Cricket loses a Legend

The former umpire David Shepherd is no more with us. He passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was an umpire of the highest order. He was a character and no wonder everyone liked his company. The players, the spectators, his colleagues and just everyone loved him for his good sense of humor. His hopping act is one thing that none of us can forget. He used to stand one-legged when the score was on 111 considering it an unlucky number for the batting side. ‘Shep’ as he was dearly known, stood for 92 tests and 172 ODIs before he retired in 2005. He made his first appearance in the International arena during The Ashes test match in 1985 along with Dickie Bird.

David Shepherd was very much attached to his hometown Devon and he is rightly called “dyed-in the-wool Devonian”. We surely miss him and cherish those light moments on the field when that cute man won thousands of hearts standing one-legged.

Kudos to England!

The prestigious little urn is all England’s. They win the series hands down. In front of an electric home crowd England beat Australia 2-1 to win the Ashes series in style. The 5^th and the final match at Oval just had everything in it. England was on fire from day 1 of the match and they truly and surely deserve this victory.

Oh dear! I was almost in tears when I saw my team winning it. This series would remain in my memories forever. Boy!! What a match that was! I’m speechless! We got to appreciate both the teams for the memorable moments they have given us. Australia was equally good in the series but it was the boys from England who put their hands up when it most mattered. Winning the decider at Oval after a terrible match at Headingly under immense pressure speaks volumes about the boys. Ecstatic and jubilant atmosphere at the Oval lightened up the stadium. I wish I was present there.

Andrew Strauss must be proud of the way he led his team to glory. Stuart Broad got a fiver, Graeme Swann bowled exceedingly well and that debutant Trott scored a ton. He must be going through an emotional phase early in his career. It was not a fairy tale exit for Freddie Flintoff but he would treasure every moment of his final series in White. Skipper Strauss came across testing times and did well to handle all the pressure moments. He was exceptional with his field placements. It was a complete team effort. They did remarkably well to win against tough opponents – Australia.

England won the big moments and eventually won the Ashes series. We have come to the end of an epic series and whether you are an Aussie supporter or an England supporter I’m very sure that you would have enjoyed every bit of the series. We witnessed some great cricket all summer thanks to The Ashes.

Job well done guys!!

The Wall makes a come-back!

The much awaited teams for the tri-series in Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy in South Africa are announced. Rahul Sharad Dravid returns to one-day cricket after a long gap. The last ODI he played was way back in October 2007. All Bangaloreans are celebrating the moment and hopefully there are more celebrations in store when he contributes to India’s victory. Little Master Sachin Tendulkar who was not a part of Windies tour returns. Young Suresh Raina is fit and raring to go while Rohit Sharma who hasn’t made the best use out of his opportunities sits out. All-rounder Abhishek Nayar remains in the 15 member squad.

Amit Mishra is another come-back man. He returns to shorter format after 6 long years though he is a regular in the longer format. Mishra last played in April 2003 against South Africa. The spinner from Delhi is selected over Pragyan Ojha who has done nothing wrong to be dropped. Mishra faired well in the emerging players’ series and that could be the only reason for his selection. But sometimes LUCK does matter.

Sehwag and Zaheer Khan miss out due to injuries which means D.Karthick has to fill in Viru’s shoes while there are plenty other fast bowlers to lead the pace attack in Zak’s absence.

Overall it’s a pretty balanced side with solid batting order and decent bowling attack. I’m still not convinced with the exclusion of Rohit and Ojha. I have huge expectations from both these young men. Unfortunately, they haven’t lived up to my expectations as yet.

BCCI Corporate Cup begins on September 8th and the players will undergo a 4-day training camp at the NCA from August 27^th. It is to be hoped that ‘the Wall’ stands tall and so does Team India.

ODI squad - Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, RP Singh, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Karthik, and Abhishek Nayar

Australia Triumphed at Leeds Test!

The third Ashes match at Leeds saw Australia crushing England by an innings and 80 runs to level the series 1-1 with a match to go at Oval on August 20. The whole team is in form including their lead bowler Mitchell Johnson who was not at his best off late. All of a sudden, Australia is everyone’s favourite to take away the prestigious Ashes urn. If they do win the Ashes this time around then it will be their 10^th Ashes victory in their last 11 contests. Skipper Ponting is delighted after the victory and is confident of retaining the Ashes. He said his team was “unbelievable” after thrashing England. They are a happy lot.

On the other hand, the home side is subject to all criticism after badly losing to Australia. Remember they were the favourites at the start of the series. This is a classic example of how things can change so quickly in cricket. Their middle order consisting of Ravi Bopara, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood has flopped. They just scored 16 runs between them at Leeds. I was shocked when I read that it was the worst collective display by numbers three, four and five in all of England’s 890 tests. To refresh your memories let me tell you that Bopara had scored 3 tons in a row in the series against Windies just before the Ashes. But now Bopara’s place is under scanner and there are talks of him being replaced by Robert Key (39 year old Leicestershire player). Captain Andrew Strauss has a whole lot of things to deal with. Coach Andy Flower is smart and is expected to tackle the situation well. A person’s character is tested only in bad situations. No doubt they are having a tough time. Their body language in the 4^th test said it all. They did have something to cherish about when the batsman in Stuart Broad troubled the Aussies. Broad along with Graeme Swann set a record 8^th wicket stand of 108 runs in 12.3 overs, 2^nd fastest for any partnership over 100 runs in test cricket. The Barmy Army would be hoping for a better performance in the finale of the Ashes at Oval where it’s ‘Perform or Perish’ for both the sides.

The Game is ON!

We witnessed a thriller of a match when Australia took on England in the first Ashes test match at Cardiff, England. The battle of the urn continues and there is a lot more than pride to play for. Well, this match might have silenced all the critics who said that The Ashes has lost its charm. It hasn’t. It is still the most celebrated rivalry. There was always an element of doubt whether these blokes could keep up the legacy of The Ashes in the ‘Post-Warne Era’. Yeah, that’s the term. It is now ‘Post- Warne era’. Gone are those days when we used to refer to the ‘Post-Bradman Era’. Warney may now well be busy playing poker but he was the man who revolutionized cricket. From his very famous ‘Ball of the Century’ to him finding super talents like Kevin Pietersen, he has been a CHAMPION!

Every single person in that 16000-passionate crowd at Cardiff had their emotions running high on the final day of the match. The match was on till the last 30 minutes. Now that’s what I call a real TEST match. Australia needed just one wicket to clinch a 1-0 lead in the series and England at the other end had James Anderson and a not-so-good batter in Monty Panesar. Ricky Ponting is a true Fighter. He kept on bowling Hauritz and to everyone’s surprise Monty played everything straight. That’s not something that we associate with Monty Panesar. The whole stadium was up and applauding the heroics of Jimmy Anderson, Monty, Collingwood who faced the most number of deliveries and not to forget the contribution of Graeme Swann. He just proved to everyone that he is a quality cricketer. Swanny wasn’t dismissed since last December. Now how about that for a statistic!

England managed to draw the first match in which Australia clearly were ahead of the game in most occasions. This was just the perfect start that the series needed. There was everything in it. Mind games were played when TIME mattered to save a test match and not OVERS. England team had their 12^th man and the team physio in the middle in the tensest situation which is now being called “dirty tactics”. Ponting says it wasn’t played in the spirit of the game while Strauss defends by saying there was total confusion and communication gap between the centre and the dressing room. It’s all in the game until played fair.

There were questions raised about the quality of test cricket being played and there were talks about shortening the purest form of the game. This was a classic example as to why test cricket should remain untouched. It hurts a test cricket admirer when they say test cricket is no more entertaining. Hope both the teams prove them wrong when they meet at the ‘Mecca of cricket – Lord’s’

Play on Chaps!

The ASHES2009

Welcome to my brand new blog! What better a series than the Ashes to start with! It is the oldest rivalry and the most celebrated one too. We are just hours before The Ashes2009 would begin. The mind games have begun several days ago. Experts and former cricketers have commented enough. Everything is said and done about the team selections and the players. It’s time for some real on field action to begin. Both England and Australia arguably have ordinary teams on paper. But watch out for all those youngsters on both the sides –Hughes, North, Swann, Broad to name a few. These are nervous times not only for the ones who would be a part of Ashes for the first time ever but also for those who have experienced such pressure situations in the past. These players have more than pride to play for. They must feel privileged for they are a part of history in the making whether they deserve it or not! For me, every match played in the Ashes series is historic. Each player is expected to keep up the legacy of his predecessors. Both captains, Ricky Ponting(Australia) and Andrew Strauss(England) have to make sure that their teams are focussed. These are exciting times for the players as well as cricket enthusiasts at large. Anxiety is running high and prayers are being offered. Hope we get to watch some good quality TEST CRICKET!! Even while I’m writing this all that I’m thinking of is the first ball that would be bowled in a few hours from now at Cardiff.

Enjoy the match!! Cheers!