England Crushes Australia To Win The Ashes!!

Wow! I can make a living out of being an astrologer. In my last post I had predicted that Australia will capitulate and yes they did capitulate to England and how?
Ponting with his bloodied mouth was a real sore sight to watch at the match presentation.
Trott's the Man. wow what an debut. Make all those who wanted Ramprakash to save England eat their shit. Stuart Broad have not only his cricketer pop proud but entire English pop's proud. His spell is sure to become Ashes folklore. Andew Strauss, leading from the front deserved every ounce of the Man of the series award. Hope K.P too shines under him after his Achilles is healed.
I prayed for a Freddie innings or spell and he produced a stunner of a throw that derailed not only Ponting but Australia also.
Poor Aussies they need to wait till 2013 to avenge defeat. They are now ranked 4th in ICC test rankings... A first in history of the rankings.
So what now? nothing much Australia will climb back after beating West Indies and Pakistan at home and England will again continue in their inconsistent ways.
That's the future but England deserves all the accolades.
Congratulations!!! to the Brave Hearts Of England.

Eng Vs Aus- The Final Test!!

I have been waiting a long time to write this piece. I have waited long enough. I have waited since Ramprakash thought he had last chance to glory to Lee being left out to maintain the winning combination.
Well after the 1st days play of the last test of this Ashes series all I can say is England did well to stick with the team and not panic and get in some one like Mark Ramprakash..poor Mark...
Australia also did well by sticking to their winning combo.
After the 1st session I thought England did well but to end day at 307/8 was bad. Australia needs to be happy after today's play.I don't know why but I am getting an inkling that 300+ will be a tough total for the Aussies to over haul. My instincts say England might just edge out Australia in this match and win the Ashes. I have a feel that Australia might get over confident and spoil their own party. I am praying for a Freddie Show- A swan song that will become Ashes and cricketing folklore.
Nothing doing..but wait and watch..!!! Lets have some fantastic Test cricket.
Ha lastly some pun on the England line up...
A. Cook- spoilt his dish
A. Strauss- The straw could have been longer if he could have gotten a hundred
I.Bell- The Bell did ring for some time but alas not long enough
P. Wood- Lost in the Woods..
I. Trott- Trotted along well until Hussey had him
M.Prior- Has got his Priorities all mixed up
A.Flintoff- Lost his Off(-Stump)
S. Broad- Has shown the broad side of his bat
G. Swann-Drowned in the last ball
S.Harmison-lets hope he does some harm to the ozzies
J.Anderson- Lets hope he is the True Son of Great Britain

Sachin eyes 15000 Test Runs!!

Sachin have donned the whites for over 2 decades now..don't the man get tired.

It's just his passion for the game that drives him. There is hardly any thing that won't motivate sachin to play for India.

An injury other than that I don't see any thing stopping Sachin from playing his heart out for India.Over the years his tempo may have changed but Sachin style batting still no one can do.Its a mix of intelligence, timing and superior foot work. Every Sachin shot is a jewel to be beholded by our eyes.

May you play on Sachin and plunder not 15000 but 50000 test runs.All the best!!

cricinfo story link: http://www.cricinfo.com/india/content/story/418098.html

T20 Vs Test Cricket

Ever since the advent of T2o cricket a raging debate is going on that the T20 David will slowly smother the Goliaths of cricket ODI's and Tests to sleep. People are wary of the fact that more and more crowd is enjoying the shortest format of the game. T20 in itself is considered as "tamasha" cricket by most of the pundits of the game. Its all wham bham and gone in just over 3 hours. While some said its no the game for the veterans, they were considered too slow and too technical for this fast paced version of the game. But they were proven wrong it's the Gilly's the warne's the Kumble's who have delivered breath taking knocks or spells that have helped their respective teams to post impressive wins...add Haydos to the list of veterans who have knocked the winds out of the youngsters.
Coming back to the point of T20 vs the other traditional forms of the game, I say all the three forms will exist peacefully alongside the others. When ODi's came into the picture the same fears were expressed for the longest form of the game, Test match cricket. Well its going to be four decades now that the two forms have existed. When it comes to the spectators losing interest in the longer versions, there are two classes of the game audience the Purist and the Pretenders. The Purist are those who love the game, the battle between ball and bat, they love the boring first day of test cricket to the exciting final session of play of a test.They love a low scoring ODI they cheer for a high scoring game. They love the fast pace of the newest version too. They love the game in totality It doesn't matter which format it is. I watch English county cricket, Australian Sheffield cup, and I watch the Ranji's too besides the regular internationals.
So I may not go to the ground to watch the match but I will be watching on TV and as long as TV audience is there The game is bound to grow and make profit too.
Well the pretenders are those who watch the T20's for fun for the cheer leaders to the music to the flowing spirit in the grounds. They watch it for fun and they are not serious about the game. The pretenders are good for the game because they are adding to the Purist population of cricket lovers.They may switch on to the longer versions too once they realise how interesting each format can be. Each format has its charm once the newbies See's it , we will have a whole lot of new cricket lovers, lovers of the beautiful game not of formats of the game. T20 is the nectar that will entice a whole lot of people to the game.
All you people losing sleep over T20's taking over cricket ... relax and enjoy the Ashes, see how the Aussies were supposed to win but they are not winning, its all because of the beauty of swing bowling which rarely makes an impact in a T20 game.
pic courtesy www.itsonlycricket.com/entry/938/

What times for Cricket!

Last few weeks in cricket have been really interesting both on the filed as well as off it. Its great that without the Indian playing still lots happening in cricket.

Great test match times for Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. With Sri Lanka winning their first home series against Pakistan under a New Skipper Sanga. The series was made very interesting by the Pakistani's with their great collapses, thrice in one series is just great. Sri Lanka had just one over 100 run partnership in the entire series and they win comfortably.

WIPA helped Bangladesh cricket to register their first away test series win . New captain Mosrafe out with injury Stand in Captain Rehman wins the series with a man of the series performance.Hope they carry the experience from this tourney and do well in the future against stronger teams too.

Great start to the much coveted Ashes, AHhhm ! its The English who are 1-0 ahead after 2 matches who would have thought. I for sure did thought so. Hats Off to Monty and Jimmy for the last wicket stand at Cardiff. And to think Monty was thanked by being axed from the squad for the Lord's test.After Cardiff Freddie decided to hang up his boots for good in Tests. And was he fired up ... with the crowd behind him what a stellar show he put up to set Australia back by test in the Ashes. Bravo Freddie!!

Looking ahead to interesting times in Cricket!! adios!

Lanka smothers the Aussie dream!!

Played 2 lost 2 , knocked out of the tournament, Oz pride has been reduced to the dusts. It began with the Symonds saga ended with their ouster from the world cup. May be T20 is not their cup of tea. Where the English redeemed themselves the aussies failed abysmally. 160 is a very risky target and the oz struggled even to set that target up. My take Ponting take a bow from the shortest format get your performing youngsters in test cricket to play this format too. Its really sad when Ireland and Netherlands have cruised to the next level a team like Australia out of contention so early in to the tournament.

Super 8 awaits some great contest ...

Blasting 2nd day ofT20WC

The 2nd day was quite an intriguing one. India as expected swept past bangladesh. NZ scored over the scots. The only interesting game was in the group of death and close to death are the Oz after the killing blows by Chris Gayle and Andre Fletcher. Gayle needs to be consistent for WI to be a force to reckon with in the tournament. Apart from the blaze of Gayle's blade the day also belonged to Yuvraj Singh who raised expectations of another 6's over when he hammered Naem for 2 consecutive sixes. His innings was what that destroyed the Bangla courage. zunaed did bat well for the Bangla team but he alone cannot win them a game. Other notable player was the debutant Pragyan Ojha what a spell,4/21 in his debut match was excellent returns for him. Bhajji needs to pull up his socks or he may find himself out of the team.

England will be playing their match of the tournament. The host needs to play out of their so that they are not turned in to spectators for the rest of the tourney. Good luck to them!!

England Sees the ORANGES!!

WOW! What a game of cricket. I was hoping for the minnows to spring a surprise but not in the first match of the tourney itself.England has itself to blame equally as the Dutch's beautiful play for the results. I don't understand how a guy who seems fit to play the role of Pope in a flick is doing in the English line up I am talking about Robert Key... by God's grace who is he? I remember seeing him play when i was in my chuddies for England. What was Dmitri doing in the sidelines. What was Broad doing when he messed up all the run out chances. O! God it was unbelievable. Capitulation at its best. Tom De Brooth Oh! what an innings I am his fan for life now. Well the Orange clad team can go a long way if they can consistently bat like they did last night. Self belief must have crept in to the team now. Watch Out Pakistan...Here Comes the Netherlands's ......

Poll

India Vs Pakistan(Warm Up Match)- A review

Well even before the tournament(T20 WC 2009) started we have had an humdinger of a match.

IndVs Pak with a sold out crowd was what every cricket lover in India and pakistan were looking ahead to. It was not one of the close matches that these two teams have played in T20 cricket. India overwhelmed Pakistan in all departments of the game.

Pakistan got off to rollicking start but the 5th over bowled by ishant Sharma put water in all their hopes of posting a big total. pak did ome back in to the game thanks to Arafat and Misbah but the total was too paltry for a batting side like India. India ove came the target well ahead in time with the loss of just Rohit's wicket. Rohit carried on his form from the 1st warm up game and played a blistering innings. Gautam too found his form. Everything seems to be falling in place for team India except for RP and Praveen's bowling I guess but with zaheer slated to be back Dhoni can relax. For Pakistan by the way they were checking out the bat of Gautam at the end of the match it seemed they were thinking that they were done in by the bats of team India. well that's not the case Pak needs to pull up their socks in every sphere of the game for them to even reach the semi finals.

Prediction for super 8

I have always been interested in astrology and its effects on us humans. Let's not bother about my interests and get in to the simpler exercise of predicting the winners in the group stages in world T20 cup for the super 8's. Here's my take...

Group A

India

Bangladesh

Ireland

No guesses India & Bangladesh

Group B

Pakistan England Netherlands

Again no guesses Pak and Eng

Group C

Australia

Srilanka

west Indies

Aha ! Group of death or can we discount WI ...........yeah we can its gonna be WI and SL

Group D

South Africa

New Zealand

Scotland

straight forward its SA and NZ for sure ............ From here on it will get tougher.

But the under dog in me its praying for a miracle..........for Bangladesh, Ireland, Scotland or Netherlands to spring a surprise.... Let's keep our fingers crossed...

T20 World Cup- England Schedule(Free)

So people here is the biggie! World Cup T20 in England.

First thing we all need to enjoy this spectacle is the schedule. so here it is

ICC T20 World Cup Schedule 2009, ICC Twenty 20 Worldcup TimeTable 2009

=======================================

Group A Group B Group C Group D
India Pakistan Australia South Africa
Bangladesh England Sri Lanka New Zealand
Ireland Netherlands West Indies Scotland
=======================================
Matches Timings and Schedule

1st T20 will be played between England v Netherlands on 05, June 2009 in London Day/Night
2nd New Zealand v Scotland on 06, June 2009 in London Day match
3rd Australia v West Indies on 06, June 2009 Day mach in London
4th India v Bangladesh on 06, June 2009 in Nottingham D/N
5th South Africa v Scotland on 07, June 2009 day match in London
6th England v Pakistan on 07, June 2009 D/N match in London
7th Bangladesh v Ireland on 08, June 2009 Day match Nottingham
8th Australia v Sri Lanka on 08, June 2009 D/N in Nottingham
9th Pakistan v Netherlands on 09, June 2009 London day match
10th New Zealand v South Africa on 09, June 2009 D/N in London
11th Sri Lanka v West Indies on 10, June 2009 in Nottingham
12th India v Ireland on 10, June 2009

======================================================

Super Eight T20 world cup 2009 match schedule and timings

On 11, June 2009

D1 v A2 in Nottingham
B2 v D2 in Nottingham

12, June 2009

B2 v D2 in London
A1 v C1 IN London

13, June 2009

C1 v D2 in London
D1 v B1 IN London

14, June 2009

A2 v C2 in London
A1 v B2 IN London

15, June 2009

B2 v C1 in London
B1 v A2 IN London

16, June 2009

D1 v C2 in Nottingham
D2 v A1 IN Nottingham

===============================================

Semi Final Matches

18, June 2009 - 1st Semi-Final

19, June 2009 - 2nd Semi-Final

ICC T20 World Cup Schedule 2009, ICC Twenty 20 Worldcup TimeTable 2009

=======================================

Group A Group B Group C Group D
India Pakistan Australia South Africa
Bangladesh England Sri Lanka New Zealand
Ireland Netherlands West Indies Scotland
=======================================
Matches Timings and Schedule

1st T20 will be played between England v Netherlands on 05, June 2009 in London Day/Night
2nd New Zealand v Scotland on 06, June 2009 in London Day match
3rd Australia v West Indies on 06, June 2009 Day mach in London
4th India v Bangladesh on 06, June 2009 in Nottingham D/N
5th South Africa v Scotland on 07, June 2009 day match in London
6th England v Pakistan on 07, June 2009 D/N match in London
7th Bangladesh v Ireland on 08, June 2009 Day match Nottingham
8th Australia v Sri Lanka on 08, June 2009 D/N in Nottingham
9th Pakistan v Netherlands on 09, June 2009 London day match
10th New Zealand v South Africa on 09, June 2009 D/N in London
11th Sri Lanka v West Indies on 10, June 2009 in Nottingham
12th India v Ireland on 10, June 2009

======================================================

Super Eight T20 world cup 2009 match schedule and timings

On 11, June 2009

D1 v A2 in Nottingham
B2 v D2 in Nottingham

12, June 2009

B2 v D2 in London
A1 v C1 IN London

13, June 2009

C1 v D2 in London
D1 v B1 IN London

14, June 2009

A2 v C2 in London
A1 v B2 IN London

15, June 2009

B2 v C1 in London
B1 v A2 IN London

16, June 2009

D1 v C2 in Nottingham
D2 v A1 IN Nottingham

===============================================

Semi Final Matches

18, June 2009 - 1st Semi-Final

19, June 2009 - 2nd Semi-Final

ICC T20 World Cup Schedule 2009, ICC Twenty 20 Worldcup TimeTable 2009

=======================================

Group A Group B Group C Group D
India Pakistan Australia South Africa
Bangladesh England Sri Lanka New Zealand
Ireland Netherlands West Indies Scotland
=======================================
Matches Timings and Schedule

1st T20 will be played between England v Netherlands on 05, June 2009 in London Day/Night
2nd New Zealand v Scotland on 06, June 2009 in London Day match
3rd Australia v West Indies on 06, June 2009 Day mach in London
4th India v Bangladesh on 06, June 2009 in Nottingham D/N
5th South Africa v Scotland on 07, June 2009 day match in London
6th England v Pakistan on 07, June 2009 D/N match in London
7th Bangladesh v Ireland on 08, June 2009 Day match Nottingham
8th Australia v Sri Lanka on 08, June 2009 D/N in Nottingham
9th Pakistan v Netherlands on 09, June 2009 London day match
10th New Zealand v South Africa on 09, June 2009 D/N in London
11th Sri Lanka v West Indies on 10, June 2009 in Nottingham
12th India v Ireland on 10, June 2009

======================================================

Super Eight T20 world cup 2009 match schedule and timings

On 11, June 2009

D1 v A2 in Nottingham
B2 v D2 in Nottingham

12, June 2009

B2 v D2 in London
A1 v C1 IN London

13, June 2009

C1 v D2 in London
D1 v B1 IN London

14, June 2009

A2 v C2 in London
A1 v B2 IN London

15, June 2009

B2 v C1 in London
B1 v A2 IN London

16, June 2009

D1 v C2 in Nottingham
D2 v A1 IN Nottingham

===============================================

Semi Final Matches

18, June 2009 - 1st Semi-Final

19, June 2009 - 2nd Semi-Final

Twenty20 World Cup 2009 – Final on 21, June 2009 London.

visit http://i69.in/cricket/icc-t20-world-cup-schedule-2009-icc-twenty-20-worldcup-timetable-2009.php for details.

Next Up i promise my readers an introspective in to the stars of this tournament. Till next time cioa............

thanks to http://www.google.co.in/search?rlz=1C1GGLS_enIN308IN308&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=jpg

Has the fizz gone out of the Aussies!

30th Jan 2009 today Australia lost the last match of the 5 match ODI series against South Africa. They have lost their top ODI ranking too. So is it the beginning of the end of Australian dominance in all forms of the game. I say yes the fizz has really gone out.
A lot of dis credit has to go to the Aussie selectors. Their idea of nurturing a player till they think he is fit to play internationals has back fired. though it was the same policy which was admired across the globe some time back. Reason no. 1 is real lack of young blood. None of the Aussie debutante's since last year have impressed me as the same ruthless Aussie player of the yore. say except for may be Shaun Marsh in whom i see real potential. It beats why he don't deserve a place in the test side too. Reason No.2 a weak bowling attack(ODI) Brett Lee burnt out, Mitchell Johnson alone cannot make them win matches. For spinner they have excuses only. Nathan Bracken is the only bowler who deserves respect in ODIs.

NW Bracken
BW Hilfenhaus
MG Johnson
JR Hopes
MJ Clarke
DJ Hussey
These were the bowlers used by Australia in this match, show me one name which will break into an India or South African cricket team except for Bracken and Johnson. Where have all the bowlers gone. I say search your entire continent and come up with bowlers who can win you matches or else forget regaining your dominance in world cricket.

SE Marsh- needs to show more consistency as mentioned above he has potential
DA Warner- Too early to say personally I don't think he will last.
RT Ponting- A swallow doesn't make a summer needs to do more.. may be he is a spent force
MJ Clarke- Arise awake finish off matches
MEK Hussey- What happened to Mr. Cricket? dependability reducing day by day
DJ Hussey- bits and pieces player who will remain so
BJ Haddin-many tout him to be a good batsmen ... a pale shadow of Adam
JR Hopes- hopefully he can be a real all rounder.. not yet though
Induct fresh blood .. give ultimatum perish or perform dictum to old war horses.. do what ever it takes but i say bring back the Magical Aussies who never knew how to lose .. cause without them its a bit boring on the cricket field... losing is OK but without a fight is simply not Aussie.. rekindle your ruthlessness and let the others catch up with you.. all the best to the yellow jerseys.

Note- clicking on highlighted players name will take you to the palyer profile of www.cricinfo.com. My many thanks to them for their awesome site.

WAGs of cricket

We all know Victoria Beckham as the wife of english foot baller David Beckham. In foot ball wag culture is much more advanced then in cricket. It may be because cricket is still a gentleman's game. But cricket do have its share of glam women who are have been the Wives and Girlfriends of our beloved cricketers. I have come across a beautiful collection of cricketer wags at the AOL uk site.

http://sport.aol.co.uk/enhPhotoGalleryPollPopup.adp?country=uk&popupgalleryid=2108&photoid=13&pause=0

from the same source i have reproduced some pictures.

Let your eyes feast on these beautiful ladies who form the support base of our beloved crivketers once they are out of the cricket field.

jessica bratrich and Mitchell Johnson -->

Some Indian WAGS

Field Positions

Cricket is a game where each part of the ground has a fielding position name. We have square leg, fine leg, short leg, leg slip, leg gully and lot more variety of legs only. We do have the silly's too. Coming to the POINT which again is a fielding position, I have noticed that lot of cricket lovers know the game well but don't know which position is which except for the off and on sides. This is more true with people who have played more gully cricket then on real cricket grounds just because in gully cricket you don't have so much space to place so many fielders. Which is another reason why Indian and pakistani batsmen can play superb straight drives the credit again goes to lack of space.


As i was surfing through the net i came across a beautiful image of the cricket ground with all the fielding positions marked. Here is the image

Familiarise yourself with the various fielding positions.

pic source-wikimedia







On the lighter side here is is an image from nicholson cartoons where some thing similar to gully cricket field positions are there. Have a look and let a smile break in to your lips.







Note- clicking on images will give you a better enlarged view

My Love Cricket!

I have been watching and playing cricket from a very early age. I am so excited about the game that my family and friends call me a nerd who will watch anything on the telly as long as 6 wickets and a ball and bat are there no matter who is wielding the bat or who is hurling the ball. I confess to having watched even an inconsequential domestic match which could have bored the most cricket enthusiast person to death. As i mentioned earlier i watch the game for it's pure art and not for which country will thrash the other country. Every ball in cricket is a ballet played on the field. Till the last ball is bowled its not over. The excitement that runs anywhere from 5 days to 3 1/2 hours is simply awesome to my heart soul and of course my brain. Oft repeated but quite apt here
I eat Cricket
I sleep Cricket
I live Cricket