Confidence is thy Middle Name

Even the most inconspicuous of scorecards can throw up something interesting. Like this upcoming Zimbabwean international.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/zimbabwe-v-india-2013/content/current/player/333001.html

But this gets better, when you learn that "Confidence" is his middle name. Literally. (Cricinfo profile)

Enough Said. 

The Sledgehammer Strikes

Ian Ronald Bell - the English No.4 also known as "the Sledgehammer of Eternal Justice" and once upon a time maker of "Slipstream Centuries" is, as a dedicated reader of this blog might know, the patron saint of this blog. His penchant for making "slipstream centuries" (a Bell century came only when another English batsman had also scored a century in the same innings) not only lead to the genesis of this blog but also provided its name. 

So its fitting that Slipstream Cricket salutes Bell for having made his best Ashes century (in his words). According to Slipstream Cricket, the Agar fairytale and the DRS controversies (nothing unusual about it), should not let the Ian Bell century into slipstream. This was one of the better Test innings played. Certainly a game-changing one, putting England in command. 

As for the game. 5th Day's play. 137 runs & 4 wickets. Its all upto the bowlers now on both sides (English ones with the ball & Aussie ones with the bat). A thriller is on cards. After all this is the Ashes, we are talking about.

P.S. Edgbaston 2005 scorecard for reference 

The Ashes Begin: With A Bang

Its probably the littlest trophy in the whole sporting world. Certainly one of the oldest. More have been written about the Ashes than any other sporting contest. And why not? After all it carries a little poem too.

When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn;

Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return;

The welkin will ring loud,

The great crowd will feel proud,

Seeing Barlow and Bates with the urn, the urn;

And the rest coming home with the urn.

 

Its been a long buildup to the double headed Ashes that are going to be played over the next 8 months. 10 Tests between the oldest rivals. 

It had been a long wait for the Ashes to commence. England had to play a 2 Test series with the Kiwis, followed by a 3 ODI series against Kiwis, followed by Champions Trophy, and a 2 T20 series against the Kiwis. Australia on the other hand had an even more action-packed start. They played(?) the Champions trophy, then lots of internal games, chopping and changing players, removing the coach, suspending brawling players.

Everyone expected England to turn up and roll over the Aussies. But in the greater interest, the Australianism is still there (thankfully). The greats may have gone, but some of the fight is still there. Inside 2 days of cricket, we have already seen many specials. Peter Siddle's fiver, James Anderson bowling Clarke, Phil Hughes & Steve Smith battling it out, and above all of them Ashton Agar. There is something about a 19-year old, making his debut, coming into bat at No. 11 with his team in deep trouble and then smashing a 98 breaking hordes of records. Its the kind of dream every kid (or even adults) aspiring to be an international cricketer has. It makes one fall in love with the game again after all the spot-fixing scandals. 

 

A 130+ years rivalry, historic context, a good fight and a fairytale story to begin the proceedings. 

Ashes - I already like you :) 

The Cricketing Circus Goes On and On

India wins the Champions Trophy with an unbeaten record (including warm-up victories).

India goes to the West Indies and promptly loses its first two games in the tri-series also involving Sri Lanka.

Amidst this ever-going treadmill of international cricket, the Indian fan gets exhausted. They did not even get to savor their team's victory and off the team went on its next assignment. And after West Indies, there is a tour of Zimbabwe coming up. A good case can be made for coining a term like over-cricket to describe these unending series of meaningless tours. How does BCCI expect the Indian fan to keep cheering for the team if the circus is never-ending? 

I can understand the perspective of the West Indies board. The economics from an Indian tour make a lot of sense, as described in detail in this article here. But what does the BCCI gain out of it? Isn't over-exposure going to lead to brand dilution? Already, viewer-fatigue has set in so deep that a live match involving India hardly creates any buzz.

Because of the day long delays, I slept through most of the second-half of the Champions Trophy final. But did remember to check the score, the first thing in the morning after getting up. For the ongoing tri-series, haven't even bothered to do that. I do get to know the results through the news but it isn't something that I actually care about. 

The boards and ICC have to work at a better schedule (the current FTP is not the answer). Maybe arrange a Test-playing league along the lines of the Intercontinental Cup. A better revenue-sharing model will also help in containing the overkill & brand dilution. 

Without any perspective the contests are meaningless. Cricket is on the way to becoming Tennis. Marquee events (like Tennis Grand Slams) will be followed by interest, while the others will not be. After all even the die-hard fans get tired of the endless grind.

BCCI's "Operation Clean-Up"

After a scandal-hit IPL, which brought terms like "spot-fixing", "conflict of interest", "step aside", "betting" et al to the limelight, BCCI has finally woken up from its slumber. The Board which currently is more involved in internal politics and self-preservation than the functioning of the game has come up with a 12-point "Operation Clean-up" to clear IPL's image. And maybe hope to get the game's credibility also back up.

Following are the 12 points announced by the interim management (in italics, Source: Times of India). My thoughts on each are appended

1. Removal of sleaze; no cheerleaders, no after-match parties for players and support staff. Seriously, this is the first point they come up with. As a cricket fan, I do not really care if they remove cheerleaders and ban after-match parties, but shows the messed up priorities. Good step though.

2. Strict code of conduct to be followed by players, support staff and franchise owners. Good to hear of this, but what exactly is this code of conduct and whats the defined punishment for violation. More clarity required.

3. Restriction of movement in players' dug-out and dressing room. The owners from now on will be restricted from entering the dug-out and dressing room during matches. Good step. Also should tell the broadcasters to stop giving so much air-time to the owners and their sycophants. Or is this a little too much to ask given the amount of money paid for the ownership

4. All players and support staff of franchises need to furnish their telephone numbers with the BCCI before the start of the tournament. Constant vigilance as mad-eye Moody would have said. Does the BCCI plan to monitor the communications by itself or through some other agency? Are they allowed to have such access? What about privacy rules?

5. Adequate number of ACSU officials in the team hotel as well as the ground to supervise the proceedings. Again, constant vigilance. Good step. [Aside - Has anyone been actually caught fixing by these anti-corruption teams?]

6. Jamming of cellphone towers at the ground during matches. I believe the idea here is to stop on-ground "observers" from relaying signals to the bookie world. But what about the inconvenience to the normal paying public? And again does BCCI have the authority to install jammers inside stadiums.

7. Captains' meeting to be held in order to get more suggestions and prepare elaborate blueprint. Good step. Need to involve the senior players. And I would suggest ask for inputs from all players and not just the captains. Involve other senior players also (e.g. Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Sehwag who are not team captains)

8. No national selector will be allowed to get associated with any franchise in any capacity. Excellent step Why they were allowed earlier should also be checked. We certainly do not want to see the chief selector cheer-leading for an IPL squad.

9. All the players need to disclose every financial transaction they are carrying out with any particular organisation or person. Again not sure what the laws are and what authority BCCI has here. And is this applicable to only Indians or the foreign players as well. And I do not think anyone indulging in corrupt practices does the transactions in white money, except a certain Ashraful probably.

10. Franchises need to furnish all details of the remunerations and contractual obligations of players and support staff. Good step. Should be made public. However to make it more transparent the dealings between the franchisees and BCCI should also be made public (e.g. secret auction amount).

11. Players from now on will be prohibited from using ear plugs and microphones. Good step. Most on-field commentary by the players was useless. (Honorable exception - David Miller - "It its in the V, it goes to the tree, if its in the arc, it goes out of the park" comment). Just one query - Is this only for the playing XI or for the ones in the dug-out as well?

12. Security control policy will be formulated soon. OK

Some steps taken. In addition they had "legalised" player agents as well some time back. Still a couple of vexed questions remain which have not been answered here.

• What about the strategic time-out? Shouldn't it be withdrawn, given the amount of betting taking place in that duration?
• And the key one. What about the association of BCCI officials with franchisees? Still no clarity on the main point raised in the "conflict of interest" thing.
• Also lets not just concentrate on cleaning up of IPL. Ensure the other national tournaments stay clean as well.

Also while we are trying to create a more transparent system, why not make public the Ravi Sawani report on the spot-fixing scandal. And while we are at it, why not remove the word "control" from the organisation name and change it to something like "Cricket India"?

So some key steps have been planned. Some questions are yet to be answered. Yet a lot will depend on the actual actions taken. Hopefully it is a start though. Still a long way to go for regaining the faith.

The Trophy

Not often you  get a chance to get up close and personal with a trophy. So even though the tournament may have been tainted by the corruption charges, why miss the chance. After all the trophy wasn't. 

Congratulations to the Mumbai Indians for winning the IPL. Please continue providing match tickets and such photo-ops and may you continue the winning streak :)

One for the memories.

IPL6 - Jharkhand Review

The 6th edition of IPL has ended in controversial circumstances. And not just one - Spot-fixing, Betting, Conflict of Interest. However, I decided to step aside (:P) from these matters and keep championing the cause of Jharkhand cricket. Jharkhand made it to the Ranji quarter-finals, yet compared to last year, fewer Jharkhand boys appeared in the IPL. Here is a quick performance summary.

• Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) - Team Captain - 18 matches, 461 runs (SR 163), 15 Catches, 2 Stumpings. In better form this year. Continues his tendency to leave the final assault a little late but does it all himself. The only batsman to take apart Dale Steyn in this IPL. Some of his captaincy decisions did confound like coming behind Ashwin in the batting order. Off the field had fun creating the legend of "Sir Jadeja". However, the conflict of interest stories at the end of the league has sullied his reputation a little.
• Shahbaz Nadeem (Delhi Daredevils) - 12 matches, 9 wickets (ER - 5.88), 5 catches. Probably the only player who came out with his reputation intact from the miserable Delhi Daredevils season. The Jharkhand skipper actually improved upon his performances from the last season. could be in line for an India A call, maybe as a back-up left arm spinner to Pragyan Ojha.
• Saurabh Tiwary (Royal Challengers Bangalore) - 9 matches, 109 runs (SR 103), 2 catches. Why RCB retained him at a $1.6 Million contract is a mystery to me. Last season wasn't particularly great. And Tiwary did not have much to do this season as well. He did get one half -century but couldn't really seal his spot even in the brittle RCB middle order.
• Rahul Shukla (Rajasthan Royals) - 3 matches, 3 wickets (ER 9.87 ), 2 catches. Shifted from Mumbai Indians to Rajasthan Royals. Got more chances than last year. Had one decent outing against KKR but nothing much after that. Did come on as a substitute on occasion.

So only 4 players participated in the IPL6 down from last year's 7. No new ones made their debut. Varun Aaron missed out due to injury. While Ishank Jaggi & Sunny Gupta were dropped from their respective teams.

Hoping to see more players in action next year.

Regain the Faith

"You are blinded," said Dumbledore, his voice rising now, the aura of power around him palpable, his eyes blazing once more, "by the love of the office you hold, Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognise that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be! Your dementor has just destroyed the last remaining member of a pure-blood family as old as any - and see what that man chose to make of his life! I tell you now - take the steps I have suggested, and you will be remembered, in office or out, as one of the bravest and greatest Ministers of Magic we have ever known. Fail to act - and history will remember you as the man who stepped aside and allowed Voldemort a second chance to destroy the world we have tried to rebuild"

- from Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 36- The Parting of Ways

Very wise words indeed from one of the wisest men in fiction. Also totally contextual when you think of the current IPL spot-fixing scandal. Replace Cornelius Fudge by the current cricket administrators and Voldemort by match-fixing and you have an apt parallel. Unfortunately with the slew of allegations & rumours flying around, we haven't identified the sane voice of Dumbledore around whom the true cricket lovers can rally and attempt to save the game they love.

This message is intended not just for N Srinivasan and the BCCI but for all the cricket boards, ICC and FICA. They have to work together to weed out the corrupt. And the faster it  is done the better for the game. ICC removing Asad Rauf from the umpire's panel for Champions Trophy due to him being under investigation is a good step towards regaining the paying public's faith.

There are two views being taken -
(a) by the "breaking news media" & the "trigger-happy" social media - everything is fixed and
(b) the official line of just three rotten eggs.
The truth, as it always happens, lies somewhere in between. Not everyone is corrupt and I would be quite surprised if the entire racket involved only the three players. BCCI lost one chance to come clean a year ago. It has been given another chance. It MUST conduct a proper enquiry into all charges/allegations while working along with the government agencies. But with allegations now hovering around the BCCI chief itself, it maybe quite difficult for anyone to accept the results of such an investigation.

The Spot-fixing scandal in the IPL has hurt. Despite all the murky goings-on in the past few years, there is a corner in my heart which still believes in the game. However with every new scandal that space is getting smaller and smaller.  Because the fixers take out the one element which makes sports  glorious - its uncertainty.

Personally I have been taking out my angst on the broadcasters by not watching the live telecast and doing my bit to lower their TRP (still following the IPL though). With lower TRPs, sponsors are unlikely to pay the huge amounts to come on board specially given the financial troubles the world is already in. Lack of sponsors will make the television rights less lucrative further lowering revenues. Stadium attendances world-wide are anyways going downwards. With lower revenues, BCCI loses its financial muscle and the power balance in the cricketing world shifts again.

A scenario which is quite likely to happen in the long run if the game does not clean itself. The paying public has enough other entertainment avenues. Hence its very important from the board's perspective to ensure that the fans who love the game keep the faith. It is a very difficult task to regain the faith once lost. And only concrete visible steps will ensure that people may want to trust again.

Act Now and then hope that you regain the cricket fan's faith

IPL6: Spot-fixing - What Next?

Disgust, Anger and even a Sense of betrayal - these are the feelings with which I write this blog post. Yet somehow the feelings of shock and surprise are missing. Anyone who believed that the game was completely clean and had no murky dealings ongoing was living in a fool's paradise. Yet, when the story of the arrests of the three players broke, it still did come as a shock. Though the shock can be attributed to the fact that all three players belonged to my favorite IPL team Rajasthan Royals.

In summary, 3 current and one former Rajasthan Royals players have been arrested along with a clutch of bookies. And the rumor mill is on full swing with the "Breaking News" media - both conventional and social diligently spreading all sorts of unsubstantiated rumors. Request them to better wait and watch and not comment while official investigations are on. It is very easy to destroy a reputation built over years of hard work. And mud slinging never helps anyone.

What really boggles the mind is the amount of money involved, some 60 lakh for bowling a bad over !!! Not difficult to see why some of the uncapped players (Chandila & Chavan) with salary restrictions as compared to the others might get tempted. But seeing a current Indian Test player like Sreesanth throwing away his career like this is difficult to understand. I always thought he was a weirdo but his idiosyncrasies were a result of his passion for the game. But guess he lost even that.

Personally I am happy that corrupt are getting weeded out of the game. And the more it happens better it is for the game. Sports does not have any place for fixers. They are much, much worse than the drug cheats who are at least trying to win. Fixers take out the one element which makes sports truly lovable - its uncertainty. Now every single activity will be looked at with suspicion by the watching public (from this IPL - the RP Singh no-ball, Pollard's drops etc). And for cheating the watching public they MUST be punished. Now that the fixing saga is out in the open, the authorities must decide the path forward. Here are some of my suggestions for doing the same.

Stronger Punishments -  Have no mercy on errant players. The law may take its own sweet time but the boards can act tough and give immediate ban the players concerned while investigations are on. For the game to regain its credibility, it would be better to have some innocents punished and not let anyone guilty go unpunished (the opposite of the prevalent legal practise). Also the punishments should be of duration long enough (minimum 5 years) to make them a strong deterrent.

Uncapped players also going into auction - Bringing the Indian uncapped players into the auction pool will certainly help in reducing some of the pay disparity. Also fixing the uncapped player salaries has the added benefit of reducing (nothing can be completely removed) the under-hand dealings betweeen the players and the teams as has been shown in the sting conducted by India TV last year.

Legalize Sports Betting in India - Now this will be a controversial move as it is against  the so-called Indian morals and values (bloody hypocrisy in my opinion). Betting exists and as shown by the payouts to the players, the numbers are mind boggling. Why not legalize and regulate the same? Government will get an extra revenue source. Some of the murky dealings will be reduced. Also the regulated betting agencies can  help in detecting any weird betting patterns. Thats how the match-fixing in football tennis has come to light. The revenues can also be used for funding the anti-corruption monitoring.

Disband IPL - This will the one with the most vocal support. Given that many consider it to be the source of all evil in the cricketing world, why not? Though in itself that won't be a solution because most of the problems have been there since time immemorial. Disbanding IPL is certainly not be a feasible solution. Too many genuine stakeholders (Sponsors, TV rights owners, team owners (?)) will be badly affected. And this will have severe repercussions on the entire sport. Turning the entire T20 business into pure entertainment like the erstwhile double wicket & Hong Kong sixes would be better. I would go onto suggest removing T20s from official records. And keeping records restricted to 1st Class & List A games.

Keep the faith - At times like these, it is the most difficult thing to do. Though most likely there are more such morons but HOPEFULLY this malaise is restricted to a few.

These are some suggestions to clean up the mess my loved game is in. There can't be one deterrent to match-fixing but something is better than nothing. And the faster the game comes clean, the faster you regain the lost faith from the watching public.

IPL6: The Slog Overs

The Yes Bank Maximumth edition (or the 6th edition in normal lingo) of the Indian Premier League has now reached the slog overs stage. Some teams have been thrashed out of the competition (Delhi Darevdevils, Pune Warriors), some barely clinging on (KKR, Kings XI) and an intense 5-way fight going on for the 4 play-off spots. As the IPL reaches its business end (finally), here are some quick thoughts on each of the teams.

Teams being discussed in the reverse order of ranking as on date:

Pune Warriors India: (2 wins from 14 games) - They have been outplayed by one and all. Constantly changing captaincy (Matthews, Taylor, Finch), a misfiring star (Yuvraj Singh), poor death bowling (Dinda in particular), spinners whose mysteries have been sorted out (Mendis, Rahul Sharma) have all contributed to another very bad season. However they have had a solid opening pair (Uthappa & Finch) and one good bowler in Bhubaneswar Kumar (best Indian seamer on display). But thats not enough to see the side through.Would like to see more of Pervez Rasool in the coming games.

Delhi Daredevils: (3 wins form 13 games) - A top-order of Sehwag, Jayawardene, Warner with support cast of Unmukt Chand & Naman Ojha, a bowling line-up of Morkel, Pathan, Umesh Yadav, Nadeem. On paper a match-winning combination. Yet somehow all seems to have gone wrong with the Daredevils. They have been hit by injuries (Pietersen, Ryder, Aaron) but what has hit them most is the lack of form of most of the main cast and almost the entire support cast. When they have fired, Warner and Sehwag have single-handedly won the games. But no one's been consistent enough.

Kings XI Punjab: (5 wins from 13 games) - Kings XI haven't been performing well since IPL1. But they have managed some stunning performances this year mainly thanks to David Miller. Praveen Kumar has been the amongst the best Indian seamers on display while Piyush Chawala  has been making regular contibutions. The domestic Indian players like Mandeep Singh and Manan Vohra are utilizing the opportunities that they have got. However its the under-performing foreigners (Gilchrist, David Hussey, Mahmood) who are pulling down the team.

Kolkata Knight Riders: (6 wins from 14 games) - The defending champions are not having a good time this year around. This despite having retained the same team. A rock-solid batting line-up of Gambhir, Kallis, and Morgan is getting undone by the wretched form of others specially Yusuf Pathan. While Sunil Narine is holding up the bowling department and Rajat Bhatia is executing his bits & pieces role to perfection, the others are just not pulling their weight and as a result KKR are languishing mid-table just holding on to their play-off hopes.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: (8 wins from 13 games) - They have been the surprise package of the tournament. Their batting line-up which was almost non-existent at the beginning of the tournament has been boosted by the arrival of Shikhar Dhawan. The bowling line-up however has been doing more than its bit to cover the batting faults. Steyn, Ishant, Mishra, Perera and Sammy are a real good attack to have. Unlike some other teams, the poor form of their captains (Sanga & White) have been a blessing in disguise for the team. And the domestic players like Hanuma Vihari & Karan Sharma have put their hand up and bailed out the team when required. 

Royal Challengers Bangalore: (8 wins from 14 games) - RCB bring extreme firepower to the IPL. Gayle at top, Kohli to consolidate, if required at all, and de Villiers to finish. Pujara coming in as Gayle's opening partner makes it potentially the most explosive batting lineup possible. Yet a misfiring bowling lineup (Vinay Kumar, RP Singh, Unadkat, Rampaul etc) and over-dependence on their top-order has ensured that they are still not  certain of qualification to the play-offs. 

Mumbai Indians: (9 wins from 13 games) - A team which is doing quite well, yet at the same time not  giving the feel of a top favorite. Poor opening partnerships (with due apologies to the legends at the top) and under-performing Pollard & Malinga have been offset by the performance of Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Mitchell Johnson and others. Some more consistency in performances is needed.

Rajasthan Royals: (10 wins from 14 games) - Rahul Dravid's team are like Rocky, the people's champions. They may not have the big names on their roster, but they certainly know how to make full use of their limited resources. The most flexible line-up in the tournament, they keep re-jigging the team depending on the opposition and ground conditions. And more often than not, their strategies have worked. Whether its the big guns Dravid, Watson and Rahane or the relatively unknowns -  Faulkner, Samson, Binny, Yagnik, Chandila, Cooper, Trivedi everyone has come in and contributed to the team's cause. The Royals have kept a perfect home record, though not so successful outside Jaipur. 

Chennai Super Kings: (10 wins from 14 games) - Its been said IPL is a competition in which 8/9/10 teams play and in the end CSK wins. Like every dominant champion they have their share of haters who do not want to see them win. But even the haters agree that the cricket is not the reason for hating CSK. Its a team making the most of its formidable resources (inlcuding non-ground ones). And in Mohit Sharma they have found one genuine local talent from this year's edition.

So thats the team's reviews as we enter the final stages of this year's IPL. For the IPL finals, I would love to see Rajasthan Royals beating Sunrisers. And the team carrying Dravid around Eden Gardens in a victory lap. A fitting finish to a legendary career. 

P.S. Hope that I have not jinxed the team.