The ICC Champions Trophy History (and Preview)

So here we are in England for the last edition of the ICC Knockout / Mini World Cup / ICC Champions Trophy / Thing.

This is a strange little tournament purposely offset in between the 'real' fifty over world cups, designed to be a quick-smart affair all over in a couple of weeks (take note IPL). However fifty over cricket must die according to the powers that be, and the idea has now been thrown out and we won't see it again.

I'm going to disagree with the majority and say that I like the tournament. This would be the only other time that all the leading teams of world cricket will be assembled.  That was until the rise of T20 cricket came along and demanded its own little World Cup, and the other problem is that a couple of the tournaments did suck and slipped in and out of memory without much of a second thought.  Here's hoping for a memorable showing in the next fortnight to resurrect interest.

Let's have a quick look at its history:

1998 - South Africa Finally Wins Something
... and it's the only cricketing tournament they have ever won. There was a Tendulkar pummelling that eliminated Australia, but apart from that it was a pretty ho-hum affair.

2000 - The Cairns Show
India were on a nice roll courtesy of a pair of Ganguly tons and young renegades on debut namely Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan, both of who were responsible for again dismantling Australia in the quarter final. The script was set for India, but they hit a roadblock in the form of a "how did they get this far anyway" New Zealand team.  Chris Cairns fired one of his few shots as a gun batsman, and stomped all over a lazy Indian performance in the final.

I remember that day because it was one of those rare occasions the patented Fleming Frown disappeared, at least for a while.

"Why couldn't I be Australian". © Getty

Quick Preview : Champions Trophy

A mini-World Cup deserves a mini-preview.

Kamran Akmal, immortalized in his trademark pose by Madame Tussaud  in 1780.

Pakistan

Best XI: Farhat, Jamshed, Hafeez, Shafiq, Misbah (c), Malik, Akmal (wk), Riaz, Khan, Ajmal, Ali.
Form: WTWLW
Key Players: Jamshed, Misbah, Ajmal.
Akmal: Kamran
Prediction: They just tied with Ireland and then barely escaped with a 2 wicket win. Sooo... champions, I guess?

Australia

Best XI: Watson, Warner, Bailey, Clarke (c), Voges, Wade (wk), Marsh, Faulkner, Starc, Doherty, McKay.
Form: WWWWW
Key Players: Watson, Clarke, Starc.
Punchable: Watson
Prediction: Semis. Good enough to get past the Kiwis and Lankans in their group and maybe even beat England to group leader.

England

Best XI: Cook (c), Bell, Trott, Root, Morgan, Buttler (wk), Bresnan, Broad, Swann, Anderson, Finn.
Form: LWWLW
Key Players: Cook, Morgan, Swann, Anderson.
Slappable: Broad
Prediction: Semis. See Australian prediction for more.

In conversation with - Brian Mantle, Manager of the German Cricket team

With this post, Karan has made a steady debut at interviewing men who matter!

This one, is with Mr. Brian Mantle, the Manager of the German International Cricket Team (Officially known as the DCB- The Deutscher Cricket Bund) . Well, it is only fair that I start off by thanking him for being kind enough to take some precious time off his schedule to answer my questions about Cricket in Germany. It was due to the plain curiosity to know about the challenges faced to promote Cricket in a predominantly Football-crazy country, that I approached Mr. Mantle. And sure enough, he was generous to oblige this new Germany fan, with an interview.

Getting down to business, here’s what ensued from the questionnaire I had prepared for Mr. Mantle..You would ask,”um… Germany? Do they even play Cricket?” Yes, though they may not be among the world’s best teams, Deutschland is making progress through leaps and bounds. They are currently ranked 37th in the ICC rankings and I hope we see them in the top-twenty very soon.
To make matters familiar with you, Cricket in Germany has been like Football in India, except, these Germans are way better at their Cricket than we are at Football. But yes, the challenges to promote the sports are pretty much the same.

Comic : Last IPL

They were both thinking it.




Contributed by DHCF Rishabh Bablani
Rishabh’s personal blog

Regain the Faith

"You are blinded," said Dumbledore, his voice rising now, the aura of power around him palpable, his eyes blazing once more, "by the love of the office you hold, Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognise that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be! Your dementor has just destroyed the last remaining member of a pure-blood family as old as any - and see what that man chose to make of his life! I tell you now - take the steps I have suggested, and you will be remembered, in office or out, as one of the bravest and greatest Ministers of Magic we have ever known. Fail to act - and history will remember you as the man who stepped aside and allowed Voldemort a second chance to destroy the world we have tried to rebuild"

- from Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 36- The Parting of Ways

Very wise words indeed from one of the wisest men in fiction. Also totally contextual when you think of the current IPL spot-fixing scandal. Replace Cornelius Fudge by the current cricket administrators and Voldemort by match-fixing and you have an apt parallel. Unfortunately with the slew of allegations & rumours flying around, we haven't identified the sane voice of Dumbledore around whom the true cricket lovers can rally and attempt to save the game they love.

This message is intended not just for N Srinivasan and the BCCI but for all the cricket boards, ICC and FICA. They have to work together to weed out the corrupt. And the faster it  is done the better for the game. ICC removing Asad Rauf from the umpire's panel for Champions Trophy due to him being under investigation is a good step towards regaining the paying public's faith.

There are two views being taken -
(a) by the "breaking news media" & the "trigger-happy" social media - everything is fixed and
(b) the official line of just three rotten eggs.
The truth, as it always happens, lies somewhere in between. Not everyone is corrupt and I would be quite surprised if the entire racket involved only the three players. BCCI lost one chance to come clean a year ago. It has been given another chance. It MUST conduct a proper enquiry into all charges/allegations while working along with the government agencies. But with allegations now hovering around the BCCI chief itself, it maybe quite difficult for anyone to accept the results of such an investigation.

Oh Black Caps... How Ye Flatter to Deceive

Seriously, you want this guy?  © Getty

It was a cool winters evening in New Zealand and here I was, a humble supporter tuning into the late night cricket, brimming with optimism at the prospect of chasing down a reachable 239 to achieve glorious victory at Lords.  We had come fresh of a hard fought 0-0 stalemate at home with the 'moral victory' (if such a thing counts for anything at all), the apple was ripe for the picking to give it back to the motherland at no other than the home of cricket itself.

Mere minutes later alas, it was 29-6 at lunch and I amongst the few cheering the visitors on had no choice but to cave in and choose the infinitely more comforting warmth of the bed-sheets.

What happened?