19 January 2011. To repair its reputation and standard of cricketing excellence, Australia must restore the strength of its domestic cricket and introduce balance in its corridors of power. Over the weekend, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Hauritz, David Warner and Phillip Hughes turned out for their clubs. At once, it was a commonplace event and a […]
30 December 2010 The MCG result tells us things about the visitors and the hosts both: one young and ambitious, the other inept and fretful. England’s comprehensive victory in Melbourne meant that the Ashes had been retained. It is an outstanding achievement. It’s one thing to win the urn on home soil, another to venture […]
22 December 2010. Australian wickets have been denatured and characterless for far too long. Let’s hope Melbourne produces a track like the one in Perth. Only in cricket can the pitch attract so much attention. A darts board is a darts board. Rugby and soccer fields vary little and home advantage is more often due […]
9 December 2010. England’s resurgence has come about thanks to intelligent use of its natural resources, whether the variety within the immigrant community or the grey matter of former captains. Fifteen years ago I predicted that by 2010 England would be the strongest team in the world. It was a bold forecast, since they have […]
30 November 2010. Both sides essentially approached the Brisbane Test defensively, and sound as the reasoning was, it didn’t help set pulses racing. Ultimately the Gabba Test petered out into a boring draw. It was a curious match. Every day seemed like an eternity, not because the play lacked sparkle but rather due to the […]
11 November 2010. Kevin Pietersen arrives in Australia with his game in working order and his purpose renewed. Kevin Pietersen is a cricketer in search of his game and a man in search of his life. At last he is starting to look in the right places. After two years spent in self-indulgent folly he […]
4 November 2010. They have a settled side and a united leadership, but they haven’t been as impressive away as at home, their bowlers are unproven and their batsmen far from impregnable. Everything has been going England’s way. According to the pundits a glorious victory awaits. As far as they are concerned, the Australians are […]
20 October 2010. He fits the type and is the right age but is yet to show that he can confront his weaknesses and toughen up like Ponting did. Michael Clarke is an established Test batsman with an impressive record, a successful leader of his country’s Twenty20 team and the vice-captain of a Test side […]
21 October 2011. Victory will go to the boldest and the best-organised outfit. India has every right to be delighted by its performances in the One-Day Internationals. By no means can the trouncing of England be taken lightly. In a trice M.S. Dhoni’s side has stopped its run of defeats, doused English ardour and restored […]
8 October 2011. Has India recognised the need to change? Australia is on track to regain a high place in the cricketing rankings. Within three years it will be challenging England for the top spot. And the reason is simple. Australian cricket has taken a hard look at itself and realised it had become complacent. […]
30 September 2011. Anyone doubting that Twenty20 has changed the game substantially needs to take a closer look at the Champions League. Actually it’s not the game that has changed so much as the education of the young cricketer. Jonny Bairstow bowled by Mitchell Starc. Australia beat England by 120 runs in 2nd Ashes (Day|Night) […]
24 September 2011. The issue is not whether the systems are 100 per cent reliable but whether better verdicts are reached. India’s reluctance to accept the Decision Review System is regrettable. The BCCI wants to wait till the technology has been rendered foolproof. But humanity cannot wait upon perfection or else we’d all still be […]
3 September 2011. The Indians might find themselves facing a bunch of capable young guns. Doubtless Indian cricketers are keeping a close eye on events in Galle. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his exhausted men arrive in Australia in December seeking their country’s first series victory down under. A month or so ago the prospects seemed […]
7 October 2010. VVS Laxman is an artist whose strength lies not in his artistry but in his competitive spirit, a batsman who needs adversity to unleash the giant within. VVS Laxman has joined Brian Lara on the short list of modern batsmen whose mastery extends to fourth-innings chases and whose masterpieces include memorable innings […]
8 September 2010. Time is up for making excuses and passing the buck; anti-corruption bodies and administrators can do no good if players keep giving in to temptations. Cricket has been leading a double life. At the same time it is a valiant and beautiful game played with intent by a collection of superb players, […]
27 August 2011. India needs to examine the evidence provided by the heavy defeats in England and respond accordingly. Pretending it was a bad patch or a cursed tour will merely prolong the agony. Moreover, the scale of the loss does not allow any room for complacency. It is over. India’s steady rise in the […]
The nebulous idea of the spirit of cricket is hard to sustain in our fractious times. Better to think in terms of respect for opponents, perhaps. By sponsoring the Test series between Pakistan and Australia played in England, the Marylebone Cricket Club did the game a service. Cricket faces no greater task than the protection […]
Argus and company recommended an overhaul of the selection and coaching structures in Australia. No sooner had Australia comprehensively lost the 2010-11 Ashes series than the Board announced not one but two enquiries into the causes of the defeat. Don Argus, the recently retired BHP chief, was asked to examine cricket operations. Meanwhile, two governance […]
14 August 2011. Over the last few days, two teams have summoned the focus demanded in the unforgiving Test arena. England has been superb, an executioner in white clothes. Zimbabwe, too, played with unsuspected maturity. Contrastingly, India and Bangladesh have been abject. Test cricket exposes weaknesses and reveals strengths. That is its beauty and primary […]
5 August 2011. Let us praise England’s cricketers! Admittedly the Indians have played like duffers but focussing on their failings denies the victors their dues. Moreover even India at its best, might not have been good enough. England has played vibrant and fighting cricket. The team has a reliable top order, a powerful middle, a […]
21 May 2011. If the style in Sticky Wicket is as dry as a paper clip, the content is colourful. Speed describes the rumour ridden enquiry into Bob Woolmer‘s death at the 2003 Cricket World Cup (CWC), an investigation hijacked by a vainglorious detective and a silly coroner. He talks about the disastrous 2007 CWC, […]
30 April 2011. With all due respect to the entertaining tussles between IPL sides, the most riveting confrontation of the week occurred not on an Indian cricket ground but on a Spanish football field. How closely soccer is followed in India these days is unclear but a rupee to a paisa says it is growing […]