Also: why Test cricket is like The Wire. And is Phillip Hughes really made out of a chunk of Ayers Rock? Andy Zaltzman discusses these and other thrilling topics (among them: why he is an eternal Chemplast and Napoleon Einstein fan) with Daniel Norcross of Test Match Sofa Download the podcast here (mp3, 25MB, right-click to save)….
It is often said that New Zealand raise their game when they face their Trans-Tasman rivals Australia but the reality over the past decade is quite different, writes Will Brodie in the Sydney Morning Herald. It’s as if sports-starved fans have contrived to accept the myth of Kiwi competitiveness out of hope for a compelling Australia v New Zealand series, desperate to avoid the dullness of the past decade of Test cricket played between these two teams….
Written on December 1, 2011 | Posted in
Cricket,
Sports,
Test cricket,
US,
ad,
aid,
australia,
fans,
new zealand,
teams |
Leave a comment
Centuries scored in Tests should be treated differently from those scored in ODIs, and the hype around Tendulkar’s anticipated 100th international ton equalises two different orders of achievement, writes Mukul Kesavan in the Telegraph. Making a hundred in a Test is a lot harder than making a hundred in an ODI. The opposition’s best bowlers can bowl at you endlessly instead of being limited to 10 overs, Test cricket features many more close-in catchers and as the pitch deteriorates over five days, batting gets harder. Getting runs quickly is harder…
Written on December 1, 2011 | Posted in
Cricket,
International,
ODIs,
Sports,
Test cricket,
UK,
UN,
ad,
batting,
tests |
Leave a comment
Simon Hughes argues in the Daily Telegraph that the ICC missed a huge opportunity to bolster the status of Test cricket by bowing to pressure from broadcasters and scrapping the Test Championship set for 2013. In the past fortnight there have been two of the closest and most gripping Test-match finishes in history. The World Test Championship is necessary. It would give every match a wider context and teams something to aim for, as well as a proper global climax for the five-day game that the 50-over and Twenty20 format…
Written on November 28, 2011 | Posted in
Cricket,
Sports,
Test Championship,
Test cricket,
UN,
US,
ad,
icc,
teams,
twenty20 |
Leave a comment
In the Guardian, Mike Selvey writes about New Zealand great Martin Crowe’s failed attempt to return to competitive cricket. He says comebacks rarely work and are usually novelty one-offs. For someone so long out of the game this was always going to be a pipe dream, even if Crowe did “rediscover the joy of batting” in his preparations. Players older than he have played Test cricket (the eldest, Wilfred Rhodes, was 52 when he played against West Indies in Jamaica in 1930), and others have turned out in the county…
Written on November 25, 2011 | Posted in
Cricket,
New Zealand cricket,
Sports,
Test cricket,
UN,
US,
batting,
guardian,
new zealand,
west indies |
Leave a comment
The health, or otherwise, of Test cricket is a current hot debate with crowds dwindling around the world but in England the numbers coming to grounds is less of a concern. The Oval is one ground that rarely has a problem selling seats and tickets for next year’s Test against South Africa have gone on public sale. The demand was so great that Surrey’s website crashed for a short time. To bring something a little different to buying a ticket, Surrey are running a promotion called “tweet your seat.” Anyone…
Written on November 22, 2011 | Posted in
Cricket,
England cricket,
Health,
Sports,
Test cricket,
UN,
Web,
africa,
call,
england,
uth |
Leave a comment
Sure, he can take a six-for on debut at the age of 18, but can he convince his parents to hand over the car keys for the weekend?
Osman Samiuddin, writing for the National, anticipates much change on both batting and bowling fronts, especially in Test cricket. The bowlers, he says, might come to the forefront once more, after the glut of runs in recent years. [Venkatesh] Prasad, now an Indian Premier League (IPL) coach, noted his greatest challenge with bowlers was ensuring that their thinking – that eight runs conceded in an over, with one boundary, wasn’t bad – was not embedded when they moved to different formats. It is the unsaid flip side of this that…
Written on November 21, 2011 | Posted in
Cricket,
IPL,
Indian Premier League,
Sports,
Test cricket,
UN,
ad,
aid,
batting,
bowling,
cia,
india |
Leave a comment
From Tareque Laskar, India Test cricket is simply The Format of the game. Defending Test cricket has become like defending the classics – too many people are going on the lines of ‘hey Beethoven is the best because Beethoven is Beethoven, you know – classic and timeless’. That’s not quite the right line of reasoning, I am afraid. If you have to make people believe that the value of something being classic stems from the fact that it is considered, well, classic you’ve got yourself running around in circles more…
Ten years ago, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid constructed a partnership that would change Indian cricket
Written on March 15, 2011 | Posted in
Cricket,
Indian cricket,
Sports,
Test cricket,
UN,
US,
World Cup,
ad,
aid,
india,
tests |
Leave a comment
