Champions Trophy postponed to accomadate IPL Champions League

A jaundiced view from Lord's

Though the decision to postpone the Champions Trophy appears as an effort to appease the PCB, it is the ECB's view that it is all a part of BCCI's sinister design.

Consider the evidence.

It is common knowledge that ICC succumbed to the adamant BCCI's insistence that Pakistan host the Champions Trophy . It is ECB's suspicion founded on such scurvy tricks played by the BCCI in the past, that it (BCCI) deliberately did so knowing very well other countries will baulk at playing in Pakistan and their hesitancy will lead to scuttling of the Champions Trophy.

To those knave enough to wonder how BCCI benefits from the postponement of the tournament ,ECB answers that this postponement provides an ample window to stage IPL's Champions League.

In short, ECB sees it all a part of BCCI's sinister design to take over world cricket and asks others to follow its lead and show the upstart its place.

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ICC accuses Cricket Australia of hiding behind Player’s Association.

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The conduct of Champions Trophy in Pakistan is proving divisive.

On one hand, the ICC stands accused of cowing to the powerful Asian bloc by insisting on Pakistan as the location. On the other hand, Cricket Australia stands accused of folding under the pressure brought on them by the powerful Player’s Association.

However, yesterday’s statement from the Player’s Association that they will not play in Pakistan has added a new twist to the story. ICC feels that Cricket Australia is using the Players Association to escape making a decision.

In fact, an ICC source, who refused to be named, questioned whether the governing boards were hiding behind their "players" so as not to further antagonise India and the powerful Asian bloc which effectively rules the game.

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Champions Trophy: Thumbs down to Rawalpindi

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The ICC and the PCB have decided to drop Rawalpindi as one of the venues for the Champions Trophy. The dawdling pace of construction - the Rawalpindi stadium is undergoing a facelift, is cited as the official raison d'être.

However, rumors are afoot that Rawalpindi lost out in order to assuage safety concerns. As things stand, Lucknow will hold 7 matches and Karachi will hold 8 matches counting the championship.

Unhappily, yesterday’s reports that Pakistani political parties possibly will impeach Mushraff is bad news for the Champions Trophy. Mushraff is certain to counteract it and this may lead to additional unrest, which regrettably will put a finish to all attempts by the PCB to host the competition.

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BCCI retaliates - Ranatunga gets his due

Regulars may remember this blogger's rightful anger against Ranatunga for back stabbing us and also for daring to talk ill about our cricket team.

Though delayed, a speculative report suggests that the BCCI has retaliated and hit Ranatunga where it hurts.

The Central Organising Committee meeting for World Cup 2011 has been postponed indefinitely following BCCI chief Sharad Pawar's inability to attend the meet. Although Sri Lankan Cricket cites official engagements as the reason for Pawar's unavailability, there is more than what meets the eye.

Yipe! This is sure to bring him back to his senses.

Can the ICC stop the Champions League?

Following an interlude, the ICC is making tough noises about the scheduling of the Champions League.

An ICC press release reveals, “The International Cricket Council (ICC) president David Morgan has called a meeting of the ICC Board for Wednesday, August 6, to discuss implications of the timing of the Champions League T20 tournament. The meeting will take place by telephone hook-up.”

The agenda ostensibly is to punish the organizers of the Champions League for scheduling the Champions League a day after the Champions Trophy.

One doubts whether the ICC will do anything drastic. It appears that the organizers of the Champions League are holding out to negotiate better with ICC or one of its constituents.

What do you think will happen?

Mahela Jayawardene explains Dravid's controversial dismissal

The decision to over turn the on-filed umpire’s decision and give Dravid out LBW is a correct one. However, the time taken and the persistent querying of the umpires have created a controversy over Dravid's dismissal.

According to the commentators, Mahela was clarifying why Dravid was not out. The commentators were saying that the umpire told Mahela that Dravid had hit the ball on to his pad. Mahela standing in the slips was sure that it had not and hence went for the referral. While the commentators were explaining away the prolonged questioning of the umpires thus, their explanation is in sharp contrast to Mahela's own explanation:

The reason behind these referrals is to see whether the umpire has made a mistake. The space of time we have been given, I should be able to ask why he said not out. I needed to clarify why he said not out. I needed to know whether he had made a mistake. I was just clarifying. He said it pitched outside the off-stump. He gave the reason and then only I thought to go for the referral.

This has justly planted a seed of doubt on the very process of referrals. Until now, it was a commonly held belief that a Captain should go for the referral as soon as he feels the decision was incorrect. In addition, the decision to go for the referrals was independent of the on-field umpire and the players had to go for the referrals based on their own judgment.

That is not the case here. Another factor that contributes to the ill feeling among the Indian’s is that a Sri-Lankan umpire was substituting as the third umpire and he took an inordinate amount of time to come to his conclusion. Clearly, it indicates he was not sure and needed quiet a few replays to convince him. This flouts the fondly cherished tenet in cricket that doubts should always favour the batsman.

It is to be added that there are no two opinions that the referral is a good innovation and does help in getting the correct decision. The ICC, which is trialing the referrals in this series should ensure that there are no anomaly's and everything is transparent. If not, this welcome innovation will sink under the weight of what could very well be false conjectures.

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County cricketers house wrecked over suspected affair

We all know how fans reacts to a cricketers performance  in India. They either compose bhajan's in his praise or when he fails, they reduce his newly constructed house to rubble.

However, in the much more sane and mature land of the old country, things a re slightly different. There, they are  unemotional when it comes to their performance in the field, but if they perform elsewhere, they suffer worse fate.

Believing his wife had been having an affair with Neil Edwards, a county cricket player half his age, John Matthews sawed his supposed rival's bed in half, poured creosote on the furniture, scratched his plasma TV and poured expandable foam down the lavatories and bath. The apartment has been uninhabitable since.

It also happens in South Africa

If you assumed that misappropriation of funds meant for cricket was Zimbabwe's prerogative, then you assumed wrongly.

The former financial manager of the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA, now Cricket South Africa), Diteko Modise was charged in February this year with nine counts of fraud, money laundering and theft after 7.4 million rands (approx $1 million) disappeared from the coffers of the UCBSA during the time that he was responsible for the cricket authority's internal audit processes.

Granted Modise did it to line his pockets, nevertheless, this incident points to a peculiar trait prevalent in the region - funds meant for cricket seems to tantalize dictators and common men alike and siphoning them is one of the popular past- times.

Jagmohan Dalmiya Wins- Is it good for Indian Cricket?

Former BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya who was ousted from the post of BCCI President in 2005 and subsequently expelled from it on charges of corruption has on Tuesday after an 18 month hiatus returned to power at the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).

Often described as the Machiavelli of Indian Cricket, Jagmohan Dalmiya's return to power is sure to unsettle quiet a few BCCI satraps.By becoming the President of CAB, Dalmiya in all probability will be nominated to the BCCI and will have a huge say in the appointment of BCCI officials and in the running of the BCCI.

In essence it means he has more than a toe- hold in the BCCI and the ruling faction will find their ambitions stymied in more ways than one.Typically from now on we will hear BCCI speaking in different tongues and quiet a few spciy BCCI meetings and press briefings.

However, we will have to wait and see how Jagmohan Dalmiya's return affect Indian Cricket.

At the micro level, we will soon see the side-lining of Ganguly from Bengal cricket. It may result in Ganguly migrating to play for some other state cricket team.

At the macro level (BCCI), either the embezzlement charges will be dropped or we may witness more dirty linen  washed in public.

From the Indian Cricket perspective, Dalmia's presence will act as a check and balace to BCCI's domineering attitudes. Apart from this positive aspect, Dalmiya's return may well see the BCCI and Indian cricket stunted by divisivness.

Do you believe Dalmiya's return augur's well for Indian Cricket?

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A bomb blast is still a bomb blast

Whether it occurs in Pakistan,India or Sri Lanka, a bomb blast is still a bomb blast.
May be one can differentiate by their intensity and the number of people it harmed.
Every bomb is threat to life and limb so how can Cricket Australia say, Nothing hypocritical about touring India.

There is no way one can say a bomb blast in India or elsewhere is not a security threat.The very statement is hypocritical.

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Who is Ranatunga?

Is he the Chairman of the Sri Lankan Cricket or the BCCI?

It is high time our media stops asking others to opine on our cricketers.

BTW, Mr. Ranatunga, there is an old saying, "every dog has its day".

Yesterday it was yours.

Mind it.

IPL - Does ICC want match-fixing?

ICC's General Manager Dave Richardson's remarks that the IPL poses a serious corruption threat has enraged the BCCI. In fact they have sent off an angry email protesting that such a statement was 'unnecessary'.

BCCI certainly has a point.

Any big event with a lot of money riding on it is going to attract the punters. Obviously, there are unscrupulous elements lurking to take advantage of the punters interest. From there on it just a small step to try and lure players to reveal inside information in order to hedge their bets. Players who reveal inside information can surely induced into throwing games.

So this begs the question, what was the need for the ICC or its officials to reiterate something so obvious in public?

Ideally, ICC should sanitize the players to these threats. Or if that had failed, then they would have kept an eye on those who are susceptible to the lure of easy money. Is 'nt prevention better than a cure?

These public reiterations draw unwelcome attention on the IPL and may serve as a beacon for the match-fixers. Surely, that is what ICC is hoping to avoid.

Or wait, is the ICC hoping that IPL will be tarnished by match fixing allegations?

Is Cricket reeling under technological innovations?

The upcoming India-Sri Lanka ODI series may see another technological innovation.
A Chennai-based tech company, Frontier Technologies India Pvt Ltd, has proposed using the giant digital screen on the ground to show the strong and not so strong points of a batsman on real time basis so that the bowling team can chalk out appropriate on-the- ground strategies.
With the introduction of umpire referral's and ICC's announcement yesterday that they plan to broadcast conversations between umpires, there is well founded fear that too many innovations are happening too soon.
Rather than Twenty20 and its attendent money, cricket as we know it may soon collapse under the weight of all these innovations.

Do you think these innovations are wholesome?

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(Pic uploaded from emotionaltoothpaste)

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On-field and third umpire conversations to be telecast in the future.

ICC is going the whole hog.

They have become a totally with it organisation.

Consider their latest contemplation:

And if the umpires, referral system works to satisfaction, the International Cricket Council (ICC) will allow the live telecast of the communication between the on-field and the third umpire in future, the official added.

WTF! Just imagine being privy to all the scintillating conversations between the black-coats.

This is indeed a momentous occasion.

In pursuit of Mother Cricket

SOUTH African coach Mickey Arthur said England captain Michael Vaughan had got what he deserved from "Mother Cricket". But then who is she, I wondered? Is she Shane Warne's mother or Yuvraj's mother?
No answers were forthcoming, so I set out in pursuit of mother cricket and this is a description of my journey in pursuit of the mother of cricket.

To begin with, I thought Mickey Arthur was making a religious reference.So my first stop was the neighborhood library.A quick check turned up no mother cricket. None, I say, none of the religious texts mentioned her.

It is then I remembered,Ravi Shastri talking of a 'fat lady who sings'. Well, according to him a cricket match was a sort of musical chairs, and the winner was decided as and when she stopped singing.So Mother cricket was neither a mythical or a religious persona, she was flesh and blood and undoubtedly, she could sing. Nevertheless, I could find no trace of this Lady. Ravi Shastri later admitted that he had never seen her and worse, had only a passing acquaintance with her songs. He suggested I quiz cricketers, who according to him, talked a lot of a Lady Luck.

Aha! I thought, the fat lady must have morphed into this sylph like Lady Luck. As you must have guessed this line of research was also fruitless. Though the cricketers attributed their success and failures to her, they swore to have never seen her.

Fortunately, that when I thought of the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Surely, if cricket had a mother they would have surely noted how many times, when and where she had been sighted. Well to cut the long story short they indeed knew her intimately. According to them "the M.C.C., is the mother of cricket" and the last any one had seen her was during the year 1882.

(Pic. credit:salihan)

Technorati Tags of,Arthur,Mickey,Cricket,Mother,Vaughan

British Politician caught lying he is a cricket fan

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One of the most embarrassing moments as an Indian cricket fan is watching the politicians thronging the dais during the post – match presentation ceremony.
Either they are there in their capacity as cricket association members or they are powerful enough to bully their way.
Watching them jostle for space and limelight is as embarrassing as watching our film actors sing duets in the heart of Berlin among bemused phirangi’s.
However, the news that David Cameron, the Tory leader, has falsely claimed ( that too during a BBC Radio interview with Jonathan Agnew) he loved cricket so much he had spent years on the waiting list to join its most exclusive club - the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) has lessened the embarrassment somewhat.
It further diminished when it was revealed that he refused the membership offered four years ago.
Apparently, politicians using cricket for political gains is a world - wide phenomenon and not confined to India.
So, the next time an Indian fan sees politicians crowding the dais, he can console himself that it is the way of the world, for where there is cricket, a politician will never be far behind.

Champions Trophy-Pakistan misses deadline

The PCB has failed to meet ICC's deadline for submitting a 30 man probables list for Champions Trophy.

Reports indicate the delay is due to Shoaib Akthar 's reluctance to pay the seven million rupees fine as ordered by the Lahore High Court. Earlier, on Akthar's appeal, the court had reduced his ban from five years to 18 months and also ordered Shoaib to pay a fine of five million rupees to the PCB.

This has proved to be the bone of contention between PCB and Shoaib Akthar. The PCB insists that Shoaib has to pay up the fine as per the court order. As Shoaib is dragging his heels over the fine, the PCB has delayed announcing the 30 man probables squad to the ICC.

PCB's COO, Shafqat Naghmi says "The meeting of selectors with the PCB officials will be held on July 14 and we will announce the squad either on the same day or by July 15."

He has indicated that the ICC has permitted this delay.

Interestingly, there is no mention of how the PCB will justify the inclusion of Asif. Asif faces an inquiry on his alleged possession of banned drugs. The committee is yet to start its investigations. Surely, if the committee finds Asif, guilty, the PCB will be hard put to justify his inclusion.

Technorati Tags PCB,Champion,Shoaib,Akthar,Trophy

MCC Challenges ICC Over Oval Test Result

Last week,the ICC officially changed the result of the fourth Test match at the Oval in 2006, won by England after Pakistan forfeited the game, into a draw.

Interestingly one website reported that the International Cricket Council's Cricket Committee headed by Sunil Gavaskar disapproved the proposal and the issue was referred to the ICC's Chief Executives' Committee (CEC). Unable to come to a unanimous decision, the CEC then passed the buck to Executive Board Members, who after deliberation decided to change the result from a forfeiture to a draw.

The PCB chairman, Dr Nasim Ashraf, hailed the decision by the ICC to change the status of the Oval Test from forfeited to draw as a ‘big achievement’. However, this decision was neither hailed or derided by other national cricketing bodies.

Expectedly the decision to change the result to a draw drew the ire of quiet a few cricketers and columnists. Michael Holding was so disgusted, he quit from ICC's Cricket Committee in protest.

Some called the decision a 'dangerous precedent'. Others called it a 'farce' and warned that from now on cricket playing nations would contest each and every unfavorable result. There are others who linked it to horse trading over the Zimbabwe issue.

The ICC was unperturbed by these angry fulminations. They stood by the decision to change the result of the Oval Test to a draw. Fortunately, the MCC has now challenged ICC's decision.

The MCC, the custodians of the Laws of Cricket, says that the ICC's decision "contravenes the spirit of the game as well as the Laws. The club’s world committee is also opposed to any alteration to Law 21, which states that the result should not be changed." They have asked the ICC to review their decision.

Surprisingly, David Morgan the new President of the ICC has also opposed the decision.Though the last word is yet to be spoken, the venerable Wisden's editor, Scyld Berry has remarked, “Wisden will record the ICC’s change of verdict but not endorse it.”

Technorati Tags Test,ICC,Oval,MCC,Wisden

Racism - Cricket Australia advocates mediation over persecution

Cricket Australia has come around to the view in cases of racial vilification, it is better to mediate rather than persecute.

The Harbahajan - Symonds racial row and its fall -out has made Cricket Australia realise directly trying to persecute the offender is not the means to end racism in Cricket. They have come around to the view the offender must be given a chance to rectify his behaviour or atleast prove his innocence.

Those who had followed that unsavory incident may remember that Ricky Pointing had gone straight with his charge to the Match Referee despite Anil Kumble asking him to give him an opportunity to sort it out within themselves.

It is good that saner heads in Australia have realized the value of mediation. If they had thus instructed their hot-headed Captain earlier, one of the most deplorable incidents in the history of cricket would never have happened.

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Pakistan yet to submit list of probables

Uncertainty is Pakistan Cricket's middle name.

All teams competing in the Champions Trophy have to submit their provisional teams by July 11.

However, with uncertainty looming over the inclusion of Shoaib Akthar and Mohammad Asif,PCB is left wringing its hands waiting for the 'go ahead from above'.

Will they get the 'go ahead' on time?





Technorati Tags PCB,ICC,Champions,Trophy