WTH is ICC thinking or is it at all ?

Since the moment ICC has announced its decision to make the CWC 2015 a 10 team event with only the full members being part of it, there has been a lot of condemnation of the decision around the cricketing world and very rightly so. The decision came just after the conclusion of CWC 2011 in which Ireland put up such a spirited performance and showed the world what they are capable of and also produced arguably the match of the tournamanet.

I think ICC took a wonderful decision by making the WC 2015 a 10 team event. It will definitley improve the quality of matches played throughout the tournament, ensuring the intensity throughout the tournament as the format will make each and every match very important.

The bad thing about their decision is not that the WC will be a 10 team event but that they have provided absolutely no chance to the non-test playing nations to qualify for the tournament. Thus they have converted a good decision to an absolutely ridiculous one to say the least by shutting out the World from the World Cup.

There has been a consderable progress made by a few associate nations, specially Ireland where they now have cricketers playing the sport professionally. They have done well in the last 2 WCs. They have put in a lot of effort and this decision will surely dampen their spirits.

Ideally this is what ICC should have done:

Reserve spots for the top 8 test playing nations (say excluding Zim and Bang) and have a qualifying tournament for remaining 2 spots.

The qualifying tournament should include the bottom 2 test playing nations say Zimbabwe and Bangladesh and the top 6 associate/affiliate nations say Ireland, Netherlands, Kenya, Scotland, Canada and Afghanistan. It should be a league format tournament in which everyone plays everyone and the top 2 teams qualify. It would ensure that the process remains fair and no one-off good or bad game affects the outcome.

It would provide an opportunity for the non-test-playing nations to qualify and prove their mettle. Also it will give an opportunity to the bottom 2 test playing nations to prove a point or two that they are a cut above the associate/affiliate teams as they think of themselves.

We don’t have any clue as to what prompted the ICC to make this blind decision but we can only hope that they reconsider it and provide a fair opportunity to all to qualify.

Let some sense prevail.

DieHard Cricket Fans

The Doppelgangers – Part II

Johan van der Wath - Former South African Allrounder & Reitesh Deshmukh - Bollywood Actor

Our next post of this series.

If you come across more doppelgangers, send us your entry and we will include it next time around.

Shaun Tait- Australian Fast Bowler & Tom Cruise- Hollywood Actor

Yet another disappointing tournament from the Proteas

As Morne Morkel holed out to Jamie How at long-off, a piece of every Protea supporters hearts died. 1992, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2007, and now 2011 and still no trophy. Despite new players being recruited into the South African XV from the 2007 format, South Africa could still not prevent an quarter-final elimination to the lowly New Zealand.
To me, with the wealth of support and advice being spurred onto the players, it was almost improbably that the Proteas would choke in yet another World Cup. The (now former) skipper Graeme Smith, key to scorching starts for the Green and Gold, looked scratchy and never capitalized on a twenty or thirty while the veteran Jacques Kallis showed his age averaging a mere 32 in the tournament. AB de Villiers showed his worth as being labled as one of the best one-day batsman on the international stage scoring centuries against West Indies and the Netherlands but will sadly be best remembered for running out South Africa from the World Cup in the quarter-final against New Zealand.

On the bowling front, nothing was to be complained about with every bowler playing their part with perhaps an exception for Johan Botha.

Overall, it was yet another combination of panic and unintelligent cricket when it mattered for the Proteas and with Gary Kirsten – the Indian World Cup winning coach – unlikely to take over the coaching role, SA will have to resort to basics and import youth to the set-up. Players like Rilee Rossouw, Robert Frylinck, Dane Vilas, and others have all proved their worth at domestic level and shouldn’t be kept out for has-beens such as Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith.

Jonathan Amler for DieHard Cricket Fans

Why do I love IPL ?

IPL-4 is here, opening on a Friday; on a day most of the movies are released in India and elsewhere.

IPL has a lot in common with movies in India. Cricket and Cinema go together like Viv Richards and Nina Gupta. Howsoever far apart they might be, they do make strangely great bed-fellows. And IPL, is the Masaba of this relation ! A cross breed, yet beautiful and highly successful at a very young age.

Masaba...aah !

A lot of people, Purists, Poms and pushy Aussies have denounced IPL as ‘Not Cricket’.

Michel Holding, one of my childhood favorites declared, “T-20 is not Cricket and Keiron Pollard is not a Cricketer”.

Those who have not got a bite in, blame IPL for ‘Crass Commercialization’ of the ‘Once Beautiful’ game.

Pakistani Cricketers declare they don’t care about IPL and then secretly curse Ijaz Butt.

BCCI declares IPL as clean because they have rid IPL of the corrupting influence of evil Lalit Modi.

But let people heap abuses and denigrate IPL. Let them damn it. Let them condemn it. Let them do anything except ‘ban’ it. That is something nobody will do. Thankfully, because IPL is a ‘Goose that lays Platinum Eggs’. Gold is passe !

It is simple. I love IPL. I always like to give 5 reasons for anything and everything. But when it comes to IPL, I have so many reasons to love IPL, I might run out of space on the web. So I will stick to 11; one each for every team and one for Lalit Modi.

I Love IPL because…

1] I can sleep tight on the previous night of IPL Final. I couldn’t on 1 April 2011 night.

2] Whoever wins the IPL Final, I can celebrate. An Indian team will be winning. If it is Delhi, happy for Viru. If KKR wins, great because Pathan is there. If Mumbai Indians win, Thank You Sachin.

3] My wife and daughter cope up with shorter matches. They thought I was on another planet during the entire World Cup campaign.

4] My temper remains fine even in the worst of situations during IPL. Ashish Nehra can’t ruffle me and I adore Munaf Patel. Piyush Chawla is such a wonderful prodigy after all. And Rahul Dravid can’t draw a match.

5] I don’t have to worry about Sachin’s 100th International Century and then his 50th ODI Century and then his 102 Century and then his 19000 runs in ODIs and 15000 runs in Test Cricket and so on…

6] 92 runs needed of 60 balls doesn’t send my heart rate soaring to 184 in 60 seconds. It remains down, almost like Munaf Patel’s speed. Nothing can change it.

7] Nobody will dare to drop Yusuf Pathan to accommodate Nohit Sharma / Ravindra Jadeja in the team.

8] Ravindra Jadeja can’t lose a match for India, howsoever hard he might try.

9] Suresh Raina will not be bothered by short pitched bowling.

10] Shane Warne can continue to play; perhaps till we celebrate the Silver Jubilee of IPL.

11] And most importantly, Billy Bowden can’t beat India !

And one for the Glamor !

How can we ignore the Glamor quotient ? How can we ignore Preity Zinta, Shilpa Shetty and her sister, SRK, Deepkia and her latest boyfriend and Kingfisher ? And of course the parties and Page-3 crowd and Fake IPL Player ? IPL is GLICKET [Glamor + Cricket]

Hail IPL; the greatest show on Earth !

Govind Raj Shenoy for DieHard Cricket Fans

The Cup Runneth Over

Howzaaat!!!
It’s been 2 days since India lifted the holy grail of cricket, but I’m pretty sure the celebrations are still very much in full swing – as they should be. In fact…I won’t be surprised if India’s population increases by 10%…9 months from now 
After the Proteas’ hiccup at yet another knockout stage, most South Africans were tempted to “switch off” from the World Cup. However, the past month and a bit has definitely restored the 50 over game to its former glory – with India’s spirit, fight and passion leading the charge.

As South Africans we appreciate these attributes and as such, quite a few of us jumped on the Indian bandwagon. In addition, for the couple of months that they were here, we could sense Gary Kirsten was nurturing the goose that would (eventually) lay the golden egg.

It’s for these very reasons that I was so (constructively) critical of India’s performances during the group stage. While I obviously wanted the Proteas to “exorcise their demons”…India’s threat, however, was like that annoying fly which always seems to just bother you in a room full of people.

Sri Lanka’s efforts should not go unnoticed though. As always they played their unique brand of cricket…with their unique brand of players and in Kumar Sangakarra, they have one of the most distinguished cricketers the game has ever seen.

As for the other teams, well let’s see…

• Australia were present, but somehow…they left their “aura of invincibility” back in 2007. Ponting managed to end off the tournament with a bang, but sadly one still feels his best days are behind him. In addition, Australian cricket in general is in a decline and for the benefit of the game, let’s hope this doesn’t continue for too long.

• Pakistan, as always…confused us all with their form during the group stage, but managed to fix this when it mattered most i.e. knockouts. Afridi’s bowling and captaincy was awesome, however, he still bats as if though it’s taboo to receive a dot ball or hitting it along the ground.

• England provided us with the most entertainment, but in the end…even a clown loses energy at the circus. Apart from a quarterfinal thumping at the hands of Sri Lanka, every other game was like one box office hit after the other. Throughout all of this though, Strauss’ prudent captaincy came to the fore and I must admit…I’ve got a new found respect for the guy.

• New Zealand…mmm…they kicked out South Africa, so I really don’t want to praise them, but it has to be said…they’re indeed the “street fighters” of world cricket. They’ll always be the underdogs (except for when they’re playing minnows) and they’re quite comfortable with this label. The way they make the best of the abilities & talent at their disposal is admirable.

• West Indies as I’ve said before are progressively declining. Without Gayle & the Bravo brothers…they’re just as useful as a Japanese holiday voucher. I don’t know what’s more depressing…watching them play or knowing that West Indies cricket is indeed…dead.

• Lastly we have the “minnows”…Ireland and Bangladesh had exciting wins over England and together with (maybe) Zimbabwe…are probably the best of the lot (worse), while Netherlands once again proved Ryan ten Doeschate stands out like an all English-born cricket team. Kenya had a better chance sending their long distance runners, while Canada fielded a world eleven…with disappointing results.

In conclusion…it was an awesome World Cup, which provided us with memorable moments, but also gave us the last opportunity to see the greats of the game in action…Lee, Ponting, Muralitharan, Kallis and of course, his highness…Tendulkar!

So…thanks for supporting and commenting on my blogs during the World Cup and I’ll continue to (hopefully) entertain you all going forward, after all….it’s IPL season 

Sharief ‘Sheriff’ Allie for DieHard Cricket Fans

The Doppelgangers – Part I

Malinga and Naththa (Character of Bollywood Film 'Peepli Live')

Cook and Kaka