Over the next few weeks the world of cricket will be dominated by the Indian Premier League, a radically new tournament that could change the game forever

Jayaditya Gupta15-Apr-2008

Over the next few weeks the fate of cricket, that quintessentially British sport
often seen as a sleepy throwback to a bygone era, will be in the hands of the Indian
Premier League, a radically new six-week tournament. The IPL, in which the world’s
best players play a new, charged-up form of cricket, begins on Friday; its success –
with US$2 billion at stake, no one is contemplating the possibility of failure – could
end up changing the way cricket is played, viewed and governed. It could become
faster, more commercial, with less time for the its traditional mystifying rituals
and subtleties; it could – whisper it – become more American.Whatever happens, every step in any direction is likely to attract controversy – as
the IPL has since it was unveiled last September. In the seven months since,
national cricket boards have expressed alarm at its possible impact; the game’s
leading voices have warned against letting the IPL – and all it stands for – take
over cricket; one respected writer called it “local hooch” to the Scotch of
traditional cricket; a former World Cup-winning captain called it “instant noodles”.
A journalist in New Zealand, a country particularly threatened by the league, said
it is to cricket “what diarrhoea is to dodgy curry houses – an unfortunate
by-product.” The Beijing Olympics has probably received better press in recent
times.And all this for a mere sporting event that lasts less than two months, takes place
in one country – India – and even has the blessings of cricket’s global
administrator, the International Cricket Council. What’s the fuss all about?For nearly 150 years, the centrepiece of cricket has been contests between
countries; for the first time the sport is about to see a contest among clubs and
featuring the world’s top players – who, paid nearly ten times more than their
international match fees, could contemplate a career outside the strictly regulated
international game. Scyld Berry, one of the game’s most respected writers, calls
this the “fourth age” of cricket.Cricket’s stereotyped “Empire” image – an elegant game played in pristine whites at
a nonchalant pace over five days, with frequent breaks for lunch, tea and drinks –
was first altered 30 years ago by the Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer, who
picked up the nascent one-day version of cricket, added coloured clothing,
floodlights and catchy slogans [“Big boys play at night”] and made it a TV-friendly
spectacle. His World Series Cricket, deemed unofficial by the establishment, also
gave the players more money so when peace was finally made the players and the game were left better off than before.

The IPL has taken that process to a logical conclusion, at double speed and with a
few significant twists. First, it employs cricket’s latest version, Twenty20, which
is short on time – matches are over in three hours, one-tenth the time of a regular
international match and not much more than a football or basketball game – and big
on entertainment and hype. The compression takes away a lot of the game’s subtlety;
the dice are loaded in favour of the batsmen – the batters in cricket – who are
encouraged to hit as many sixes, or home runs, as possible. Traditionalists see it
as a brazen perversion of the game, but its format is designed to attract newer,
younger audiences – especially those hooked on European soccer and Formula One racing
– and provides cricket the best opportunity for growth.Next, it replaces the traditional “national” element of cricket, where at the
highest level teams represent countries, with city-based franchises owned by, among
others, India’s wealthiest man, Mukesh Ambani; its biggest film star, Shah Rukh
Khan; its flashiest businessman, Vijay Mallya [owner of the Whyte & Mackay
distillery and the Force India Formula 1 team]; and Rupert Murdoch’s son Lachlan.
These teams have on their rosters the best players from across the world so, instead
of India taking on Australia, you will have Sachin Tendulkar, the game’s biggest
star, playing for his Mumbai team alongside Shaun Pollock, from South Africa, and
Lasith Malinga of Sri Lanka; they could be taking on a Bangalore side featuring
India’s current and past captains, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid, and top players
from Australia, West Indies, New Zealand and South Africa.It is similar in some respects to England’s domestic cricket league, where some of
the world’s best players have traditionally played for the county cricket clubs
during the April-September season. The difference, though is that the county clubs,
like the clubs in all top European soccer leagues, were established on a
geographical basis with fixed fan following; the IPL’s franchises are sold to the
highest bidder, divorced from the notion of geographical or local support.This is at once the league’s strength and weakness. By selling the eight franchises,
for which it made $723 million when the ten-year rights were auctioned in January,
the IPL has freed itself of any liability risk; it is now up to each franchise to
cover its costs through ticket sales, local advertising and minimum guarantee
returns from the IPL. However, the concept of franchises goes against the average
Indian cricket fan’s idea of the game as it should be played and is in defiance of
the fact that Indian cricket’s support base is focused almost purely on the national
team. So it’s difficult to gauge how a fan of the Hyderbad team will appreciate
Shahid Afridi, a Pakistani batsman, targeting the universally worshipped
Tendulkar.

All of this is fuelled by a financial outlay the likes of which the game has never
seen, from billion-dollar television deals to ten-fold increases in player wages. The
IPL sold the ten-year TV rights for $1 billion – a stunning amount for a largely
untried format and a virgin tournament. Put into perspective, the ICC sold the
2007-2015 rights to its tournaments – some of cricket’s biggest events, including
two World Cups – for around $1.1 billion.At the player auction – another first for cricket, though more familiar to American
sport – last February, 75 players were signed up by the eight franchises for a total
of $36 million. That’s an average of around $500,000 for each player, for 44 days’
work – with the rest of the year free to earn money through international cricket.
At the top, India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni will earn $1.5 million this season; that is
six weeks’ wages for Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably the world’s best soccer player at
the moment, and not much less than what Derrek Lee or David Ortiz earned over the
same period in 2007 while playing for the Cubs and the Red Sox. And this with a salary
cap in the first year: From Season Two, when the caps are off, it’s anyone’s guess
how high the pay scales can go.The wealth is spread all round. Ishant Sharma, a rookie bowler [pitcher] in his
first season, will earn $950,000, largely on the back of a hugely successful tour of
Australia earlier this year. Australia’s Andrew Symonds will earn $1.35 million, at
least 20% more than he is likely to get playing a full year for Australia.
The knock-on effect is easy to spot – national cricket boards are now planning pay
hikes at various levels, which can only be good for the game.There is a large element of self-preservation in what those national boards are
doing, however, because the IPL has the potential to set up a parallel cricket
structure with its power to offer a player more money in one season than he can earn
in five years of regular cricket. Right now the IPL operates in a 44-day window
squeezed into an already packed calendar tightly regulated by the ICC, so minimising
the risk of players forfeiting their national or other pre-arranged commitments for
the new league. It has also largely kept out players from England, the one country
whose regular season overlaps with the IPL’s. There is no guarantee the IPL will be
so accommodating in future, and that is a huge source of concern – will the game’s
top players place cash over country? It’s a particular concern for the smaller
countries such as New Zealand, where cricket is not the most popular sport. And will
the IPL, which is based on Twenty20 cricket, force out the traditional form of the
game, which requires very different skills?There’s one more significant difference between the IPL and all that cricket has
seen in the past: Where once the sport was governed, like the Empire, out of London, the IPL – and everything it stands for – is controlled entirely by
India. The IPL is owned by the Indian cricket board, the BCCI, and is the brainchild
of Lalit Modi, a vice-president of the BCCI and the man who has, in the past three
years, raked in billions of dollars in television and endorsement deals by the
simple expedient of regulating the control of a game that has near-religious status in a
booming economy. It is no secret that 70% of cricket’s economy is generated
by India; now, that muscle has a mind of its own.In many ways, Twenty20 cricket is perfect for the IPL. It is short, and so able to
slot into primetime television programming, the base on which it rests. Indian fans
have grown tired of cricket’s longer versions – the five-day matches are sometimes played in
near-empty stadia and, though the one-day game is a sellout, it is beaten for sheer
impact and entertainment by Twenty20. And, in a most happy coincidence, the launch
of the IPL last September was followed, weeks later, by the national team winning
the inaugural world championship. Since then it has become a whole new ball game.Yet it won’t be an exaggeration to say the BCCI stumbled on the IPL. Twenty20
cricket had been around for a few years, finding spectacular success in England,
where it was created in 2003 to take advantage of the long summer evenings. Matches
would begin after working hours, enabling the average cricket fan to unwind with his
friends, family and a few beers. It caught on, for the same reasons, in Australia
and South Africa, and in West Indies where the Texan billionaire Allen Stanford
built a small township and bankrolled an entire tournament.

It left India cold, however, largely because there was no apparent planning. Before
winning the world championship in South Africa, the Indian team had played one
Twenty20 international and the domestic tournament had been a largely forgotten affair. One
seminal turning point was the World Cup in the one-day format a year ago, a
tournament in which India fared disastrously, losing to unfancied Bangladesh and
crashing out in the first round. Within days, the Indian media czar Subhash Chandra,
who had fallen out with the BCCI over a telecast rights deal, had announced the
Indian Cricket League (ICL), a Twenty20 tournament featuring international players –
mainly those on the fringes of international cricket or those who’d just retired –
spread among six teams.All this while, it later appeared, the BCCI had been working towards such a league
but, seemingly caught unawares by the ICL, responded by saying it would not
recognise the league and that those who played in it would not be able to avail of
any benefits. The ICC too said it would not recognise the ICL, followed by every
major national cricket board. This effectively meant the ICL was an unofficial or
rebel league and those who joined it would not be eligible to play any other,
official, form of cricket.The second part of the BCCI’s response was to fast-track its own league, which was
duly unveiled by Modi, its commissioner, in September. Modi had spent the past
couple of years building up the BCCI’s portfolio of record-breaking deals,
commercialising every aspect of cricket – television rights in India, overseas, and
in neutral countries, shirt sponsorships, unprecedented endorsements. The IPL,
though, was the icing on the cake.The Americanisation of cricket – the concept of franchises, a “commissioner” in
charge of the league instead of the usual chairman or president, player auctions,
the subsequent draft picks for rookies, salary caps, the direct references to the
major American sports leagues in the IPL’s prospectus – has its roots in the years
Modi spent in the US, as a student at Duke in the 1980s where he spent his free time
watching sports on TV. He says he was “fascinated” by the manner in which
professional sport is run in the US, and the fact that someone could make his living
out of sport. Returning home, Modi – born into a wealthy business family – sniffed
opportunity in the way cricket’s TV rights deals were signed. His Modi Entertainment
Network worked with ESPN to buy the rights in the major cricket-playing countries,
in most cases beating Rupert Murdoch and often getting bargain prices.From there to the free-market concept of the IPL was a relatively short journey but
there is a long road ahead of the IPL, many unanswered questions, several doubts. Is
it sport or entertainment? Franchises have been given a free hand to bring in
revenues and it is a no-brainer that Bollywood will play a large role to attract the
crowds. Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood’s biggest star, owns the Kolkata franchise;
another star, Preity Zinta, is a co-owner of the Mohali [Punjab] team. Other teams
have launched TV promos featuring local heroes.The issue of revenues is a grey area. The only guarantee is what the BCCI has earned
– close to $2 billion, including TV rights, bids for franchises and other
endorsement deals. Part of the TV rights money will be ploughed back to the
franchises, every year, as will the prize money. There are no other guarantees – not
for the advertisers, the franchises, the TV channel [Sony] that bought the rights.
Ticket sales is an issue at the time of writing, four days before the start of the
league – Shah Rukh, whose Kolkata team plays at the 100,000-capacity Eden
Gardens stadium, says he is disappointed at slow ticket sales and having “sleepless
nights” over his involvement with the franchise.Those anxieties don’t hold a candle, of course, to what cricket outside of the IPL
is feeling – or fearing. An exodus to the IPL could severely destabilise the game,
at the very least forcing a reworking of international schedules. Over the longer
term, if the league is a success, it could simply become a magnet for young talent
favouring its direct power-play over the game’s traditional subtleties and
complexities. That, given the IPL’s genesis, would be a fitting transition.

The IPL has given young players the opportunity to interact with their elders and betters – both from India and overseas

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan20-May-2008

VRV Singh is among the many young Indian players who have benefited from sharing a dressing room with overseas cricketers in the IPL © AFP
It was the penultimate over of the Delhi Daredevils’ innings and Punjab’s VRV Singh, as he had done while bowling in the death through the tournament, was trying to get every ball in the blockhole. The first, which ended up a low full-toss, was turned to short fine leg by Virender Sehwag; the second, which Tillakaratne Dilshan tried to pull, was an attempted yorker that turned into a beamer down leg side; and the third, which Dilshan paddled past short fine leg, was another low full-toss.That was when Mahela Jayawardene, fielding at deep third man, decided to run halfway across the field to have a word with the bowler and captain. As someone who captains Dilshan in the Sri Lankan team, it was obvious Jayawardene saw through his plan. Fine leg was pushed back, three full-ish balls followed, the line was controlled according to how Dilshan moved in the crease, and the remainder of the over produced just three. In a game that was decided by six runs, it was a crucial over.There are many reasons for Punjab’s ascendancy to second spot in the IPL – balanced side, strong bowling attack, good mix of Indian and foreign talent – but tactics have played a big part.The international players have imparted their ideas and the local players have chipped in during brainstorming sessions. Australians have helped in analysing Australian opponents, and Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara have been perfect allies for Yuvraj Singh.Brett Lee, for the two weeks he was available, was a big brother to the fast bowlers. One young Indian bowler talks of the “highly emotional” atmosphere in the dressing room the day Lee left. “We became so close to him that we felt bad when he said goodbye. The amount we learnt from him in such a short time was unbelievable. He used to treat every practice session as if it was his last.”Sangakkara has missed the last four games but that hasn’t stopped him from making a serious contribution. “Uday Kaul [the young replacement wicketkeeper] had never kept to quality fast bowling before,” says a team member, “but Sangakkara has ensured he gets adequate training.” Even during the early games, Sangakkara made sure Kaul got enough preparation in the nets.How useful has it been brain-storming with international and local players? “It’s interesting to see how the same questions are approached by people with different perspectives,” Sangakkara told Cricinfo. “Sometimes you get two or three opinions on the same subject – or more. The debate then starts. It’s important how you bring all those into one thought process or one strategy.”What’s been really challenging for Sangakkara and Jayawardene is coming up with strategies to counter their fellow Sri Lankans – which they haven’t quite managed against the wily Muttiah Muralitharan, who’s foxed them both at crucial moments. Sangakkara thinks there are advantages to planning against your own countrymen.”You find yourself coming up with new ways to combat these players [like Murali],” he says, “but you then realise there are new dimensions to their game that can be exploited to Sri Lanka’s benefit later. When you analyse someone’s game, you try and find how you can get the better of them, but also find new ways in which they can be lethal. It’s nice to sit back and analyse your own team members – gives you an appreciation and new-found respect.” If he gets a direct hit, he analyses what went right. If he misses, he analyses what went wrong. It’s the attention to detail that was mind-boggling for us Aakash Chopra on Ricky Ponting’s approach to fielding in the IPLThe Australian way
Like Punjab, all eight franchises are experiencing the benefits of players interacting with their international peers and elders. The prolific Rohit Sharma has attributed part of his success to Adam Gilchrist. “He told me not to get swayed by the results, as my job is only to keep performing.” Delhi’s young bowlers can’t stop raving about Glenn McGrath, and over in Jaipur, Shane Warne has been inspiring a whole generation.McGrath’s influence goes beyond his role as a fast bowler: he asked for videos of Pradeep Sangwan’s Ranji Trophy matches to analyse his action and suggest improvements. “McGrath makes it a point to stand at mid-off or mid-on when the youngsters are bowling,” says TA Sekhar, cricket operations chief of GMR Holdings, the owner of the Delhi franchise. “Now that itself is a great inspiration for young bowlers like Yo Mahesh and Sangwan. If they bowl a no-ball, he’s encouraging them, telling them how to deal with the free-hit ball. If they bowl five good balls, he makes sure they don’t get carried away with the sixth.”Halhadar Das, the Orissa wicketkeeper who plays for the Hyderabad franchise, says he never imagined he would even see Gilchrist, let alone learn from him. Sumit Khatri, Rajasthan’s chinaman bowler, says he needs to pinch himself every time Warne says “Well bowled.” And S Badrinath, who is yet to make the national side despite years of domestic consistency, talks of the lessons learnt from Michael Hussey, who went through a similar phase (“His message was simple,” Badrinath says. “Enjoy whatever you are doing and the rest will follow”)Ricky Ponting’s dedication to fielding was an eye-opener for everyone in the Kolkata side. “His dedication to fielding is unbelievable,” says Aakash Chopra, the former India opener who’s currently with the Knight Riders. “If he gets a direct hit, he analyses what went right. If he misses, he analyses what went wrong. It’s the attention to detail that was mind-boggling for us.”Australians have dominated the tournament so far but it’s been their attitude to practice that has really benefited their teams. McGrath is the first to arrive at nets and the last to leave. Ponting ensured that every batting session was planned properly, and while he may not have scored many runs, his approach was inspiration enough. Warne has managed to throw in tactics even while relaxing in a swimming pool in Goa. (“It was great to sit around the pool and talk about how to construct an over,” he said.)The approach is likely to rub off. “I always wondered how some Australians manage to score despite looking so badly out of form,” says one former India player. “Now I realise it’s because of the amount they practise. They target one area and go on striking the ball there, irrespective of the length. It’s such routines that makes them come out of slumps.”

The likes of McGrath and Lee have taken their duties as mentors seriously, and have also set good examples with their dedication to practice © Getty Images
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It’s not all been one-way traffic. In an era of packed international schedules, the IPL has also allowed Indian superstars to interact with domestic players. “I hadn’t seen him earlier but one ball was enough to convince me that he was a talented bowler,” said Sachin Tendulkar of Dhaval Kulkarni, the 19-year-old medium-pacer who is the highest wicket-taker for Mumbai after nine games.Ross Taylor made it a point to talk to Rahul Dravid and Shivnarine Chanderpaul about batting in England, where he was set to join New Zealand for a Test series; and Cameron White said his most satisfying experience in the IPL was discussing legspin with Anil Kumble.India’s domestic cricketers, who could never have imagined sharing the same dressing room with legends like Tendulkar have probably benefited the most. “More than anything else, it’s given domestic cricketers a strong belief,” says a former India allrounder who is currently with one of the franchises. “There is a general perception that international cricketers are perfect, but you realise that all of them have weaknesses too. It’s because they work around these weaknesses that they play at the international level. So domestic cricketers will start to believe they can make it too, as long as they are focused and totally dedicated.”The downside
It hasn’t been all good, though. A few foreign players have treated the tournament like a circus that offers them generous pay packets, and some have shown no restraint when it comes to late nights.”Most of them are used to drinking late and partying hard but the worrying aspect is that some of the young Indian players are emulating this,” says an Indian player who is part of one of the franchises. “They must know their limits. Just because they see their heroes partying, it doesn’t mean they need to follow that.”Halfway through the tournament, Bangalore’s think-tank felt the need to read the riot act to the players, listing the kind of discipline that was expected from them. Murmurs have been heard about the Deccan Chargers being distracted about the number of get-togethers and promotional events being organised. Such talk usually accompanies teams that are not doing well but it’s a warning one mustn’t ignore: revolutions have their flip side too.

A statistical preview of the four-Test series between West Indies and England

Siddhartha Talya03-Feb-2009England’s domination of West Indies for the last nine years is an indication of how chronic cricket’s decline has been in the Caribbean. England have been ruthless after finding themselves at the receiving end of much hardship from West Indian teams for almost 20 years, and have favoured playing them more than anyone else since winning the Wisden Trophy for the first time in over 30 years in 2000. They’ve won 13 Tests against West Indies since then – including three out of four in the Caribbean – and lost just once. And despite the recent turmoil in English cricket, Andrew Strauss has a good chance of putting the off-field drama out of the spotlight and further extending England’s dominance.

Strauss has been in good form since the start of 2008, but has a modest record against West Indies: he had a forgettable home series against them in 2007 where he averaged 24. However, the rest of the top six have performed impressively and will bank on their past record to improve their recent run. Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood all averaged under 40 since last year, but against West Indies, they’ve been formidable. Andrew Flintoff missed the home series in 2007, but in nine Tests before then, he averaged 51.25. (Click here for the batting records of England’s batsmen in the last one year.)

A feature of England’s success has been their ability to seize the advantage in the first innings. In 17 Tests since 2000, England have gained the first-innings lead on 13 occasions – the average lead has been 157.46 runs, and they’ve won 11 of these Tests. Partnerships have been the key: England’s top six wickets have averaged 44.75 per stand since 2000, while West Indies have managed 33.98 – a significant difference of close to 12 runs for each wicket. The fourth wicket has been the most productive for England, averaging 63.96 in 28 innings, but for West Indies, no stand has yielded an average of more than 50 – 43.90 for the fifth wicket is the highest.

However, in two of England’s three wins in the 2004 series in the West Indies, the home team ran them close in the first innings, only to capitulate in the second and surrender the Test. England managed a lead of 28 in the first Test in Kingston, but Steve Harmison took a career-best 7 for 12 in the second innings to bowl out West Indies for 47. The Bridgetown Test was more closely fought with the visitors gaining a slender lead of just 2 runs, but their fast bowlers skittled out West Indies for 94 in the second innings to win by eight wickets.The England bowlers have played a pivotal role in the victories – five of England’s ten Test wins since 2004 have been inside four days. Harmison has been their most successful bowler, with 56 wickets at 24.85, but he had a poor 2008, averaging 57.33. Despite the slide, his past record may win him a place in the eleven after being dropped for the second Test in Mohali against India. Flintoff, recovering from a side strain, missed the 2007 series, but has proved a handful in nine Tests against West Indies, taking 26 wickets at 24.69. Monty Panesar and Ryan Sidebottom featured prominently in England’s wins in Manchester and Durham in 2007; their impressive display against the hosts, and a satisfying 2008, augurs well for their team’s bowling attack. (Click here for England’s bowling records since 2008.)

The statistics of West Indian batsmen show the extent to which their team has struggled against England. Only Shivnarine Chanderpaul stands out as a noteworthy performer, as none of the others average over 35. West Indies are without allrounder Dwayne Bravo for the Test series, and have an inexperienced team which will also rely heavily on the services of Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle. The two, however, have struggled to rally around Chanderpaul – who is in terrific form, averaging over 100 since last year – in previous encounters against England, but with a productive 2008 behind them, they have the confidence to change that trend this series. (Click here for West Indies’ batting records since 2008.)

The performance of Chanderpaul, Sarwan and Gayle will be critical to the home team’s fortunes in this series. England’s main strike bowler against the hosts, Harmison, has gone for a plenty against Chanderpaul, conceding 232 runs and dismissing him just once. He’s had more success against Gayle, getting him out seven times, but at a price – 235 runs at a rate of 5.88 an over. Sarwan has struggled against Harmison – dismissed six times at an average of 16.83. Flintoff has bowled well to Chanderpaul and Sarwan, but Gayle has dominated him, scoring 76 off 78 balls. James Anderson, who had an impressive 2008, has struggled against the three, conceding 120 runs and taking one wicket. Panesar and Sidebottom, while doing well against the rest, have been handled with ease by this trio.

West Indies have an inexperienced bowling attack, but the ones who have played against England have struggled. Fidel Edwards averages 43.68 for his 22 wickets, and Darren Powell, 48.55 for his nine. Jerome Taylor has taken three wickets in four Tests against England at 90 apiece, but was West Indies’ second-highest wicket-taker in 2008 with 27 at 32.92. (Click here for West Indies’ bowling records in 2008, and here for their top individual performers against England since 2000.)Kingston stats

A century after his birth the debate about Bradman and Australian identity rumbles on

Stephen Fay09-Nov-2008
The myth of Sir Donald Bradman is still potent enough to persuade an Australian publisher to bankroll an updated version of to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth. The myth is of an infallible cricketer who survived a dark imperial plot to destabilise him (Bodyline), and then led a team of Invincibles whose brilliant exploits helped to forge a national identity. Graeme Wright, the editor of the collection, argues that the myth is redundant. “[It] no longer applies in an Australia able to assert its own identity as a nation,” he writes. But it is taking an unconscionable time dying.The Bradman shining through these pages is a sensational batsman (a report of each of his innings is plucked from and he gets a hundred every three visits to the crease). He was fastidious about his image when he was alive and his admirers, known as Bradolators – led by the former prime minister John Howard – kept the protection intact after his death. RC Robertson-Glasgow, who watched Bradman play, had fewer illusions: “There are no funny stories about The Don. No one ever laughed about Bradman. He was no laughing matter.”Australians still find it hard to make an unsentimental historical assessment of their hero. Professor Carl Bridge heads the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies at King’s College London. “The prevailing hagiography does not do Bradman’s life and character justice,” he writes. “He needs to be rescued from the naïve nationalist reductionism of the Bradolators.”But Professor Bridge concludes with a streak of pure Bradolatory: “Whatever the odd revisionist might unearth, [he was] without doubt Australia’s greatest son.” Hold on a minute. What about General John Monash, who led the best-organised army on the Western Front in 1918, or Charles Kingsford Smith, who piloted the first flight from the United States to Australia, or the Nobel Prize winners Howard Florey, who developed penicillin, and Patrick White, the epic novelist? Or even Rupert Murdoch? After all Don Bradman was only a cricketer. Bradman in Wisden
edited by Graeme Wright
Hardie Grant Books £19.99

Ashwell Prince’s return century was also an innings of defiance, not so much
against a limp Australia attack but against the shabby way he had been
handled by the selectors

Brydon Coverdale in Cape Town20-Mar-2009

So that’s two consecutive Test centuries for Ashwell Prince. Remember
the first, back when he used to be part of the South Africa middle
order? Back when he was the team’s vice-captain and was treated like
it? Back when he wasn’t messed around by the selectors, dropped
unfairly and then told if he was going to return it was only in the
unfamiliar role of opener?Last time Prince batted in a Test he came in at his usual No. 5 and
made an unbeaten 162 against Bangladesh at Centurion. It was late November and it would have been sheer madness to suggest that he would be dropped and wouldn’t play his next Test until March, when he would
face the new ball.But a broken thumb on the tour of Australia, combined with the
glittering start to JP Duminy’s Test career, left Prince without a
place for the home series. His magnificent 150 on his return to the
team highlighted exactly why Prince should have played the first two
Tests. Prince has always been the kind of batsman who makes his big
scores when the team is in trouble, precisely what was required in
Johannesburg and Durban.His return century was also an innings of defiance, not so much
against a limp Australia attack but against the shabby way he had been
handled by the selectors. When Prince was named as the replacement for
the injured Graeme Smith in both captaincy and opening ahead of this
Test, he felt that as the skipper he should determine the batting
order. It’s not an unreasonable expectation. When told again that he
would open, he rejected the captaincy.”I’m at peace with it,” Prince said of his new opening role. “It goes
without saying that I would have liked to come back in the middle
order. I have stated that myself. But this is the cards that I have
been dealt and I don’t want to talk about batting in the middle order
anymore, I just want to be positive about my new role.”And positive he was. He raced to 37 at stumps on the first day and
continued to play his shots on the second day. Prince was especially
powerful pulling the fast men and driving through cover and when the
legspinner Bryce McGain eventually came on, when Prince already had
93, he welcomed him immediately with three consecutive fours,
including a loft over mid-off that took him to triple-figures.The Newlands crowd rose to cheer and Prince kissed his helmet and his
bat, and in a powerful pose stuck both arms in the air and looked
towards the dressing room. It was his 11th Test century but clearly
one that was extra special. He was congratulated by Jacques Kallis, with whom Prince shared a 160-run partnership.It was a fascinating combination; the man who was the acting captain
and the player who was offered the same job but declined. The
impressive thing for South Africa was that both led from the front.
Kallis reached his hundred late in the day and his celebration –
before being ruined by umpire Asad Rauf – looked more like that of a
man scoring his first Test century than his 31st.

Kallis leapt in the air and swung his bat enthusiastically, a far cry
from the languid leader who stood at slip on the first day. An
incorrect leg-bye call interrupted his party as his score reverted to
99 but it was quickly fixed and Kallis was in triple figures for the
first time in a Test in 11 months.”His celebrations said a lot, it showed a man who is still very hungry
to do well,” Prince said. “He probably wasn’t too happy with the
umpire signalling leg-bye at the time but I think he’s a class player
and having been through a period where he hasn’t scored a hundred for
a while, obviously you could see that joy today when he got there.”The most positive thing about the performances of Prince and Kallis
was that these were both men strongly affected by the off-field
selection shenanigans over the past week and a half. That both men put
it all aside and did what the team asked was a step forward for the
South Africans, who haven’t been at their most united through this
series.Unfortunately after this match they have no more Test cricket until
December. Fortunately, Prince is again an incumbent in the batting
order. South Africa are a stronger team when he is playing.

What is the BCCI doing to raise the level of umpiring in the country?

Sriram Veera in Hyderabad13-Jan-2009
As part of a BCCI initiative, Suresh Shastri, one of the three umpires nominated to the ICC international panel, is officiating in domestic games in South Africa © AFP
“I have been playing domestic cricket continuously for the last two years and you can never be sure you will get a good complete game from the umpires. There are good umpires around but consistency is lacking.”Mohammad Kaif, the Uttar Pradesh captain, was a very disappointed man at the end of the second day. He had hung around tenaciously for 172 minutes, trying to consolidate when he lunged forward to defend a Zaheer Khan delivery. Amiesh Saheba, the umpire, heard a noise and put his finger up but Kaif went limp and stood motionless for some time. Replays revealed the bat had hit the pad and the ball went past the edge. Saheba had a bad semi-final as well, with couple of poor decisions. The other on-field umpire, Shavir Tarapore, has made two poor decisions in the game, but also a brilliant one – he picked up the edge from the toe end of the bat of Tanmay Srivastava.Bad decisions are no crime. Kaif himself said it’s part and parcel of the game but the key point he raised was that he sees a similar pattern of inconsistency around the circuit. It’s also reflected in the fact that India have no umpires in the ICC’s elite panel. So, what is the BCCI doing to raise the level of umpiring?VK Ramasamy, a former umpire who is the BCCI-appointed umpiring coach for this match, explains the process. Since the last season, the board has been spending money in installing cameras in every Ranji Trophy game and having an umpire coach at each venue.”Every appeal is tagged and the video is sent to us at the end of the day. We have a look, analyse the decision, see what is the mistake or the right thing the umpire has done and table it,” he said. “At the end of the match, we sit with the concerned umpire and run through the videos again. We find his thought process on why he made the decision and if we disagree with his verdict, we explain why. And we suggestive corrective measures wherever possible: his head position, his technique, his decision-making skills, on his man-management, you know the entire umpiring process.”The umpire coach also files a report to the BCCI where the umpire is graded on a rank of ten. The board is set to issue a new performance guideline which will ask the umpire coach to grade the umpire as bad, satisfactory, good or very good. “Also, at the end of the season, Mr Srinivas Venkataragavan, the director of umpiring, goes through the videos with the umpires in the scanner and suggests his point of view.”So the system is really good. The umpire can only get better and if he is not the system will ensure it weeds out the bad umpires. And please, this is just the second year with this system. You have to give us more time to see the result. It’s too early now but I think the system seems pretty tight.”The problem according to Mumbai’s coach Praveen Amre is that the existing pool of good umpires is very small. “There is no option but to back the men who are good. They are humans and like good players, out of form, you just have to support them.”Many have felt that former cricketers should be encouraged to take up umpiring. Some like Maninder Singh and Yashpal Sharma tried but while Yashpal left because of lack of money in the job – the board has now increased the remuneration considerably – Maninder left it because he felt the BCCI was not supporting him.”I cleared the exam, but there are too many people in the board to discourage you. Their main grudge was the TV jobs that had come my way. Despite my good reports, the board took ages to promote me. Then I let it go because I didn’t want to call people and say, ‘Sir, sir, give me this match, give me that match’.”In another initiative, the Indian board has signed deals with Cricket South Africa for exchange of umpires and is soon to have similar agreements with Cricket Australia and the England board. In the upcoming Duleep Trophy, South Africa’s Marais Erasmus will officiate while India have already sent Suresh Shastri to umpire in South Africa’s domestic circuit. But the question remains, when will India throw up a quality umpire good enough to enter the elite panel?

If the IPL brought the issue of players’ loyalty to the fore, the Champions League has drawn a line under it

Nagraj Gollapudi09-Oct-2009Piyush Chawla moved around the lobby, wearing an all-access pass. Greetings exchanged, he said, “Now, I’m a Shark,” and pointed to the Sussex Sharks badge on his t-shirt. An Indian legspinner swearing allegiance to a foreign club. “People might have forgotten me as I don’t play for India anymore, but I’m happy to represent Sussex,” he said. Chawla’s divided loyalties are a symbol of the cracks that are forming in the foundation of cricket.Two years ago the IPL established a new order in cricket, introducing the franchise-based system to the game, and making cricketers a commercial commodity. Now the Champions League, conceived on the club-based model of the UEFA Champions League in football, has even greater potential to revolutionise the game: if it clicks, cricket’s biggest prize-money event ($2.5 million to the winner) will undoubtedly place more pressure than there already is on players to give precedence to club ahead of country.Show me the money
Cricket is the only mainstream team sport that survives on international competition. Every other sport lives off club-based or franchise-based competition. “There must be something in the model, for every other sport to follow club-based competition,” Neil Maxwell, who was the CEO at Kings XI Punjab in the first IPL, says.Maxwell, a former Australia A player, who was also once the marketing director at New Zealand Cricket, reckons the difference in the standards of play between the elite nations and the others, as a result of the FTP model, is hurting cricket more than anything else. “We are seeing the flaws in the country-versus-country model, where there is a huge disparity in the standard of teams. Some matches aren’t competitive and some countries are choosing to play others more regularly, so you haven’t got an even spread of the wealth generation.”Club-based cricket, on the other hand, provides regularity of competition and more balanced contests. That, Maxwell thinks, is the main reason why the Champions League is bound to change cricket.A probable shot in the arm for events like the IPL and the Champions League is the increasing frustration on the part of players, and player associations, at the relentless international schedules designed by the administrators. Compare this to football, where countries play each other sparingly. Top footballers make US $5-10 million a season playing for their clubs, and though they get paid a pittance to represent their countries, it is the honour and prestige that motivates them to play.”That is fine on a basis that it is less regular, unlike in cricket where players are called on to play [international cricket] 10-11 months in a year,” Maxwell argues.So has the time arrived where players pick club over country? Dirk Nannes, the Australian fast bowler, who now represents Delhi Daredevils in the Champions League, predicts the club-based model will definitely be a lucrative and viable option especially for some players. “It certainly becomes an attractive option for the older guys who are close to retiring,” Nannes says.Nannes says he would personally still rather play for his country, but “it certainly would be tempting if you are on a high-end IPL contract, where you earn millions of dollars. Then, of course, I would think twice.”It came as quite a shock for Nannes to be picked for Australia earlier this year; he wasn’t in the original squad of 30 picked for the World Twenty20. “Without playing a single game of domestic cricket I’ve gone from being ranked at best 31st to, in the next Twenty20 game, being in the playing XI,” he says. “So that has changed things a little bit.”At 33, Nannes says he has to start thinking about life after cricket and how best to prolong his career. How does he stretch his career to, say, the age of 38, he wonders. “Is that going to happen playing four-day cricket? Maybe I’ve got the chance to play Tests, but if I don’t make the squad in another year, what purpose is there for someone my age to play four-day cricket? I don’t get a very big wage and it is definitely going to limit my career at the back-end. This is the form of the game I’m good at, and I can play till I’m quite old.”Not all players agree. Justin Langer, the former Australia opener who is now captain of the Somerset Sabres, one of two English sides in the tournament, says the Champions League cannot radically alter the game of cricket, but it will certainly place an extra emphasis on the domestic competition. “For example, for Somerset, a smallish club in the south-west of England, to be thrust on the world stage is a great honour – a huge thrill for both the club and the players” Langer says.Dean Kino, head of the Champions League governing council, echoes Langer’s sentiments. “Contrary to the perception that players might give priority to the club, one of the great benefits of the tournament is, it is going to improve the next generation of international players,” Kino says, pointing out how tournaments like the Champions League and the IPL provide opportunities for domestic crickerers to play against, and with, better quality players. “Dirk Nannes and David Warner are good examples of players who have come out of club championships in the past.”

“Central contracts have lost their relevance. Ultimately the performers are the players. You will have to play by them”Amrit Mathur, Delhi Daredevils CEO

Freelancer, mercenary, what’s wrong with it anyway?
After years of being subdued by administrators, players, fuelled by the attractive pay packets in the IPL, are daring to make themselves heard. Kevin Pietersen’s remark last week about central contracts not being lucrative anymore is a case in point. A few days after that, Dwayne Bravo said that if asked to choose between country and club, he would reflect first on the money on offer on either table. Unlike the two Andrews – Flintoff and Symonds – Pietersen and Bravo haven’t yet publicly declared their freelance ambitions, but it seems only a matter of time before players of all calibres start charting independent paths, unshackling themselves from restrictive central contracts.Amrit Mathur, Delhi Daredevils’ chief operating officer, says the biggest challenge facing administrators, starting now, will be player management. “Central contracts have lost their relevance,” he says. “Ultimately the performers are the players. You will have to play by them.”Nannes looks at it in practical terms. “People can call me a mercenary, but in five years’ time I’m either going to be having a whopping big mortgage because I continued playing first-class cricket or I’m going to have no mortgage and stay comfortable for the rest of life. If you completely take emotions and loyalty out of it, you don’t need to slog” he saysLanger, among the proudest upholders of the tradition of the baggy green during his playing days, is clearly a loyalist. “You’ve got to remember, we had to play a very tough competition in England as a team, as a club, and I’m not sure how this would encourage the freelance system,” he points out. Langer thinks the number one priority for all young players is international cricket, and one of the responsibilities of domestic cricket is to accelerate the progress of young players to play international cricket. “IPL and such events are a bonus.”Maxwell isn’t too keen on the term freelancer either. “At the end of the day every English Premier League footballer, every NFL player, every NBA player, every baseball player, is representing his club. They are only called freelancers because the model is changing,” Maxwell says. Cricket follows an antiquated model, he says, and predicts an “evolution” in the next three to five years.For Kino, the issue is moot: since the Champions League isn’t going to clash with any international series, players don’t need to make a choice, he points out. As for whether the new leagues will bring about a flood of premature retirements among established international players, he thinks it is too early to say.Langer thinks the new leagues will hot up competition at the domestic level•Getty ImagesMaxwell is confident that ultimately the club-based system will take over from the international model. “At some point you need to understand what the consumer wants. At this point unfortunately a lot of consumers don’t want Test cricket – only the older generation wants Tests and I’m one of them. But a 10-year-old is going to want to play Twenty20 cricket.”The future is already here
An indicator that the club-based model is here to stay can be found in the participation of sponsors for club events. ESPN Star Sports, which has the broadcast rights for the Champions League, stated in a media release that 95% of available advertising inventory has already been sold.Kino stresses that sponsors have shown enough interest in the market to sustain both types of competition – international as well franchise-based. “Advertising revenues, sponsorship revenues and commercial support for the game is centred around quality of events. The events aren’t marginalising each other. On the contrary, they are accommodating each other, from both a commercial and economic perspective.Maxwell believes the Champions League owes much to the success of the IPL brand. “We opened doors for people to buy equity in cricket two years ago, so the floodgates are open now.” An interesting illustration of the paradigm shift is how Indian corporates are now sponsoring most foreign teams that are competing in the Champions League.Yet a major test for the game is just six months away, when the third season of the IPL will coincide with the latter part of the domestic season in the southern hemisphere. No doubt the club v country debate will come to the fore in very real terms.It is Lalit Modi who has the last word. Asked if he is confident about the Champions League replicating the success of the IPL, Modi smiles widely and says, “You asked me the same question before the IPL too.”

Losing hair, joining the army, playing in Australia, and being teetotal occupy the mind of the Delhi Daredevils opener

Nagraj Gollapudi01-May-2009What’s the best thing about playing cricket for a living?
I play cricket because I love it. The day I feel I’m not giving my 100%, that will be the last day of my cricket.Worst thing about playing cricket for a living?
You lose a lot of hair – especially when you are an opening batsman! Like [Virender] Sehwag, I’m losing my hair left, right and centre. Cricket has giving me everything but it is taking away all my hair.Best friend in cricket?
Virender Sehwag, Munaf Patel, Amit Mishra and Ishant Sharma. People outside always feel I’m reserved, but when I’m with these guys I’m the only one speaking. I’m very comfortable with each of them and all of them are special to me.Who’s the nicest man in cricket?
Sehwag. He thinks about the team. The way he gives others confidence, his character, and the way he approaches his cricket and life is an inspiration.If you weren’t a cricketer what would you be?
The army remains still my first love. When I was growing up I was always passionate about joining the armed forces. But once I started doing well in domestic cricket and everyone started to tell me to focus on my game, that’s when I decided to concentrate on my cricket. But given a choice, even now I would like to join the army.What do hotel rooms need to make them more enjoyable?
If they can create a homely atmosphere, nothing like it.Which ground has the most hostile crowds?
Some of the Australian grounds are nasty.Which ground has the most amusing crowds?
I love playing in Mohali. I love the attitude of the local people and I enjoy that very much.Which tour do you most look forward to?
Australia. Everything about the place, people, conditions is good, which makes it a hot spot. And you want to challenge yourself there.What drink is the best one to celebrate a victory with?
I haven’t ever tasted alcohol of any kind.How often do your friends ask you for free tickets to games?
Very often. Given an option, every game they would like to ask for at least one ticket.The best sledge you’ve heard?
One comment that made me turn a lot of things around came from Ricky Ponting during the Bangalore Test last year. He said, “You haven’t [yet] set the world on fire.” That was something I took seriously, and it helped me do well.

Cricinfo picks out the highlights of the fourth round of the Ranji Trophy 2009-10

Sriram Veera28-Nov-2009The crime
Stop the press. Cheteshwar Pujara missed a ton. How dare he? The Saurashtra run machine, who hit a double hundred in the last round, fell for 84 this time. The selectors will now use this excuse to not give him a go. Focus Pujara focus!The backfire that wasn’t
Dinesh Karthik took a brave decision to declare overnight on the first day at 293 for 8. Karthik apparently wanted to use the early morning moisture but it was Himachal Pradesh who did the dew and took the vital lead by posting 366. When Karthik’s critics were sharpening their knives, Tamil Nadu roared back into the game by hitting 319 in their second gig and set a target of 247 runs in two sessions on the final day. Result? C Ganapathy and L Balaji, the seamers, shared nine wickets among themselves to bowl out HP for 155 from 47.4 overs. Karthik obviously had the last laugh. If you are really desperate to criticise Karthik, point out that he scored a duck in the second innings. No? Not strong enough for a comeback? Thought so.Angry young man
Manoj Tiwary, Bengal’s captain, landed himself in controversy when he lashed out against some of his team-mates. “It’s time to bid goodbye to our reputation and play as a unit now in the present context. Instead of playing for individual goals, our players need to focus on the team goal.” Bengal were embarrassed at home after Saurashtra enforced a follow-on with a 194-run first-innings lead.Who was he talking about? The venerable lot at Press Trust of India reckoned he was targeting Sourav Ganguly and screamed with headline : “Bengal skipper Tiwary hits out at Ganguly.”When contacted by Cricinfo, Tiwary denied he had said anything against Ganguly. “It’s absolutely wrong. I read it in the paper and was very angry at how they have twisted things. How can I dare say anything against a player who is a legend? It’s unimaginable. In fact whenever he plays for Bengal, he adds such a presence that our whole team is lifted. Even yesterday while our team was batting after being asked to follow-on, I spent one and half hours talking to him.”So did he contact Ganguly to clear up things? “Yes, I spoke to him in the morning and he said no problem and that he doesn’t believe in all this speculation in the media.” So, all is cool in the eastern front. Well one hopes so.A matter of honour
Sunil Joshi, Karnataka’s bowling machine, is still chugging along merrily. Nineteen years after he made his debut, the 39-year old Joshi became the highest wicket taker for Karnataka, going past BS Chandrasekhar’s tally of 437 wickets, when he got rid of Sajin Sureshnath. Joshi is also the fourth highest Ranji wicket-taker behind Rajinder Goel (637), S Venkatraghavan (530) and Narendra Hirwani (441). He had equalled Chandrasekhar’s tally when he got the wicket of Rohit Motwani. He was just hit for a six by Motwani but exacted his revenge next ball and let out a scream. “Did I really scream? I guess it was just a reflex,” he said later. “They (Motwani and Bawne) had been bothering us since lunch and when we got the breakthrough I perhaps let out my emotions.” How long will he play? “I don’t want to stop any youngster, but he should force me out with his performances,” Joshi had told Cricinfo in a chat before and by the look of things the youngsters have been found wanting.The 100-match man
Sitanshu Kotak, Mr. Fevicol of domestic cricket, played his 101st game this week. His 100th game was against Maharashtra at Rajkot in the last round of the games. Niranjan Shah, Hon. Secretary of Saurashtra Cricket Association, gave Kotak a silver salver for his achievement. he once drawled in his lovely Saurashtrian twang after playing yet another trademark stonewalling knock.Don’t chuck
You must have heard about how BCCI has been getting tougher on the bowlers with suspect actions. Another one has fallen into the spider web. Hyderabad’s Lalith Mohan had just completed two overs in the first innings when the umpires told him that if he bowls again, they would no ball him. Lalith had a session with the coach Venkatapathy Raju and tried his luck in the second innings. Nice try but no luck. The umpires stopped him again after two overs and warned him again. And Lalith didn’t bowl again. Pity for him, of course, but greater common good and all that jazz.Thumbs down
Noticed that Shikhar Dhawan didn’t bat in both innings as Delhi went down to Uttar Pradesh? ‘Absent hurt’ is the reason. The talented Delhi youngster injured his thumb while fielding and couldn’t bat.

Bangladesh cricket doesn’t seem to be improving at the pace they, or the critics, want it to. But captain Shakib Al Hasan believes scores of more or near about 250 in three consecutive games points towards a bright future

Sriram Veera at the Shere Bangla National Stadium08-Jan-2010To a neutral, the one-sided contest in tonight’s match may have been really boring. A tournament already devoid of any context and struggling for quality cricket seemed to have sunk to a new low tonight in many ways. However, it would be a myopic view of Bangladesh cricket, which has shown some definite signs of progress.In ascending order, the hosts scored 296 against India yesterday, their highest score against a Test-playing country. They ended on 260 in the tri-series opener against Sri Lanka, and tonight, they were just one short of 250.Interestingly enough, on all three occasions it felt that they could easily have scored 30 runs more. Impressively, and this perhaps has been the stand-out factor, they didn’t play their usual brand of flashy cricket. Captain Shakib Al Hasan agreed, “That has been the biggest gain. Not playing any silly shots but by being sensible, we are still scoring these many runs – that has been the best part of this tournament for us. We are learning to play calmly and we are happy that we have been able to score more or near about 250 in three consecutive games.”He pointed out something interesting the other night though, after the loss to India. He said he chose to bat first not because he thought the dew wouldn’t play a part later, but it was the fear of chasing 350 that India were capable of posting. They seem to be the words of a man lacking in confidence, but Shakib believes it’s self awareness from a man who knows the limitations of the team and someone who is practical.One journalist though, couldn’t hold himself back. “Why do you say that? If you can score 297, can’t you chase 320 or 350?” Shakib’s polite response was, “All I’m saying is, we are still not quite confident of chasing those type of scores. Not yet.”One can understand where Shakib is coming from. It’s a thought from someone who reckons he should learn to walk, before thinking about running. Some might argue that it limits oneself and that one must learn to dream big. Shakib said he wanted to master the basics and get the process right, so that the results follow. He seems to be a man wary of the past when Bangladesh would dazzle briefly, but eventually fall well short of achieving anything consistently.”We have three 250 runs score consistently now, and I see it as real progress,” he said. We have seen the old flashy Bangladesh implode spectacularly so often that we must give this new calmer approach some time to succeed.Bangladesh might not have a captain who is tactically brilliant. They don’t have potent seamers and possess a few batsmen who seem to prefer to live on the edge. But in Shakib, they seem to have a very sensible captain. He answers tricky and loaded questions with a disarming honesty, hasn’t forgotten to smile, and has the confidence of his team-mates as well.He certainly seems to have the backing of the selectors. Akram Khan, one of the national selectors, hailed him as a passionate cricketer who is out to do full justice to his talent and as someone who leads by example. Coach Jamie Siddons thinks Bangladesh would be really competitive in two years’ time and Shakib concurs with the thought. It’s up to their passionate, at times perhaps too emotional, fans to take a call on where they stand. Bangladesh cricket doesn’t seem to be improving at the pace they, or the critics, want it to. But, it should have been obvious from the beginning that, it was never going to be a easy ride.