Coming soon in a bookstore near you – ‘A rare Australian Captain’ • 11.11.08

Dear Ricky,

As an Indian cricket fan, it gives me tremendous pleasure in writing to you now. I was pleased when you got berated in the home series by your own fans but at least you had the full-fledged support of Cricket Australia then. Now that the public is baying for your blood for being over –defensive and trying to save yourself a suspension at cost of the match and the series and your cricket board seems to have joined them with Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland asking you for an explanation, I am over the moon. Wonder how you are going to handle this now.

I am surprised that you and your team called the Indians defensive for their approach on Day 3 of the final test match. Didn’t you recognize the same stifling tactics that Australian sides have so successfully used ever since they got a bowler called Glenn McGrath? It started on the historic tour of the West Indies in 1994-95. Now you can’t take it just because you are on the receiving end. I guess that attitude is part of your DNA. You have to define the boundaries of sledging. You have a right to decide what kind of match-fixing is OK and what kind is not. And the same goes for your so-called gamesmanship. You guys pride yourself on playing cricket the hard way, right. So what is all the fuss about now? Guess sometimes it gets too hard for you.

We are looking forward to the 2008 edition

We are looking forward to the 2008 edition

You guys (the likes of Adam Gilchrist ) have perfected the art of selling books. You always come up with some controversial nonsense to get the public intrigued. You seem to have done the same with your last memoirs. I was wondering what your next memoirs would be called- Now that you have added another feather in your captaincy cap. You became the first Aussies captain to lose the Ashes in 20 years and now you have become the first guy to lose a series by a two test margin in 25 years. That is quite a legacy you have there. You could call your next memoirs – A rare Australian captain – that would be fitting, considering your record and your popularity. Or you could call it – Losers and Cry-babies too

All the best for the upcoming Ashes. Last time you kept complaining about the substitute fielders. This time you have will have to lock horns with a real bully in Kevin Pietersen. I cant wait for the series to get started. It’s not everyday that you see ‘A rare Australian captain’ in action.

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Posted in Alternate Theorieswith 4 Comments →

No more test matches for ‘killers’ of test cricket • 03.31.08

For connoisseurs of test cricket in India, the last one year has been one for the ages. The display of the Indian sides in England, South Africa and Australia was of the highest order and not for once did they resemble the poor travellers of the past. For most part the quality of the cricket was excellent and the drama so engrossing that cricket fans were forced to keep a ball-by-ball check of the matches in progress. In spite of all the interest generated in 20-20 cricket by India’s world cup triumph and One-day successes against Pakistan and Australia; the interest in test cricket had never been higher.

Mesmerized by the five-day format, there was a lot to look forward to in the India – South Africa test series. Revenge for the defeat last year and a chance to set the record straight for the humiliation suffered in the last home series- a defeat which brought to an end our long unbeaten streak at home. And what did we get to see – a pitch as dead as can be – one which would have broken the resolve of any bowler in the world. A game only for the stats obsessed- 1500 odd runs for 25 wickets, Dravid’s 10000 runs, Sehwag’s triple. After the highs of Australia came the depths of despair in Chepauk. One couldn’t have asked for a better anti-test cricket advertisement. The India- Australia series was the best time to shop with the malls half empty even on weekends. The last Sunday was just the opposite. With the ICL currently on and the IPL on the anvil, 20-20 cricket is primed for a frenzied following in this country. What better way to make sure that test cricket can’t even put up a token resistance to the monster that threatens to make the longer version extinct.

So, who’s to blame? Unless Lalit Modi’s ambitions for the IPL have taken test-cricket killing proportions, the local cricket association (the TNCA) should be severely penalized for the shoddy pitch preparation. Unless the mandarins of the TNCA gave the India- Australia series a Rip Van Winklesque miss, they would have noticed that the superb quality of cricket stemmed from the sporting pitches prepared for the series. Either they cannot appreciate high-quality test cricket (can only appreciate a boring run –fest) or simply don’t like test cricket. So, the best way to save them the misery of watching good test cricket and also hide their ineptitude at preparing quality pitches is to keep them away from test cricket for a while. Don’t give the TNCA the unpleasant task of hosting a test match for the next 5 years at least. By then they will probably develop an appreciation for the longer version. At least they will not be ‘killing’ test cricket.

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Posted in Raising My Pitchwith 1 Comment →

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