Category: Cricket

England continues to strengthen its hold over the Aussies with this test. As always Flintoff makes all the difference. Just when it looked like the Aussies had England down at 229 for 4, Freddie turns out a fine century. Man, this guy is real good!

The way the Aussies are playing, I don’t think this team deserves to play against the rest of the world! The World XI deserves to play a stronger side, perhaps Steven Waugh’s Australian side.

Shane Bond simply destroyed India’s batting. Its not surprising. The team has been performing horribly. Our celebrity stars show up late. Ganguly is still sleep walking more than batting. Viru looks like he has had a little too many “aloo parattas” during the off-season. Dravid is probably pissed with his short stint as captain and too distracted as a result. Yuvraj thinks his century on the SL-WI series is enough for a while. Kaif is mostly a fielder etc. etc.

The saving grace of this match: India finally gave JP Yadav a shot and he certainly looks set for the all-rounder slot. Irfan is evolving into a potential all-rounder. Our opening bowlers have survived longer than one series without injuries and actually performed quite consistently. Last but not the least, India gave one of its youngsters (Venugopal Rao) a good chance to prove himself. Unfortunately, he ended up facing an unplayable delivery. In the competitive environment of world cricket, playing the unplayable is what sets apart the true stars. Nevertheless, Venu needs a few more chances, especially considering how long we persist with our celebrity stars.

Greg Chappell was pissed with the Indian players for showing up late at the start of the tour. He was even more pissed with the press for jumping all over him and taking pictures. Sounds like Chappell’s honeymoon period is over. If India flunks this meaningless tournament in Zimbabwe, the pressure on him is bound to get worse. Perhaps he’ll have to learn a few lessons about defending himself from Dada.

Its quite an achivement for Graeme Smith to lead the cricket World XI against Australia. Until a few years back, he was brought into lead SF, despite being a virtual unknown. Though he has had mixed results as the South African captain, his recent performance in the county championship Twenty20 tournament and the match against Australia for Somerset speaks volumes of his abilities. Captaining the World XI should be quite a crowning moment for him.

Wow! What an exciting test match. I can’t remember the last time test series was so exciting.

Hats off to both teams for spirited performances. Flintoff seems to have come into his own this series and that makes all the difference to the England side. For Australia, Brett Lee deserves a lot of credit for saving the Test unlike the last test where he ended up on the loosing side despite a fighting performance. Most importantly, Ponting played an outstanding innings when most needed.

Here are some thoughts that come to mind after this test:

• Hayden badly needs a break. Katich failed too but I think he deserves a longer rope. Brad Hodge in place of Hayden might be a useful change. However, I think Brad Hodge will come in place of the injured Clarke and both Hayden and Katich will survive another test.

• Steve Bucknor must be forced to retire. His umpiring has been consistently poor for the last few years (especially in matches involving India). His Martyn decision almost cost Australia the match. Btw, I am curious if he (or whoever the match referree is) will show the guts to haul Ponting to the discplinary stand for resenting when Martyn was given out?

• Gillespie is another guy who badly needs a break. His batting is more useful to Australia than his bowling 🙂 Kasporovich or Shaun Tait should definitely play in the fourth test! I will be terribly surprised if Gillespie plays in the next test.

What a game! Hats off to the Aussies for fighting back so hard and almost pulling off a victory. England should be relieved to have leveled the series. Flintoff’s super abilities and McGrath’s absence made the difference to both teams respectively.

With both Lee and McGrath doubtful for the third Test, the Aussies have their hands full with problems. Lee was taken apart in this test, and both Kasparowicz and Gillespie are no where are as menacing (even from a wicket taking point of view). I think its a good idea to try out Shaun Tait as a good surprise package for England. This Ashes is shaping up very well with England putting up a credible fight. Its is also a sign of Australia’s waning superiority over other International teams.

It was a close match after India had WI on the mat. It just proves that India’s bowling is weak with a full fledged fifth bowler. Given the wickets in SL are conducive to spin it makes sense for India to play five bowlers including two spinners. This match also strengthens the case for saving Dhoni for the last 15 overs. The opening spot should be a choice between VVS and Ganguly. I don’t think there is room for both of them in the team. Hopefully, Viru will fire in the final. Its a pity the JP was a mere passenger on this tour. And sure enough the poor guy will be dropped for the next tour. So much for India’s search for the elusive all rounder.

Another meaningless cricket series is round the corner. Two tests against a second string Zimbabwe side. I sincerely hopes the Indian selectors give our so-called celebrity cricket stars a rest and send in an entire team of newcomers. It would be painful to see the Ganguly, Sachin, Sehwag and Dravid pile up centuries against the second string Zimbabwe side. Another golden opportunity for India to try and expose some up and coming players to international cricket.