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A strategy for seniors
2007-04-29 18:24:00 How about making Shahid Afridi the vice-captain for one-dayers? Despite public proclamations of unity, the Pakistan board (PCB) will have to find a way of keeping their venerable "seniors" on board. One solution to a tussle between seniors is the "Two captain strategy" (one in one-day cricket and the other in Test cricket). But the PCB has sensibly concluded Malik can do both, in which case I propose the "Two vice-captain strategy." In a nutshell, it goes something like this: 1 An age-old technique for reining in a delinquent elder is to give him some responsibility. 2 Pakistan has a few of these, so why not appoint two vice-captains? 3 Younis Khan has ruled himself out of both positions. In any case there's no point him being deputy to Malik since he has decided not to captain Pakistan. Younis's moment has gone (he remains a certainty for my Test XI though). 4 Salman Butt, the champion of the adolescent vote, has enough on his plate re-establishing himse... More About: Strategy , Trat , Stra , Seniors , Rate
The moments belong to Sri Lanka
2007-04-29 18:23:00 Lasith Malinga's four wickets in four balls is one of the highlights of the World Cup When Malcolm Speed admits something isn't right you can bet your life that it's horribly wrong. After spending most of the last few weeks defending this turgid tournament, he now accepts that the format is too long. It is possible to create a format that incorporates associate members, gives the better teams less chance of being hijacked, and is done and dusted in thirty days. It took me five minutes to think of such a format, and I'm sure anybody reading this blog could come up with something similar. I've seen every World Cup so far and I have no doubt that this is the most tedious ever--and not because Pakistan were knocked out. The semi-finalists were decided too quickly, as were the semi-finals themselves. The business end of the tournament hasn't done the business. A collaboration between the ICC and the local organising committee has managed to alienate fans a... More About: Sri Lanka , Moment , Long , Moments , Lanka
A bloated shambles of a competition
2007-04-29 18:20:00 As the World Cup finally ends - yes, honestly - the flak continues to fly in the direction of the ICC. In The Daily Telegraph, Jim White is in no doubt about the target: "Malcolm Speed, the chief executive of the International Cricket Council, despite presiding over the most over-stretched, bloated shambles of a competition, despite his organising committee redefining the term criminally short-sighted, is to carry on, refusing so much as to contemplate handing over to someone else." The Mirror is equally unimpressed, despite Speed's admission that the tournament was too long: "He might have added that it has also been wholly uninspiring and suffered from poor attendances, a lack of decent atmosphere, too many one-sided games, and hosted by a team which dragged the tournament down even further. How is it possible that a football World Cup involving twice as many teams can be held in far fewer than the 47 days this has taken? The answer is greed." Patrick Kidd in The Times n... More About: Competition , Petition , Petit , Sham
FINAL TIME TABLE OF WC
2007-04-29 18:18:00 Australia 7 7 0 0 0 14 +2.400 1725/266.1 1314/322.0 Sri Lanka 7 5 2 0 0 10 +1.483 1586/301.1 1275/337.0 New Zealand 7 5 2 0 0 10 +0.253 1378/308.0 1457/345.1 South Africa 7 4 3 0 0 8 +0.313 1561/299.1 1635/333.2 England 7 3 4 0 0 6 -0.394 1557/344.4 1511/307.4 West Indies 7 2 5 0 0 4 -0.566 1595/338.1 1781/337.1 Bangladesh 7 1 6 0 0 2 -1.514 1084/318.0 1398/284.0 Ireland 7 1 6 0 0 2 -1.730 1111/333.0 1226/242.0 More About: Time , Final , Tabl , Table , Fina
Hayden and Gilchrist not finished yet
2007-04-29 18:16:00 Keep going: Ricky Ponting wants his two opening batsmen to push on after the World Cup Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist should delay their retirements for at least two years, according to the captain Ricky Ponting. As Australia's new line-up begins to take shape after a season of departures, Ponting has extra need for two of his major weapons to continue helping with the transition. Shane Warne, Justin Langer and Damien Martyn retired during the home summer and Glenn McGrath signed off with Australia's third consecutive World Cup win. However, Ponting said Gilchrist had not outlined his plans, and he has often been worn down by the demands of playing both Tests and ODIs. "I am not sure what Gilly is going to do," Ponting said in the Sunday Mail. "There was some talk a couple of years ago, even a year ago, that this [World Cup] was going to be his last one-day tournament, but I haven't heard anything about that here. I would think he would be pretty keen ... More About: Chris , Finish , Ayden , Nish
LEAVE UR CONGRATULATION FOR AUSSIES
2007-04-29 18:15:00 PLZ LEAVE UR CONGRATULATIONS FOR AUSSIES FOR WINNING THEIR 3RD WORLD CUP IN A ROW More About: Leave , Tula , Ratu , Aussie , Aussies
Out-going McGrath names his best XI
2007-04-29 18:13:00 Glenn McGrath says he's happy to go out on his own terms in his column in the Sunday Telegraph. He also lists his toughest XI to play against and tells how the prankster and selector Merv Hughes wanted to drop him. He told me that, as I effectively replaced him in the Test side in 1994, he was looking forward to getting square by sticking the knife in and ending my Test career. He said he was disappointed I announced my retirement before he had the chance to swoop. Merv, of course, was only joking. In the Sun-Herald David Sygall looks at a possible Australian line-up for the 2011 World Cup. Mark Waugh rates his best team of World Cup performers in the same paper More About: Ames , Names , Going , Goin
HERE R THE AUSSIES WITH THE TROPHY
2007-04-29 16:52:00 WOW WHAT A MOMENT THEY SURELY DESERVE THIS More About: Here , Trophy , The A , Aussie , Aussies
McGrath bows out as leading man
2007-04-29 16:50:00 Ricky Ponting talks to Glenn McGrath as he begins his final afternoon in international cricket Glenn McGrath has signed off on his career by winning the World Cup's Player of the Tournament prize with a record 26 wickets. When McGrath stepped from the Kensington Oval he entered retirement and then collected his third World Cup winners' medal after seven weeks of bowling brilliance. In 250 one-day internationals McGrath collected 381 wickets and his 71 World Cup victims in 39 games are 16 ahead of the previous mark set by Wasim Akram. McGrath, 37, has made continued high performance a trademark and he finishes his career in fifth place on the ICC one-day rankings. One of only five players to reach 900 rankings points, McGrath reached his statistical peak of 903 during the seven-match ODI series against South Africa in March 2002. Only Joel Garner, Richard Hadlee, Shaun Pollock and Muttiah Muralitharan collected more points from the complex ratin... More About: Bows , Leading , Lead
'Big Daddies' toy with the world
2007-04-29 16:49:00 Support from his team-mates helped turn Adam Gilchrist's form around © Getty Images There will be enough of it about so let us get it out of the way as quickly as possible, the celebrations which shimmered in a thousand flashlights interrupted by blundering officials, the podiums now being set up, now being rushed back off the field, the television men uncabling and recabling, the man in dreads replacing the markers back on the 30-yard circle, the lies played out in the night, bowlers looping their arms over and batsmen offering dead blades and legs before it, the very joke that the ICC have become in the eyes of every cricket fan. The final day of the ninth World Cup was an absurd and boisterous one which began with rain, ended in darkness, and in between contained an innings of lashing power and glory the likes of which observers felt a World Cup final had not seen before. This is already a tall claim to make. Clive Lloyd hit a superb captain's hundr... More About: The World , Dies
IBIBO NOT WORKING PROPERLY
2007-04-29 00:01:00 THERE IS PROBLEM IN IBIBO SERVER TODAY AGAIN AND AGAIN ITS SHOWING MAINTAINENCE ERROR PAGE WHY IS THIS IN LAST FEW DAYS PLZ DO SOMETHING IT HAS HAPPENED WHOLE DAY TODAY More About: King , Working , Prop , Rope , Workin
Communication gap or getting under Ponting's skin?
2007-04-28 23:51:00 With the World Cup in his sight, Pont ing waits for JayawardeneFuel was added to the pre-match tension between the World Cup finalists sides when Australian captain Ricky Ponting was kept waiting for more than an hour by his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahela Jayawardene for a promotional photoshoot on the beach at St Lucia. Ponting had to delay his departure from St Lucia to Barbados to make the shoot possible, and was watched by the media, his displeasure quite obvious. The Sydney Morning Herald reported the subsequent meeting of the captains, and Ponting made his displeasure known when he asked Jayawardene, " a bit late are you?". Jayawardene blamed a communication gap for the delay. The rival captains were all smiles in the eventual photoshoot, holding the trophy together. This incident is bound to motivate the Australians even further, the relationship between the two sides not being very friendly. The resting of veterans Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitha... More About: Skin , Communication , Comm , Under
Enemy of your (auld) enemy is your friend
2007-04-28 23:49:00 Jayasuriya, a 'master blaster like no other'In the Super Eights, in one of the most closely-contested matches of the tournament, Sri Lanka had defeated England by two runs, putting paid to their hopes of making it to the semis. One might have thought that would be an issue of sour grapes but seeing the traditional enemy, Australia, ousted seems to have exerted a greater pull on Englishmen. Most of them are expected to root for the Sri Lankans in Saturday's final against the Aussies. Dominick Chilcott, the British high commissioner in Colombo, is certainly one. According to AFP, shedding any pretence of diplomatic neutrality the British envoy led the high commission staff in signing greetings to Mahela Jayawardene and his team-mates ahead of Saturday's game in Barbados. "The British High Commission wish the Sri Lankan cricket team the best of luck in Saturday's cricket World Cup final," the mission said in a statement signed by all its staff."We're ho... More About: Friend , Enemy
BOTH STARTING LINE UPS
2007-04-28 23:44:00 AC Gilchrist, ML Hayden, RT Ponting, MJ Clarke, A Symonds, MEK Hussey, SR Watson, GB Hogg, NW Bracken, SW Tait, GD McGrath WU Tharanga, ST Jayasuriya, KC Sangakkara, DPMD Jayawardene, LPC Silva, TM Dilshan, RP Arnold, WPUJC Vaas, SL Malinga, M Muralitharan, CRD Fernando More About: Tart , Line
MATCH TO START SOON
2007-04-28 23:42:00 11.50am So, 38 overs each, three bowlers can bowl eight overs, two seven, and the third Powerplay is ditched. The pitch is dry, there's a breeze blowing across the ground ... cue Ian Botham: "This pitch won't change. It looks flat, I don't expect it to do a great deal."The first World Cup final in 1975 was 60 overs a side, started at 10.30am and finished at 8.43pm. And it was sunny and hot all day. What a contrast ...11.45am Massive cheers as the last of the covers comes off, and the Sri Lankans come onto the outfield to warm-up ... again. "At least the raindrops have been musical," says a bored Andrew Miller. "The one dripping next to me fits the soca rhythm very nicely ..." Now we are told a 12.15pm start and 38 overs a side. Believe it when it happens. More About: Start , Match , Tart
Bowl it one last time, Glenn
2007-04-28 18:30:00 Glen n McGrath collected 3 for 14 in his opening spell and dropped South Africa to 27 for 5 St Lucia is a delightful island of Caribbean vibes. At night the liming strip in Rodney Bay has come alive for comers from all over the world. Beres Hammond, Sean Paul and David Rudder have performed. Shaggy and Maxi Priest will tonight. But Lucians don't much talk about cricket - or listen to it, as Tuesday's Jamaica semi-final did not come over the radio. There has never been a Test cricketer out of here and the few locals who were at Beausejour will not have been bowled over by what they saw. This was a less than rousing affair. The trouble with Australian professionalism is that it has become such a cliché that even watching it at its calibrated best can be numbing. Glory be flaws. Yet, with a little filter of nostalgia even these hours of unremitting lopsided excellence are able to take on some warmth. To watch the chuntering maestro Glenn McGrath at work was to see an... More About: Time , Bowl
McGrath primed for last hurrah
2007-04-28 18:28:00 Glenn McGrath: "I've probably felt more relaxed than I ever have on this tour and enjoyed it, and maybe that's the reason I've been playing well" Five months ago in Melbourne, the beginning of the end of Glenn McGrath's career was mapped out during one of the more downbeat press conferences imaginable. Two days beforehand, the unstoppable showman, Shane Warne, had snatched all the available limelight in bringing the curtain down on his own matchless career, and McGrath was left to make his announcement not, as Warne had done, in the newly refurbished Long Room of the MCG, but in lanes 2 and 3 of the ground's indoor nets. It was an occasion devoid of glamour, just as his bowling has been for 13 incredible years. But all of a sudden, McGrath is on the brink of, arguably, the most wonderful exit ever achieved by an Australian sportsman. At Sydney in January, on his home ground, he had the honour of grabbing the last English wicket to fall as Australia secur... More About: Prime , Rime , Prim
Two shiny teams fight for glory - PART 2
2007-04-28 18:27:00 And McGrath it is who will enjoy this Barbados pitch more than any bowler in contemporary cricket, especially if he should get to use it first. He certainly did a fortnight ago with three wickets in his opening spell in the rout of Ireland. McGrath has never really needed more than an off stump and an outside edge to aim at. Giving him bounce is presenting him nail, hammer and coffin. He is hoping it will do for Sanath Jayasuriya as it has done several times down under. Ricky Ponting and Mahela Jayawardene prepare to make history If a weakness must be found in Australia it is that they haven't been fully tested, though if it was any other way it would have been undoubtedly played up as proof of their vulnerability. So dominant have they been that, for instance, Michael Hussey has got just two hits in the last six games, and he didn't get past nine runs in the first four, mostly because he came in so late. Moreover, as Jayawardene says: "They are human." "This game doesn... More About: Fight , Teams , Part , Shin , Shiny
Two shiny teams fight for glory
2007-04-28 18:25:00 Eyes on the prize It has fallen upon this final at the great venue of Kensington Oval, Barbados, not just to deliver a champion of the world but to save face for the game on its biggest stage. For all its supposed wonderful health, the tripe dished out over the past two months has been an embarrassment. All the proper players in the world plus a few others were put in the most evocative of destinations and look what they came up with. It was hoped the last week might rescue the tournament. Nothing of the sort. Two one-sided romps and fans asking each other when? In lovely St Lucia on Wednesday the occasion failed to feel like a World Cup semi-final. In inviting bids that covered a wide range of requirements the organisers may have been trying to do the fair thing. But what price a cricket culture? As absent as it was in St Lucia, so unmissable it is in Barbados. Cricket sprouts out of the very earth of Barbados. More than any other Caribbean territory, and ... More About: Fight , Teams , Shin , Shiny , Glory
WHO IS BEHIND BOB'S MURDER
2007-04-28 14:12:00 WHAT DO U THINK WHO HAS MURDERED BOB WOOLMER? More About: Murder , Behind
WHO WILL HAVE THE LAST LAUGH?
2007-04-27 14:50:00 WHO WILL HAVE THE LAST LAUGH WHO WILL ROB THE CUP FROM THE OTHERS HAND? CLICK HERE TO EARN 5 DOLLERS INSTANTLY IN A MINUTE STILL CANT BELIEVE CLICK HERE TO OPEN IN NEW WINDOW More About: Will , Have , Laugh , The Last
Jayasuriya's family head for the final
2007-04-27 14:38:00 Sanath Jayasuriya's family is set to join him in Bridgetown for Saturday's final with Australia. Jayasuriya's wife Sandra and three young children were due to leave for London en route to Barbados, a family friend told AFP. Jayasuriya, who played a stellar role in Sri Lanka's World Cup triumph in 1996, failed in the semi-final win over New Zealand. One of the world's most destructive batsmen on his day, Jayasuriya has hit centuries against Bangladesh and host West Indies in the current tournament. Mahinda Rajapakse, Sri Lanka's President, also made a previously unscheduled visit to Barbados on Thursday to witness his country play Australia in the finals. More About: Family , Final , Head , Fina , Riya
And now... news from the land like no other
2007-04-27 14:37:00 Sri Lanka's tourism authorities are using the World Cup to attract visitors to the country. They are using 30 students at Caribbean venues to hold placards, traditional masks and balloons to catch the attention of television cameras. Advertising is strictly limited to official ICC sponsors but tourism officials have found ways to circumvent the restrictions. "The placards carry various slogans all centered around our promotional theme 'Sri Lanka, a land like no other'," Sri Lanka Tourism Chairman Renton de Alwis told AFP. A placard showing Lasith Malinga's bleached-blond hairdo with the legend "a lad like no other" is being placed next to Sri Lankan masks and it is hoped that spectators or TV viewers reading the placard will associate it with the Sri Lanka tourism tag line. "The exposure we have had during the World Cup is simply priceless for the country's image. The team's success has generated enormous awareness about the country. It's a shot in the arm for us," sa... More About: News , Land , Like
The unlikely amazement of Howard
2007-04-27 14:31:00 Australian Prime Minister John Howard will be an amazed man if Australia don't win the World Cup. "This is an incredibly consistent and strong Australian team and the ease in which we defeated South Africa a few hours ago is a very good omen," Howard told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Howard is known to be a huge fan of the game and can be seen more often than not at the Sydney Cricket Ground for Australia's home Tests. He said that Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, was sure to tell his players not to be complacent. "That's one of the reasons why he keeps winning: he never takes things for granted and nobody should do that in sport or indeed in anything else," he said with a fearful finality More About: Maze , Ward , Like , The U
World Cup is too long, admits Speed
2007-04-27 14:27:00 Malcolm Speed , the chief executive of the ICC, has admitted that the 2007 World Cup , which spans seven weeks, is too long. The tournament began with West Indies playing Pakistan on March 13. "We listen to criticism, and there has been a lot of it from people saying it's been too long - so we'll look to make it shorter," Speed told the BBC. "We'll seek to reduce this 47-day World Cup by seven or ten days, and hopefully we'll get it down to somewhere between five and six weeks next time. "To those people who have said the tournament has been too long, it is worth pointing out that there are three fewer matches this time, compared to four years ago, despite an additional two teams taking part." Speed defended ticket prices which, at many venues, were out of reach of the locals. As a result, the majority of the matches were played in front of largely empty stadiums. Attendance was further depleted by the first-round exits of India and Pakistan, both of whom were expected to fill ... More About: Long
Fleming wants Bracewell to continue
2007-04-27 14:25:00 Following New Zealand's exit from the World Cup semi-final, Stephen Fleming, the Test captain, is hopeful their coach John Bracewell will stay on after his contract expires next month. "I think Braces should stay on, I think he's a fine coach, he's worked well with this side," Fleming said in The Press. Bracewell, who is expected to submit a detailed performance appraisal of the squad to New Zealand Cricket (NZC), said a review of the World Cup campaign would determine his future. He was recently under-fire from Martin Crowe, the former New Zealand captain, who suggested that he should resign. However, Bracewell hasn't given any indication he would join the mass exodus of international coaches and said the priority would be to sort out the player contracts for the forthcoming season. "Once we've gone through that review process I'll make that decision on whether to continue, or that decision will be made for me," Bracewell told NZPA. "Ric Charlesworth [the NZC high performa... More About: Want , Ants , Ming , Well , Conti
Bucknor and Dar stand in final
2007-04-27 14:23:00 Steve Buck nor and Aleem Dar have been appointed to stand as the on-field umpires for the World Cup final between Australia and Sri Lanka in Barbados. Rudi Koertzen will be the third umpire, while Jeff Crowe will act as the match referee. For Bucknor, it will be his fifth successive final. He first stood in 1992, and on the three subsequent occasions he was accompanied by David Shepherd, who has now retired. "It's a dream come true," Bucknor said. "I was happy knowing I was umpiring in a World Cup in the Caribbean and now being asked to stand in the final again makes it even more special. "Just because the final is taking place here (in the Caribbean) does not mean it is any extra pressure for me than, say, my third or fourth finals, for example. Each game has its pressures and you have to deal with that. As for preparations, it will be business as usual. I will go for a jog around the savannah to get myself ready, as I always do when I am here in Barbados." Dar echoed his collea... More About: Final , Stand , Fina
Moody tells Australia to mind their own business
2007-04-27 14:21:00 Tom Moody , the Sri Lanka coach, says Australia should keep out of the debate over Sri Lanka resting three bowlers during the Super Eights to keep them fresh for the finals. Ricky Ponting said Sri Lanka, who face Australia in the decider on Saturday, missed a chance to maintain their momentum when they left out Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga for the match on April 16, but Moody said the issue had nothing to do with Australia. "The return shot is why does Sri Lanka have to be told who to play against Australia?" Moody, who won two World Cups with Australia, said in the Courier-Mail. "What is it to do with Australia who we play in a game which is essentially a dead rubber? "The cricket world did not stick their nose into the fact that half the Australian team didn't tour New Zealand for the Chappell-Hadlee Series. That was Australia's choice. It is the way you prepare your players for a long World Cup." Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting had games off during th... More About: Business , Mind , Ness
Muralitharan aims for career-best moment
2007-04-27 14:16:00 Muttiah Mural itharan says a victory in the World Cup final against Australia on Saturday would be the biggest moment of his career, surpassing the 1996 World Cup triumph and all of his personal records. "I had moments in 1996, I was very young and I didn't know much about it," he told AFP. "Now I know what it takes to win a World Cup. This may be my last World Cup so if we can win it will be the greatest moment in my life rather than my individual records." Muralitharan, along with Chaminda Vaas and Sanath Jayasuriya, was part of the team that beat Australia in the final of the 1996 World Cup. He said the batsmen held the key to defeating Australia, who are unbeaten in the Caribbean. "We have batsmen of the calibre of Jayasuriya, [Mahela] Jayawardene, [Kumar] Sangakkara, and [Upul] Tharanga," Muralitharan said. "If they click, the way we played in England [Sri Lanka won the one-day series 5-0 in 2006], we had total domination and I only played in two matches. If our batsmen get ... More About: Career , Best , Moment , Ural
Hit for Six
More articles from this author:2007-04-27 01:44:00 Last night, I achieved the dubious distinction of walking the red carpet at the international premiere of a feature film in Bermuda shorts, a situation I tried to explain as an attempt to achieve parity with the superior sex by showing a bit of skin. There was no rush of cameras, though, and I slunk off to the far corner to nurse my pineapple juice. Truth be told, I made a fool of myself. It is no excuse that I thought it was a media-only preview. I didn't read the invite. And let me get a bit real too. It was the premiere of a feature film alright, though the 'international' part is overstating a bit. The occasion, though, was special: the premiere of Barbados's first full-length feature film. And it was hardly a surprise that it was on cricket and titled Hit for Six! The Barbados film industry is only four years old and it had, till last night, to its credit three feature films, all of which were shot in video format on budgets of less than US $500,000. T... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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