Congratulations Australia - Finally it's over!

Australia were clinical throughout this tournament and they bludgeoned the Lankan bowlers in the final as well. Too bad the weather didn't allow for a complete game, but at least the winner was obvious towards the end. Playing in complete darkness for the last 10 overs was the stupidest thing I've ever seen. This WC has been the worst that I've witnessed.

I guess we'll find out over the next few days about what really went on between the umpires, Ponting and and Jayawardene, but for now, it's all about Australia. They rocked the entire time, they won convincingly and thoroughly deserve the accolades.

Somehow, or the other, the rest of the World needs to figure out just how to beat these bastards...

World Cup 2007 final - Sri Lanka vs. Australia

1300 GMT
Too bad Vaas is being pummeled around a bit. Usually he's the conservative one. This does jar Jayawardene's plans a bit. Also there is no movement on the wicket or in the air. A bit surprising. 46/0 after 10 overs. Australia looking good right now, but this is their lowest 10 over score to date in this World Cup.


1305GMT
Great. Fernando just got smacked by Gichrist for 16 runs. He dropped a really difficult chance too. At least they have Hayden quiet for the time being. Bring on Murali. Oh wait. Murali's on. Cool. Someone out there is listening to me!

Bring me ice cream!

Hmm...that didn't work out as well.

Decent first over from Murali.

1330GMT
God damn Gilchrist. 112/0 after 17 and the 2nd power play is left. This is awful. I think 270 is what they are aiming for. 240+ is difficult to get. Atherton is right. In the shorter form of the game, Australia hold the advantage. They have the big power hitters. Sri Lanka have just Jayasuria and Tharanga compared to Gilchrist, Hayden, Ponting, Symonds, and Watson. And as I write this, Gilchrist smashes another 6. This is carnage...

1507GMT
281/4 is the final score. I guess Sri Lanka did well to restrict the Aussie to under 300. At one point, one assumed a score of 320 was possible. What was interesting is that they scored at 7.5 runs/over throughout their innings. Though the desire was there, there wasn't an acceleration at the end to 9 or 10 runs an over. Anyway, I think Australia have batted Sri Lanka out of this game. I just Jayasuria can get them close.

1631GMT
couldn't. Okay. The Sri Lanka are 100/1 needing 8.16 runs/over. Could this be the game? Can this be the partnership. Sangakarra and Jayasuria are waking up. The last 5 overs have yielded 54 runs. The pitch feels the same to me, but it was strange how Bracken was swinging the ball while Vaaspowerplay is over. These guys need to stay at the wicket and keep getting a boundary every couple of overs. Or someone just needs to go berserk. I volunteer Jayasuria.

This is looking like a great game! The crowd is electric. Wow. This is what was missing throughout the cup. And this is what a Caribbean crowd is supposed to sound like! It's not too late for this crappy tournament to end on a high.

Dammit. It's drizzling.

Oh, and Red Sox - Yankees. Top of the 2nd. Game still tied.

Retarded Dishnetwork Rap video

Oh my God. Here is the video. This song is terrible.


Hahaha. This is fucking hilarious. Check out that thug at the back carrying a cricket bat! haha

I hate the World Cup Song

Man, dancehall totally isn't my thing, but why the fuck do they have to put the World Cup song on repeat while we're waiting for this match to start.

Play, in this beautiful game
Where the rules and aim
Remain the same
It's the game of love unity

What fool came up with these lyrics? This is pretty dumb. They even got their facts wrong. How do the rules remain the same? Every WC format has been different. Then they add power plays. Anyway, even if they do, what a silly thing to sing about. Does the songwriter even know what cricket is about? I'm sure there are other things to sing about. Like fast bowling, wickets, the pitch, match fixing and nandrolone....

Anyway, this song is pissing me off. Oh, and don't even get me started on that retarded rap about countries and sixers, that's alternating with the WC song, and spit out by two tripped out idiots.

Oh for heaven's sake. Change the CD! I wonder if other markets around the world are getting this shit too? Or is it just us in the US suffering....

Sri Lanka has my support, but Australia holds my bet

Comparing the Aussies and the Lankans isn't terribly hard. Both are two very different teams.

Sri Lanka has a more varied bowling attack. Yet their 4th specialist bowler is the weak link. Australia on the other hand have 4 bowlers, who on the whole, may be a bit more one-dimensional, as compared to the Lankans, but are more effective. Both teams utilize their all-rounders for the 5th bowling option, so they are pretty much even out there.

The glaring difference is the middle order. Sri Lanka's middle order, is nowhere close to Clarke, Hussey and Symonds. Their is an over reliance on Jayasuria, Tharanga, Sangakarra and Jayawardene.

Though I really want Sri Lanka to win, I feel this over-reliance on the top order will be their downfall. But it can't be helped now. I was thinking maybe giving Attapattu a game earlier might strengthen the batting, but its too late for that now. If I were Sri Lanka, I would bat first, because I don't think their batsman can withstand a pressure of a chase against the Australians. Their strength is their bowling, and Jayawardene knows how to utilize his bowlers to apply the pressure and get 10 wickets.

It's going to be tough. The Australians play a brutal game. Sri Lanka is the one team that has looked close to beating the Aussies in this cup. I certainly hope that happens on Saturday...

Is it just me, or has this World Cup been a bit dull?

As an avid fan of cricket, I feel disillusioned with the quality of our sport's premier event. These have been a handful of good games, but nothing much else to speak of. The semi-finals were great cricket matches in their own right, but so much more was expected of them.

One might argue, and say that I am only irritated because Pakistan and India are not a part of the cup, but I don't believe that is the reason. I follow most cricket and watch games that don't involve either country. I think the cricketing world (the bloody ICC) really needs to think about the direction in which they are taking this sport. If people like me, who are born into a cricketing system, are feeling slightly disconnected from the premier cricketing event, then how can we expect new countries and new followers to absorb the game.

Several questions came to mind while discussing this tournament and cricket's state of affairs in lengthy conversations with my friend at Billu.net. These questions will be addressed by us, either in collaboration or individually, over the coming weeks.

1) What is the role of the minnow countries? Is throwing them into the deep end every 4 years really helping them out? Would something regular and structured be more appropriate?

2) Was the format of this World Cup flawed? Was it too middle-heavy (Too many games in a league type structure) with not a lot of room for unpredictability?

3) If the ICC is hellbent upon expanding cricket's reach outside of the traditional nations, then how can it truly attract audiences?

4) Cricket's influence in India, Pakistan, and the West Indies is receding with competition from soccer, rugby and basketball. Should attempts be made to reverse this trend? And if so, how can the ICC go about doing it?

I finally win something!

That's right folks, Omar at omarlovescricket finally wins a competition related to cricket. The email that was sent to me, announcing me as a winner, had this fancy animation on the left.

Does that mean I am now the undisputed name in cricket blogging? No, not really.

So does this mean I am the best cricket quiz taker west of the Suez? No, not really.

Does this mean I owe KingCricket a drink at a bar for picking my name out of his hat. Probably!

So KingCricket held a competition on his blog and I, amongst many people, got the answer right and was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the 5 winners. Thanks to king and thanks to the publishers who held this competition. I received my price, a book entitled, "Penguins stopped Play", in the mail this past week. I haven't read it as yet, but it seems amusing. A review from me is in the works!

However, if you're interested, be sure to check out these other reviews which I came across. Tim de Lisle, who we all know, enjoyed the book and discussed it in the Guardian. While, the book enjoyed some more praise on Sarah Bookarama's blog.

ESPN's E-ticket covering Woolmer's murder

An insanely detailed article regarding Coach Woolmer's murder has just been pointed out to me by my brother. Turns out, ESPN sent one its correspondents to the Caribbean to cover the investigation and the story is thorough, insightful and from a unique perspective.

Shoaib Malik - a poor choice for test captain - Bring back Younis

Well, the good news is that Salman Butt isn't the captain. Butt, naturally would be disappointed. After hearing his name as a possible choice in the media for a couple of weeks, he must have thought to himself, "Well, maybe I can get a game or two now, if they make me captain!" Well, that's not to be. Don't worry Salman, Imran Nazir will soon be out of the team, and you will make a comeback, score a 100, then a 50, then a string of zeros. But, that's not the point of this post.

Good thing Yousuf isn't the captain. Now is not the time to give the responsibility to another devoutly religious man with a beard till his knees. We need focus, we need direction and we don't need distraction from mullas or the tableeghi. We needed change and change is what we have gotten. Shoaib Malik is now the captain, and this blogger is pleased from the point of view of ODI's, but certainly not with tests.

This chap has 16 test matches under his belt, is by no means, a a test player, or a certainty in the squad and is now the test captain? Rubbish. Test match cricket is truly what cricket is all about and if the PCB have any sense of responsibility, they would do their utmost to convince Younis Khan to become the test captain. That would be ideal in my opinion. Shoaib Malik as ODI captain, and Younis as test, with neither playing playing in the other format, so there is no conflict. Shoaib doesn't deserve to be in the test team, while Younis is possibly, the worst 1 down player, Pakistan has ever produced.

Cricket advertising in the US is apparent

I recently read the press release by Directv and Elephant Advertising about bring the World Cup to consumers in the US. Though it came out a month back, a recent billboard advert caught my eye the other day and well...here we are. So this latest drive is pretty much concentrated in areas where Indians live. Perfectly understandable as that is the market these days.

Elephant Advertising has installed over 45 DIRECTV branded plasma televisions across the country in restaurants, grocery stores, community centers, and banks which cater to the Indian American community. The venues selected for this extensive "Public Places Program" have some of the highest foot traffic by Indian consumers in America. The program includes venues across New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles.

Anyway, while returning from New York, going home towards Jersey, I drove out of the Lincoln Tunnel and saw this enormous World Cup cricket billboard. My digital camera was on me and I just had to take a picture for the blog. So its definitely Sachin and I think, a reflected picture of Lara on that board. Pretty cool, right? And it was right outside the Lincoln Tunnel exit.

Why is Salman Butt a choice for captain?

It's amusing to read news reports claiming Shoaib Malik and Salman Butt are the front runners to take over the captaincy mantle. I assume the decision, which will be taken real soon, will probably be with regards to both the test and ODI teams.

If it is truly for both squads, then its ridiculous because Salman Butt is not even in the bloody squad. On the other hand, Shoaib Malik has played less than 20 test matches. I just hope they're talking about the ODI team...

Though Butt being an option clearly proves that my opener rotation policy is in full effect at the PCB.

On the bright side, I'm glad Younis Khan is thinking about retiring from ODI's. Good riddance.

The PCB are a bunch of fools and will probably bungle this up. Anyway, at this crucial juncture in Pakistani cricket, being as its all a joke anyway, I'd like to raise my hand and officially announce my candidacy for the Pakistan team captain.

Well, if nothing else, would it be possible to scribble my name in between Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar when the next opener rotation round comes about?

Is Flintoff overrated as a batsman?

While watching England play these days in the World Cup, I can't help but feel that nothing much is going to happen whenever Flintoff comes into bat. To me, its the start of the English tail, which isn't exactly too great. Agreed, Flintoff is in a big slump as of late, but is he just simply overrated? Raza, who commented on my "Vaughan needs to go" post, is of the opinion that Flintoff is indeed overrated, so I wanted to check out his stats and see what's going on.

Here is Flintoff's run breakdown by year since he made his debut in 99.

Year	M	Inns	NO	50s	100s	HS	Runs	Avg
1999	9	6	0	1	0	50	100	16.67
2000	11	9	1	1	0	84	206	25.75
2001	8	6	1	0	0	46	144	28.8
2002	18	17	1	3	0	52	397	24.81
2003	20	20	6	6	0	*70	631	45.07
2004	14	13	2	2	3	123	633	57.55
2005	18	15	1	2	0	87	490	35
2006	7	7	0	0	0	41	102	14.57
2007	15	14	2	1	0	*72	330	27.5
Overall (9)	120	107	14	16	3	123	3033	32.61

His overall batting average falls from 32.61 to 30.81 if one removes the minnows. Here is his performance in ODI's by opponent.

Versus	M	Inns	NO	50s	100s	HS	Runs	Avg
Australia	21	19	1	1	0	87	519	28.83
India	21	20	1	4	0	99	580	30.53
New Zealand	11	11	1	1	1	106	277	27.7
Pakistan	14	14	2	3	0	84	443	36.92
South Africa	6	6	1	1	0	54	129	25.8
Sri Lanka	10	9	1	1	1	104	222	27.75
West Indies	11	9	1	1	1	123	295	36.88
Overall (13)	94	88	8	12	3	123	2465	30.81

It's pretty consistent and thus doesn't tell us much, but its important to put it up to indicate that its not the opponent that's the problem. What about batting position?

Position	Inns	NO	50s	100s	HS	Runs	Avg
Opening
No. 3	9	1	0	0	*42	143	17.88
No. 4	11	0	2	0	52	260	23.64
No. 5	40	8	9	3	123	1448	45.25
No. 6	34	3	3	0	84	808	26.06
No. 7	12	2	2	0	64	358	35.8
No. 8	1	0	0	0	16	16	16
No. 9
No. 10
No. 11
Overall	107	14	16	3	123	3033	32.61

Well, he currently bats after Collingwood at number 6, yet even this graph isn't too telling. It does show us, however, that he is uncomfortable against the new ball, which isn't exactly news either. As an aggressive stroke maker one would expect a hard seaming ball to disturb him. He has been tried at one-down with not much success.

So obviously he is in a slump in the past two years, and his confidance is shot, but he had an average of 35+ from 2003-2005, so I can't conclude that he is overrated. His average over 13 innings in 2004 was almost 58, including 3 centuries against New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka. That's no fluke by any stretch of the imagination.

But his position in the lineup is what irks me most. He is no 4 down batsman, and England should get a proper middle order batsman and shift Flintoff down by 1 to 5-down. I wrote something similar a couple of weeks ago, asking for my reader's opinion. The Atheist suggested a change of approach, rather than a change in batting order. Its true, but a change of approach doesn't solve the problem of a weak late middle order. England aren't aggressive enough when they really need to grab the bull by the horns. Nixon and Flintoff just don't have the ability to last 10 overs. And KP can't be expected to do everything with regards to approach, can he? Homer, in my opinion, made more sense and suggested inserting Dalrymple up the order, as he is a grafter, and can buy England some time in the middle and save Flintoff for some big hitting at the end.

Thoughts?

Vaughan needs to go

If England wants to be competitive in the one day arena, then they really can't afford to bugger around with a useless contributor like Michael Vaughan. For a while, it was amusing that Vaughan was playing, more so as a captain, rather than a batsman, but how long can this facade go on?

It's pretty much expected from the opposition that England will be losing their openers pretty soon after they start batting. Vaughan has had a terrible World Cup as a batsman, and he hasn't done anything to extraordinary as captain either. I would let Ed Joyce play with Strauss at the top. At least Joyce has had some success in this WC, while Strauss is just out of form. As far as ODI's go, Vaughan has never really ever been in ODI form. In fact, his position in the ODI side has always been debated. He's a good test opener, but in ODI's, every person needs to contribute accordingly and England are feeling the brunt of losing wickets at the top of the order too fast. One can't expect the middle order to bail them out every time. On that note, Collingwood, Bell and KP are doing a great job, but is it fair to ask them to score 80% of the runs?

Sure, Strauss failed today, but Vaughan has failed in the last 6 games. Might as well bring Joyce back in and pull out Vaughan. At least England will get some runs out of it. If they desperately need captaincy, Vaughan can bring in the drinks and dictate field placings and what not from the sidelines. It's what is best for England...

England frustrate me. They had the game by the throat at 160/2 at the 30th over, and they let the friggin Australians go.

Concept of 'reserve day' doesn't sit well

The West Indies - Australia game, dated March 27th, spilled over to the reserve day on the 28th and was eventually won by Australia by 100+ runs. Now I am not such a big fan of this concept of a reserve day. An ODI cricket match should be played within a single day, or abandoned completely. It is not fair on the teams, for a match to spill over to the next day, because the circumstances are different. According to the rules of the tournament....

From cricinfo...
Every match has a reserve day although every effort will be made to complete the game on the first day, with over reductions being used throughout. Only if each side is not able to face 20 overs on the scheduled day will the reserve day be used. In the event of the reserve day being needed, the match will be continued and not restarted.

Naturally, the biggest difference is that there is more rest for the players to play another day. But what happened with the West Indies was, that they played 3 straight days of cricket during that time which is just awful.

Playing on the second day, the team think-tanks also get more time to think about strategy, to reassess the situation and bowl accordingly. Cricket relies heavily on environmental conditions and the advantage and/or disadvantage of the toss or the conditions is nullified.

I agree that the reserve day is there for the fans, so that we can watch a full 100 overs of cricket. That's all well and good, but it doesn't disguise the fact the match isn't the same anymore.

Fake Cricinfo frontpage during the World Cup 2011

I've certainly been uploading a lot of fake headlines today! Anyway this was hilarious. The good folks at the Cricinfo commentary team for todays SL-WI game referred us to this Indian cricket forum where this picture was uploaded. Brilliant.

Mock interview with Inzamam

Interviewer: Hello Inzi ...
Inzi: Bismillah-ur-Rehman-ur-Rahim ... first, thanks to Almighty Allah for this interview and ...
Interviewer: Of course ... so tell us, what made you finally resign your captaincy and retire from One-Day cricket?
Inzi: Bismillah-ur-Rehman-ur-Rahim ... firstly, thanks to Almighty Allah, the boys prayed well...
Interviewer: You mean the boys played well ...
Inzi: No, the boys prayed well ...
Interviewer: Okay, but they did not play well ...
Inzi: No, first comes praying and thanks to Mushy, Saeed Anwar, Yusuf and Junaid Jamshed for leading ba-jamaat prayers ...
Interviewer: But you guys are paid to play, not to pray.
Inzi: No, only Bob, Danish and Shoaib Akhtar play because they don't pray ...but thanks to Almighty Allah, rest of boys prayed well, especially Yusuf and Yunus and Rana and myself who were in good praying form and inshallah we will win this year's Raiwind Tableegh Cup with help from coaching of Mushy and Saeed Anwar.
Interviewer: Right. Now, can we talk about cricket for a change?
Inzi: Why?
Interviewer: What do you mean, why? You're a professional cricketer!
Inzi: Bismillah-ur-Rehman-ur-Rahim, firstly thanks to Pepsi, 160 million peoples hearts were in their mouths when we beat India at Banglore ...
Interviewer: That was two years ago.
Inzi: Yes, I know ... I also learn math in madressa ...
Interviewer: Right. So, what went wrong at the World Cup?
Inzi: Boys prayed well.
Interviewer: I don't care how they prayed, tell me why did you and the
boys play so badly. Why were you guys so spineless?
Inzi: Rumors and propaganda ... only lies, that's all!
Interviewer: What lies and propaganda?
Inzi: That boys don't have spine. Thanks to Almighty Allah all boys have spine! Tomorrow they will say boys don't have leg, arm and groin ... all nonsense!
Interviewer: Inzi, I was talking metaphorically.
Inzi: Yes ... metavetabally ... thanks to Dr. Naseem Phd. MBBS, LLB Advocate ; boys spine, arm, leg, groin intact!
Interviewer: So, about the World Cup debacle. What went wrong?
Inzi: Bob died.
Interviewer: Yes, but the poor chap died after you guys crashed out of the World Cup.
Inzi: Very unfortunate his death ... very unfortunate. I think it was indigestion.
Interviewer: But he died after you guys lost to West Indies and Ireland ... and he did not die of indigestion. He died of stress.
Inzi: No, no, Bob did not have stress fracture ...
Interviewer: Sigh. Why, because he prayed well too!
Inzi: Juniad, Mushy and me try to convert Bob to pray five times like good Muslim mujahid Tableeghi and said to him look how well Rana ball after keeping almighty beard ...
Interviewer: But Rana was terrible with the ball!
Inzi: Because Bob not convert!
Interviewer: What nonsense!
Inzi: No, you nonsense ... if Bob become Muslim Pakistan surely inshallah, mahshalla win cup!
Interviewer: You mean to say since Bob did not become a Muslim like Muhammad Yunus, you lost?
Inzi: Yes. Very unfortunate that he now dead without becoming Muslim.
Interviewer: Well, what about you? Your career seems dead as well.
Inzi: Bismillah-ur-Rehman-ur-Raheem, firstly thanks to Pepsi and Lifebouy and promotion in Tableeghi Jamaat, Allah has given me many money ...
Interviewer: So why not build a hospital or a school ...
Inzi: Inshallah, Mushy, me and Juniad plan to build mosque and madressa in Lords ground.
Interviewer: What? Why a mosque and why on the Lords Cricket Ground?
Inzi: Because last night Mushy, me and Juniad have dreams in which Bob in white shalwar and green shirt and white, white wings told us to build mosque in Lords ...
Interviewer: But Bob wasn't even a Muslim!
Inzi: Rumors, lies, propaganda!
Interviewer: So, you're saying that he was a Muslim?
Inzi: In our hearts he was Muslim ...
Interviewer: Yes, but in his heart he wasn't.
Inzi: Yes, that's why he die of heart attack!
Interviewer: Inzi, sorry to say this, but for long it has been noticed that with all this Tableegi thing, you and some of your boys have started to lose not only your form, but your grip on reality as well ...
Inzi: Yes, but my boys prayed well and I talk metavetabally.
Interviewer: But who the hell cares if boys prayed well!
Inzi: Bob.
Interviewer: All he cared about was you guys playing some decent
cricket!
Inzi: Are you saying my boys are indecent? Firstly thanks to Tableeghi Jamaat, all boys now naik and clean and decent ...
Interviewer: But what about the boys' cricket and form? Not very clean
and decent.
Inzi: Yes but boys prayed well and Bob drop dead.
Interviewer: Sigh. Okay, tell us what was you biggest achievement as
captain?
Inzi: Bismillah-ur-Rehman-ur-Raheem, firstly thanks to Almighty Allah, many boys of team now have beards, and now they all go to heaven when they too die like Bob.
Interviewer: I see. You know, Rameez said that knives await the Pakistan cricket team when they come back, but I think instead of knives usteras, razors and scissors will be more appropriate.
Inzi: Usteras are ban in my team. They are haraam. Look what happened to Bob?
Interviewer: What happened to Bob?
Inzi: He died.
Interviewer: We know that.
Inzi: Yes. It was a shaving accident!
Interviewer: What nonsense!
Inzi: No, you nonsense!
Interviewer: And it's not your team anymore. You're out, gone, finished!
Inzi: No, only Bob gone.
Interviewer: In a recent statement, Junaid Jamshed said he hopes Bob recited the Kalma before he died. What sort of talk is that?
Interviewer: Good talk, good talk ... all boys say Kalma ... we also tell Danish to say Kalma as well ...
Interviewer: But Danish is Hindu. It's like Dravid asking Irfan Pathan to do the bhajan!
Inzi: Yes, yes, I like aloo ke bhaaji also ...
Interviewer: So what next? Who do you think should be the next captain?
Inzi: Saeed Anwar.
Interviewer: But he retired four years ago!
Inzi: Yes, I know ... I also learn math in madressa ...
Interviewer: Never mind. Thank you for talking to us, Inzi. And good luck.
Inzi: No, thanks to Almighty Allah ...
Interviewer: Yes, him too.
Inzi: You are good Muslim. Here, have a Pepsi.

Amusing...Thanks to my dad for forwarding this to me. I think the role of religion in the Pakistani cricket team, jokes aside, really needs to be looked into.