presentation of one day batting. India looked lost in the field, and even as the required runs got smaller and smaller, the Indian men still had no intensity in their play as they meandered around the field. They had given up and it was just a matter of Bangladesh hitting the runs. I almost expected the bowlers to start dishing it out under arm. India will still expect to progress to the next round, but a loss against Bangladesh will hopefully be a wake up call they sorely need.

This World Cup is rapidly getting interesting.

Post from: EveryJoe

The Curse of the Irish?

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World Cup hasn’t started…

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Literary genius