Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Identify the cricketer
It takes a lot out of you to play International cricket. A top level cricket team can do without a coach, but physios are a must. The little champ in caps is Ian Bell, whereas Dean Conway, the England cricket team physio (who was robbed by masked-men at a sydney hotel) is showing the V.Hint : Cricket has nothing to do with nudity, but this is one of those photos. The naked man captain's England these days & rarely fields at backward point - which made him one of the best fielders in the world. Right handed batsman with good spin playing ability.options : Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Graeme Swann, Jamies Dalrymple or Luke wright.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Unseasonal rain adds to the IPL's early worries
Wilson NgCobo has had to deal with tremendous workload over the last couple of days, first in trying to get the square ready and then in pulling those huge green plastic sheets on and off the ground. The chief groundsman at Kingsmead shrugs his shoulders when asked about the exercise, and about the forecast of more rain in Durban over the next fortnight. Moved to South Africa with much fanfare, worries for the Indian Premier League (IPL) seem to be growing just three days into the event because of combination of problems - some man-made and some that the organisers have no control over.
Five of the seven games in the tournament have already seen delayed starts - one had to be curtailed to a six-over chase, one was aborted midway, and one had to be abandoned due to inclement weather. The sunny South African climate was touted as one of the reasons why Lalit Modi opted for this country as the venue instead of England, but Messrs Duckworth and Lewis have showed up on the scoreboard more often that the big hitters whose party the T20 tournament was supposed to be.
After a slightly lukewarm response in Cape Town on the weekend, the IPL was hoping to take off here in Durban, where a huge Indian community was waiting for their favourite cricketers and Bollywood stars. But on day one, the stands were less than half full, and those who did turn up had to be content with grooving to remixed Hindi songs as the weather allowed only 31 of the 80 promised overs to be bowled in the double-header.
"It's really a shame that matches have had to be decided on the D/L method. It's not the best way to play the IPL," said Kolkata captain Brendon McCullum, who had kicked off last year's tournament with a record 158.
The new strategy breaks - 10 overs into the innings, created to accommodate more TV advertising - have not only received flak from players and coaches for breaking momentum, they have also been criticised by spectators at the ground as "needless" and "boring".
But perhaps the biggest problem has been the failure of the batsmen to dominate the bowling for a sustained period of time in any of the matches. The scores that hovered in the 170-190 run mark on average last season are down to 130-140, no centuries have been hit so far, and the IPL is still waiting for the explosive start it was hoping to get.
It's still early days, there are 52 matches to follow. Things could change quickly, but the initial feeling is that the energy of 2008 will be hard to replicate.
Five of the seven games in the tournament have already seen delayed starts - one had to be curtailed to a six-over chase, one was aborted midway, and one had to be abandoned due to inclement weather. The sunny South African climate was touted as one of the reasons why Lalit Modi opted for this country as the venue instead of England, but Messrs Duckworth and Lewis have showed up on the scoreboard more often that the big hitters whose party the T20 tournament was supposed to be.
After a slightly lukewarm response in Cape Town on the weekend, the IPL was hoping to take off here in Durban, where a huge Indian community was waiting for their favourite cricketers and Bollywood stars. But on day one, the stands were less than half full, and those who did turn up had to be content with grooving to remixed Hindi songs as the weather allowed only 31 of the 80 promised overs to be bowled in the double-header.
"It's really a shame that matches have had to be decided on the D/L method. It's not the best way to play the IPL," said Kolkata captain Brendon McCullum, who had kicked off last year's tournament with a record 158.
The new strategy breaks - 10 overs into the innings, created to accommodate more TV advertising - have not only received flak from players and coaches for breaking momentum, they have also been criticised by spectators at the ground as "needless" and "boring".
But perhaps the biggest problem has been the failure of the batsmen to dominate the bowling for a sustained period of time in any of the matches. The scores that hovered in the 170-190 run mark on average last season are down to 130-140, no centuries have been hit so far, and the IPL is still waiting for the explosive start it was hoping to get.
It's still early days, there are 52 matches to follow. Things could change quickly, but the initial feeling is that the energy of 2008 will be hard to replicate.
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