Category: Cricket

Man, what a final! Hats off to England for their fighting performance. Its commendable to see tail-enders fight it out till the very end. (I can’t remember the last time India’s tail-enders accomplished anything even remotely close).

The Aussie’s are still struggling. They no longer look like a champion, unbeatable side. All out under 50 overs for a score of less than 200! Hussey is a great find. I think Katich should be brought in place of Hayden (who hasn’t made a big score in a long time). Gillespie could use a break. He has become the weak link in their bowling attack. Shaun Tait or whoeverelse is on the bench should be given a shot. After the wonderful opening spells from McGrath and Lee, Symonds kept one end tight, but Gillespie was exposed. Ponting’s gamble of going for wickets caused him dearly because his best three (McGrath, Lee and Symonds) had very few overs left and Collingwood and Jones setlled in well by the time Hogg came on. It might have proved better if he had introduced Hogg earlier in the attack promptly after England were reduced to 33 for 5. In a desperate attempt to hit their way out of trouble the England batsmen might have tried to attack Hogg and lost their wickets. I guess Ponting had more faith in his bowling attack to get the needed breakthoughs.

England’s top order is in bad shape. But their bowling looks very strong. Most importantly, they appear to be an inspired, fighting unit just when the Aussie’s seem vulnerable.

It will be very interesting to see the new ICC rules for ODI in action in the three-match Natwest Challenge.

With two successive victories, the Aussies have put to rest any doubts about their continued domination of world cricket. These two victories highlight just how critical Symonds is to the team. A suspension for drinking followed by two outstanding performances. Man, this guy is awesome!

I think they are going to win all the remaining one-day games of this series. (I predicted their victory over England 🙂

After almost a decade Australia has lost 4 crickets matches in a row! No matter what, this must put them under a lot of pressure. To come out of this will take a lot of character and strong leadership. Its a good test for Ponting.

Tomorrow’s match against England is crucial. If Australia loses again, they are going to be under a lot of psychological pressure. If you think about the last match against England, barring Pieterson’s super performance, Australia were well on top. So one could argue that it wasn’t as much of a failure on Australia’s part. It was more to do with one “out of the world” batting display that sealed their fate.

With Symonds and Lee back in the side, Australia might just return to their winning ways. Symonds has a lot at stake given that his captain blatantly lied to coverup for him. All in all and interesting tussle lies ahead and for once the Aussies are on the defensive! If they lose again, they could be in real trouble!

Here is my prediction for tomorrow’s match: Australia will thrash England

What an awesome victory over the Aussies! Hats of to the Bangladesh team for a fantastic victory. Ashraful (a very talented player) finally regained his form and delivered when most needed. Besides, Aftab is a great find for Bangladesh. Credit should go to Dav Whatmore too for guiding the team through a difficult tour.

Bangladesh is clearly a better one-day side than a test side. Hope they can continue their winning streak!

The Aussies lost to Somerset! What an exciting match! Chasing 342 against the Aussie attack and reaching it with overs to spare is quite an achievement. Hats off to Smith and Jayasuriya for such a fantastic start. Wonder if the video recording of this match is available?

Is this the beginning of the Aussie downfall? Maybe, lets see. (Personally, I think the Aussie domination of world cricket has started to end. Just a gut feel!)

West Indies, the ever unpredictable cricket team swung back to thrash the resurgent Pak. Its a great victory for a team in the dumps. WI have also ensured that they can’t loose the test series. Lara once again proved that he is still very much a force to reckon with. His spate of recent centuries should maker the injury prone Sachin wary of his max 100s record. Hats off to Chanderpaul for leading from the front.

This test also proves that Inzy and Youhana are too critical to Pak. Shahid Afridi played a belligerent knock as always. Opening with him might have given the fight back a different flavor. But again, you can never predict.

Younis Khan had a lousy debut as captain. More than its bowling, it was Pak’s batting that caused them the test. Bazid Khan blew a good chance to make an ompression while Yasir Hameed continues to prove his unreliability. Salman but is still very much an India specialist (batsmen who scores mostly against India!).

What a pathetic show by the Bangaldeshis! The test match was almost over in 2 days! The ICC is doing a great disservice to Test cricket by granting test status to countries that are simply not ready for it. It destroys the confidence of the team and the much stronger opponents loose interest. Test cricket being the big loser in the process. As for England, this is hardly a preparation for the upcoming Ashes (which incidentally should be an exciting series. I don’t think England has had a stronger team for a long time)

As a part of the qualifying process teams should be forced to play against local teams in other countries to prove a certain level of proficiency. For instance, Bangladesh should have played more cricket in the domestic circuit in India (Ranji, Duleep and other trophies) before being granted test status.

I certainly hope Bangladesh perform better in the rest of the England tour!