The Only Way Is Up

The only way is up for Glamorgan. We could split hairs and admit that, actually, the Dragons aren’t bottom of the table in the embryonic stages of the campaign. But based on three results alone, Things Can Only Get Better – and if you can’t hear D:Ream playing at the back of your mind right now, you’re not trying…

The margins of defeat have been 52 runs, 130 runs and two wickets in that order. It’s tempting to jump in with an ill-conceived rant when things aren’t going well, but you can end up looking stupid. Just ask Tottenham fans when the gap between them and Arsenal was 10 points in their favour not so long ago.

But enough about football. It’s the cricket season, right?

A recurring theme so far this season for Glamorgan has been the inability to put runs on the board. Marcus North is currently the most anticipated Welsh arrival since Brunel brought the railway to town. And I’m pretty sure no-one was saying that as Australia came to the SWALEC Stadium for the 1st Ashes Test in 2009.

The Plunder Games – Week 3 Recap

Have you been too busy studying for your exams to take note of what has been going on in the IPL? Or have you been too engrossed in searching for a job to know who has hit the most ‘DLF Maximums’ over the past week? Maybe all your time is being taken up by stalking your ex-boyfriend; or you could just be some closeted IPL fan who likes to keep up appearances by publicly denouncing the ‘pajama cricket’ but want to know how your favorite IPL team is doing?

Never fear. For the attention-deficit IPL fan in you, I present to you ‘The Plunder Games’ – a weekly recap of all the IPL action. Here, you can catch up with all the past week’s action in just 10 minutes.

Game 22: KXIP vs KKR

Kolkata Knight Riders 127 for 2 (Gambhir 66*) beat Kings XI Punjab 124 for 7 (Gilchrist 40*, Lee 2-26, Narine 2-24) by eight wickets 

Match in 140 characters: Kings XI struggle to 124, as Gambhir and Kallis lead KKR to an easy win

Viagra Performer of the day: It is a wonder why Gambhir hesitates to open the innings more often, considering his success at the top which usually converts to wins for his team; a typical innings ensured no hiccups in a steady chase.

Best tweet of the game: There are so many mosquitoes in the field at mohali. Probably, thats why KXIP players wanted to get ALL OUT!   #ipl (by @coolfunnytshirt)

Game 23: DD vs DC

Delhi Daredevils 162 for 5 (Pietersen 103*, Steyn 2-19) beat Deccan Chargers 157 for 8 (Parthiv 45*, Nadeem 3-16) by five wickets 

Match in 140 characters: Nadeem and Morkel restrict Chargers to 157 after a good start; despite a top order wobble, KP powers DD to win, with some generous help

#TrottsFault: Deccan Chargers would have felt that they were in with a chance, as they left the Daredevils staggering at 65/4. All that changed in the space of a Duminy over, where he conceded 21 runs to hand the momentum back to DD.

The IPL so far

Nearly 30 matches in, and we're finally a third into the IPL. It's great to see that, for once, one or two teams aren't running away with it. How often do we have a six-way tie for anything? Usually, if there are six incompetent teams sharing points, it's the bottom 6. All the better to slate the Deccan Chargers - they really must love that basement. Here are the standings, as I write this. In 15 hours or so, two out of the current top three will share the lead with 10 points.

Teams	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR
Delhi Daredevils	6	4	2	0	0	8	+0.681
Kolkata Knight Riders	7	4	3	0	0	8	+0.432
Pune Warriors	7	4	3	0	0	8	+0.290
Rajasthan Royals	8	4	4	0	0	8	+0.190
Chennai Super Kings	7	4	3	0	0	8	+0.033
Royal Challengers Bangalore	7	4	3	0	0	8	-0.192
Mumbai Indians	6	3	3	0	0	6	-0.117
Kings XI Punjab	7	3	4	0	0	6	-0.467
Deccan Chargers	5	0	5	0	0	0	-1.032

Surprise packages

By "surprise packages", I don't mean an unexpected parcel delivered to your door, with a clearly audible ticking noise coming from it. Or maybe I do. I'm not sure.

Hampshire Comment: Glamorgan vs Hampshire

Hants (156 & 204/8) beat Glamorgan (103/9 dec & 256) by 2 wickets at SWALEC stadium, Cardiff.
 
In sport, winning is everything but Hampshire will know that it would be folly to gloss over the cracks en route to victory in Cardiff this weekend.
 
Hampshire beat Glamorgan with Hamza Riazuddin scoring the winning runs off the penultimate ball of the match, but one couldn't help feeling that it should have been a lot easier for Hampshire, particularly after a day one in which Hampshire utterly dominated.
 
A young bowling attack has been assembled at the Ageas Bowl for this summer as the likes of Dominic Cork, Simon Jones and Imran Tahir all moved on. A new attack has been built around the likes of Danny Briggs and David Balcombe, with Riazuddin also being given a chance of first team action.
 
And this investment in youth has already paid dividends in the opening two games of this season, with Balcombe in particularly fine fettle. He excelled again in Cardiff, taking 5/33 in Glamorgan's first innings as the home side faltered to 103/9 shortly before close on day one.

David Balcombe's 'Ridiculous' Run of Form

It's not so long ago David Balcombe was merely a peripheral figure in the Hampshire squad, unable to stake a claim for first team action. Having made his debut for Hants in 2007, Balcombe subsequently spent much of the proceeding 3 seasons playing in the lower Surrey leagues, before going on loan to Kent last season.

And it was at Canterbury last year that something finally clicked for the 27 year old, who started his cricketing career playing for Durham UCCE in 2005. His last two games for Kent last season yielded 19 wickets at 13.37 runs a piece, form that made his permanent employers Hampshire welcome him back to the Ageas Bowl with open arms.

Of course relegation for Hants last term meant a summer clear out of playing staff was needed, which worked in favour of players like Balcombe as it meant a guaranteed chance of first team action in Division Two and in Balcombe's case, he has taken it with both hands.

The Plunder Games – Week 2 Recap

Have you been too busy studying for your exams to take note of what has been going on in the IPL? Or have you been too engrossed in searching for a job to know who has hit the most ‘DLF Maximums’ over the past week? Maybe all your time is being taken up by stalking your ex-boyfriend; or you could just be some closeted IPL fan who likes to keep up appearances by publicly denouncing the ‘pajama cricket’ but want to know how your favorite IPL team is doing?

Never fear. For the attention-deficit IPL fan in you, I present to you ‘The Plunder Games’ – a weekly recap of all the IPL action. Here, you can catch up with all the past week’s action in just 10 minutes.

Game 12: MI vs RR

Mumbai Indians 197 for 6 (Pollard 64, Rayudu 47*) beat Rajasthan Royals 170 (Shah 76, Rahane 40, Munaf 4-28)

Match in 140 characters: Frenetic hitting from Pollard and Rayadu take MI to 197, Rahane and Shah threaten a tight contest, but night belongs to the big Trinidadian

Charlie Sheen Winning Moment: Owais Shah was threatening to overshadow Pollard’s knock with a blistering innings of his own, when a beleaguered Bhajji threw the ball to his go-to bowler, and he didn’t disappoint. Off the first ball, he knocked back Shah’s stumps and that was basically the end of the Royals’ resistance.

Viagra Performer of the day: 33 balls, 6 fours, 4 sixes, all added up to a typical Pollard-ian innings. If that wasn’t enough, he returned to scalp 4 batsmen and take 1 catch.

Best tweet of the game: Once a Shah, Owais Shah. #IPL (by @coolfunnytshirt)

Pinocchio Fact: Pollard’s workout consists entirely of lifting  Junior Ambani everyday (courtesy@_fakeiplplayer)

Hampshire vs Gloucestershire: Comment

David Balcombe's 11/119 was the best figures of his career

Hampshire captain Jimmy Adams spoke before this season about laying building blocks for the future having assembled a young squad for the 2012 campaign with coach Giles White, and if those calls for patience and perseverance were to take the heat off the more junior members of the squad before the season opener against Gloucestershire at Ageas Bowl this weekend, then it very nearly worked!

David Balcombe, the tall right arm seamer who was out on loan at Kent last season, bowled with pace and accuracy to finish with career best figures of 11-119, a sterling effort, and one that almost set up victory against the team that suffered an innings defeat against Essex last week.

The Plunder Games – Week 1 Recap

Have you been too busy studying for your exams to take note of what has been going on in the IPL? Or have you been too engrossed in searching for a job to know who has hit the most ‘DLF Maximums’ over the past week? Maybe all your time is being taken up by stalking your ex-boyfriend; or you could just be some closeted IPL fan who likes to keep up appearances by publicly denouncing the ‘pajama cricket’ but want to know how your favorite IPL team is doing?

Never fear. For the attention-deficit IPL fan in you, I present to you ‘The Plunder Games’ – a weekly recap of all the IPL action. Here, you can catch up with all the past week’s action in just 10 minutes.

Game 1: CSK vs MI

Mumbai Indians 115 for 2 (Levi 50) beat Chennai Super Kings 112 (Pollard 2-15, Malinga 2-16, Ojha 2-17) by eight wickets 

Match in 140 characters: Vijay stutters, Dhoni is run out, Ojha fires, CSK stumble to 112…Levi strikes, Tendulkar retires hurt, Sharma gets his box checked, MI win

#TrottsFault: Apart from getting IPL debutant du Plessis run out, Vijay’s nervy batting forced the rest of the batsmen to search for hidden demons in the pitch.

Charlie Sheen Winning moment: In his first appearance for the Bombay Desis (aka Mumbai Indians), Ojha struck to remove danger man and IPL God Suresh Raina. CSK never really recovered after that.

Viagra Performer of the day: It is rare to see players justifying their hype in their first game itself; yet, that was what Levi did. He removed any notions of a contest with some brutal strikes, and he will get more dangerous as the tournament progresses.

Why Cricket is Religion in the Land of Zero ?

Why Cricket is Religion in the Land of Zero ? Or Why Cricket is Mathematics ?

Disclaimer: This is an original research article and hence might appear extremely long. Any perceived humor in any part of this article is unintended and is purely accidental like the 23.5 degree bend of Saeed Ajmal's elbow. If any part / parts of this piece appear disjointed like Suresh Raina's technique, that too is coincidental. The author holds all copyrights over the article. Any reproduction of any part of this post done any time in the past by anyone should be considered as pardonable acts of flattery.

While I was bothered by India missing out on an Asia Cup Final berth, most of India was busy celebrating Tendulkar’s 100^th 100. So I was wondering, “Is there something wrong with me ? Why am I hurt so much when even the players don’t appear to be hurt by losing the Asia Cup crown they had held thus far ?”

A Soccer fan on Facebook who hates Cricket pestered me a lot the other day. He refused to recognize Cricket World Cup and believed Soccer fans are jovial and Cricket fans turn violent if someone derides Cricket. He used a lot of convoluted logic and then demanded that I must give up on Cricket because I happen to be a Doctor and because one of his teachers believed Cricket meant Crick [whatever that meant].

After banishing him to pavilion, oops oblivion; I sat down and thought; “Why is Cricket so popular in India ? And why do I love it so much ?”. Since I am a hardcore Indian, who has never ventured out of the borders, if I find an answer to why Indians love Cricket so much, we’ll know the answer to why I love it so much !

Tendulkar: genius captured in 19 seconds

It was 2007. We were at Trent Bridge. The veteran cricket photographer Patrick Eagar was covering his 300th Test. He was kind enough to spare a few minutes for a chat, a wide-ranging discussion on cricket photography. At the end of the interview I asked him to name a cricketer who was tough to shoot. He considered the question for a few seconds. Here’s his response:

“I find Tendulkar quite difficult to photograph. That’s probably because I’ve seen more of Lara in the one-day situation than Tendulkar. You have to admire some of the inventiveness in some of Lara’s shots. I’ve seen Tendulkar in a slightly more passive mould. I find it very difficult to take a picture of Tendulkar that has people saying, ‘What a good batsman!’ I don’t know why; need to work it out.’

I thought of Eagar’s statement yesterday when Mahesh (@cornerd) pointed me to a Tendulkar six off Albie Morkel in the opening match of the IPL. It was the third over of the run-chase. He had struck Morkel for a four through extra-cover. Then he was beaten by a snorter that took off from a good length. Then he took strike for the fourth ball. And did this:

A Game of Thrones in Mumbai

The Mumbai Indians’ quest for IPL glory has led to the latest development in their camp: Sachin Tendulkar taking a ‘break’ from captaincy and Harbhajan Singh taking over the reins.

First of, there won’t be too many arguments in favor of Sachin continuing as skipper. Throughout his career, the Mumbai maestro has never mastered the art of captaincy, be it for India or the Mumbai Indians. Highlights of his captaincy includes more mis-steps than master-strokes; for instance, keeping Pollard for too late during the final of IPL-3. There is no doubt that he is a good mentor for the younger players in the squad and a good sounding board for fellow veterans; but captaining a team is something he is better off without. In that sense, relinquishing the captaincy makes sense, though I don’t understand the term ‘taking a break’. Does that mean, he will want the reins back, when he feels sufficiently rejuvenated and motivated? In that case, this move doesn’t make sense.