tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65704471686595636062026-07-18T05:51:53.640+12:00All Things Cricket, by Varun PrasadUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-5219233907736271192018-02-27T16:03:00.002+13:002018-02-28T08:01:58.452+13:00

In the continual flood of domestic T20 hooey raining upon us all year wide; athletes formerly known as cricketers strut about in coloured pyjamas engaging in high powered baseball cricket.  It's been on for a few years now, and with time it became clear that the IPL and the Big Bash reign supreme among the various PLs' in Pakistan, Bangladesh, The Caribbean and England. But more

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-11641014508354999692016-12-02T20:37:00.000+13:002016-12-02T20:37:10.017+13:00

Something bizarre happened last week, a test match batsman left the ball. Left the ball? What is this, the 70s? Where are the boundaries, the DLF maximums? What is this nonsense about batting time! Leaving deliveries that should be left, putting the flashy garbage in the cupboard. Didn't Matt Renshaw get the memo? This is not cricket! I jest, of course it is. Let us compare him to that

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-78882643870739710552016-10-14T22:32:00.000+13:002018-01-09T11:41:45.804+13:00

And so, our humble Kiwi's failed to take off in India, hopes ruined completely by the two Ravis - Ashwin and Jadeja.  The Black Caps found themselves playing on moon surfaces, with the odd exception of a very New Zealand style pitch engineered to turn the underrated Bhuvi Kumar into a swinging menace.  3-0 later it all begs the question, is it honestly fair that India is allowed

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-49116381831158767342015-09-08T21:54:00.001+12:002015-09-11T19:39:02.017+12:00

We have just witnessed one of the real oddities of the game of cricket.  In case you missed it: Kiwi-Englishman Ben Stokes hit the ball straight back to the bowler, the reputably aggressive Mitchell Starc Starc hurled it back at breakneck speed attempting to smash the wickets and remove Stokes baseball style Stokes stuck his hand out to block the throw and was subsequently

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-20761989010590959722015-09-02T21:57:00.000+12:002015-09-07T23:34:23.705+12:00

Oddly enough Ishant Sharma has been making headlines since 2007 (eight years ago!), most famously for getting in the faces of opposition. What justifies running your mouth in the gentlemen's game?The answer is actually brutally simple, the Australian's do it. If there ever was a template to winning a game of cricket, "do what the Aussies do" sits right up there and it seems like the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-84872324912897107352015-03-24T13:09:00.000+13:002015-03-24T13:17:55.902+13:00

Is this the first ever cricket world cup where the actual top four will battle the semi finals? It couldn't have been scripted any better. Two understated sides who have never gone beyond the semi-finals, two loud and arrogant sides who are utterly desperate to prove they are number one. One of each completely contrasting opponent will make up the grand final. You cannot split them, you cannot

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-38348293600260270462015-03-03T00:01:00.000+13:002015-03-03T00:01:07.845+13:00

Forget the famous India vs Pakistan rivalry for a moment. Forget the Ashes, England have descended back into the 90s and don't look like coming out. If we are talking cricketing rivalries, surely Australia vs New Zealand is now the most anticipated match up in world cricket.  This match was no exception. Consider: Both teams are co-hosts and equally red hot favorites to win It was 23

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-46936230409624788392015-02-24T17:16:00.003+13:002015-02-25T00:59:02.438+13:00

India's lead up into the World Cup was atrocious. The defending champions couldn't win a single game in Australia with key batsmen misfiring, their bowling & fielding were both the absolute pits, and captain Dhoni looked as bored as ever. An easy team to write off as title favorites given this form, particularly when up against the trio of Australia-New Zealand-South Africa who seemed to

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-52113280013151139252015-02-12T16:55:00.003+13:002015-02-13T16:41:16.707+13:00

Just a matter of hours until the 2015 Cricket World Cup kicks off !! And this time I won't be battling petty annoyances like time differences. This is without doubt the pinnacle event of cricket, the one tournament that demands undivided attention among all cricket fans. I was 7 years old when the 1992 edition was hosted in Australia and New Zealand. Forget calling that a distant memory,

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-79880155038827989442014-12-23T13:32:00.000+13:002014-12-23T13:32:33.732+13:00

A week ago my call was 0-4 for India, and at 0-2 the whitewash is on! Credit where it is due, India have competed quite well at times and in fact inexplicably threw away the Adelaide test which they should have at least drawn. How was that for a brain explosion, it was almost West Indies like. Nonetheless I have been impressed by Murali Vijay and Kohli, and expected worse. Along came Brisbane,

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-48800532428878564822014-12-10T19:14:00.000+13:002014-12-13T10:59:38.624+13:00

And so while India are being thumped by Australia (4-0 coming your way folks), they also announced their 30 man squad of World Cup 'probables'. Hang on a minute, thirty probables!? There are eleven members in a cricket team plus a water carrier, add four or five reserves and we have a touring party. What is the point in naming a probables list double the size of the group that will actually

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-42592450272478893392014-12-01T16:41:00.001+13:002014-12-01T19:30:29.290+13:00

Every now and then, an event occurs within the confines of sport that transcends far beyond the normal boundaries. Sport exists to entertain, it has no other purpose.  And yet here we are faced with the tragedy of losing Phillip Hughes, a young man primed to become one of the senior Australian batsmen in the years to come. Sadly we will never know what heights he might have scaled,

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-70279771489851773852014-11-18T19:11:00.002+13:002014-11-18T19:11:12.621+13:00

Cricket has gone mad. What kind of a world do we live in when a batsman can score 264 runs in an ODI innings, to break his own record of 209 no less?  A world where 264 surpasses the entire second innings score. A mismatch of such epic proportions should only be experienced if India played Fiji. There is a difference between Jayasuriya sticking it to opposition 1996 world cup in an

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-40761341789961482822014-07-24T18:48:00.002+12:002014-07-24T18:48:40.291+12:00

There was a time where it was fun to root for England, namely when they went about toppling the unbeatable Australians in 2005. The underdogs beating the Aussies at their own game playing with aggressive swagger and style.  It was great. But that was nearly a decade ago. The so called English dominance of test cricket, brief as it was, is going through a painfully slow death where they can

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-36949605898284567252014-05-29T11:53:00.001+12:002014-05-30T13:45:13.210+12:00

Corruption. IPL. Ironic that these two are simultaneously headlining the world of cricket today. Oddly enough it's not India nor Pakistan who are at the forefront of the latest scandals to emerge, instead the beacon is shining on the calm and friendly backwaters of New Zealand cricket.  Who would have thought? How Bad is it? Whether corruption exists or not is not even a question. It's

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-45028761559533170312014-02-04T01:40:00.001+13:002014-02-04T01:40:44.053+13:00

My initial prediction of 4-1 to New Zealand was met mostly with polite ridicule. Against the world number one ranked team? The World Cup and Champions Trophy holders no less? Blasphemous. Courtesy of Sir Jadeja I narrowly missed out, 4-0 however at least landed in the right ball park! But why would anybody have backed New Zealand? The Hesson-McCullum partnership is really onto something,

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-85963990308764764932013-12-19T23:18:00.000+13:002013-12-19T23:18:19.370+13:00

Believe it or not, before this Ashes series began I predicted Australia to win comfortably. It seemed ridiculous to most at the time and rightfully so, but here we are with Australia up three zip and the Ashes wrapped up and back on this side of the hemisphere in the shortest time frame possible.  I will admit I didn't predict such a comprehensive walloping, England are dead and buried and

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-59528629129343965942013-11-05T16:53:00.001+13:002013-11-05T16:53:12.370+13:00

And so it has finally happened, Sachin Tendulkar is actually going to retire. It was nice of the BCCI to rig a nice friendly home series against the cuddly West Indies instead of having to enjoy his farewell cake against the demonic Dale Steyn, a series of ducks does not make an ideal farewell. But in truth, this man does deserve to go out in any way he wishes.  In terms of the great

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-8982129164932804912013-08-06T15:51:00.001+12:002013-08-06T15:51:24.538+12:00

Dear readers, I can understand your hatred. After a century-long tradition of on field umpires dictating play, you the cricket audience have been up in arms about my introduction to the game.  I am the Decision Review System, and I am here to pledge my case. I have been tasked to improve on the human eye, I understand you make mistakes so I am available to you to make sure horrid umpiring

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-87734565806948370842013-06-06T16:16:00.004+12:002013-06-06T16:28:45.403+12:00

So here we are in England for the last edition of the ICC Knockout / Mini World Cup / ICC Champions Trophy / Thing. This is a strange little tournament purposely offset in between the 'real' fifty over world cups, designed to be a quick-smart affair all over in a couple of weeks (take note IPL). However fifty over cricket must die according to the powers that be, and the idea has now been

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-15614818225772701182013-05-21T23:06:00.002+12:002013-05-21T23:06:45.062+12:00

It was a cool winters evening in New Zealand and here I was, a humble supporter tuning into the late night cricket, brimming with optimism at the prospect of chasing down a reachable 239 to achieve glorious victory at Lords.  We had come fresh of a hard fought 0-0 stalemate at home with the 'moral victory' (if such a thing counts for anything at all), the apple was ripe for the picking to

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-23005740972656546952013-03-29T13:41:00.002+13:002013-03-29T13:41:45.253+13:00

At the time of writing, Jesse Ryder is fighting for his life after a completely cowardly and baseless attack by a group of terrible individuals. It is a dark day in international cricket, and it is not the first. One of the alleged and completely senseless reasons behind this is that it was possibly a "Jesse Hate Fight", which brings up the crux of this matter. How far is too far? When does

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-51324757481042142022013-02-13T12:57:00.001+13:002013-02-13T13:32:47.793+13:00

Cricket often has some strange and unexplained phenomenon, for example: How Ajit Agarkar can get a century at Lords. How Michael Yardy was allowed to play international cricket. Why somebody would pay Glenn "The Big Show" Maxwell one million bucks. But there is one cricketing mystery that continuously trumps them all, one team that can truly define the term enigma in their consistently

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-86922333306003118292013-01-23T16:02:00.000+13:002013-01-24T11:13:54.975+13:00

It was a lovely morning when the president of the ICC woke up from a morning slumber greeted with a warm cup of mocha, and a personal letter outlining yet another amazingly successful T20 competition. This letter was from his Technical Advisor of Cricketing Innovations, the mastermind behind the IPL concept, super-subs and overseas cheerleaders. It raised very real concerns about the future of

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570447168659563606.post-42092933580726551522013-01-16T18:00:00.002+13:002013-01-16T18:00:46.612+13:00

I'm not sure who this letter is addressed to, the ICC? The Cricketing Gods? Santa? Whoever it may be, I have been a good cricket fanatic last year and I feel I am entitled to see the metaphorical stockings hanging over my fireplace filled with cricketing goodies. So here goes then, my wish list: 1. New Zealand Survive 5 Days An administrators nightmare, the recent South Africa series had

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1