The Long Handle: Here’s hoping for a Great Batting Depression

Rahul Dravid disapproves of the ball’s persistent attempts to kiss the stumps as if it will turn into a prince

Written on December 31, 2011 | Posted in Cricket, Oman, Sports, Sri Lanka, US, ad, australia | Leave a comment

The Surfer: Double Standards Review

The MCG Test had enough incidents to suggest that supporting or opposing DRS is far from a black-and-white decision. Greg Baum of the Age writes that India’s rejection of the system is stubborn, even contrary, but it is not without justification. In a short time, the DRS has come to be accepted as infallible. This fits a tendency in all walks of life to devolve responsibility, if possible, to inanimate devices. Fans dwell on it. For players, to walk or not to walk is no longer an ethical issue; the…

Written on December 31, 2011 | Posted in Cricket, ISI, Sports, US, ad, drs, fans, india, udrs | Leave a comment

The Surfer: The pink-haired journeyman who battered England

England may be the top Test side in the world, but it is a different story in the one-day game, where they are somewhat less than proficient. There was the 6-1 drubbing by Australia after the Ashes and the 5-0 whitewash in India later in the year. But no one expected them to lose to Ireland in the World Cup after they racked up 327 for 8. Not even Kevin O’Brien, who took matters into his own hands with a blistering hundred. In the Telegraph, Jonathan Liew recaps one of…

Written on December 30, 2011 | Posted in Cricket, Ireland, Irish cricket, Sports, UN, US, World Cup, ashes, australia, england, india | Leave a comment

Tour Diaries: Sri Lanka kick about after first win

Sri Lanka enjoyed quiet celebrations and had a game of football on the beach

Written on December 30, 2011 | Posted in Cricket, Football, Misc, Sports, Sri Lanka, ad, africa, aid, cricinfo, media, uth | Leave a comment

Inbox: Who is New Zealand’s best after Hadlee?

New Zealand’s best bowler since Richard Hadlee, Shane Bond, had a career tarnished by injury that probably fell into the category of unfulfilled, rather than great

Written on December 30, 2011 | Posted in Cricket, New Zealand cricket, Sports, UN, ad, korea, new zealand, uth | Leave a comment

The Surfer: Time for India to move forward

While Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman still earn their places in the team on merit, at some stage India needs to look to the future, Gaurav Kalra says on cricketnext.com. If their spots are considered permanently occupied, anyone who comes in to the No. 6 position is always going to bat like it his last Test, he says. At the heart of Indian cricket’s predicament lies an emotional response to a practical problem. Succession plans are ruthless in their design and do not rest on the current ability…

Written on December 30, 2011 | Posted in Cricket, Indian cricket, Sports, india, uth | Leave a comment

The Confectionery Stall: New blood. Yum

Graeme Smith reveals how the wicked witch was to blame for South Africa’s loss to Sri Lanka in Durban

Written on December 30, 2011 | Posted in 2011, Cricket, ISI, Sports, Sri Lanka, UN, US, ad, africa, ban, cia, import, technology, uth | Leave a comment

The Surfer: Australia bullish once more

After Australia’s compelling 122-run win against India at the MCG, Greg Baum, writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, says the Test team has seemingly got their killer instinct back. In the first week of this year, Australian cricket was a humiliated entity. Since then, it has submitted to three reviews and spilled every position and structure. It has played nine Tests in three countries, beaten Sri Lanka, South Africa and now India, but also lost to New Zealand. It has made as few as 47 and as many as 488…

Written on December 30, 2011 | Posted in Australian Cricket, Cricket, Sports, Sri Lanka, UN, US, ad, africa, australia, india, new zealand, tests, uth | Leave a comment

The Surfer: The best of 2011

The last twelve months have seen some spectacular highs, both on and off the field. There was Virender Sehwag’s ODI double-hundred, England’s ruthlessness in retaining the Ashes Down Under and Kumar Sangakkara’s stirring ‘Spirit of Cowdrey’ lecture. In the Guardian’s The Sport Blog, Mike Selvey recounts these and others in his XI highlights of 2011. We shall never see Dravid bat again in a Test match in England, but what a legacy he left. None of India’s travails last summer could be laid at his door, and to score at…

Written on December 29, 2011 | Posted in 2011, Cricket, Sehwag, Sports, UN, aid, ashes, england, guardian, india, uth | Leave a comment

The Surfer: Sometimes resignation is better than resolve

As South Africa attempt a huge chase in Durban, Neil Manthorp says, on SuperSport.com, that they need a hero. He points to Gary Kirsten’s 275 in Durban in 1999, which he says saved Kirsten’s career, and says perhaps one of the members of the current team who are under pressure should take the approach Kirsten did in that game: that it is better to accept one’s fate and just bat calmly in the hope of going out on a high. The difficulty for the likes of Jacques Rudolph, Ashwell Prince…

Written on December 29, 2011 | Posted in Cricket, South African cricket, Sports, UN, US, africa, ban, uth | Leave a comment

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