Christmas wishes and wraps

Firstly, may I wish a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to everyone.

It’s been an eventful few weeks in the world of cricket. India has secured the series against England, South Africa has claimed a monumental win in Perth, and New Zealand and West Indies were forced into a stalemate.

Test cricket has been revitalised by some thrilling wins in the previous few weeks, only to be taken back a peg by some selfishness in the Mohali test. The epic win in Chennai was a victory of will, winning a test when they had been decisively outplayed in all the previous innings.

It featured a truly masterful Tendulkar century, sheltering his lesser partner Yuvraj from some determined England bowling, and featured strong showings from Virender Sehwag. India then followed up with the wrong way to finish the series.

India has a bad recent history of trying to draw remaining tests of a series when they reach the lead. In England in 2007, they seemed completely uninterested in going for the win once they took the lead in the second test.

Against Australia, they won at Mohali and then never looked like attempting to win another game on the highway-like pitches, leaving it to an Australian collapse to secure a 2-0 series win. It was not attractive test cricket in the same way as Australian over aggression is not attractive test cricket.

Don’t get me wrong. India was the better team in every occasion and deserved a series win. My qualm is that they do not treat the fans to entertaining cricket. Australia lost in South Africa but neither team can hardly be blamed for any poor cricket, it was absolutely riveting. As was the Chennai test.

Effectively India’s captain MS Dhoni summed it up by saying he wanted Yuvraj and Gambhir to score second innings centuries, which shows how India’s attitude to winning the game was completely out of whack. With conditions also limiting the amount of time played, this selfish attitude does not bode well for a team striving to be number one (And not far off from that tag).

South Africa proved their worth and new steel with a crushing victory in Perth. India completed a great chase in Chennai only prior to this, but without dampening India’s achievement, this was probably the more monumental considering the state of the series, the opposition, and the journey it took to get there.

South Africa has always been a classy team. Since readmission, they have had top quality players throughout the 90’s and naughties. However, their readmission came also during the period of Australia reaching its zenith in cricketing power. They have never beaten Australia in a test series and have folded easily at times when they had the personnel to give Australia a real shake.

This time now, is a different South Africa. Young players such as AB De Villiers and Dale Steyn have reached their prime after years of struggle, Graeme Smith has reached the emotional maturity needed for the captaincy, and has discovered the warrior within himself. Old veterans such as Ashwell Prince, Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher are contributing well, and there is a unity and confidence that reminds me of the Australian team of 2001/2002.

The win at Perth was vital for the Cricketboks, they have a series lead against a demoralised Australian team and now have the chance to prove they are the premier team in the game. Australia is not a team that will surrender their long held number one spot lightly, but this team looks like it can do it.

2008 has been an important year, at year’s end Australia is no longer the top team in the world, with India showing its strength (And cash) and South Africa reaching their long-awaited peak.
2009 promises to bring more riches and woes as 2008 did. Let’s hope that when next year ends, test cricket is still the number one form of cricket.

Bittersweet and disappointing

The hotly anticipated India v Australia test series is now over, and strangely the future of test cricket is now under more scrutiny than ever following a series featuring bland pitches, heated confrontations, and numerous on and off field problems.

To be realistic, India should have won this series 4-0, no questions asked. They had a superior team on paper, in their own conditions, and were facing an Australian lineup with no recognised spinner and three quicks without experience bowling to test level on the subcontinent.

Australia did incredibly well to hold it to 2-0, and India’s second win only came when Australia made a game chase in the fourth innings that was eventually undone my India’s spin attack. India lost the plot at times during this series, particularly in the field, and undid the hard work their bowlers put in.

Ishant Sharma was a worthy man of the series as he was yards ahead of the rest. He bowled manfully and was a constant threat, unlike Zaheer who floundered on the increasingly highway-like pitches, and has now established himself as a world class opening bowler.

India’s big problem this series was their inconsistency. They dropped off when they could have had the foot on the throat, and they only barely escaped from threatening situations due to the Australian team’s ineptitude, case points being Bangalore and the final test at Nagpur.

Gautum Gambhir and Virender Sehwag batted well on tracks that allowed the ball to scream hit me. As did the middle order at times, although Laxman was clearly the standout. Dhoni had his moments and the tail provided some spunk. Everything clicked at least once during the series.

As for Australia, well, only Mike Hussey came away with his reputation enhanced, with Simon Katich probably not far behind him. All the other batsmen had a touch and go series. Ponting himself made a century at Bangalore and then seemed to struggle as Ishant and Harbajan continued to expose his weakness against the ball that moves back in.

Clarke had a woeful tour. He fell at critical times and was a shadow of the player that made his presence known here four years ago. His century at Delhi secured the draw but he never really asserted himself. Neither did the dominating Hayden, who struggled for form following a long injury lay off. His 77 was a grand gesture however and gave India a fright on the final day.
The remaining players had brief moments that provided little in the end to write home about. Brad Haddin struggled. He had four starts during the series and failed to convert every single one of them into a fifty or century. His glove work was at times rusty and he comes across unexperienced in unfamiliar conditions.

Watson was a real conundrum. A player of genuine talent, he was thrust into this tour following the ridiculous dropping of Andrew Symonds and was real hit and miss. He managed a defiant 78 in Mohali as his team crumbled around him, but he achieved better results with the ball, being by a long way the best of the Australian pace men with 10 wickets at 32.10, with a best of 4/42 that gave Australia the slightest of hopes in the final test.

Australia’s biggest problem was their bowling, which never really looked like taking 20 wickets. Their biggest mistake was picking Cameron White, who himself rarely bowls at first class level in deference to Bryce McGain.

White never looked threatening and his value with the bat was miniscule at best to compensate for the lack of penetration.
The pace attack also floundered. Lee should never have gone on tour. He was never in the right frame of mind and lacked rhythm. Stuart Clark was the only one of the bowlers to keep the batsmen in check, but at the same he wasn’t able to penetrate.

Don’t get me started on Johnson. I am firmly convinced he should not be playing test cricket. He was erratic and never looked threatening with a new ball, due to the fact he couldn’t swing it to save his life. How he continues to play at the expense of Bollinger or Siddle bemuse me, as they are both far superior bowlers to Johnson.

Siddle did little in his test debut but it was a tough ask bowling to strong batting lineup on a pitch so flat my grandmother could have scored a century on it. His time will come, he has the talent. Krejza is yet to discover his worth, despite an epic 12 wickets in his debut test. He needs to lower his economy rates and keep getting picked. He may be the player we were searching for.

Australia has some deep soul searching ahead of a tough 12 months on their cricket calendar. India too must address some problems within their makeup, such as their inconsistency, the loss of several old hands (Dravid is on borrowed time, but luckily they have the impressive Vijay to take his spot if needed) and a tendency to get defensive when they have a series lead.

India are still a strong side and the better side during this series, but a lot more work is needed if they are to overtake Australia as the number one nation.

You said what Gilly?

Adam Gilchrist has opened up multiple cans of worms since he released his autobiography, and in retrospect has done immense damage to a reputation forged out of his good guy demeanour off field.

In a matter of weeks, he slammed Indian great Sachin Tendulkar for his role in the acquittal of Harbajan Singh from accusations of racism, he dug into Harbajan and Sourav Ganguly for their ‘disappearing act’ in the 2004 series that led to Australia beating India in India for the first time since 1969, and now he has opened more old wounds by taking aim at the ICC over Muttiah Muralitharan’s bowling action.

It is hard to see what Gilly aims to achieve my doing this. Murali has been cleared to bowl by the ICC and is free to bowl, no matter what people may feel about it. Harbajan was cleared, with great controversy, but that matter is in the past.

There is nothing to gain from these attacks other than to end up with the reputation as a whinger. Gilly is no saint, we all know there are no saints on the cricket field, but these words have done more damage than anything his opponents could have said.

A man apart

Anil Kumble has retired and another of the warriors that triggered the golden age of spin bowling during the 90’s has retired.

Kumble was vastly different from most spinners due to his modus operandi. In comparison to Warne, a fellow legspinner, Jumbo relied less on venomous turn and more on his topspinner and wrong ‘un.

One thing Kumble, Warne and Murali share in common is their relentlessness. Once Jumbo got into a bowling grove, he relentlessly bowled until he had a wicket. His performances have won India more matches than any other player India has produced. In terms of match winning effectiveness, Kumble was worth more than even Sachin Tendulkar.

In the Australian tour of 2003/2004, Kumble, who has returned from injury to replace Harbajan Singh and turned out to be India’s defining influence. He took 5/154 in Adelaide, 6/176 in Melbourne, and 8/141 in Sydney on his way to a 12 wicket haul. He highlighted his great heart and stamina through the uncounted arduous spells he bowled.

He was only the second person to take 10 wickets in an innings, taking 10/74 against Pakistan in 98/99, and he crowned his latter career with a test century in India’s triumphant tour of England, scoring India’s only century of the series.

Jumbo is arguably India’s finest spinner during a time when India rose to prominence as a real force in World Cricket. He became India’s captain and achieved all his greatest achievements with a quiet dignity that belied his inner toughness.

If India win this current series, there can be no greater tribute to two of their retiring heroes than defeating their greatest foe, Australia.

Flirtation gone wrong

20/20. Considered in the majority of cricket circles as cricket for those with ADD (Apologies to those who do have that disorder though).

Now with the advent of the IPL, ICL, Champion’s League and Stanford 20/20 for 20, the newest form of the game is beginning to dominate the game, slowly eliminating 50 over cricket from the landscape and now encroaching on the popularity of test cricket as the number one form of the game.

To compare the two, one way to look at it is when rock music came into circulation. Test cricket can be considered the classical music where all forms of music branched off from and still to this day give inspiration.

50 over cricket is the Blues of the forms. It was raw and new and exciting when it first came out, but after many years and too much exposure to pop music, R’n’B formed from what was originally a great product, something tarnished by increasing commercialisation.

20/20 is Rock’n’Roll. The new, dangerous, raucous cricket formed from Blues that becomes what the Blues used to be, raw, different and energetic. Rock became the centrepiece of music and in some ways still is. And that is the possibility that 20/20 may head towards.

Strictly on marketing terms, 20/20 is a brilliant concept. It is short, furious, and full of spectacular stroke play that spectators love to see. It is the perfect format for countries across the world to be introduced to the game, and therefore make it more international.

However, this may come at the cost of test cricket, viewed by the majority of diehard fans as the most important version of the game.

Test cricket got its name due to it being the true test of one’s cricketing abilities. The truly great players of this age, the Tendulkars, Pontings, Warnes, and Laras of this world forged their names in the longest form of the game.

But 20/20’s popularity with the marketing gurus and media may lead to its role being downgraded. By all that is good about cricket, I hope this doesn’t happen. Long may test cricket remain.

The perfect captain

Australia has been blessed with plenty of determined and classy captains. From the original skipper Dave Gregory, to the classy all-rounder and now legendary commentator Richie Benaud, and on to the strong-willed and canny Ian Chappell.

In arguably Australia’s greatest cricketing age, there have been four that have taken on the challenge; Allan Border, Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.

All had unique skills and abilities, and all were determine individuals. On pure ability, Punter is miles ahead of the other three, while Tubby was the least gifted. AB and Tugga were decent all-rounders in their prime, but Punter and Tubby were highly gifted fieldsmen.

Their respective terms of leadership were also highly unique and reflective of their character. AB was probably the most singled-minded of them all, probably based on the fact he played during Australia’s lowest ebb and then worked his hardest to get the team back to the top. Ponting and Waugh have been in charge during Australia’s dominance in the last eight years or so. But they inherited a team that had already claimed the top spot.

The man that set that chain of events off was Mark Taylor, close to, if not already, Australia’s greatest test captain. Taylor inherited a strong team from Allan Border that had established itself well and then set the wheels in motion to make that squad invincible. During his time Warne and McGrath came of age, players such as Steve Waugh came into their prime, and they churned out talent at a time that could have enabled two strong Australian teams to run around.

Taylor was the most balanced captain of the four. He was bright, energetic, generous and highly diplomatic. At the same time he could also be utterly ruthless without being downright cruel. He was immensely respected for his courage and tenacity, and tactically he was not merely astute, but can be considered one of the finest visionaries of his time.

He did what no Australian skipper had done since Ian Chappell in 1972-73 and toppled the West Indies in the West Indies, thus establishing themselves as the undoubted world champions, a position they still hold.

He is held is such high regard by those he played under that they consider him the finest captain they have played under. Such a credit is not to be taken lightly in Australia’s golden era, but it could go to no better player than the lad from Wagga Wagga.

Outgunned, outclassed

Everyone has gone bananas. India has beaten Australia in the second test and beaten them comfortably.

Any informed cricket spectator would have told you that it was expected.
Australia headed into this series with a transitional line-up, no spinner, no McGrath (Who arguably still had psychological holds over some batsmen), and undoubtedly a more fragile psyche than we’ve seen from historic Australian sides.

Following the hysteria and controversy of the Sydney test earlier this year, Australia went out in Perth noticeably meeker than usual. Perhaps they have met their match with a team that has taken inspiration to play with strong aggression.

To put it quite simply, Australia were outplayed by a better team. India is a better team on paper, and in Mohali they were vastly superior on the field. The only criticism I can make of India is that they should have scored 900 on the pitch in the first innings. Australia did well to bowl them out for less than 500+.

No-one expected Australia to win this series and they undoubtedly surprised people with their spirited show in Bengaluru, probably winning the majority of that test. There was no such inadequacy from India in Mohali.

As India has clamped down on Australia, the poor standard of umpiring has flown under the radar. Shane Watson got away with the most obvious LBW since cricket began. And Australia had a critical decision go against them when a stumping for Ganguly was not referred to the third umpire, replays proving he was out. Ganguly was in the 30’s at the time and went on to 102.
India is likely to win this series in what will be a swansong for their older generation, and then the challenge for India begins as they have to cover for their fab four and Anil Kumble (Although Amit Mishra seems like an excellent replacement).

A win against Australia at home will be a great moment for them, but at the end of the series, Australia will likely remain the number one side and will remain so until they get knocked off at home, which hasn’t happened since 92-93.

Exciting times.