Arbit Stats #69

Men's Test #2351: Afghanistan vs Ireland

Time Murtagh batting at No. 11 scores 54* & 27. Thus becoming the first ever No. 11 to score 25+ in both innings of a Test!

Source: NDTV Sports

Cricket Opens Up

Cricket has always called itself a gentleman's game. And in order to ensure the gentility remains, there have strict regulations on who can play and which matches get "official" status and which don't. All of this reeking of colonial hangover and class segregation. Where every other sport is opening up to new markets, cricket had constrained itself to remain within its own little club. The club was expanded but very gradually. and new members could trickle in, say once is a decade or two! But once inside, no power could nudge them out, whatever their atrocities (looking at you Zimbabwe!) [except South Africa who got banned for over 20 years that too a decade after  they had been thrown out of the Olympic movement].

Once a member gets full status, they stayed in and tried to make life more difficult for the next ones in the queue (Bangladesh and Kenya). Ireland might have bloodied many a Full member nose over the last decade, and Afghanistan were creating an almost unimaginable fairy-tale across all sport. But the two of them couldn't play Test cricket. For a game which talks all about fair-play, the officialdom was making a mockery of fairness where South Africa beating Zimbabwe inside 2 days a 4-day match got the exalted Test status, while a keenly contested 5-day Intercontinental Cup Final between Afghanistan and Ireland is only a First-Class fixture! And to further elaborate the point, recently there was a 10-team qualifier for two spots in the 2019 World Cup. Matches involving Netherlands and Nepal had List A status while all others had ODI status. Different statistical rules for the game in the same tournament! Ironically both these teams "achieved" ODI status by the end of the tournament!

Its in the context of this class-ism and reduction in the World Cup teams came two recent announcements by ICC. One, taken last year to provide Afghanistan and Ireland, full member and Test playing status. And two, just last week to provide T20 International status to matches played between all its 104 members. What a drastic, unexpected and welcome change!

The expanded cricketing world - Hoping to see the coverage go and all in a single colour!

Certainly exciting times ahead for the cricket tragics and statisticians! Imagine the number of new entries which will come up in cricketing databases. And we could go into the era of some really funny stats! Some new landmarks could be broached in a game between Bhutan and Iceland (come to think of it that would be a game of fire and ice!). But that's how expansion happens. And honestly, cricket is over-focused on the arbitrary statistics. [Well, Slipstream Cricket is also guilty of the same. Come to think of it that section will see a boom in entries].

Apart from statistics, there could be a whole new dynamics opening up in the game. This could also create a stronger case for the franchisee/club model which is prevalent in football. The Knight Riders are already creating a multi-country franchisee, maybe some others will also jump in! We already had some top Associate cricketers (and some full member ones too) who had become mercenaries for hire. Given that ICC has also relaxed the eligibility criteria for playing for another country, there could be some interesting career jumps across the globe. Someone struggling to break into a Ranji team might soon jump shores and play international cricket for some other country! This would really open up the game. Retiring cricketers may get a fresh lease of international life through a second passport or having a grand-parent from another place. And finally with 104 country base (split West Indies and incorporate some into Great Britain), cricket could make a serious case for inclusion in the Olympics. 

Good to see ICC finally make real progress in expanding the game. Hopefully, they will also increase the World Cup participants. Maybe they can find new revenue sources, which will not have them dependent on the whims and fancies of the Big 3 and the other Full Members!

Certainly good times ahead for the cricket tragics!

The Twenty17 LineUp

2018 has dawned upon us and the cricketing action continues in full swing with New Zealand completing a demolition of the West Indies and Vidarbha winning the Ranji Trophy for the first time ever. Before the action hots up further, time to take a look back at the Cricketing XI of 2017 (compiled by yours truly).

1. Afghanistan & Ireland get Test Status

After resisting for years, ICC decided to expand the Test arena. And thus we have two new Full members on-board – Afghanistan and Ireland (although both are yet to play a Test). Well-deserved reward for the yeoman service done to the Associate cause. Ireland by consistently upsetting the big teams at the major events and Afghanistan by providing a sporting fairy-tale even the best of Hollywood writers will not be able to script! Now they just need to play a Test each!

2. Women’s World Cup

2017 was the year in which women’s cricket became just cricket! The massive success of the Women’s World Cup provided the ultimate fillip. It also helped that India performed well and finished runners-up in a closely contested Lord’s final. But surprisingly after all the goodwill generated, BCCI hasn’t really cashed in and the Indian team hasn’t played a single game after the World Cup Final!

3. Pakistan 

If there is a team which can be trusted to do the inexplicable, it has to be Pakistan. It was another roller-coaster year (no surprises there!). They won the Champions Trophy in England and managed to lose a Test series to Sri Lanka in their adopted home! But the highlight would be the return of International cricket to Pakistan with a T20 series against an International XI (which inexplicably was given international status) and a one off game against Sri Lanka. Which brings us to…

4. The Sri Lankan Captaincy Revolving Door

Angelo Matthews, Dinesh Chandimal, Upul Tharanga, Thisara Perera, Rangana Herath, Chamara Kapugedera, Lasith Malinga – Seven different men captained the Sri Lankan team across different formats this year. Also showed in the overall results where they were hammered by all and sundry, including a series loss to Zimbabwe, who themselves were coming off from losses to Scotland and Netherlands!

5. Performance of the Year 

Will pick two this year. Marcus Stoinis’s incredible assault against New Zealand, which nearly won Australia the game. And Harmanpreet Kaur’s blistering 171* against Australia in the World Cup semi-finals, probably the defining innings for the women’s game in India.

6. Play is stopped due to…

Cricket fans are used to rain and bad light or even bees and dogs stopping play. But 2017 saw even more bizarre stoppages. A county game was stopped due to an arrow landing near the pitch, a Ranji game due to a car driving onto the pitch and finally a Test Match interrupted due to high pollution levels!

7. Pay Dispute

Australians joined the world perennially occupied by the West Indies with a bitter long drawn-out dispute which went on for most of the year. However, unlike the West Indies, the Aussies were able to resolve theirs and get back to business of playing the game!

8. The Return of the Unwanted

The India-Sri Lanka matches were back with not one but two full back-to-back tours. Not helping matters was the poor form of the Sri Lankans. Result: A TourSweep with India beating Sri Lanka 9-0 across formats in Sri Lanka, who improved a bit on the return tour winning one ODI and drawing two Tests!

9. Comeback Sledge of the Year

Pakistan discovered a exciting new talent in Fakhar Zaman, who got a match winning century in the Champions Trophy Final. The newbie also showed an innovative way to tackle sledging, leaving Liam Plunkett speechless by calmly saying “No English”. Ironic considering he is one of the more proficient English speakers in the Pakistan team!

10. Play of the Year

Mitchell Starc’s ball to James Vince. Almost a leg-break at 140KMPH. Just beautiful to watch!

11. Colourful Start of the Year

Sunil Ambris had a pretty interesting start to his Test career – becoming the first batsman ever to be hit wicket off the very first ball he faced, then in the second innings smacking a six to score his first runs, hit wicket again in the first innings of the next Test and rounding it off by being retired hurt in the second innings. Quite an action-packed start for the new West Indies keeper. 

And the 12th Man

Geoff Boycott being pranked by Johnathan Agnew on air. Boycott’s reaction on being told by Agnew that one of his centuries does not count as first-class anymore is just priceless.

That was cricketing year 2017. Lets see what 2018 has in store for us!

Wishing all readers a very happy New year 2018!

The Rivalry

Which is the biggest rivalry in cricket these days? Is it

• (a) England vs Australia - for the hopeless tragics? But it only come alive during the Ashes. OR
• (b) India vs Pakistan - well, they don't seem to be playing each other often enough except for the big tournaments, where Pakistan always seem to be falling short :). OR
• (c) India vs Australia - produce great cricket and controversies. Yes they are very close to the top, OR
• (d) BCCI vs Supreme Court? Not much of a contest as the Supreme Court always seems to be winning, OR
• (e) West Indies Board vs West Indies players - this one seems to have been going on forever. Should be the next challenge for India's Supreme Court which has taken serious interest in cricketing matters.

But for pure on-field action and actual "context", nothing beats the nascent rivalry which has developed between Ireland and Afghanistan. There can't be more disparate nations. And yet here are two teams who find themselves in the same boat and fighting for a similar cause - Test Status - the Holy Grail for all cricketers.

Both Ireland and Afghanistan add the feel-good factor in these murky times (and not just from a cricketing perspective). The Irish for being able to produce one upset after another at the biggest stage - Pakistan, England, West Indies - that's an impressive lineup. In earlier times, even one big victory  would have been good enough to get Test status (Bangladesh beating Pakistan in 1999 World Cup). But not anymore. The Irish have staked their claim as the best Associate nation for the best part of last decade. In the limited chances they have got, they have proved that their performances haven't been just a flash in the pan. They have shown remarkable consistency given the limited opportunities, while at the same time seeing their best players being regularly poached by English! ICC certainly needs to take steps to ensure that England stop using their annual game against Ireland as a campus recruitment exercise!

On the other hand, Afghanistan have brought a fairy-tale story to life. Coming from a war-torn country, the fact that they play itself was considered a big story. Not any longer. They show that they can compete with the big boys. Although they haven't got the big scalps like the Irish. But they are consistent. Unlike other Associates, they do not depend upon expats but home-grown players (rather grown in refugee camps). Their sheer presence at the global level warms the heart. And their players back it up with flair and competition. Just how loved the team is can be seen, when the losing team joins them in a victory dance (West Indies in the last T20 World Cup).

In the light of this, comes the Inter-continental Cup, with the winner getting a chance to play a series of First-Class matches against the bottom placed Test team (Zimbabwe, whom both Ireland and Afghanistan regularly beat) to get Test status. Hence the special context which this rivalry has got. Ireland have been the more consistent ones, with Afghanistan coming up fast. Even their contests have got the dash of controversy. (Remember Nabi running out Joyce).

So two well-matched teams, representative of the greater Associate cause, Test status at stake, and with a dash of controversy adding to the bite in the rivalry. They may be just off the spotlight, but this is "the rivalry" on the global cricketing stage.

Although now the Irish are showing signs of decline while the Afghans are on acsendancy as was evident in the recent series played in India. With ICC showing signs of bringing more teams into the Test fold, we certainly don't want to see Ireland going the Kenya way. Hopefully recent performances are just a blip.

The 2016 T20 World Cup

Its less than a week since the final of the T20 World Cup and we have the IPL knocking on our TV screens. While we await the festivities to begin, there is just enough to time to recollect the lasting images from the World Cup.

1. Rally Around the West Indies

West Indies Won. And provided their own highlights reel for the tournament - Darren Sammy tearing into the Board during the final presentation, Samuels talking with his bat and mouth, Brathwaite hammering Stokes for 4 sixes and finally the Champion song. It was West Indies all over.  And they also won the Women's World Cup

2. Afghanistan

They are the fairy-tale story which keeps giving happiness to all cricket fans. They cruised into the main rounds easily knocking out Zimbabwe. Then proceeded to give a scare to everyone of their Super Stage opponents. They also collected a victory over eventual champions West Indies. Such was their exuberance that even Gayle joined in their victory celebrations. 

3. England failing to collect a famous defeat

England had a great World Cup, Just when they had one hand on the Cup, they were knocked off by the Brathwaite assault. A great turn-around for a team which failed to reach the ODI World Cup quarter-finals. And this time they didn't collect their now customary famous defeat as has become their habit in World events. Though they did come close against Afghanistan.

4. Virat Kohli & Joe Root

The men of the moment. Showing that even with classic cricketing shots you can still go at a strike rate of 150+. A batting delight for both the lovers of T20 madness and the purists. And as a bonus add their golden arms.

5. Sehwag & Shoaib

During their playing careers, Virender Sehwag & Shoaib Akhtar faced off against each other many a time. Encounters which provided many lasting images for the fans. And now they have formed an interesting partnership behind the microphones. The duo lighted up an increasingly dull commentary box. For the first time in many years, I actually preferred listening to Hindi commentary over English, especially when this duo was doing the commentary.

6. Upset of the tournament - Oman beating Ireland

Says a lot about (a) the progress made by the Irish in the cricketing circles and (b) the fickle nature of the T20 format with reducing gaps between the teams.  T20 is a more encompassing format and probably would spread the game further across the world while simultaneously killing Test cricket in many of the established arenas.

7. The Associate Dilemma

To simply put it, the ICC do not know what to do with the Associates. They want cricket to spread to generate more revenue sources. Currently the Associates are just a cost centre for them. And they certainly do not want them to cause any big upset (a la 2007 ODI World Cup) which destroys revenue from existing cash cows like India. So we have a token Associate participation now. 6 teams from the rest of the world qualify to play another Qualifiers. Dave Richardson has come up with a proposal to expand the Qualifier base, but at the same time has reduced the frequency of the World Cups.

8. Teams not turning up

• South Africa continued their tradition of flattering to deceive. This time around it was their bowling doing the choking act. 
• Sri Lanka were defending champions, yet hardly created a ripple. The retirement of Sanga & Mahela and Malinga's absence has really created a big void which can't just be filled up. 
• While New Zealand played attractive cricket, their campaign had a familiar ring to it - Innovative and ending in the semi-finals. 
• While Bangladesh have made large strides, they still need some tuning up at the World arena.

9. 11-Nil

The hype is still the same. The build-up is the same. And even the result is the same, And the Indian fans are not complaining.

10. Mitchell Johnson does not learn

Some habits die hard. Mitchell Johnson is now retired, but his sledging continues to hurt his own team . Wound up Kohli with his tweets prior to India-Australia game. [Not dissimilar to this]

11. The Champion Song

Cricket now has its own patented celebration, thanks to our own DJ - DJ Bravo.

Now the World Cup can rest while the IPL madness takes over.

World Cup 2015: Short Notes - March 15th

The Group Stages of the World Cup 2015 have finally drawn to a close. It was a long-winded affair (but we already knew that). The 8 Quarter-finalists have been identified (with 7 of them being the usual suspects). There were upsets but not as many as we would have liked. There were mismatches, many more than we wanted with the team batting first generally knocking the stuffing out of the bowling. India won all their games (a pleasant surprise) as did New Zealand, Pakistan stumbled along as did the West Indies but in the end both made it, England were punched out by Bangladesh, Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa duly made it into the knock-outs, while the Associates won the hearts but not many games except for the Irish who also won a few games. And now we are at the business end of the tournament. 7 matches, 7 teams knocked out, 1 winner remains. But before that its time for a look back at the performances of the teams which won't be making any further progress into the tournament.

UAE - a team made up of people who hold regular jobs (like you and me) but have the passion to play the game (unlike most of you and me). Their approach to the games was simple. Try to bat out as many overs as possible getting the runs which came along regardless of how many the other team has got. Only against fellow Associate Ireland did they provide some serious challenge. May not play at the World Cup ever again and probably will not be missed at all. Which would be quite ironical given that ICC has a global academy in UAE and they also play home country to Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

Scotland - This was Scotland's 3rd appearance in World Cup cricket and it is the third time they are going home winless. Another team which has been regularly found wanting at the top level. They never even challenged the big teams. Though they did have a very close game with fellow Associate Afghanistan. The team ran out of steam by the end of its run. Worse, it ran out of team spirit with Majid Haq having to be sent home on disciplinary grounds.

Afghanistan - They have been the fairy tale story of the cricketing world. Their rise is well documented. The players are icons in their own right. And they can actually play cricket. They won a game against Scotland and gave Sri Lanka a mighty scare. They might have been well beaten by the others but they also provided the heart-warming story. There might not be a more impressive sight in cricket than Shapoor Zadran running down to bowl. This is a team with the potential to be competitive. And ICC better make sure that they stay so and not let them drift away like Kenya.

Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe had provided the template for growth of a modern cricket nation. Repeatedly qualify for the World Cup. Win the occasional big game. Get Test status. The wins then start coming in more frequently. Reach the knock-outs of the World Cup. And then the story changes. However it wasn't cricket at fault, it was the country itself imploding. Cricket bore the collateral damage and they have been a mere shadow of their former self. And since the last ten years they have been trying to make the best out of limited resources which keep ever depleting. Brendan Taylor joins a long list of cricketers who couldn't carry on any further due to the various constraints. However he might well be back. In the Cup, Zimbabwe weren't outclassed and were far more competitive than expected. Can we expect better days for them? Maybe or Maybe not. They might miss out if ICC does implement its 10 team format in 2019.

Ireland - On the Irish shoulders fall the responsibility of not just carrying the hopes of their own nation but also those of the entire Associate cricketing world. A responsibility which they have carried gamely but would certainly wish would be shared around a bit more. They played well, won three games adding two more full nation scalps into their World Cup collection. And yet were finally knocked out after the last game on the basis of net run rates. This is a team which deserves more chances to improve. Should they be the 11th test playing country? Certainly. Should ICC amend laws to prevent England poaching their players? Definitely. Imagine Morgan and Rankin in their ranks. Well played Ireland, You deserve better.

England - The butt of all jokes. In a format designed to ensure that the big boys are through to the quarter-finals, somehow England have contrived to not do so. Last World Cup, they were the entertainers, losing to Ireland & Bangladesh while beating South Africa, West Indies and tying with India. This time there was no such roller-coaster ride. They beat Scotland and lost to everybody else (heavily). So heavily that Malaysia, Singapore & Japan are trolling them with challenges. Yet England will be there lining up as hosts in 2019. Important question - Are England still the best limited overs team in Europe? Probably yes, though many would disagree, most certainly Ireland. Or if you were Peter Moores, you would first be looking into the data.

Arbit Stat#42

Wins against Test Playing Nations in ODI World Cup

Ireland (since 2007) - 5 wins - 2007 (Pakistan & Bangladesh),  2011 (England), 2015 (West Indies & Zimbabwe)

England (since 2007) -  4 wins - 2007 (Bangladesh & West Indies), 2011 (South Africa & West Indies), 2015 (0)

Head-to-Head - 1-1

Well the "data" says Ireland are better.

Now awaiting the knock-outs where the real action begins.

World Cup 2015: Short Notes - March 9th

Tigers have tamed the Three Lions.

England, the inventors of the Gentleman's Game, have been knocked out of the World Cup by Bangladesh. 

A result which has made them the butt of jokes in the cricketing world. On Twitter they have already been invited by Malaysia and Japan for a challenge game. Lets see what their response is. Although judging by Peter Moores' reaction, they would be looking into the data before making any response. During which time, a couple of other countries would have surpassed them in ODI cricket.

However, this was not really a surprising result, given that Bangladesh had beaten them in the last World Cup as well. Bangladesh in quarters seems to be a just reward for their most loyal fans who have been supporting the team from one loss to another, with the occasional win thrown in. But most of the wins had come in home conditions (Asia Cup 2012, and the Kiwi whitewashes) or in Zimbabwe. So good to see them qualify in the conditions Down Under.

On the other hand, England have been on a seemingly never-ending downward spiral, at least in World Cup cricket. Can they go down any further? They are hosting the World Cup in 2019. So does it mean a direct qualification as hosts or do they still have to fulfill the Top 8 criteria or go through qualifying, if they do not? ICC, we are still looking for a response.

In other news

• 5 of the 8 quarter-finalists have been identified and 4 are in running for remaining three spots, all in Group B. South Africa are more or less through with Pakistan also in a comfortable position while Ireland still need to do some running to ensure a knock-out spot ahead of West Indies. The final week of games will see teams jockeying for positions.
• England will be looking to avoid embarrassment against Afghanistan, otherwise more Associates and Affiliates will be clamoring for a game against them.
• Pakistan are back at their unpredictable best and South Africa are already preparing their supporters for the coming "choke".
• Sri Lanka's injury list keeps growing with every game. 
• How is Sangakkara even thinking of retiring from any format of the game. 
• Jason Holder is the new Darren Sammy. Contributing more that his fair share with bat and ball, yet coming up short because of his team.
• John Mooney - was the foot on the line, when he caught it? Did Sean Ervine walk off before he was given out? 
• The DRS debate will never end. Just shows how tough is the field umpires' job when even the TV umpire makes mistakes/has to make judgement calls.
• Eoin Morgan is in the wrong team. Among other things, can ICC create a system of ensuring that Associate players are not stolen by the likes of England. 

World Cup 2015: Short Notes - 27th Feb

Its the World Cup. And there ought to be some madness. But even the madness has its own patterns.

• There seems to be a grand conspiracy by all parties to put egg on the ICC's face. The Associates are putting on a tough fight on the field. The Full time nations are hammering each other in one one-sided game after the other. Meanwhile ICC is still looking at taking the World out of the World Cup by restricting the entries to ten.
• Ireland nearly choked and then managed to sneak through against UAE in a close encounter. Afghanistan were down for the count but showed some amazing resilience to win an even closer encounter.
• After the India defeat, AB de Villiers wanted to go to his room and feel sad. Then he decided to take out his sadness on the West Indies. And what followed was countless records getting broken one after the other.
• Jason Holder - 1st 5 overs - 9 runs, next 5 overs - 95 runs. So he comes back and scores a 50 in a losing affair.
• The luck of the Irish - Ed Joyce and the dancing bail. (Video)
• In other news - Pakistan are behaving exactly like Pakistan - losing heavily, rumours of rift against the fielding coach and the chief selector has been sent back for being found in a casino.
• Australia haven't had a game in two weeks now. Almost forgotten that they are still playing.
• The Indian fans are already walking about like World Champions. Well the real World Cup begins only after the group stages.
• Prediction time - Pakistan-Ireland and England-Bangladesh to be the deciding games for this World Cup.
• Side Note - As if a World Cup game is not enough incentive, Australia and New Zealand will also be playing for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.

P.S. In case you want to feel like doing something about the World Cup size for the next tournament and haven't done it yet, feel free to sign this petition here. [Current Count - 13960]

World Cup 2015: Short Notes - 24th Feb

In today's episode, Chris Gayle, Chris Gayle's stat attack, and more Chris Gayle.

• But first things first, England duly won the Battle of Britain or the Cricketing equivalent of the Calcutta Cup in a pretty un-English manner. Batted first, put on a big opening stand, failed to capitalize on it, yet reached a big score, then easily chipped away at the Scottish batting and won handsomely. Should have a calming effect on the jitters going on in the English camp. Bangladesh-England is going to be the game to watch out for.
• India have created a template for winning matches - bat first, preserve wickets, create a big platform and then launch/implode at death ending in a score of 300 odd. Then keep chipping away, the rising required run rate creating its own pressures and you have registered a huge win in the process.
• Now to the Chris Gayle show. He could have been given out first ball and even a review won't have saved him. But he wasn't and even the review couldn't get him out. One of the key issues with DRS - this umpire's call business.
• And then Chris Gayle consolidated to reach his fifty, then consolidated some more to reach his hundred, then went berserk to reach 150 and finally exploded to his double century.
• Stat Attack - 
• Highest individual score in World Cups
• Highest individual by a non-Indian batsman in ODIs
• Biggest ODI partnership going past Dravid's two second wicket efforts with Ganguly & Sachin in the year 1999.
• Samuels & Gayle partnership was worth 100% of the West Indies runs
• Equal most sixes in an innings record
• February 24 - a day for ODI double centuries. Off the 5 till date, 2 have been scored on this very day of the year.
• Zimbabwe showed heart in their chase but it was way beyond them. Quite similar to the happenings against South Africa.
• West Indies lost to Kenya in 1996 and then went on to beat Australia and South Africa. This time around the loss against Ireland seems to have spurred them on.
• Shocking Stat - Devon Smith has played 100+ games as a batsman with an average of 18+. 
• The DRS issues again jumped into the limelight. Did not really affect today's outcome but might become critical in the end.
• We also had our first appearance of Duckworth-Lewis. An algorithm which absolutely no one understands but still used.
• Prediction Time - Ireland to beat UAE.

World Cup 2015: Short Notes - 17th Feb

6 down.43 to go. This World Cup is going on its own leisurely pace, which gives the followers time to (a) over-analyse the events, (b) get on with their lives or (c) simply forget that the tournament is still going on. So before I forget, here is me recording my thoughts.

• The scheduling is weird. 1 day game each day, that too held in New Zealand. So most likely by the time you get up the games are already over. Why couldn't we have had two games each day. Would have easily dropped one week off the schedule. Also the Kiwis have played their second game while most others are yet to play their first.
• In cricketing news, Ireland beat West Indies. Ireland have been focused on breaking into the big league and want to play Test Cricket. Also they have been beaten 3 Test nations in the last two World Cups. While West Indies is focused on infighting between the players and the Board. So given the context, Ireland's win was certainly no upset.
• Mixed emotions for Simmons family. Lendl scored a heroic back to the wall century, but Uncle Phil who is coaching the Irish had the last laugh.
• There was a certain calmness about the Irish chase which was in total contrast to the Kiwi's chase against the Scots. It was an odd sort of game. New Zealand chased down the small Scottish total with 25 overs to spare, yet somehow losing 7 wickets also and giving their net run rate a healthy boost. They never looked in any danger of losing, though the final victory margin may suggest otherwise.
• Early thoughts on the World Cup so far. 300+ scores are becoming monotonous. And the bowlers are being slaughtered. This 4-fielder rule is killing the bowling sides, specially with boundaries pushed back.
• 6 games gone and not a single real close one so far. There have been intriguing ones and some nervous moments here and there, but no down-to-the-wire, all-three-results-are-possible kind of finish.
• Prediction Time - Afghanistan to upset Bangladesh with the help of their pace attack, while Zimbabwe to easily beat UAE.

And closing today's episode with this video featuring Sri Lanka and The Lion King :)

World Cup Preview - Group B

Today's post presents short preview of the Group B Teams. A group with the more likelihood of upsets and 6 teams in contention for the 4 knock-out berths.

India

India are the defending champions and have a marketing campaign running on the line "Won't Give It Back". They have also been in Australia for nearly 3 months now in the course of which they have won a grand total of 1 game, a warm-up against Afghanistan. Recent form shows an explosive but misfiring batting lineup combined with a pop-gun bowling attack and some not so good fielding. The schedule has the tougher games first and the easier (on paper) games later. Difficult to see them go far in the tournament.

World Cup Aim - Wont Give It Back. 

South Africa

A fantastic batting lineup backed up a deadly bowling attack. On paper and form, they should be the favorites to win the World Cup. But then this is South Africa we are talking about. They should have won the World Cup at least twice and made it to the finals at least 4 times. But in reality they have been finding new ways of losing out in the first opportunity. Form suggests a first World Cup victory. History suggests they will be knocked out in the quarters. 

World Cup Aim - Get rid off the Chokers tag

Pakistan

They are the very definition of unpredictability. Also they have been hit hard by the recent ICC crackdown on chucking. Yet they have managed to unearth replacements in no time. One thing which can be predicted about Pakistan with certainty is that the bowling talent pipeline never dries. How much they progress will depend more on which Pakistan turns up to play.

World Cup Aim - Beat India for once and get that monkey off the back.

West Indies

Just a shadow of the once great team. Also riddled by too many player-board disputes and team selection issues. Yet they can still pack a punch on their day. But they cannot take the quarter-final spot for granted. Both Ireland & Zimbabwe will be gunning for their head in the race to the knock-outs.

World Cup Aim - Don't abandon the campaign midway like that India tour.

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe would have been a good cricketing nation if not for all the political troubles over the last decade and a half. They have been slowly rebuilding but are lacking the necessary resources. The warm-up performances have been heartening and given the West Indies's troubles they would certainly be in the running for a knock-out spot.

World Cup Target - Carry on rebuilding

Ireland

The Irish have been the success story of the last two World Cups. Yet they have been the victims of all the wrong-doings of the big boys of the cricketing world. They hardly get to play the big nations. And the Irish national team is becoming a sort of a recruitment center for England. However this time around they have a good chance of making it to the knock-outs. But will they be able to remains the questions.

World Cup Target - At least one if not more big boy scalp to their name (Pakistan/South Africa/India better watch out)

UAE

The UAE are back playing in the World Cup after a gap of 19 years. But not expecting much from them.

World Cup Target - Avoid getting hammered in every game and try to beat the Irish.

Key Games 

• India vs Pakistan
• Zimbabwe vs West Indies
• Zimbabwe vs Ireland
• Ireland vs West Indes

South Africa, India and Pakistan should make it to the Quarters. The 4th place will be tough fight between West Indies, Zimbabwe and Ireland. This is certainly the more intriguing group.

Now let the games begin.

Arbit Statistics - 22: The Irish-English Tango

Post No. Double 2 in the Arbit Stats Series. And funnily enough it is about a double two event which recently happened.

2007 - Boyd Rankin playing for Ireland bowls out Ed Joyce playing for England for 1. (Picture here)

2013 - Boyd Rankin playing for England get Ed Joyce playing for Ireland hit wicket for 1.

Cricket, as it is your rules are weird enough for normal folks to understand, but this nationality rule is pretty odd. 

P.S. Eoin Morgan who was playing for Ireland in the 2007 game was captaining England in the 2013 game.

P.P.S How does Irish cricket progress if its best players are taken up by England? 

The Decision of Madness

ICC has restricted the World Cup to only 10 teams in 2015, and then shut down all doors for Associates by restricting it only to the Test playing Nations. A decision which makes no sense at all. It has almost ensured that cricket doesn't expand beyond the 10 countries. And we are not likey to see the 11th Test playing country emerging anytime soon.

The decision has been met with large scale indignation. I am yet to come across any forum where there has been a single comment in favour of this decision. Yet it has been done. I am specially feeling bad for the Irish cricketers who for 2 World cups have provided the story of the tournament. And been my second favorite team in this one. To top it all they are actually ranked no. 10 as per ICC's own rankings ahead of Zimbabwe (who are a Test playing nation but don't play any Tests). I am not much aware of the economic situation but Ireland would certainly provide a better market than Zimbabawe.

As Graeme Swann rightly put, "This decision is like taking the World out of the World Cup"

P.S. The biggest beneficiary from this decision is likely to be England. Now the Irish & Dutch players can play with them without any guilt.

There is now an online petition doing the rounds against the ICC decision. Here is the link in case you are opposed to the decion. http://www.petitiononline.com/wc2015/petition.html.

World Cup Thoughts - March 20th

Finally the league matches come to an end. But in the end it can be said that they were not as bad as had been expected. Coming to today's matches.

• Wondering if this is the last time we are seeing Kenya on the big stage. They certainly look on the decline. And the worst of all the Associates which have turned up. Not a single performance can be said to be memorable. Sad state of affairs really.
• Goodbye to Steve Tikolo. One of the greatest batsman from an Associate country. This was a World cup too many for him. But he had a long and good innings.
• Unlike Kenya, Zimbabwe seem to be back on track. They are returning to Tests later this year. Won comfortably against Canada & Kenya and lost easily to the big boys.
• A Test series between Zimbabwe and Ireland would be an interesting idea. Would give Ireland test status and help Zimbabwe ease back into playing Test cricket. But I am sure ICC would have none of such "progressive thinking".
• Zaheer Khan after the West Indies game said: "As a bowling unit, I think I am doing well". Was probably unintentional but said the truth about the state of the Indian bowling. A one man bowling attack, with support in the form of Yuvraj Singh. And this team might go on to win the World Cup.
• India collapsed again at the end (though as Dhoni said 51/7 is certainly an improvement from 29/9). But West Indies out-collapsed them.
• Darren Bravo definitely reminds of a certain Brian Charles Lara. Should achieve great things.
• Sachin Tendulkar walked off today though the umpire had signaled not out (Aside, Should that be considered as dissent?). Ricky Ponting yesterday did not walk off though he knew he had nicked it and waited for the review. Both right in their own regard. But nothing can stop us Indians gloating and taking the moral high ground.
• West Indies have a selection headache in picking between in-form Roach and Rampaul. On the other hand, India have to pick between out-of-form Nehra and Munaf. Unfair.
• All Quater-finals lined up. Now over to the business end of the tournament. 

World Cup Thoughts - March 18th Goodbye Ireland

Farewell Ireland & Netherlands. If the ICC sticks to its crazy idea of a 10 team cup in 2015, we might not see you in the next World Cup. But you certainly entertained.

• Ireland for the second consecutive World Cup put up a spirited show. Beat England and Netherlands, were in command at various stages against Bangladesh and West Indies, and certainly had India and South Africa in a bit of bother. Ireland became my second favorite team through the course of the cup.
• Farewell to Trent Johnston and his chicken dance. Don't think there have been more innovative ways to celebrate a wicket in cricket.
• Hoping to see a couple of Irish players in the IPL. The O'Brien brothers (Niall & Kevin), Paul Stirling, George Dockrell have serious talent. It would be sad though if they turn up in the next World Cup playing for England.
• Netherlands scared England but could not really fight it out with the other big boys. They did resemble a One-man army at most times. Ryan ten Doeschate (tendo in short, provided me quite a few points in the cricinfo fantasy league) came in with the highest batting average amongst all players. And certainly did not do those numbers any harm even playing against the big boys. Will certainly follow his performances in the IPL with interest.
• The other game of the day between Sri Lanka & New Zealand continued the trend of one sided matches in Group A with New Zealand beaten easily. 
• The tables are still a mess though with no idea of who is going to face who in the quarters.
• For tomorrow, Bangladesh have a chance to script their own destiny. They have beaten South Africa in the last World Cup and might as well do so again tomorrow.

World Cup Thoughts - March 16th

After many many days of play we finally bid goodbye to our first team. While one more team dropped out of the race for the World Cup. 

• Ireland had the South Africans in trouble at one stage. But South Africa got away thanks to JP Duminy's 99 (who as per Sunil Gavaskar in the commentary missed out by 1 run on a well deserved century). 
• We bid farewell to Canada. Nothing was expected of them. But hey had a decent outing here. Beat Kenya and had Pakistan in trouble for a long time before letting them off the hook. Nothing else to write about in their performances.
• Also goodbye to John Davison, the oldest player in this tournament. A man who will always be remembered for that blistering century against the West Indies in the 2003 edition. And taking the catch to dismiss Ponting was a nice way to leave the world stage. The 40 year old also was part of the oddest opening combination with a 16 year old Nitish Kumar.
• Tomorrow is a "Do or Die" for England at least against the West Indies. Hopefully, if nothing else they will entertain.

World Cup Thoughts - March 11th

Before I begin today's post, some thoughts on the Earthqauke and tsunami in Japan. Nature putting on a "Shock and Awe" show to make everything else seem so insignificant.

England were playing today. Match had to be exciting. Here are the thoughts after today's matches.

• Who is fixing all the England matches. Loses to Ireland and Bangladesh. Still not out of the QF race because they beat South Africa and stole a point from India. 
• The match winning 9th wicket partnership reminded me of the Kumble-Srinath heist on Australia in the Titan Cup match in 1996.
• Eoin Morgan must have been now wanting to play more and more for the Irish rather than the English.
• Ireland are certainly not a minnow. haven't really been outplayed by anyone and actually have been favorite to win at some point in all the matches so far.
• Yesterday, Zimbabwe did take 6 Sri Lankan wickets for some 20 odd runs but the those 282 scored before really hurt them. 
• There was another screw-up with the UDRS system. Gary Wilson was given out at a very critical stage in lets say "dubious" circumstances post review. Did not see this happen directly. But thanks to Sridhar for pointing this out. (More details in his post here)

Tomorrow is a big game. India taking on South Africa to decide the top of the table.

World Cup Thoughts - March 6th

Not posted here in a while. Contrary to what might seem given the frequency of posts here, I actually have a regular job, with a 6 day work week at that, which sometimes makes me earn my salary. So since my last posting, where both my predictions went horribly wrong, 5 matches have taken place. Here are the World Cup thoughts as of date.

• New Zealand are now in a neither here nor there kind of situation. They get thrashed by the big teams and indulge in some heavy-duty minnow bashing when they get the chance.
• Whatever happened to Bangladesh. All out for 58, certainly wasn't expected and that too against West Indies. This was followed by the shameful incident of stone throwing at the West Indies team bus. Even more ridiculous was the explanation provided by the police, that the fans thought it to be the Bangladesh team bus. As if throwing stones at your own players is acceptable behavior.
• If their was an award for the "Most Entertaining Team of the World Cup" it has to go to England. Another close match. 
• Don't like to use the word, but South Africa choked today. When AB de Villiers and du Plessis were crawling towards the target, I wondered if the South Africans were planning to choke. And thats what they did. A flurry of wickets and England out of nowhere found themselves at the top of the Group table.
• It seems all captains have found the way to get Kevin Pietersen out. Just put any left arm spinner against him. Today it was Robin Peterson's turn to get KP.
• I believe the Irish are going to become the most loved team of the World Cup. Another fighting display this time against India. They were BRILLIANT in the field. Trent Johnston's chicken dance routine was funny. And George Dockrell is an impressive young spinner. Certainly looks like getting into the England team soon.
• Yusuf Pathan showed how to best deal with a small target in a nervous run chase. 5 balls faced from a bowler who had just taken out Dhoni. 2 straight huge sixes and a four. Can't be more confidence destroying than that.
• Never visit the barber's shop while an India game is on. My neck was literally on line with a raazor blade uncomfortably close while everyone debated the DRS review. One unnerving experience to say the least.

So tomorrow we have the game between Canad and Kenya. Not even worth predicting.

Can We Cricket? Yes We Can!

The picture which sums it all up for Irish Cricket.

World Cup Thoughts - March 2nd

Here are the thoughts after one of the best games in the World Cup history. 

• The English have taken upon themselves the task of making the World Cup worth watching. A struggling win against the Dutch, a crazy tie against India and now a high scoring defeat against the Irish. The winter Ashes thrashing of the Australians already seems like a lifetime away.
• You always tend to support the underdog (except when the underdog is thrashing up your team). But the Irish really dug a big hole (it was more like a crater after a meteorite impact) for themselves, letting the English score 327, then got 5 down for 113 before going for victory.
• Kevin O'Brien was AWESOME. Pure and near chanceless slogging. And he had great support from Alex Cusack and John Mooney.
• The Irish today showed how to use the Batting Powerplay, unlike most teams. They used it as a shock value, did not wait till the end or even the change of ball. And it changed the momentum of game.
• Unfortunately, the best Irish player in the world was not playing for either side today. Wonder how Eoin Morgan must be feeling today.
• Funniest Comment - From the BBC text commentary "Could this match also be seen as a recruitment opportunity for England? Is it considered bad form to steal the other team's best players during a tournament? Or a match?". The ICC qualification rules are weird but it seems England can actually pick an Irish player as a replacement in case of injuries but the Irish will have to wait 4 years to take him back. 
• ICC still planning to allow only 10 teams in the 2015 Cup?
• Ireland/ICC should immediately take steps for Test status. Nobody really wants anymore cases like Ed Joyce. (A really nice of Ed Joyce is here)
• Group B has been thrown wide open by this result. Some team is going to miss out big time. England face off against South Africa, West Indies & Bangladesh. Certainly not going to be easy.
• India need to be very worried about Ireland now.

Now for some other thoughts.

• Post the spot fixing scandal, anything even remotely out of ordinary is being treated as a suspect. ICC investigating into slow Australian start against Zimbabwe, while some Sri Lankan TV channel has accused Jayawardene & Samaraweera of deliberately losing against Pakistan. Some are also questioning Shane Warne's tweet about India-England match getting tied. Cloud of suspicion is never good. And the ICC/Boards must act if anything untoward is found.
• And finally to Lasith Malinga. Does not play when I make him my trump player, but on getting dropped from my team, makes a comeback and taakes a hat-trick.