The BCCI is unlikely to support any stringent action against Zimbabwe at the ICC’s annual meeting in Dubai next week, a top Indian board official has indicated.

This is regarding expulsion of the Zimbabwe cricket team. The Indian Cricket Setup has been known for ages as the perennial peer-helpers. The Indian Cricket Team toured Sri Lanka, South Africa and Bangladesh when they started or restarted their test journey.

So now, when the entire world (read England and South Africa) wants Zimbabwe to be kicked out of the ICC because they have a dictator who means no good (according to England and South Africa) to the world and to his own countrymen, India has taken the higher moral ground conveying that it is not the fault of the budding Taibus and Mazakadzas of the world that they are ruled by a dictator. India has also tried to convey that all teams needing practice are too bored of the ever confident Bangladesh.

Post from: EveryJoe

India to back Zimbabwe

I had been bickering for quite some time that I am going to write about it, as it should be written about of course. So, here it is. As the tournament is over, this would obviously act as a review post.

The teams:

1. Cobras
2. Dolphins
3. Eagles
4. Warriors
5. Lions
6. Titans
7. Zimbabwe

The prize:

R500 000-00 (about $65,446.37 right now)

The Winner:

The Nashua Titans

I just saw the Final as the other matches were not telecast in India (see, I told ya so)…. From what I saw, a lot could not be said about the popularity (though the web site claims that it was their most successful league ever. Dale Steyn shone in the final, making sure that his team won. My sincere apologies for not following this league closely, but after joining sixandout, the IPL hit me….or I hit it…whatever… I would make up for it by following it the next season for sure and yeah, proclaim on live web 2.0 that “Polly was the King”.

Till then, let’s focus on the IPL. Just to let everyone know: Gilly has just scored a 43 ball 100….

Later

Photo Credit : Flickr

Post from: EveryJoe

Standard Bank Pro20 : The Titans win it

After India’s T20 championship victory, Andrew Symonds said something along the lines of T20 being a format where “the lesser sides can beat you easily”. Of course, Australia lost to Zimbabwe and then India, the two lesser sides he was referring to.

India has since kept Australia on toes in T20, and they seem to be innately made for this version.

Further, SA just lost to Windies in a T20 tie, and it wasn’t a close match by any means.

Could there be any truth to what Roy said?

Post from: EveryJoe

T20 Format: Lesser Sides’ Feast?

But did ya know when and exactly how the legend of Jonty Rhodes started? The 1992 World Cup. With Inzamam Ul Haq’s run-out.

Incidentally, he’s also one of the good guys in the current poll.

Now, thank me for adding to your knowledge of cricket history.

Post from: EveryJoe

The Legend of Jonty Rhodes

I will leave it up to you guys to caption this one.
Fire away!

Photo Credits: CricInfo

Post from: EveryJoe

Pic of the Day…

Semi 1: Sri Lanka vs New Zealand, Jamaica (Tuesday 24th)

First up is Sri Lanka vs New Zealand. Sri Lanka have the been the “surprise” of the World Cup, after demolishing several big teams on their way through to the semis. Jayasuriya has been on top form with the bat, and it has been Malinga the Slinger with the ball, rather Murali, who has, by his standards, been quite sedate. Question marks have been raised over Sri Lanka’s attitude and approach after the recent match against Australia, in which they got stuffed, as they rested their three top players. Presumably the thinking was to hide their skills from the Aussies, anticipating a World Cup final. Interesting, but they still have to get past New Zealand who are looking in great touch. Shane Bond has been the anchorman with the new ball, assisted ably by Jacob Oram. Stephen Fleming has been scoring some runs with the bat, but Scott Styris has established himself as the danger man. He has developed a dogged determination with the bat that is taxing even the best bowlers in the world, and is a useful extra in the bowling. The pitch is likely to be a critical factor, as a slow pitch is likely to suit Murali down to the ground. Provided cricket’s All Blacks can counter him, and, of course, the Slinger, they should be through to the final.

Prediction: New Zealand to win

Semi 2: Australia vs South Africa, St Lucia (Wed 25th)

Semi-final number 2 is between Australia and South Africa. Little has to be said about the Aussies – they’re firing on all cylinders and look destined to get through to the finals. Apart from a slight wobble during the match with England where KP and Ian Bell were scoring quite freely, they have barely missed a beat all tournament. Hayden is a run-making machine and Shaun Tait has come in to his own with a 90mph swinging ball. South Africa on the other hand have looked less confident, but they’re certainly not without a chance. If Graeme Smith is fit and he and AB De Villiers start well, then totals of 350+ are well within reach, especialy with the likes of Boucher coming in lower in the order to give it the old heave-ho. Shaun Pollock has looked average with the new ball, and Andre Nel will need to maintain his concentration if he’s to really challenge the Aussies. However, the Aussies have the Proteas outflanked on the mental front, having already beaten them, and comfortably, once in this tournament. Complacency is a virtue that the Aussies seem to lack, so only a flawless performance by the South Africans will see them through to the finals.

Prediction: Australia to win

Post from: EveryJoe

World Cup semi-finals

Haha. Fortunately, for the sake of the equilibrium of the world and all that is good and pure, there were no upsets. No magical performances. No inspiration. Moreorless business as usual. Except it was business as usual as if you’d just got back from a really good holiday and you were raring to go – that is, for anyone completely lost in my cryptic metaphor – England lost with such fervour and unprecedented vigour, it was almost a signal to all the loyal fans as if to say

“Seriously? You actually thought we could do this? You thought we could pull one out of the bag? Fools, the lot of you.”

England scored a miserable 155 off 48 overs. Strauss managed 46 but that was about it. Once again the top order failed to make a significant impression. Vaughan failed. Bell failed. KP failed. Collingwood failed. Flintoff failed. Bopara put up a little resistance but ran out of partners. There was a total lack of belief in anything that was done. South Africa then came out, and knocked the runs off in barely 20 overs. Can’t blame it on the pitch or the conditions. The bowling was tired and weary, the feeling cumbersome and the general demeanour was of a team that had already been beaten. The South Africans were a league above and deserved the win.

It’s about all you can say. The South Africans wanted it. England didn’t. There was a frightening sense of Deja Vu about the whole embarassing affair. At the post-match presentation, Vaughan got booed. I don’t tend to agree with that. Maybe in this situation.

Now England face a pointless match against the West Indies before they finally go home to face the wrath of the Schofield report. No doubt we’ll hear the usual guff about being disappointed, about how we’ll learn, we’ll make some changes and we’ll use it as a positive thing. The realisation should be however, is that both Bangladesh and Ireland played better cricket than England. Heck, even Bermuda played better cricket.

Pah. It’s all been said before. Can anything else be said? I love my country, and I will continue to support, but it’s going to take so much to deserve any sort of faith in the side.

Post from: EveryJoe

England don’t fail to disappoint

As it stands, South Africa is the clear and present danger to England. After losing to Bangladesh and New Zealand, South Africa find themselves in a dubious position. After starting the contest as clear second-favourite, they are now in a quarter-final situation. They were lacklustre against New Zealand, but its conceivable to think that they won’t bounce back against England. They are by far the better one-day team and the odds are weighted heavily in their favour.

But I don’t know. Call it a curious and hideously misplaced naivety, but something nags me that England might pull something off. They have a history of raising their game for the bigger sides (or is it a history of dropping their game for the lesser sides?). They were impressive (in defeat) against Australia, with Bell and KP both socring runs. Against Bangladesh, they were awful. So against South Africa, can we hope to see the better side of England?

Post from: EveryJoe

Big teams key England in

Did Bangladesh catch South Africa on a bad day? Maybe. But they made no mistake of the defeat they handed to the Proteas. Asked to bat first, it looked like business as usual as they limped to 40 odd for 4. But Mohammaed Ashraful had other ideas in spearheading the fightback. His 50 came off a rather modest 64 balls, modest compared to the 19 balls he needed to club the remaining 36 of his 87 run innings, the highest score a Bangladeshi batsman has made in a world cup. He was helped there with useful runs from Aftab Ahmed and Mashrafe Mortaza. The Bangers were 251 for 8 when they ran out of overs, a feat in itself. South Africa’s bowling was horrificly one-dimensional, who could only serve up medium to fast paced bowling. Shaun Pollock was economical in his 10 overs, but every other of the 7 bowlers used were expensive.

South Africa’s reply never really got going, with openers Smith and De Villiers needing 63 balls to score their 27 runs. Jacques Kallis ironically batted second quickest with 32 from 36 balls. Only Herschelle Gibbs got to 50, but it came too late after being forced to bat lower down the innings for spending most of the first half off the field with a calf injury. He finished not out on 56, but it was of little use as wickets tumbled around him. The biggest issue were the three slow left armers as each of the Saffers batsmen illustrated a complete lack of ability in playing slow bowling on a slow wicket. By the time they were bowled out in the 48th over, Graeme Smith had presumably locked himself in a dark room somewhere.

Bangladesh are keen to shrug off the title of minnow. They won’t have to take down many more sides before that happens, following their defeat over India earlier in the competition. Certainly they shouldn’t be bracketed in with the likes of the other minnows of this contest, such as Kenya or The Netherlands. Their performances to date have more than justified their place in the contest, contrary to the opinion on many commentators. (Ireland have done a good job in the vindication stakes as well.) The consequence of South Africa’s loss is that they now sit on 4 points and must win all of their remaining games if they are to go through to the semi-finals. They will remain confident against England and the West Indies, but New Zealand will be a tough ask of a team that can’t beat Bangladesh.

Post from: EveryJoe

Down with a Bang

South Africa didn’t have such an easy passage through their first game of the Super 8. Opting to bowl first against Sri Lanka, South Africa’s bowling attack had a much easier time of it than their previous outing. Langeveldt took full advantage of it and bagged himself a 5fer including the big wickets of Jayasuriya and Jayawardene at the top of the innings, returning 5 for 39 off his 10 overs. Shaun Pollock was remarkably quiet and was perhaps still recovering from the beating he received at the hands of Australia. Sri Lanka fairly limped to 209 all out as the last 5 wickets were gifted away for only a handful of runs. With such a low target, the win for South Africa seemed inevitable but they did make a small meal of it. Despite always being ahead of the required run-rate, regular wickets meant that some good work from Sri Lanka could have brought them back in to contention. And Lasith Malinga was the man to do just that. At 205/5, South Africa needed just 5 more to win. But some inspired bowling from “the slinger” saw him become the first man to take 4 wickets in 4 balls in International cricket and reduce South Africa to 206/9 and Sri Lanka were back in it. Unfortunately for them, however, they were unable to get that last elusive wicket and Peterson managed to get the South Africans over the line. But Graeme Smith’s heart would have been beating fast for a while there.

What does this tell us about the Super 8’s? Actually, not a lot. Australia looked in as good as form as they have throughout the tournament and rightly favourites to lift the trophy. South Africa nevertheless got the two points and will likely put their performance down to a lack of concentration from which they can easily bounce back. But it shows that the like of Sri Lanka are well capable of playing the type of cricket that will see them through to the semi-final stages. The first test of the “minnows” comes on Friday when Ireland take on England.

Post from: EveryJoe

Results from the Big Test