Rekindling the Fire in Babylon

After 117 days, international cricket returned. And what a spectacle it was. Showcasing “what is cricket” – on the field and even beyond the boundary over the course of 5 days. It may have been played in front of empty stands but certainly had the eyeballs of most of the cricketing world glued to it.

Cricket (and in general all sports) tend to avoid commenting on social issues. Individual actions are frowned upon (remember Moeen Ali’s wristband, Andy Flower & Olonga’s death of democracy protest), and collective actions are rarely seen (e.g. India’s army fatigue caps). But I guess George Floyd’s brutal televised death has finally shattered bubble. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have seen this kind of support from the administrators or broadcasters.

The West Indies team taking the knee and doing the Black Power salute with the English joining them. It certainly made a statement, even bigger than the fact that the game itself had returned after such a long gap. And there was Michael Holding’s impassioned speech. Yes, the right education is needed to remove the centuries of systemic prejudices and biases that have become imbibed in all of us. It was great to see that the right noises are being made now.

Coming to the cricket. Remember, there was a time not too long ago, when Holding was not interested in commentating on West Indies games. But in Southampton, his words seemed to have rekindled that dimming Fire in Babylon. Holder & Gabriel both stepped in to knock off the English innings. Funnily, both were injury worries prior to the game. And then Blackwood coming in to play a most un-Caribbean-like knock to ensure a victory despite the early 4th innings wobble.

To be honest, this match had everything for the neutral (or not so neutral) follower

• Cricket can secure itself against Covid-19 through a bio-bubble but how do we deal with our old enemies - rain & bad light.
• A game meandered along to a riveting finish in the last session on the final day. What more could you ask for?
• An English lineup comprising of Rory, Sibley, Denly, Crawley! Sometime during this summer, hope to see Stokes, Foakes, Woakes! Even nursery rhymes do not rhyme so much. 
• Captains knocking out each other
• A spell from hell by a riled up Jofra Archer after a Twitter spat with Tino Best (Toothpaste is a sledge)
• Jermaine Blackwood who scored more runs in the second innings than the number of Twitter followers he had at the beginning of the innings. [Lesson - real world performance gets you social media following]
• John Campbell living the opener’s dream – Hitting the winning runs in a chase. (albeit he was missing from most of it nursing a smashed toe)

Thanks to all the people who made this game possible in the times of corona. Just to give a scale of the preparations, over 700 people were tested regularly to keep the venue bio-secure! Thank You!

P.S. Lewis Howard Latimer – Remember the Name of the Inventor of carbon filament! (a first step in our collective education)

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]