There has been a lot of talk about how the Aussies have lost their invincibility and more importantly the reasons attributed to the same-ranging from – Retirement of Shane Warne/Glenn Mcgrath/Adam Gilchrist, the lack of form of Brett Lee and Ponting losing his marbles and how he has suddenly become a bad captain (Dhoni being the new genius!). I have always believed Ponting was never a great captain and will never be one- I am sure the likes of Mark Taylor / Hansie Cronje and Stephen fleming are being seriously offended by these claims by the media- Great player, he is but definitely not a great captain. Another of such myths is that the difference between the 2 sides has always been Gilly- Let me be the one to break this one- Gilly averages 27.89 against us as compared to a career average of close to 48. Whilst I fully understand that he offered them the luxury of playing another all rounder- Brad Haddin offers the same and hence his effect has been nullified.
Before I start giving my reasons for their failings, I have to admit that I haven’t watched the series ball by ball and have only watched 1.5 sessions per day owing to the odd timings at which the game starts. But it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out. Let me also put my neck on the line and say that Aussies are not on a decline and will come back quite strongly and not surprisingly it would the England in the ashes who will face the brunt!
The biggest reason for their failings in India is the lack of a quality spinner- No shit Sherlock!! But hear me out- They don’t need a spinner who will run through the Indian top order like a hot knife through butter (or Cristiano Ronaldo through a premier league defense –Hehe!) They need a steady spinner who will keep an end tight and allow the likes of Lee Johnson and Clarke to go about their business. The opposition that has done well in India had players like Nicky Boje /Pat Symcox/Paul Harris/Ashley Giles - Not world beaters but people who are willing to do the dirty job for you. It’s a shame that Brad Hogg has retired as he would have offered this and a little more! How the aussies would kill for a spinner like Greg Mathews now? Also can someone please explain the wisdom of playing Cameron white- The man has the control of a drunk lunatic in a skating ring? If he is offering extra batting depth then what the hell is Watson doing? Play a proper spinner for f*ck sake
What in god’s name was Andrew Symonds thinking when he went fishing instead of attending the team meeting? If I was him and I was the one racially abused as he and the rest of the Australian team have been claiming I will be waiting for my chance to come to India and put Harbhajan in his place – Show him who the better player is. As wonderful as an alternative that Shane Watson provides he does not intimidate the Indians as much as Simmo does. That’s the reason everyone goes after him. The aussie middle order is not attacking the Indian spinners as much as they should- Come on after all India are playing a spinner who is still wet behind his ears. Attack them on the field and then start throwing the words. That has been Ian Chappell and Steve Waugh’s mantra all through the years and as much as we all hate it none of us can claim it has not worked. Further, he would have provided an excellent defensive spin bowling option.
Over the years, I am the Aussies have learned that they should not be sledging a few people – Brian Lara/Viv Richards/Chris Gayle to name a few. I remember Lara scoring a rather measured 213 against Australia and thanking Ponting for giving him the challenge he needed after Lara had a shocker of 30 minutes against Lee and Mcgrath and Ricky had some choice words for him. Most of the current Indian crop falls into this category – Dhoni/Harbhajan/Ishant seem to perform better if someone is having a go at them- Let your cricket do the talking and after all they are the best side in the world and have enough ammunition in the armory to beat India or at least pick your targets right
Having said all this I am thoroughly impressed with the way Indians have played thus far in the series and special mention to Sourav for not making his farewell series a media circus. Indian cricket is definitely on the ascendency and there is no denying it. At the moment there is nothing better the world cricket can offer than a closely fought India vs Australia series and this series has been a let down from neutrals perspective because the Real Oz haven’t turned up. I for one am hoping for better contest in the 3rd and 4th Test
Cheers
S
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Murali Sharath!
My web space hasn’t had an update for about 6 weeks now. A couple of friends who haven’t had anything to do other than twiddle thumbs at work (S & S – I am looking at the both of you) have been pushing me to write about something. I have had a terrible 2 months (I just realized that the last major excitement I had in my rather inconsequential life was Berba signing for United- Yeah Yeah my life is sad.) A combination of working with a lot of idiots, complete mayhem in the market and a lack of general excitement in life have had me in bad spirits and painfully rather low self esteem so much so that I haven’t been speaking to my dearest/nearest that frequently and am sure at least a couple are raging mad (Sorry T- I am sure things will be fine). Anyway it’s nice to be back and I hope to be more regular.
I have been playing cricket all through summer. A friend of mine called me as a last minute replacement for one of the games. Mediocrity amongst the rest of the gang and an Asian connection earned me the nickname “Murali Sharath”. I have quietly been enjoying the nickname whilst modestly trying to brush aside any comparisons to the champion spinnerJ-. Our team is called Renegades Cricket club and comprises of a bunch of South African/English men and couple of Indians. We are a decent hard working side but the real motivation for most of the team members is the beer. We have been playing in this league for 6 years now and we are the South Africa of evening League- 5 semifinals appearances in 6 years after topping the table in the group stages and yet not a single win.
We did reasonably well in the group stages finishing 3rd and therefore had to face Health Department who finished 2nd after walloping us in a group game when they reached our target of 73 in less than 6 overs. The semi finals was reduced to 10 overs a side (from the customary 20-20) as it was quite late in summer and it was getting rather dark by half seven. We won the toss and decided chose the willow over the cork and we recorded a reasonable 72 of 10 overs despite losing 3 early wickets with hardly any runs on the board. Their openers got stuck into our seamers and piled up 40 runs of our first 3 overs. Shoulders dropped and Nasser Hussien’s famous lines about the English team after they lost the first ashes test in 2005 came to mind- “Same Old Renegades- Same old bloody Renegades”. As a last throw of the dice the skip threw the ball to me and asked me to tie down an end which I have been doing through out the tournament. I bowled spectacularly- (One of my best spell in long long time) - picked up 2/15 in 3 overs. Below mentioned was the actual write up about me in the team magazine-
"By the fifth over the run rate was under six, and the doctors looked ready to sew up an easy victory. Stand-in-skipper Goodyer realised it wasn’t going to be his day with the ball and wisely stepped aside to make way for some sub-continental guile from Sharath. A change in pace and some delightful flight proved difficult to diagnose and the portly Murali took the breakthrough wicket, trapping the batsmen LBW with a quicker ball Yorker. The Sharath and Shillingford partnership started to stem the hemorrhaging slightly and the run rate started to climb again as the wickets fell."
They needed eight runs of the last over and after some tight bowling from my spin twin-R we won the game. I would have picked up the MoM if there was one- Anyways was really glad about our performance and we were in the finals. We will be facing Belmont in the finals that have clearly been the best side in the tournament winning all their league matches and comfortably topping the table. Quick sides note about our opponents in the finals- They took competitiveness to levels unseen in the evening league during our league game by using choicest words to imply I was the half brother of one of their batsman before we exchanged blows on the fields and it was all very ugly.
I was very happy to be facing them in the finals and was praying I will have the last laugh. People who know my ultra competitiveness wouldn’t be too surprised but I was ready for another round of fist fight if it meant I have to win. Unfortunately, that guy missed the finals and I was a tad disappointed.
We won the toss yet again and decided to bat first- It was a rather flat wicket with no moisture as it quite a hot day. I was sure the wicket was going to afford sufficient assistance to the spinners and was looking forward to having a real go at them. We got 139 from 20 over which was a reasonable total but I thought we were about 20 runs short as it was a small ground. As has been the pattern through out the tournament our opening bowlers were murdered and we conceded 33 of the first 3 overs. I was introduced into the attack after my heroics in the semis.
Big Shill and I kept things tight and I was rather unfortunate to not pick up more than the one wicket I got. We dragged us back into the game and gave ourselves a wonderful chance to win the game. Gooders and Ryan continued our good work and we won by about 16 runs. Special mention is due to our skip gooders who stroked a masterful 78 in the blistering heat and this was after the marathon he ran that morning! The magazine had this to say about me:
"Raj was sent to cow corner to think about what he’d done, and Narayan was brought into the attack to provide some vital dots. As in the semi, the Sharath-Shillingford combination seemed to work, slowing the run rate and Narayan thought he had the breakthough when a catch was popped up to Targett and silly-mid on, but somehow Conk contrived to spill it. Sharath’s contribution came to a close with a fantastic caught & bowled in his final over and was replaced by Goodyer, now recovered."
Renegades Cricket Club are the champions of evening league! I don’t know if I am looking fwd to next year as I really hope I won’t be here for the summer!
God luck and Godspeed!!!!
Cheers
S
I have been playing cricket all through summer. A friend of mine called me as a last minute replacement for one of the games. Mediocrity amongst the rest of the gang and an Asian connection earned me the nickname “Murali Sharath”. I have quietly been enjoying the nickname whilst modestly trying to brush aside any comparisons to the champion spinnerJ-. Our team is called Renegades Cricket club and comprises of a bunch of South African/English men and couple of Indians. We are a decent hard working side but the real motivation for most of the team members is the beer. We have been playing in this league for 6 years now and we are the South Africa of evening League- 5 semifinals appearances in 6 years after topping the table in the group stages and yet not a single win.
We did reasonably well in the group stages finishing 3rd and therefore had to face Health Department who finished 2nd after walloping us in a group game when they reached our target of 73 in less than 6 overs. The semi finals was reduced to 10 overs a side (from the customary 20-20) as it was quite late in summer and it was getting rather dark by half seven. We won the toss and decided chose the willow over the cork and we recorded a reasonable 72 of 10 overs despite losing 3 early wickets with hardly any runs on the board. Their openers got stuck into our seamers and piled up 40 runs of our first 3 overs. Shoulders dropped and Nasser Hussien’s famous lines about the English team after they lost the first ashes test in 2005 came to mind- “Same Old Renegades- Same old bloody Renegades”. As a last throw of the dice the skip threw the ball to me and asked me to tie down an end which I have been doing through out the tournament. I bowled spectacularly- (One of my best spell in long long time) - picked up 2/15 in 3 overs. Below mentioned was the actual write up about me in the team magazine-
"By the fifth over the run rate was under six, and the doctors looked ready to sew up an easy victory. Stand-in-skipper Goodyer realised it wasn’t going to be his day with the ball and wisely stepped aside to make way for some sub-continental guile from Sharath. A change in pace and some delightful flight proved difficult to diagnose and the portly Murali took the breakthrough wicket, trapping the batsmen LBW with a quicker ball Yorker. The Sharath and Shillingford partnership started to stem the hemorrhaging slightly and the run rate started to climb again as the wickets fell."
They needed eight runs of the last over and after some tight bowling from my spin twin-R we won the game. I would have picked up the MoM if there was one- Anyways was really glad about our performance and we were in the finals. We will be facing Belmont in the finals that have clearly been the best side in the tournament winning all their league matches and comfortably topping the table. Quick sides note about our opponents in the finals- They took competitiveness to levels unseen in the evening league during our league game by using choicest words to imply I was the half brother of one of their batsman before we exchanged blows on the fields and it was all very ugly.
I was very happy to be facing them in the finals and was praying I will have the last laugh. People who know my ultra competitiveness wouldn’t be too surprised but I was ready for another round of fist fight if it meant I have to win. Unfortunately, that guy missed the finals and I was a tad disappointed.
We won the toss yet again and decided to bat first- It was a rather flat wicket with no moisture as it quite a hot day. I was sure the wicket was going to afford sufficient assistance to the spinners and was looking forward to having a real go at them. We got 139 from 20 over which was a reasonable total but I thought we were about 20 runs short as it was a small ground. As has been the pattern through out the tournament our opening bowlers were murdered and we conceded 33 of the first 3 overs. I was introduced into the attack after my heroics in the semis.
Big Shill and I kept things tight and I was rather unfortunate to not pick up more than the one wicket I got. We dragged us back into the game and gave ourselves a wonderful chance to win the game. Gooders and Ryan continued our good work and we won by about 16 runs. Special mention is due to our skip gooders who stroked a masterful 78 in the blistering heat and this was after the marathon he ran that morning! The magazine had this to say about me:
"Raj was sent to cow corner to think about what he’d done, and Narayan was brought into the attack to provide some vital dots. As in the semi, the Sharath-Shillingford combination seemed to work, slowing the run rate and Narayan thought he had the breakthough when a catch was popped up to Targett and silly-mid on, but somehow Conk contrived to spill it. Sharath’s contribution came to a close with a fantastic caught & bowled in his final over and was replaced by Goodyer, now recovered."
Renegades Cricket Club are the champions of evening league! I don’t know if I am looking fwd to next year as I really hope I won’t be here for the summer!
God luck and Godspeed!!!!
Cheers
S
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