Some History and Some World Cup Misery

15th January, 1894: It was Western Australia playing against Victoria in an Australian First Class match. There was a tree just inside the boundary. According to rules prevailing in those days, batsmen can run "any number of runs" before the ball crosses the boundary.

A ball hit by one of the batsmen got stuck between two tiny branches on that really huge tree. Since the ball was within the boundary, the batsmen started running. They kept running as the fielding team tried routine methods like throwing stones to retrieve the ball. The ball was not going to budge, like Rahul Gandhi refusing to take back his resignation.

Some tried climbing the tree with futility. It was like defeating Modi in an election, impossible. Finally they called the fire engine ladder to reclaim the ball. Over an hour had lapsed by this time and the batsmen had completed 286 runs. Batsmen too were on the verge of exhaustion, having run close to three and a three quarter miles between those 22 yards. That is the highest runs scored of a single ball in the history of Cricket.

Now, what has this tiny bit of history got to do with the ongoing World Cup ? Well, big brother Pakistan play little brother Bangladesh on "Friday" the 5th July, hoping to qualify for the CWC 2019 Semifinals. They have pretty simple equations before them.

For Pakistan to qualify, they must beat Bangladesh by...
311 runs after scoring 350 Runs
316 runs after scoring 400 Runs
321 runs after scoring 450 Runs

A Tribute To Bumrah: 30 Years Before He Was Born

A confident Saifuddin gestured to Rubel to play out the last 2 balls of Bumrah's last over, the 5th and 6th balls of 48th over of Bangladesh innings. Saif believed he had his chances to get those 29 runs of the remaining 2 overs of Shami and Bhuvan, especially Shami being his target. It was a reasonable hope but Bumrah had other plans and we know what he did to Rubel and Mustafizur of exactly those 2 balls. He left Saif deflated at the non-striker's end and that was the end !

When Bumrah bowls at death, he must be played out. Don't try to hit him. Just stay there because these are balls of fire. These are not my words. These were beautifully expressed in a song from the 1964 Hindi movie "Dooj Ka Chand". Manna Dey made this fervent request to lower order batsmen in lyrics written by Sahir Ludhianvi. Music was composed by Roshan.

Manna Dey repeatedly tells tail end batters "Don't hit, don't hit - Na Maaro Na Maaro". The song goes thus.

Full Gendwa Na Maaro, Na Maaro,
Lagat Karejwa me Chot

It pleads, "Please don't hit the full ball. It will hurt inside the chest." Sahir clearly expresses the desperation of Coaches and well settled batsmen like Saifuddin at the non striker's end. As the ball demolishes the heart of the timber behind the batsman, hit hurts the hearts of the Coach, partner and all the supporters.

World Cup 2019: Warming Up

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The league phase of the World Cup is well and truly underway with a few marquee matches done and dusted. After the opening salvos, the teams are gradually getting into their grooves and a clearer picture of the likely Top 4 is emerging. It is still early days, but we have had many permutations & combinations thrown haywire not on account of any surprise results but with the rain pouring down! Here are the highlights.

Player of the tournament – On current form, it is the English weather which has played a major part in turning the points table topsy-turvy. West Indies & Bangladesh would certainly feel robbed of a point each against South Africa & Sri Lanka respectively. Sri Lanka meanwhile have clambered to 5th spot based on two rained-off encounters! Also rain put in a dampener at the end of the India-Pakistan clash but didn’t do enough as the teams were forced to take the field for five more overs!

7-Nil: India-Pakistan was the marquee match of the tournament, with some over-zealous reporters hyping it up further on account of recent tensions between the countries. But the gulf in class between the teams is just too wide as India extended their dominance over Pakistan in the World Cups! There is more hype than substance in the rivalry now as it was another emphatic win for India.

Something is rotten - After South Africa, it was now Afghanistan’s turn for some team chaos. Mohammed Shahzad was declared unfit and replaced. However, he claims otherwise and now wishes to quit the game altogether. The first signs of tensions in the Afghan fairytale!

The injured brigade – The list keeps going bigger and bigger with every passing game. Some players replaced (Steyn, Shahzad), others have their replacements in place but are not officially out yet (Dhawan, Stoinis).

India Pakistan CWC 2019 Match: Lessons Learned !

Pakistan PM Imran Khan wrote a long and passionate message on Twitter to motivate Pakistan team. He exhorted them to try and give their best in the India-Pakistan match and fight till the last ball. He categorically asked Sarfaraz Ahmed to bat first if he won the toss.

Sarfaraz Ahmed won the toss. He promptly chose to bowl. He was yawning widely while keeping and fell asleep while batting as the asking run rate crashed through the roof. Forget the last ball, Pakistan were out of the game after Amir finished his 4th over.

Even with Duckworth Lewis looming large, they were never in the hunt after the 20th over while batting and each over widened the gulf between DL target and Pakistan score. And then it was all over in the 35th over. There was no fight left.

A disinterested looking India went through the motions when play resumed for those farcical 5 overs with Pakistan needing over 25 runs every over. Even if Dhoni, Kohli, Rahul, Rohit and some Indian fan from the crowd had bowled those 5 overs, India still would have won handsomely. It was a total non-contest, quite like the crowd; India all the way.

So what are the lessons learned for Pakistan ?

1. Sarfraz Ahmed doesn't care for CWC history
2. Damn, Imran Khan's message was in English

World Beyond the Cup - Tete-a-tete with Federazione Cricket Italiana

First of all we would like to thank Mr. Kelum Asanka Perera, Member of the Italian Olympic Committee, Director of Cricket - Federazione Cricket Italiana and also the head coach of the Italian national team, for taking time out to answer our questions.

DHCF: Italy is usually associated with Football but what people don’t know is that cricket has a rich history in Italy. Even the famous clubs like AC Milan were initially cricket and football clubs. With Italy now been granted T20I status and International cricket action on the horizon, what does it mean for the future ?

Kelum: T20I status obviously means a lot, as all the matches played against other countries will have an impact on our global ranking. It is definitely a positive move taken by the ICC.

DHCF: Italy’s recent performances in the previous WC and WT20 qualifiers had been exceptional and beyond expectations for a few. Italy is now regarded as one of the strongest teams in mainland Europe after the Dutch. How is Italy planning to build on it? What is the next target for Italy?

Kelum: The performances have been good so far, but we have not achieved our final target. We want to create a professional and healthy environment around the team. The target is far ahead and we keep taking one step at a time..

DHCF: What is the domestic cricket structure like in Italy?

Kelum: There are many different competitions.
The first division, called SERIE A is the 50 over competition, played by 6 teams.

Emerging Cricket : Home of Cricket's New World

Cricket is one of the most watched and popular sports in the world after football. With ICC opening the gates for its member nations by giving them the T20I status, the interest levels have risen in the non traditional cricketing countries.

Who would have thought a couple of years back that we will witness Germany and Belgium play an international cricket match !

The multi-level league structure to determine the participants at the ICC marque events, the WT20 and the CWC, will ensure that there are a plenty of international cricket matches played by the new teams and they improve over time. We already see players from associate nations making their mark in the various T20 leagues.

But where do I get know about the exciting upcoming talent from the associate world? 

With so many teams, where do I get to know who is playing who and when? 

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Where do I get all the news and insights on this cricket's new world? 

The answer is Emerging Cricket. 

Quoting EC - "By providing meaningful content from those at the coalface; players, coaches, administrators and fans  – where every corner of cricket’s new world is represented and celebrated – our mission is to be the trusted voice of the emerging cricket world, the go-to place for cricket fans to be engaged and inspired by stories from the Associates and beyond."

Let's spread the word and engage with Emerging Cricket to help it grow and make it an even more vibrant community.