The world of cricket

After getting flak for trying to gag the players, the Cricket Board on Wednesday tied itself in knots saying that there was no gag but the players are merely barred from talking about “other players, selection and Board policies.”

A day after warning vice-captain Virender Sehwag for speaking about deposed captain Sourav Ganguly and player burnout, BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah indignantly asked, “how can you call it a media gag on players?”

“It is only a policy decision by the Board that the players other than the captain, cannot talk about other players, selection and Board policies,” he argued.

Shah’s description of what he told Sehwag varied from a “warning” to an “advice”. What exactly was it, he was asked.

“It is a warning. Advice is part of the warning,” was his unusual reply.

Shah, however, was clear that no further action was warranted against Sehwag. “The matter is closed,” he said.

Sehwag had called Shah on Tuesday to seek permission to take his wife to the West Indies which was granted. At the same time he was administered a verbal warning-cum-advice.

The Board Secretary had just one more piece of advice for the vice-captain — he should concentrate on cricket now. (more…)

“Andrew Flintoff!” boomed the public address announcer as the players returned after tea yesterday. “Leading out … England!”

Well, he’d hardly have been leading out Sri Lanka, would he? But no sooner had the thought occurred than it seemed like rather a good idea. It wouldn’t hurt to give them Freddie on loan for the rest of the series - it might make it a bit more of a contest.

Not so very long ago, the notion of England finding any team a pushover would have been risible, but they have now moulded themselves into the kind of highly efficient unit where everyone, as the saying goes, is able to look at himself in the mirror. Which is where Kevin Pietersen comes in.

It would be a surprise if the mirrors in Pietersen’s house totalled anything less the entire stock at one of the larger branches of B & Q, and though it is not uncommon nowadays for the voice from the bedroom calling out: “I’ll be down in a minute darling, I’m just putting in my ear-rings” to be a male one, not many would fork out £25,000 for a pair of diamond encrusted ones shaped like cricket balls.

Pietersen’s bodily adornments also extend to tattoos, though fashion has moved away from the sailor about to go to sea with “I Love Gladys” or “MUFC” inked into his forearm. He has gone for three lions and a number representing his status as the 626th player to be capped by England. The number - just to be a bit different - is in Roman numerals.

His hairdresser gets a bit confused as well, one day required to turn his client’s coiffeur into a furry animal and the next a field of farmer’s stubble, but if the ostentation carries over into his batting, then England will be the last to discourage him. Pietersen’s self-belief is such that Muttiah Mularitharan’s doosra is just another cricket ball to be propelled as far out of the ground as he can hit it. (more…)

Ever since the English season was extended to incorporate Tests in May, Lord’s has been the scene of an inordinate number of slaughters. Gone are the days when it was a visiting side’s favoured venue - these days any team that arrives in the wrong half of the season is sure to be cut to ribbons by a slavering pack of seamers.

Zimbabwe in 2000 and 2003, Pakistan in 2001, New Zealand in 2004 and Bangladesh this time last year. Each has arrived to be confounded by the slope, the zip, and the joie de vivre of a team newly reunited after their winter’s break. The defeats have ranged from an emphatic seven wickets to a thumping innings-and-261, and though the Sri Lankans bucked the trend on their last visit in 2002, they are about to get their comeuppance in the most comprehensive manner imaginable.

Weather permitting, England could and should wrap this match up tomorrow afternoon, and the fact that the star of the show could well be Sajid Mahmood is testament to the extraordinary breadth of the current England squad. To think they were floundering through an injury crisis on the eve of this match. Mahmood’s success, coupled with that of Alastair Cook and the instant recuperation of Marcus Trescothick, shows that the 12-man base of last summer has been widened and deepened with remarkable speed and improbably few teething troubles.

Prior to this match, there had been some debate as to whether England should opt for the honest job-a-day seamer, Jon Lewis, who routed the Sri Lankans in the England A match at Worcester and could have been relied upon to deliver a quick kill, or plan for the future and blood another young quick with a view to bouncier climes Down Under this winter. (more…)

Admitting that excessive cricket was a matter of concern, India coach Greg Chappell Thursday asked the BCCI not to overburden its champion players as it could lead to premature end of their careers.

“It is important for BCCI and others to understand that there is a huge investment in these players. They are champion players and you must not finish their careers by overburdening them,” Chappell said at a press conference hours before the team’s departure to the West Indies.

Chappell said although at the moment the balance was pretty good, there was a need to be careful about breaks in between matches. “The balance is pretty good with 30 odd ODI and 12-13 Tests every year. (But) It is important to get breaks at regular intervals. The break we have now is ideal. Though the five-and-a-half month break Australia have now is a bit too long.

“Playing the England series after the series against Pakistan was tough. We had 3-4 series packed together which was very demanding. Getting the balance right is important.”

Chappell urged his players to reproduce their successful one-day methods in Tests in a bid to claim a rare series victory in the West Indies. “We have made good ground in the last 12 months, especially in one-day cricket,” Chappell said.

“We need to apply the similar processes to Test cricket, bearing in mind that Test cricket is more demanding,” he said before Friday’s departure for the West Indies where India are due to play five one-dayers and four Tests.

“We have got to be more aware of the flow of Test cricket, of the important moments, the important sessions in Test matches,” he said. (more…)

It might not turn out to be the greatest cricket series of all time, but India’s tussle with the West Indies holds the promise of a fascinating duel between two of the modern game’s batting greats.

Rahul Sharad Dravid and Brian Charles Lara have the ability to repeatedly inspire their teams from a state of hopelessness to a position of strength, putting up their hands when the occasion demands.

Going by personal form, both seem to be eternally in their prime. And, over the next couple of months, they will need to produce some of their vintage best. Dravid, to ensure his team takes their one-day form forward to the Caribbeans.

Lara, to pull together the faltering force that is his team, as well as rectify his own record against India. In 13 Tests, he has managed to put together 791 runs at just 37.67 — his lowest average against all international opposition. Just one out of his 31 Test hundreds have come against India.

That ton, 103, came on a bowler’s graveyard at St Johns almost 10 years ago even as the match petered out to a draw.

In 31 ODIs against India, he has failed to get a hundred. This will probably be the left-hander’s last chance to set the record straight.

Dravid, however, has had no problem finding his best against a team whose bowling attack has looked less penetrative with every new series.

The right-hander relishes getting runs off quick bowling and that, in part, explains his terrific Test average (60.80) against the Windies. Dravid doesn’t need much motivation to excel, especially while batting away from India but this time, he would be doubly keen to perform better. He is the skipper, after all. (more…)

The Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) has named a strong 15-man squad, including eight Test players, for next Tuesday’s match between the touring Indian team and Jamaica at Jarrett Park. Wavell Hinds, the West Indian batsman, has been named as captain for the one-day match.

Brian Breese, the JCA’s cricket operations manager, said that there was a possibility that all eight Test players may not take part, however. “The West Indies team will be playing the Indians two days after the Montego Bay game so the West Indies Cricket Board could well ask one or two of the players named to sit out the game,” he has been quoted as saying by the Jamaica Observer. “Nonetheless, it should be a very strong Jamaican team going up against the Indians.”

Breese added that Xavier Marshall, the Jamaican opener, was not included owing to a suspension from his parish team while Dwight Washington, the fast bowler, was away in the United States. “Young Washington would most certainly be under consideration for this game but he is away in the United States at this time,” said Breese. “We are in touch with him and he is still very much a part of the national programme.”

Jamaica Cricket Association squad : Wavell Hinds (capt), Chris Gayle, Donovan Pagon, Marlon Samuels, Daren Powell, Jerome Taylor, Nikita Miller, Carlton Baugh (wk), Jermaine Lawson, Tamar Lambert, Bevon Brown, Danza Hyatt, Andrew Richardson, Damion Ebanks and Donovan Sinclair.

See also India vs West Indies, 2006.

The ICC has announced the Future Tours Program (FTP) for the next six years.

The FTP, which was unanimously approved by the ICC’s executive board at its March meeting in Dubai, provides “the foundation for a balanced schedule of international cricket for ICC Full Members,” a statement said.

“The drafting of the new FTP was an incredibly complex process involving two years of analysis and 10 drafts,” explained Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive. “But now that process has been completed and approved by our Members it provides them with certainty of scheduling right through until 2012. And by publishing that schedule on our website it means everyone can quickly discover their team’s future commitments and be able to plan accordingly.”

The new FTP is the first to cover six years instead of five. “Spreading the calendar over six years means each side can fulfill its mandatory minimum requirements of two Tests and three ODIs, home and away, against every other Full Member over that period while still scheduling rest periods for their players,” the statement continued. “At the same time it allows Members to tailor the schedule to suit their own, specific, needs while preserving time in the calendar to accommodate icon series such as The Ashes and India - Pakistan on a four-year cycle.”

Although the ICC was at pains to stress that the FTP was compiled using guidelines approved by the cricket committee, players at the captains’ meeting and player representatives, it is sure to fuel the debate over player burnout. The only concession in this area appears to be the restriction on the number of home Twenty20 matches that can be played in any year.

“We think the balance that has been struck by this new FTP is about right and we believe that in conjunction with the ICC events it will help ensure that the sport continues to remain popular with players, supporters, broadcasters and sponsors,” said Dave Richardson, the ICC’s general manager - cricket. “It is now up to our members to responsibly manage their calendar of international cricket beyond the mandatory commitments of the FTP and ICC events,” he added.

Among all teams, India will play the maximum number of ODIs, in the region of 173 - 208 matches during this period. These include the additional 25 ODIs to be played at neutral venues, for which the broadcasting rights have already been sold. As far as the Tests are concerned, India will play 74 matches, behind England, who are scheduled to play upto 76 matches.

The new six-year FTP can be found on the ICC website by clicking here (.pdf).

Somewhere beneath his poised and upright exterior, Alastair Cook claims to harbour a shred of nervousness. But as he and his fellow winter debutant, Monty Panesar, faced the media ahead of their anticipated home debuts on Thursday, the fear of failure was clearly not weighing too heavily on his mind.

After hurtling into the national consciousness with a brilliant century on debut, Cook is inked in to bat at No. 3 when the first Test against Sri Lanka gets underway at Lord’s. North-West London in early May is a world away from the heat and hubbub of Nagpur, but for Cook all things are equal when he steps on a cricket field. He was allowing nothing to faze him.

Not even the prospect of shifting from the opener’s slot to one-down, a position he has not played in regularly since his days as a club batsman for Maldon in Essex. “There’s not really any difference,” he shrugged. “The only difference is you put your feet up while the other lads go out straight away. It’s still the same game, and I’ll still go through the same things to make sure my game is right.”

“I always get a bit nervous every time I bat,” he insisted, although England’s fans have yet to witness any evidence to support this claim. This is a man who believes that international cricket is his birthright, and though his chance has come about because of Michael Vaughan’s injury, he is not about to be regarded as a stop-gap Test cricketer.

“Obviously Vaughan is going to be captain when’s back, but if you keep scoring runs, then they can’t leave you out,” he grinned. “I was disappointed to miss the Test in Mumbai through illness, so I’m glad I’ve got another chance now to stake a claim and score a few runs to keep my place.” (more…)

Dwayne Bravo, the West Indies allrounder, has replaced Tino Best for the fifth one-day international against Zimbabwe at St Lucia today. Bravo, who played in the first two matches in Antigua, returns after a brief rest at the expense of the inconsistent Best.

Best was taken for 70 runs and managed just one wicket in his ten overs in West Indies’ 82-run win in Guyana on Sunday. That uninspiring performance, in which he was very erratic with his line, has cost him his place.

The West Indies lead the seven-match series 3-0 ahead of a historic match at the Beausejour Stadium, which will host the first day-night match in the Caribbean.

Brian Lara, the West Indies captain, embraced the historic status of the game and said all the players were aware of its significance. “It would be good to see how many [other] grounds in the region will have these facilities, because day/night cricket is a big attraction all over the world. I hope it takes off in the region,” he told reporters. “We know there are areas in our game that we have to improve upon, but we are working on that… As for the lights, we have tropical weather here in the Caribbean. We will just have to see how it starts and take it from there.”

Lara added that West Indies would continue to experiment against a weak Zimbabwe ahead of the tougher series against India later this month. “I think it is a situation of everybody getting a game…we still want to make sure we have the right players and we have everybody peaking at the right time,” he said. “We have to take into consideration that Zimbabwe, because of their situation, is not at full strength, and in a matter of a few days we’ll be playing one of the top teams in the world. We do have that in the back of our minds and we do know that we have to improve to actually do very well against India.” (more…)

The Indian Cricket Players’ Association (ICPA) will likely hold discussions with the BCCI on gaining official recognition after India’s tour of the West Indies. A spokesman said the association was confident that the current board, led by Sharad Pawar, would be receptive enough to recognise them.

“We had not applied for recognition during the erstwhile regime, as that would have been pointless. And they also never cared to ask us to do so,” a spokesman for ICPA said. “We are hopeful that we will get due recognition from the Sharad Pawar-led board. They are doing so much for the cricketers.”

The ICPA welcomed the statement made by Rahul Dravid, the India captain, who expressed his wish to have the organisation officially recognised.

“At the international level, cricketers do have an organisation called Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA) and we have ICPA here, though it is not recognised,” Dravid told The Telegraph (Calcutta). “We have taken up the issue with the BCCI and trying to have our Indian body recognised. So far our negotiations have remained very healthy and I am sure we have been able to put across our points in the right manner.”

The source, however, refused to comment on the issue of player burnout. Virender Sehwag was on Tuesday reprimanded for his comments on the former India captain Sourav Ganguly and also on burnout.

India’s five-ODI and four-Test tour of the West Indies gets underway on May 16.

I read with interest on Saturday morning a story in the media reporting I had been sent a letter from stakeholders within Zimbabwe’s cricketing fraternity calling upon me to resign as CEO of the ICC over the organisation’s handling of that country’s cricketing problems.

I have not yet received the letter but even if and when I do I have no intention of walking away from my position because of the issue. On the contrary, I am determined to use my role to try and ensure the matter is resolved in as satisfactory a way as possible for all sides.

In relation to the letter, it is worth pointing out that the reports indicate it appears to emanate from a group of people currently outside the current Zimbabwe Cricket set-up. Their disenfranchisement may help to explain why they appear to have an axe to grind and I am a convenient target but their accusations against the ICC are wide of the mark.

Those accusations ignore the make-up of the organisation. The ICC is not simply Malcolm Speed or Ehsan Mani [the president]. It is made up of 96 members, all of whom are charged to run cricket in their respective countries or territories without interference from the centre. (more…)

India take on Bangladesh in their 2007 World Cup opener at Trinidad and Tobago on March 17, and will play Bermuda on March 19. All of India’s group matches will be played in Trinidad and Tobago. Their last group game against Sri Lanka is on March 23.

India will arrive in Trinidad and Tobago on March 2, play their first warm-up game against the Netherlands on March 6 and another against West Indies on March 9. They will then travel to Jamaica for the opening ceremony on March 11.

The World Cup opener between West Indies and Pakistan will be held on March 13. After all the group matches are over, the top two teams from each of the four groups will qualify for the Super Eight round that begins on March 27. The top four teams from the Super Eight round will qualify for the semi-finals to be held on April 24 and 25 in Jamaica and St Lucia. Barbados will host the World Cup final on April 28.

See also World Cup, 2007.

Medium pacer Lakshmipathy Balaji said on Saturday that he was ready to take a fitness test on Tuesday to be in contention for a place in the national side for the West Indies tour.

“It is a challenge. You have to face up to it. I am to be tested for match fitness by Indian team trainer John Gloster in Mumbai next week. If everything goes well, I will be in contention for a place (for the West Indies tour),” Balaji said.

“Everything is going as per plan. Doctors in Melbourne told me that I should be bowling again in May second week. I am now to prove my match fitness to Gloster,” he said while attending to his physical exercises along with India’s new pace find S Sreesanth and other MRF Pace Academy wards, under the watchful eyes of trainer Ramji Srinivasan.

The Indian team to play three Tests against the West Indies will be picked in Mumbai either on May 23 or 24.

Balaji had last played a Test in Bangalore in the third match against Pakistan last year. (more…)

Virender Sehwag is fearing burn-out from too much cricket. Top cricketers have already told the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to reduce the number of matches.

“There is too much cricket… Players need a break because they (may) burn-out from cricket. They need time for fitness too, time to think about their game and to recharge their batteries… If we want to win the World Cup, we need every player to be fit,” Sehwag said in an interview.

Captain Rahul Dravid and other senior players, including him, had taken up the matter with the Board which had pleaded inability to do anything about it immediately since the current calendar had been fixed long ago, he said.

However, the Board was understanding and promised to give the players adequate breaks after the commitments already fixed were fulfilled, he said.

How much rest do the players ideally need? “I think after every series a player should get 20 to 25 days rest. If a player gets three to four months’ break in a year, it is good for players and good for the BCCI also.” (more…)

Cricket’s world governing body has approved technology that will help umpires adjudicate on whether a batsman has hit the ball.

The ICC - which rejected TV technology like Hawk-Eye and the Snickometer - will let umpires wear earpieces linked to the stump microphones so they can hear whether the ball has hit the bat.
ICC chief executive officer Malcolm Speed said there was no intention of trying to take decisions away from umpires - but to help them get them right.

“What we have consistently sought to do is to increase the already high numbers of correct decisions made by umpires while, at the same time, not diminishing their on-field role and authority,” Speed said Saturday after a meeting by the Cricket Committee of the ICC.

“This measure has the potential to do that, but at the same time the Committee was mindful of the possible downside with its implications to the fabric of the game and the authority of the on-field umpires.”

The committee also agreed to a trial period in which teams can appeal to television umpires if they feel decisions are incorrect.

The trial will take place at this year’s Champions Trophy in India from Oct. 7 to Nov. 5. It will then be reviewed to see whether it should be used in tests or other tournaments. (more…)