Something about

It’s been sometime since I wrote, well the reason was that I was busy having fun and cricket is slowly dying a sport. Let’s see what has happened in recent times:

 Ford snubs India; well I guess we deserve it as the BCCI is the most unprofessional organization run by a few individuals as their family business. It does not even have a website (And we call it the most powerful organization in cricket)
 Sachin is back in the Indian ODI team (Give me a break, when Brian Charles Lara is dispensable, I think this guy deserves to be dropped)
 England wins Wisden Trophy, well did not expect anything else but Harmy is still wayward, hope he finds his form.
 Mali is the new ICC President (Sonn passed away) and he claims that Zimbabwe still is a force to reckon with……I think Mylapore should apply for test status!
 I personally feel that Ireland should be given test status (Rumour has it Rankins could be called into the England A side). They any day better than Zimbabwe and now a 2 time Intercontinental Champions.
 Afro-Asian cup concluded in Chennai with Asians winning 3-0. Shaun Pollock played as a batsman with half the team filled with Zimbabwean and Kenyan players.
 Former Pakistan Coach is said to have died of natural causes. Jamaican Police is sure good at investigating.

No Future

Beating Bangladesh in sub-continent conditions is no big deal. No offence to the Bangla boys, they may a hard working one day outfit but when it comes to multi-day cricket, they are only slightly better than a club side. Now India wanted this tour to test out new players, well has that really happened? I don’t think so. For starters when you look at the test line up, our middle order has remained the same for the last decade of so. Yuvraj Singh was the only new player who managed to be in it for a very limited period. Others like Dravid, Ganguly and Tendulkar has become a permanent fixture there. Apart from Dravid, the other two are one a steep decline and more or less playing only to improve their personal records. I am sure Tendulkar and Ganguly cannot win matches against quality bowling. All they can do is nudging around the Bangla boys and make some scratchy runs. The dropping of Laxman is a sin. Why the hell should guys like Tendulkar and Ganguly keep getting opportunities to make runs against weaker sides and seal their spots while Laxman has to slug it out against the very best to keep his spot. This is dirty Indian politics at its best. Ganguly for long has been protected by the Bengal Circle and now the Mumbai circle is playing it ugly cards. The only good things about the tour is that the emergence of Karthik as an opener. But again we should not get too excited about his performance against this weak team. Let him score against England in England, then there is cause for making him the long term opener. As far as the bowlers are concerned, without Kumble the team looks lost and Zaheer is too patchy and inconsistent. The likes of VRV Singh, RP Singh and I Sharma do not instil fear among the batsmen and I guess we could end up having the worst bowling line up within the next few years. India has often been compared to the Brazil soccer team, which is sad. Yes both the sports are religion in their respected countries but when you look at the records it’s just plain ridiculous to compare them. Indian team is an over hyped money making machine and its population is filled with people of non-sporting culture.

A Few points

India has won its REVENGE tour of Bangladesh. The board promised a young side and well if Dinesh Mongia was part of this young side, then god save the team.

Australia is going to boycott its tour of Zimbabwe, well what about China, India, Burma; the list goes on....India? Many may be confused, but serious Quota system people!

Michael Vaughan is injured again, why the ECB can’t just ask this guy to retire and collect his pension

England 20/20 Side

This world cup saw one of the worst performances by an English team which managed to beat all the minnows and the West Indies cricket team. The team had one star in KP and the rest were there to just make up the numbers. They never had a settled opening pair and they had Vaughan (no serious cricket since Ashes 2005), Strauss (hopelessly out of form), Bell (A Sheet Anchor) and Joyce (never opened for his county Middlesex). None of them were aggressive and they had one the worst starts that teams can have. While all the other teams had stroke players, England has a bunch of grafters. Their best player comes in at 4 while their hardest hitter was wasted at 6. It’s not that England do not have big hitters, but Duncan Fletcher selected guys who are no good at playing one day cricket and the worse is that not one of them played in their usual role. With the 20/20 WC coming later this year, there are chances that England may get a similar drubbing in a game which was popularized by them. Ali Brown, a former English One day player with an international century not to forget 2 scores of 200+ in domestic one day matches smashed a 176 which helped Surrey boost a world record total of 496. England has players and its time instead of sticking to the bubble, England experiment with some new players. Mal Loye, a guy who sweeped Lee, one of the fastest bowlers in the world for a 6 could not find a spot in the WC squad. England has to change and with the 20/20 WC fast approaching, they should take some tough big hitters rather than take grafters. If Vaughan finds his spot on the team, I am sorry to say this but England deserves to be knocked out in the first round. My English team for the 20/20 WC - Marcus Trescothick, Mal Loye, Ali Brown, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood (C), Andrew Flintoff, Ian Blackwell, Paul Nixon, Darren Gough, Jon Lewis, James Anderson. The Reserves – Ian Trott, Vikram Solanki, Michael Yardy and Stuart Broad.

WC Post

I am posting well after nearly a week after the finals, the reason is very simple. This world was one of the most boring world cups and the timing also did not suit all. Staying up so late to watch dull one sided cricket was not at all worth watching. It’s time the ICC does something about it. Well I suggest stop one day cricket once and for all and embrace 20-20. Looking at all the one day matches played, the greatest of games could be counted by hand while each season of EPL produces more brilliant matches than this. Congratulations to Australia for dominating the world cup like no other team before and they were not once troubled by anyone. The only positive thing about the world cup is the performance of Bangladesh and Ireland. Bangladesh reminds me of the Zimbabwe team of the 1990s where with a few world class players they could give trouble to any one side on their day. Ireland’s performance shows that talent exists in the non-test playing nations and its time ICC do something to encourage the sport there. Cricket will die in its current state if one country dominates the sport and the hand full of others wants to preserve the sport. This will be my world cup XI, well a majority of them are Australians after all they won the championship with no one to trouble them.

The XI – Hayden, Gilchrist, Ponting (C), Jayawardene, Pietersen, Lara, Styris, Hogg, Tait, McGrath, Malinga. Kallis will be the 12th man.

Honourable Mention – Jayasuriya, Smith, Clarke, Bracken, Bond and Rankin.

Yawn!

I guess the time has come for the ICC to rethink about the World Cup, First off all it is one of the most boring tournaments ever. Except for a handful of matches, the rest have been too predictable and one sided. I am sure the finals may also turn into a one side’s affair. Hope Aus pulls it off.

Same Old Story

The wait is finally over and another toothless selection by the selection brigade led by Bombay Mafia member Vengsarkar. Why any ex-cricketer in this country doesn’t have the balls to come out and say Sachin should be dropped. When Agarkar and Harbhajan Singh can be dropped why should Sachin and Ganguly only be rested? When was the last time this pair has won a game for India? When was the last time Sachin has won us a test match? People come out and say it’s a team sport, very true, but look at the number of times Brian Charles Lara has won games on his own for the West Indies. Stop the damm hero worship. Sachin is only mortal and when Steve Waugh can be dropped anyone can be dropped. It’s a sad day for cricket and Sachin should remember that one senior made the way for his place and now he should retire decently but what to do this guy is in for the money rather than the pride for playing for the country. You may make runs and runs but as a human you suck big time and you don’t deserve the special status. Go to Hell!

As for the team selected some interesting questions comes out. Why is Dinesh Karthik selected as an opener? Here is a guy who has never opened for his state but now he is all set to open for his country. An opener is a specialist job and the selectors should have picked Gautam Gambhir. Also based on the different yardstick for different players approach, Sachin makes it to the test team. Another case is Murali Karthik, he is good enough for Middlesex but he does not find a place in the national team. Instead Pawar makes it, no offence to Pawar but I guess his ex-Mumbai connections got him his place. Romesh Powar is a disgrace to cricketers all over the world. Talent alone does not count and his is no Darren Lehmann. He should shape up before he makes it to the side but the Mumbai Mafia worked in his favour. I don’t see much out of this. I just pray Bangladesh gives these guys a trashing of their lives.

The King Bows Out!

It’s a sad day for world cricket as Brian Charles Lara retires from International Cricket. He is the greatest player ever to have not to have won a world cup. Sachin may be a great player but Lara was much better and even at 37 his powers have not waned. He has always played in a team which never had one other great player while Sachin was in this position for only a few years. Lara could be the greatest cricketer ever produced in the last 50 years. He could have still played test cricket for another 3 years but decided to bow out when he was still on top. Lara thanks for all the great moment provided on the field. West Indies team will forever be indebted to him for his services to cricket. Not only was he a great cricketer he was also a great human being. All hail the King of Caribbean cricket.

5 of his best –
277 Vs Australia at Sydney
400 Vs England at St.Johns
153 Vs Australia at Barbados
375 Vs England at St.Johns
501 Vs Durham at Edgbaston

The Fall of the Empire

I have finally decided to give up on England till the current management of Fletcher and Vaughan is still on the helm. Its time English cricket needs a revamp and they need to overhaul it in a big way. How can a country whose domestic cricketers play more one day matches than any other nation play so miserably? The answer lies right at the top of the order. England has never had a great opening combination and without Trescothick they are clueless. Vaughan after more than 80 odd games in about 7 odd years is yet to make a century while the Irish openers Bray and Porterfield have 2 each. Ian Bell is a class act but he is a player who is at best a grafter and can keep one end up rather then come out and destroy a bowling line up. England needs Trescothick more than ever before and he needs a solid partner. The only person I can think of is Alastair Cook. He has the technique and in the 2 games he got, he was impressive. If England thinks that KP is their best batsmen then he should bat at no. 3. The great Richards and even Lara batted only at one down when they were at their peak. England needs someone like Thorpe at no. 4 and I guess either Strauss or Joyce should take up that position. All teams need 5 and 6 to play either play reconstruction role or a stop gap hitting role. Australia was lucky to have Steve Waugh and Bevan there for a very long time. England can have Paul Collingwood and Ravi Bopara. I am sorry to say this but Flintoff should play only at no. 7 as he just lost it in him and he should play there till he gets back into form. As far the keeper, Nixon is old and its time England stop persisting with Jones, Read or even Foster. Its time they either give Prior an extended run or blood in Steve Davies or even Riki Wessels. Monty Panesar should continue to be their number one spinner with Dalrymple and Blackwell as the backup. As far as the seamers go Anderson should continue to be the spearhead with the likes of Plunkett and Mahmood as the support bowlers. England can also try some fresh cricketers like Will Jefferson and Nick Crompton at the top and the likes of Jonathan Trott in the middle. They have some young talented bowlers like Broad, Footitt and Tom Smith. The future looks good provided they pick the right squad and have a proper order. As far as today’s match goes, only a miracle can save them.

Irish cages the Tigers!

The Irish team is having a time of their life as the team managed to beat another test team Bangladesh by a convincing margin. The Irish are on a rise and it is up to the ICC to support them and make sure they play enough crickets. With sufficient exposure I am sure they can even beat teams like England and West Indies on a regular basis. For the so called people who were against the minnows in this world cup, well for starters I don’t see a point of having 8 teams playing an event and then calling it the world cup. Cricket is fast becoming a minority sport and the only way out is to get more countries involved which is happening now. If the ICC has a proper plan, by 2020, ICC should have as many as 16 countries wit permanent ODI status.

Empire crawls around!

I feel that the time has come for England to dump Duncan Fletcher and Michael Vaughan. After the dismissal performance in the 2003 World Cup, Fletcher promised to make some great changes but sadly even after 4 long years; England is still struggling and is highly dependent on the performances of other teams rather than its own performance. After the CB series which they won without the best ODI batsmen in the world currently Kevin Pietersen, I though they would do very well, but in this world cup, they have struggled even to beat minnows. Flintoff should either be opening or should be at no. 7. He is hopelessly out of form as a batsman. I still do know how Vaughan is right at the top. He may be a great test player but his one day record is so woeful that he may struggle to make it to the Bangladesh line-up. The constant chopping of Strauss has not done him any good and Joyce is better off in the middle order and he should take up the role that Thorpe and Fairbrother used to play. Bopara is still raw and frankly he does not deserve to be in the side and the dropping of Loye is a big blunder. England is too depended of Bell and KP. It’s time the other guys in the team take up some responsibilities and start playing. May be the time has come to test out Broad and see if he really has something as all great players cherish the big stage and if he is a great one in the making, then this should be the place.

Learn from the Irish

The problem with Indians as such is that we just cannot take a stand. I remember after the loss to Bangladesh and the subsequent exit from the World Cup, every other Indian including some former so called legends of the game complained that the problem was that of too many endorsements means that the players are highly distracted. Now the same group are complaining that the recent landmark decision of the BCCI is hurting a player’s right to living. Yes the constitution has this provision but I don’t think that a guy’s earning reducing from 30 crores to 10 crores is going to make a big different. It does for him but hell playing for a country is a great honour and given a chance I would do it free of cost. For all those who may not be convinced about this very particular statement, well I rowed for the Tamil Nadu state and rowing as a sport is not funded much. We guys during most cases spend money from our pockets. Why do we do it? It’s because we are passionate about what we do and we don’t care about the money. This one incident has proved that these people prefer making money rather than giving it all out for the country. The Irish team is made up of mostly amateurs except for 2 or 3 who have contracts with county teams. These guys here are not for the money, they are here for the game and they are proud in representing their nation. For those who are not well aware of the historical fact, the Irish team is made up of two nations (Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). With all the history between them, they still play as one single unit with no bickering. It’s time that these so-called super powers of cricket learn the true sense of sportsmanship from the Irish team.

Tigers Crush Sprinkboks

Bangladesh proved that they really deserve a place in the Super 8s after a crushing win over the number one side in the world. South Africa never looked they were in the hunt and I guess this has opened the Super 8s with nearly 7 teams still having a realistic chance of reaching the semi-finals. Australians remain the clear favorites with possibly New Zealand and England as 2 teams capable of beating them. The Lankans have become the dark horse but their batting is yet to fire. As far as South Africa goes, well I hate any side which was selected by a quota system rather than merit. So they deserve this loss. It’s a pity that a lot of talented white cricketers are not in this squad and Kemp is no Lance Klusener. Even now Zulu in his mid 30s should have been in the squad. But nothing can be done now. Today the old rivals will meet, Michael Vaughan’s ODI career could be ended if England losses today.

What?

It’s time we just stop all the nonsense which is going on and the time has come to seriously look at Indian cricket. It’s an open battle royal between everyone involved in the game and the media is having a field day. Being patriotic is one thing but being ignorant and blindly supporting the a few stars is another. It’s time to get away from the regional bias and think for the future of the game.

The key players:

BCCI – Richest cricket board in the world and its only aim is to make more money so that the politicians running it can get more out of it.
Selection committee – the only selection committee in world cricket to be selected on regional quota rather than merit
Senior Players – could be mistaken for models as the number of advertisement theses guy come in are at times more than movie starts. Each make around 10 to 20 crore per year on each advertisement
Chappell – one of legends of Australian cricket, a professional coach, though at times all his methods may not be right but its time he comes out and talk in the open
The blue billion – they love cricket so much because it is the only game/sport we are anyway close to being near the top. FYI V Anand is the current World #1 in Chess.

Key Questions:

When was the last time India has won a major series/tournament overseas (non Asia and Zimbabwe)?
How much is the BCCI actually worth?
Do the Coach and Captain have any real say in running of the team?
Last time Sachin won a game for us?
Last time senior guys made runs when it mattered most?
How can the entire bunch of guys lose form at the same time?
Why the hell are the guys so bothered about money?

To be continued…………………

Down But Out?

After the stunning performance during the Commonwealth Bank series, I actually believed that England has finally got it right in ODIs but after their show in the WC I doubt it. Their top 3 is even worse than Ireland (4 centuries in their top 3 compared to 1 to England). Their centurion Ed Joyce is highly inconsistent and Vaughan can be a good test batmen but I am sure that he would not make even any state side on Australian domestic competition for limited over cricket. Ian Bell is a good cricketer but he never can produce a dominating innings that would dictate terms and instill fear among the opposition players. I still don’t know why Kevin Pietersen is not playing at number 3. I am sure he would do a brilliant job and it would give him more time to settle down. I also don’t see the point of Jamie Dalrymple not playing. He is much better than Ravi Bopara. Ideally now England can’t do anything about the squad. But I feel that Cook should have been in it and so does Mal Loye. This should be England’s playing XI - Michael Vaughan(C), Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Ed Joyce, Jamie Dalrymple, Paul Nixon, Liam Plunkett, Monty Panesar, James Anderson.

Marcus Trescothick should be back as soon as he recovers from his illness as they desperately need him now more than any time before.

Made in South Africa

Not only do we have South Africans playing for South Africa (Dah….Obviously), we also have these chaps representing a lot of other teams.

England - Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss
Netherlands - Ryan ten Doeschate, Eric Szwarczynski and Billy Stelling
Scotland - Dewald Nel
Ireland - Andre Botha

Time for a Change

It’s time that the Indian team moved and makes some drastic changes. The so called great generation has bid its time and this is the right time to faze them out. Changing captaincy at this stage would not help as a captain should first retain his spot in both version of the games and then only should be appointed the skipper. The only Indian who currently fulfills that is the current guy Rahul Dravid. His is the best guy for the job right now. We do have guys like Yuvraj (needs to find a permanent place in the test squad); Laxman (too old) and Sehwag (no form) but Dravid should be the man at least for the next year or so. These decisions could be one the toughest but when Australia can drop guys like Steve Waugh, Mark Waugh and Michael Bevan, I am sure we can exe Sachin and Ganguly and send them on their retirement cruise. If we do not does it know, we are bound to be doomed for the next world cup and the state of our cricket team could just become like our hockey team.

This should be the squad that India should be building here onwards and apart from the senior guys a lot of other guys has to be dropped till the prove themselves in the first class stage.

The selected XI –
Gambhir (aggressive and solid)
Uthappa (raw talent)
Dravid (the Wall)
Yuvraj Singh (can dig it in)
Kaif (needs one last chance)
Dhoni (Wicketkeeper and late order hitter)
Karthik (only man I see could handle the finisher job)
Powar (till we find another spinner)
VRV Singh (fastest Indian, develop him like Tait)
Zaheer (the spearhead)
Munaf Patel (needs to improve fitness)

What could actually happen in reality is that Chappell will be shown the door and Dravid axed from captaincy and Tendulkar taking over.

Paper Tigers send Home!

It was one o the worst days in the history of Indian cricket when the Men in Blue were knocked out of the world cup. The million dollar players playing for the billion dollar team went down to an inspired Sri Lankan team without even putting a fight. The captain Rahul Dravid waged a lonely battle while others crumbled around him. Sachin and Ganguly with over 25000 ODI runs between them once again failed to play when it matters the most. It was a spineless performance from the team. Cricket was the only sport where we are close on being the best but after the 1983 world cup, we have been on a slow downhill. Its pity that we a nation of more than a billion has to rely on Bermuda, a nation with only 90000 people to get to the next round of the world cup. Even the captain of the team has said it openly that we do not deserve a place in the super 8s. The time has come for the board to make some harsh decisions. Blaming it on the captain and coach alone is bad. Heads should start rolling. Chappell promised a lot but 2 years is a long time and too much experimentation is also not good. I guess he will be axed soon. When David Beckham can be dropped from the English football team, I guess even Sachin can be dropped. It’s time we stop treating these guys as gods and drop all non-performers. No matter how much they have done for the country in the past, we should look at the present scenario and also take the future into consideration. As for replacing Dravid, well I don’t see any one in the current lineup capable of doing it. A captain should first be worthy of a spot on the team for his cricketing skills not for his leading skills, so Dravid is our best option and he should stay.

Just a Game

I am tired of watching all the pre match analysis. One channel had Sania Mirza giving her views on cricket. Seriously when you have two of the greatest all-rounder’s ever (Kapil and Sir Richard), you don’t need her. Well sex sells and these guys are making use of it. Now let’s come back to the game. Well first of all India should never be in this position. If India losses today, I don’t think sacking the coach or the captain makes sense. We have one of the best captains we could get and though the coach may be arrogant at times, no point in blaming these two alone. The Men in Blue should at least take the financial impact of this loss into consideration and play their best. It’s time we start performing where it counts. Even 1000 against Bermuda do not count. Win today and progress to the next round. Also the home team takes on Ireland. Well the last time these two teams met, Ireland pulled out an upset over the West Indies. I guess Lara and his boys won’t take this match lightly and will give their best in a match which could have some impact for the next round.

Get a Life

India has just scored 413 against Bermuda a team with one professional player. Our team made up of millionaires decided to go on a run spree against these guys. Sehwag scores century. So what? Others make runs too………well its happening all over again. Scoring runs in worthless games and sticking on to team for another few years. Look it’s time we as a public look at reality and stop supporting these morons. No one in team plays for the country. Look at the Irish team. A team made up of two countries is putting up a great show. What the hell is wrong with us? It’s time we ban cricket and start promoting other sports.

Thank You Bob

It was a sad day for cricket after the demise of Bob Woolmer. He was 58. Woolmer first coached Warwickshire to unprecedented successes in the English domestic circuit and later on went to coach South Africa during its most successful period ever. He then became a high performance manager coach for the ICC coaching out the associate nations. He became Pakistan’s first foreign coach and his death was great loss. He was known for his innovative coaching style and is one of the first coaches to use the modern techniques. We will miss you Bob.

St. Patrick to the rescue

A great day for the smaller teams as neighbors India and Pakistan was stunned by Bangladesh and Ireland respectively. It was a great day for the Irishmen as they are most certain to qualify to the Super 8s while Pakistan has just crashed out of the tournament. Bangladesh is closer to qualification and if India loses to Sri Lanka, which is likely to happen the way they are playing, I guess India and Pakistan can share the flight back home. Sachin before the match was thinking about the 2011 WC, the way he played yesterday, I think he should think about his immediate future and plan a dignified exit. Its time Sehwag should be permanently dropped from the Indian team. Also Mr. Chappell should be let go and he has not done anything to the team so far. India should ban cricket and get going with its life. It’s time we stop paying these guys the huge sum of moneys which can be used for the development of other sports.

Ireland Ties Zimbabwe

In the battle of minnows, Zimbabwe who at one stage managed to win the game easily just lost the plot and managed just to tie the game. This is a pathetic performance and I still don’t see the point in ICC not suspending Zimbabwe when they can do the same thing to USA. I guess Namibia or Denmark would have benefited more than Zimbabwe playing this tournament.

WI Wins

West Indies was impressive with a win over the erratic Pakistanis. The good thing was youngsters like Samuels, Bravo and Smith coming good. For the Pakistanis apart from Iftikhar Anjum and Shoaib Malik, none of the others impressed much. I guess Ireland if they play out of their skins, have a good chance of upsetting them and reaching the Super 8s.

So it begins!

Today is the start of the 9th Cricket World Cup in the West Indies. The first match will be between the host and the Pakistanis. I am sure this will decide who will top the group but both teams should not take Ireland lightly and Zimbabwe is there to make up numbers. WI batted first and has made 241/9 with good knocks from Samuels (63), Sarwan (49), Lara (37) and a brilliant cameo from Smith (32 of 15 balls). For the Pak, Iftikhar Anjum (3 Wickets) and Gul (2 Wickets) did the damage.

Rated C

With less than a week to go for the World Cup, I would like to come out with the list of the most over rated and the most under rated performers for the top 8 countries. As for the others, I really don’t see the point in doing this exercise.

The most over rated:

Australia - Shaun Tait, Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson
South Africa - Andre Nel, Ashwell Prince and Justin Kemp
India - Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Sreesanth and Robin Uthappa
Sri Lanka - Lasith Malinga and Malinga Bandara
England - Sajid Mahmood and Ed Joyce
New Zealand - Ross Taylor and Peter Fulton
Pakistan - Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi and Younis Khan
West Indies - Marlon Samuels and Kieron Pollard

Now these guys are the most under rated cricketers:

Australia - Nathan Bracken and Brad Hodge
South Africa - Andrew Hall and Charl Langeveldt
India - Dinesh Karthik and Anil Kumble
Sri Lanka - Dilhara Fernando and Farveez Maharoof
England - Liam Plunkett, Jon Lewis, Ian Bell, Paul Nixon and Jamie Dalrymple
New Zealand - Brendon McCullum, Mark Gillespie and Lou Vincent
Pakistan - Azhar Mahmood and Danish Kaneria
West Indies - Ian Bradshaw, Corey Collymore and Devon Smith

Combined Team

Ireland giving South Africa a run for their money is one of the biggest news so far with regard to the warm up games for the World Cup. This shows that minnows if they are given the right assistance could be capable of taking on the best in the world. The ICC instead of giving them a handful of ODIs for the four year period that they have the status after the ICC Trophy can actually draw a well structured plan where they should be playing a minimum of 30 matches not only among themselves, but they should atleast get 7 to 10 games against test nations. Only this would make them better. Another thing is like how the West Indies is made up of many small island nations, they can have a European XI (excluding England), an African XI (excluding South Africa) and an Americas XI (Canada, Bermuda and USA). Though logistics could be tough but in reality this would be the most logical way for these nations to not only improve but also play as a competitive side. The European side can have players from Scotland, Ireland, Netherlands, Denmark and some other highly talented players from other Associate teams. Imagine an African side with the best players from Zimbabwe, Kenya, Namibia and Uganda. They will be highly competitive and could beat half the test sides’ atleast in ODIs. This would reduce the number of teams playing in the World Cup and it would also improve the game in these nations as the places will be limited and competition for them will increase. This would be an amazing European XI; I decided to include Ed Joyce though he plays for England now. The final XI - Ed Joyce (C), William Porterfield, Bas Zuiderent, Eoin Morgan, Ryan Watson, Gavin Hamilton, Ryan ten Doeschate, Niall O'Brien (WK), Amjad Khan, Dougie Brown and John Blain.

The Passengers

Every World Cup in recent times has seen the passenger class of cricketers on the rise and this time around I would like to name all the passengers from all the teams. Yes everyone has one including the defending champions.

Australia - Brad Hogg

South Africa - Loots Bosman, Roger Telemachus and Robin Peterson

India - Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth

Sri Lanka - Nuwan Kulasekara and Russel Arnold

England - Michael Vaughan and Ravi Bopara

New Zealand - Daryl Tuffey

Pakistan - Azhar Mahmood, Iftikhar Anjum, Imran Nazir, Yasir Arafat and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan

West Indies - Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard and Daren Powell

For the other team, I would like to name only the non-passengers:

Bangladesh - Shahriar Nafees, Habibul Bashar, Mohammad Rafique and Mashrafe Mortaza

Zimbabwe - Anthony Ireland

Netherlands - Ryan ten Doeschate, Bas Zuiderent and Daan van Bunge

Scotland - Gavin Hamilton, Dougie Brown and Ryan Watson

Bermuda – No one, their fitness level is pathetic for international sports

Canada - John Davison

Kenya - Steve Tikolo and Thomas Odoyo

Ireland - Eoin Morgan and William Porterfield

Will they choke again?

Though this World Cup could have just been the one where South Africa finally win the big one rightfully claim to be the World Champions of ODI but as we all know a team selected with quota system could never compete on equal pedestal. Guys like Bosman, Peterson and Telemachus, just do not deserve to be here. And the worst part is South Africa has better players yet they do not pick them. Kevin Pietersen started the trend and the next could be Jacques Rudolph, who could be playing for England in a few years time. There are around 20 Kolpak players in county cricket and this number just increases every year. I still do not know why guys like Boje (now retired after shabby treatment), Jacques Rudolph (could be playing for England soon) and Dale Steyn is not picked. Well may be their skin just was not good enough. South Africa again just does not have players will killer instinct to win the cup. Kallis knows to play only one sort of game, Smith is too bullheaded, AB just cannot play a controlled innings and you never know when Gibbs will fire and not fire! Add guys like Boucher, Prince and Kemp to this list. The bowling is just the same. Pollock is slowing on his way to retirement, Ntini bowls his heart out but lacks much variation, Nel and Langeveldt are at best support bowlers. Yes the squad looks good but I don’t think they have it in them to beat inspired Englishmen or a New Zealand team.

India and Glory

On paper India has always had a brilliant lineup, but again how many times has India won overseas? We even used to falter against Zimbabwe when they had some quality players. Realistically speaking India should do well to reach the Semi-Finals, but again one inspired innings from John Davison could just knock India out of the tournament. If that happens I guess it’s time we just ban cricket. India has never been a brilliant fielding team, but with aging stars like Dravid, Ganguly, Tendulkar and Kumble, well I guess u can also add in guys like Sehwag, Munaf Patel and Harbhajan Singh to this list. India effectively has very few good fielders. Some things that India should do to reach the Semi-Finals is that they never play the 2 passengers of the team, Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan. They should open with Sachin and Ganguly and its weird not to see one of the best opening combinations in ODI history not opening together. Also the ideal no. 3 would be Robin Uthappa. He is young and he is an aggressive batsman. He could effectively utilize the power plays. Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni should complete the middle order. The no. 7 is a very interesting position as he is the link between the top order and the tail. Dinesh Karthik would ideally suit in there as he can graft as well as play some good strokes. I guess India would go with 3 fast men and one spinner but I think if the pitches were similar to the ones when india visited a few years back, I guess they can play both Kumble and Harbhajan. Among the seamers, Zaheer looks the most convincing and though Agarkar has been there for ages, he still goes for too many runs and he can’t be trusted. Example would be the 1999 World Cup against both South Africa and Zimbabwe. The others will just be belted all over the ground on the flat tracks. As for Viru is considered, I guess he is lucky to be on an all expense paid trip to the West Indies.

The Lost Enigma

Graeme Hick is one of the strangest cases in world cricket. Instead of being the savior for the Zimbabwean cricket team, he decided to ply his trade for England and had to wait for ages and finally after 57 first class centuries, he finally made a debut for them against West Indies, a match which also saw another flawed genius Mark Ramprakash making his debut. Both dints make much of an impact but the seeds were sown for what turned to be a career of unfulfilled promise which was originally said to be that was supposed to be compared to the Don himself. If not for his test career, he would have still been considered the greatest ODI player for England in the 90s. Only 3 Englishmen who have played more than 100 games averages more than him. Had he decided to play the waiting game like Andy Flower, well it could have been a different story altogether and with no fear of being dropped; Hick could have always been the partner at the other end that Flower always longed for. Though he may be 40+ now, he stills destroys county line-ups at will and could dismantle any bowling line-up on his day. He still could be of some use to England. He could be the ideal No. 7 as he can still belt the ball as good as any other cricketer and his off spin is as good as Dalrymple. Yes he got lot of chances but again, he was always under the threat of being dropped and this got into his head badly. Zimbabwe loss was England’s gain but never once did they utilize him properly. His greatest movement would have been the Carlton & United Series in Australia during the 1998/99 season. He smashed 3 centuries and amasses over 500 runs in only 12 games.

Give me a Break!

Pakistan pulls out of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif from the World Cup citing injury as a reason. Well give me a break guys! Why the hell can’t you accept the truth at least once? Look at the Australians, Shane Warne was banned from cricket for one whole year. But Pakistan first banned these two and then all of a sudden Akthar was playing cricket in South Africa. Now after the ICC announced that its going test a few marked players, both pulled out due to injuries and later Pakistan Cricket Board takes a strong objection to the recent remarks of Malcolm Speed. Well everyone knows what is happening and instead of making a fool out themselves, its time Pakistan accepts the facts or maybe they should just remain quiet.

Ways to beat the OZ

 Don’t get intimated by them, try to hit at them like what England and New Zealand did, not like what India did during the 2003 World Cup
 Dad’s army tag is finally getting to them, all the top 4 big chases has been against them
 Their once strong bowing lineup is at its weakest, Warne has retired and Lee is injured. Even the great McGrath is too old and guys like Tait, Johnson, Bracken, Watson, Clarke and Hogg can be smashed across the ground
 Make sure you get their top 3 out quickly and then bring in the spinners and the slow medium guys, see the effect of Karim during the last World Cup
 They do not have a Steve Waugh to bring them victories from the jaws of defeat and Hussey may be Mr. Cricket, but he is no Michael Bevan
 Their ego is too big and it’s easy to inflate it
 Do the unconventional thing and just don’t be bothered about their sledging as they cannot do anything as their have lost their fire

All Time Indian XI

With the Indian team of to the Caribbean and also with every other team coming will an all time great XI, its time someone came up with an all time Indian ODI XI. One thing is certain, the current Indian side is much better than the one which won the World Cup. That one game proved that how an inferior team could win a one day match. Anyway coming up with an all time ODI team for India is not an easy job and I was forced to leave out some legends as though they may have a great test record, I don’t think they have a good enough record to qualify for this team. The team - Tendulkar , Ganguly , Dravid , Azharuddin, Jadeja, Robin Singh, Dhoni (WK), Kapil Dev (C), Prabhakar , Kumble , Srinath and Yuvraj Singh (12th Man). Some members were picked despite some controversy like Azar and Prabhakar, but their records justify their inclusion. On the keeper front, no other Indian keeper has managed to score a century in ODI cricket.

A Lost Team

I just looked at the Zimbabwe XI and it just struck me that apart from Brendon Taylor who could have got in as a reserve keeper, none of the others could have even made it to the probable’s list if there was no mass exodus of Zimbabwe players. I guess the team for the 1999 World Cup could have been their best ever and they managed to reach the Super 6 stages. Imagine the current team with guys like the Flower brothers, Streak, Taibu, Ervine, Price and Blignaut. They could still give any team a run for their money. I guess this should be their all time greats ODI XI – Johnson, Campbell, Goodwin, A Flower (WK), G Flower, Houghton, Fletcher (C), Curran, Streak, P Strang and Olonga. I would add in Whittal as the 12th man. Also would have liked to add Hick, but since he never did play an official ODI for them I decided to ignore him.

Will the real Englishman please stand up!

Recently I came across news that Jacques Rudolph, the South African test player has decided to abandon his country and become a Kolpak player for Yorkshire while Saqlain Mushtaq the former Pakistani spinner has joined Sussex. The way things are going I would be surprised to see if England managed to field 5 pure Englishmen for the 2009 Ashes. Pure in a sense that people of Asian origin though are born in England, but I have excluded them for the sake of this post. The people who survived the last ashes and are expected to be included are Flintoff, Bell, Pietersen, Cook, Strauss and Panesar. May be Mahmood, Harmison, Anderson and even Hoggard. But again English fast bowers have a history of injury problems. Look at Simon Jones, no international cricket after the ashes of 2005. Among the lot who are expected to play 2 were born in South Africa (Pietersen and Strauss) and 2 of Asian origin (Panesar and Mahmood). When you look at the next generation of players, well you have guys like Broad, Davies, Jefferson and Onions, but again you have Compton, born in South Africa and Adil Rashid of Asian origin. Add guys like Joyce (Ireland), Amjad Khan (Denmark), Kervezee (Netherlands), Morgan (Ireland), plus you also have guys like Jacques Rudolph and Saqlain Mushtaq. Well this may be the Ashes XI for 2009 – Cook, Rudolph, Bell, Pietersen, Flintoff, Joyce, Davies, Panesar, Amjad Khan, Anderson and Broad. Well they have managed to have 6 pure Englishmen, great going guys; well 2020 will be a different scene all together.

Fast and Brittle!

It during the World Cup time, we get to see all the fast men together, but before that let me clarify on the explanation for the fast men, any guy who runs in and bowls in not part of the discussion. Anyone who can bowl over 90 miles is only considered. One of the fastest (Lee) is out of the tournament due to an injury while the other though not sure if he will play or not but can’t consider him due to the doping scandal! That leaves us with Bond, the fastest with the cleanest action and Tait, who is all set to become the fastest bowler in the world. It should be an interesting battle but I guess Tait will win this one hands down. Others who may hit that speed includes Johnson, Taylor, Malinga (Lankan chap), Nitini, Mahmood (maybe) and Agarkar (seriously not kiddin)

Do We Need Minnows?

Michael Holding recently made a statement that having minnows in the World Cup are a waste of time. Well I would disagree, if cricket ever wants to compete on a global level, it should expand further and the ICC is doing a great job by promoting cricket in countries like Scotland, Ireland, Netherlands, Canada and Bermuda. The problem is that all the major test playing nations for the last 30 years failed to develop cricket in their neighboring countries. England had it helped out countries like Scotland, Ireland, Holland and Denmark some 50 years back, now these countries would have become a powerful force and some may have become test nations. Look at Nepal, at Under 19 level they are able to beat South Africa, but a club side from SA could trash their national team. India could possibly help them by making their national side play in Ranji Trophy and other events. One of the main reasons why Zimbabwe was pretty impressive during their early years was that, they used to play in the South African Domestic Tournaments. Now due to various political reasons, their side has become a joke, but just brings back the Flowers, Streak, Goodwin, Johnson and Price; they once again have a side capable of competing against the best of nations. It’s time the test nations start helping other smaller countries to develop their cricket programme otherwise in another 20 years cricket may just be played by the same old 8 nations.

Lee out of World Cup

The chances for Australia to regain the World Cup just go down every other day. Now their most successful fast bowler Brett Lee is out of the tournament and Stuart Clark, who should have been there in the original squad in the first place replaces Lee. Clarke may have been the find for the Aussies as far as test cricket is confirmed but with an economical rate of 5.48, I guess chasing in excess of 300 against the Aussies will not be a problem during the event.

Does OZ need the Wizard!

It’s a bit strange when a guy with over 700 test wickets is getting ready to play county cricket but will not participate in the biggest tournament for the sport. That’s life for you. A team which fails to defend totals in excess of 330, not once, but 2 times in a row is in desperate need of some inspirational bowler. Look at the current bowling line-up for the world cup – McGrath (Too Old), Lee (Injured), Bracken (No Penetration), Johnson (Gives Too Many Runs), Tait (Too Raw), Watson (At Best 6th or 7th Bowler) and Hogg (Lack of International Match Practice). It will be nothing short of a miracle for the Aussies to win this World Cup with such a line up. I guess Warne can make an inspirational come back but that may never happen as I doubt if he would ever wants to take a chance as in sports a majority of comebacks after retirement have ended up as some of the biggest failures.

Predictions for Teams!

For the 1st time, 16 teams will be in this event making it the biggest World Cup ever. Though half the teams are there to fill in numbers so don’t expect a football World Cup sort of upsets. I have not listed the countries in any particular order, it’s just on random basis.

Australia – Was sure to win the title but the way they have performed in the later stages of the CB series and the 1st match against the Black Caps in the Hadlee-Chappell Series makes the once invincible team venerable. With injuries to Ponting, Clarke, Symonds and Lee, the Australians don’t look that strong and don’t be too surprised if South Africa destroys them in their league encounter. Also Gilchrist will miss the early part of the World Cup. So the Aussies have to play out of their skin even to reach the Semi-Finals.

South Africa – The perennial chokers in the World Cup, this time will be their best chance of World Cup glory. They have just peaked before the big event and after impressive wins over India and Pakistan, and with Shaun Pollock back in form, they have everything going for them. All they need is to believe in themselves and go for the kill.

West Indies – The host nation so far has been unpredictable and has a very good record against the Aussies in the last few years. Have enough fire power in the batting department to destroy any bowling line-up. This will be Lara’s swan song and he is sure to make it a very memorable one. This will be their best chance to regain the crown they lost in 1983.

England – At one stage a win against Kenya and Canada is all that was expected out of this team, but win a very impressive performance during the later part of the CB series, England is all set to be the dark horses of this World Cup and if Michael Vaughan could stay fit, he could have just earned a Knighthood for winning the World Cup.

New Zealand – A team which could beat any team on its day is a very strong one day outfit. With key players regaining form, the Black Caps should reach the Semi-Finals easily. Shane Bond and Lou Vincent could be the key to their success.

India – Fielding could have just cost the Indians the World Cup. They have too many players either out of form or not completely fit. The men in Blue will be happy if they could reach the Semi-Finals which seem to be a tall order for them now.

Sri Lanka – I don’t see these guys winning the Cup, at most they could spoil some other teams chances. All depends on Jayasuriya and Muralitharan, but don’t be too shocked if they make an early exit out of the World Cup.

Pakistan – The most unpredictable team in World Cricket would just be happy to reach the Super 8 stages. Their selections have been the weirdest of all teams. It’s shocking to see Asif and Akhtar in their ranks.

Bangladesh – Well they managed to beat the Aussies in 2005 but after that all they have done is beat Kenya and Zimbabwe. Should consider them lucky to reach the Super 8 but will have an inspired Bermuda team in their path.

Zimbabwe – Still shocked that they are allowed to play cricket. All their best players are playing for some county in England. Heard Campbell has been asked to help with the World Cup squad. He would have been playing for them if not for the crisis. Will be lucky to beat the Irishmen.

Kenya – I still would put them on par with Bangladesh and Zimbabwe but they need to play the top teams on a more regular basis. It would be a miracle if they managed to repeat their performance during the last World Cup.

Scotland – No chance of making it to the Super 8, but the clash against the Netherlands would be their World Cup finals. This should be a very interesting and could turn out to be the best match of the World Cup. Future English stars Ryan ten Doeschate and Alexei Kervezee will be on display.

Ireland – Would fancy their chances against Zimbabwe but they could just even knockout Pakistan out of the event and do a Kenya in this year’s World Cup. Have some impressive players like Eoin Morgan, William Porterfield and Niall O'Brien.

Netherlands – Like Scotland they are stuck in a powerful group. Their most important match will be against Scotland. Don’t be surprised if ex-South African Ryan ten Doeschate could do something like what Neil Johnson did last year.

Canada - John Davison led Canada is in a tough group, but if he could get going them may just beat Kenya and put up some decent show against England and New Zealand.

Bermuda – Don’t be shocked if Sri Lanka or India scores over 400 against them. Will just be happy to concede less than 300 runs in a match.

Introducing 6 n Out!

There is no shortage of information on Cricket out in the World Wide Web, but I decided to start this blog as the biggest tournament in the world is around the corner, though I may not have enough time to update on a very regular basis, but I shall try my best to keep it as fresh as possible. About the name, well I was too lazy to come up with something different, so took inspiration from Brett Lee’s rock band.