Cricket 360

Absolute uncertainty prevails over what to term Ajantha Mendis . The mystery bowler from Sri Lanka, who before beginning his cricketing career was an Army gunner and was the latest spin sensation in international cricket this year.

Two of his deliveries during India’s Test series in Sri Lanka remain etched in my mind. One that spun a mile and got rid of Guatam Gambhir and one that skid across and scuttled past the defense of VVS Laxman. Was it true? Were we finally seeing a bowler who had the capability to bowl six different balls every over?

As he bowled a blend of off breaks, leg breaks, googlies, top spinners, doosra’s and the carrom ball, experts picked each other’s brains to unravel the Mendis mystery . Even the best players of spin required a second opportunity against him. The first was too big a mystery to fathom. Before you knew it, he got you!

Many experts compared, even equated him with the likes of Jack Iverson and John Gleeson after he set a Lankan record by picking 18 wickets in his first two Tests against India. Only four bowlers in the history of Test cricket have had a better record.

These bowlers are India’s Narendra Hirwani (24), England’s Alec Bedser (22), Australia’s Bob Massie (21) and England’s Syd Barnes (19). Of these, only England’s Alec Bedser went on to become a pillar of English cricket and finished with 236 wickets from 51 Tests.

These are some of the Cricket Trivia’s which I would Like Share With the Visitors:

·         Geoff Boycott faced the first ball in one-day cricket  played between England and Australia at MCG, 1971. Graham McKenzie was the bowler.

·         Madan Lal, who played 67 ODIs with the highest score of 53 not out, made a total of 401 runs in his ODI career.

·         Apart from playing cricket, Sandeep Patil acted in a Hindi film, authored the book “Sandy Storms” and edited a Marathi magazine “Ekach Shatkar”.

·         Pravin Amre and Vinod Kambli, who played for Mumbai and India, also played for the Boland province in South Africa.

·         Scotland signed Rahul Dravid as their overseas player when they made their debut in the Norwich Union League in 2003.

·         The late Vinoo Mankad batted at all eleven positions in the Indian team.

·         India played its first one-day international match against England at Headingley in 1974, under the captaincy of Ajit Wadekar.

·         Marvan Atapattu of Sri Lanka, who later went on to captain the side, scored 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0 in his first six Test innings.

·         Hollywood actor Russel Crowe is a cousin of former New Zealand skipper Martin Crowe.

·         Former Pakistan pacer Aaqib Javed is the youngest player to take a ODI hat-trick. He achieved the feat against India at the age of 19 in 1991.

·         Current selection committee chief Krishnamachari Srikkanth holds the dubious record of scoring the most number of ducks in World Cups.

·         England waited in Colombo for nine days before arriving in India for their tour in 1984 due to the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

·         Hemulal Yadav of Tripura is the only cricketer to have been given Timed Out in first-class cricket.

·         It is believed that the England’s tour of Australia in 1876-77 was organised to replace a cancelled tour by author Charles Dickens.

·         S Sreesanth is the only bowler from Kerala to have taken a hat-trick in Ranji Trophy.

·         VVS Laxman hit 44 boundaries in his knock of 281 against Australia in the Kolkata Test at the Eden Gardens in 2001.

·         Only one Indian test cricketer - Rusi Surti - played Sheffield Shield cricket  in Australia. He played for Queensland.

·         On the day of the ‘83 World Cup final a spectator asked Sir Garfield Sobers for an autograph. He denied it saying that day was India’s day.

·         Sachin Tendulkar was the first player in international cricket to be given out by the third umpire.

·         B Chandrashekhar is the only cricketer to have scored fewer runs in his test career than the number of wickets he took - 242 wickets and 177 runs.

·         M.L. Jaisimha and Ravi Shastri have both batted on all five days of a Test Match.

·         The only bowler to have got the great Aussie Sir Donald Bradman out hit wicket was India’s Lala Amarnath.

·         Southpaw Vinod Kambli, who scored two consecutive double hundreds in Test cricket, hit the first Ranji Trophy ball he faced for a six.

·         Indian spinner Maninder Singh was the last man to be dismissed in the famous tied Test against Australia in Chennai in 1986.

Australia was the most successful cricket team till the beginning of the calendar year 2008. Their downfall started from the second week onwards after the Sydney test against India. Twenty-three players were used in Tests by Australia in 2008, in a combination of evolution, confusion, injuries and poor form. By the end of the year seven of the 25 contracted players were out with various ailments. They were forced to accept their first home series defeat in 16 years, and the team was unrecognizable, in performance, from the previous versions of their game. In December it really was the worst of times as South Africa chased 414 for a demoralizing result in Perth and then turned the MCG match in a fashion familiar for Australian teams, but not their opponents.  This year was their worst year after 1985 after Alan Border took over the reigns. The Australian Captain was the most scrutinized person. Though he had an excellent year with bat, his captaincy was questioned and scrutinized because of his sloppy attitude. The other problem was the over-rate bungle which he had to face in the later part of 2008 because of his under-performing bowlers. They have to definitely reconfigure their strategy with their present team which doesn’t have the lights of Shane Warne, McGrath, etc. They will definitely bounce back, because they are not a team who can be easily over-ridden.

The Hot News in the England Cricket Camp is the Rift between Kevin Pietersen and their coach Peter Moores over the decision not to recall former captain Michael Vaughan for the forthcoming tour of the West Indies, which begins in just under three weeks’ time. This Rift has come as a jolt for the English Cricket Team which has just recently suffered a double blow in the hands of India losing both Test and One Day International Series when the toured India in December 2008. Just at the time they had to concentrate on their next tour to West Indies, this rift has gained momentum. According to the reports, Kevin Pietersen wanted Vaughan alongside him in the Caribbean but selectors opted instead for Ian Bell and Owais Shah. Reports are suggesting that Pietersen is prepared to step down on this issue, which the ECB doesn’t want. Pietersen felt that the experience of Michael Vaughan would help the below par English Team in the series against West Indies, but Vaughan has not shown any kind form off late in the domestic competitions. There is probably not enough time for serious changes to be made before the tour of the West Indies, since they are leaving on 21 January. Any rift would have to be dealt with sooner rather than later.

Cricket is considered as a religion in many countries. However thinking about the history of cricket is a big fact and for it is played from time immemorial. The history goes back to the thirteenth century or even further. It is likely estimated that the game of cricket was first played by the children of the farmers and the metal workers in England near a small place referred to as Sussex and Kent. There was a variation in the name of cricket and this variation was discovered in a court case wherein the game was called as krekett which was being played at the English school. It was from this point of view that cricket began to grow as a game which became immensely popular.

It was at that time that the game of cricket was being played in the form of tournaments like the so called “great cricket match” in the year 1697. During the eighteenth century the game of cricket was referred to as the official sport of England and it was one of the famous leisure activities of the elite class of people. In the late 1760’s one of the famous clubs of London known as the Hambledon club was one of center stage of the activities of cricket. It was one of the most visited places in London and there were many people who were extremely crazy about the game of cricket.

There were many cricket games which were played within the nation of England but until the year of 1859 the game of cricket was not played at the international level. It was played only when the English team traveled to North America for a match. It was only after eighteen years when the English team traveled to far Australia for playing the matches in the Melbourne and it was actually then the game gained immense popularity. The first Australian team consisted of the members from the Australian aborigines, which was considered to be a very groundbreaking event. This event was considered to be a spectacular event for both the Australian cricket community as well as the entire world’s cricket’s community.

The popularity of the game increased day by day because of the introduction of the famous one day international games introduced in the year of 1971. These days cricket has been one of the most widespread games played in the entire world. It is widely played in countries like England, Australia and even countries like Pakistan, Kenya, Sri Lanka and of course not to forget in the list India. However the game of cricket has never gained any popularity in United States of America and even does not have an official team for its country.

However to be really very frank, in many countries the game is also played by the state as well as the national teams. However this is not considered as a very popular game for the children and the families to play as a backyard game in the different countries. Some of the different variations of the game are playing cricket with the usage of a net and the faster version of the game is played in the New Zealand which is referred to as Kiwi cricket.

“Here is the history of one of our greatly hyped fast bowler in review.

Very early days of Shoaib Akhtar back in 1996 when he was about to join Pakistan Cricket team he was dropped from squad because of bad attitude. He got 1 year delayed ODI debut because of this.

He was leading wicket taker and star of the series in World Cup 1999. Earlier this year playing against India he produced those two magic balls which made him famous all over the world. He was hired by Nottinghamshire to play county league same year.

His bowling action was reported and then cleared by ICC. Soon after that he suffered a rib injury to avoid Nottinghamshire county season. A should injury followed by Knee and ankle injury conquered him not to play anymore in year 2000.

He returned back with a strong performance against New Zealand cricket team where he took 5 wickets in year 2001. But in very next game to disappoint his entire fans over the world he spotted a hamstring injury after 9 throwing 9 balls only. He was again reported for his bowling action but was cleared as the report from Cricket University said his action is caused by special physical characteristics.

Early 2002 he was hit by the crowed in Dhaka, India. He was forced to miss the tour because of injury. He came back to team against New Zealand while paying at home ground. He bowled first ever 100 mph ball in the history of cricket. Against Zimbabwe he returned the favor to the crowed by throwing a bottle towards them and got himself 1 ODI ban. A knee injury follows that to miss the series against South Africa.

In 2003 he was removed from the Pakistan Cricket team along with other players by Tauqir Zia (PCB Chairman) on poor performance in Worl Cup 2003. Later this year when he was called back for series against Sri Lanka he earned a ban for ball tempering. He faced a lawsuit from a Pakistani citizen on partying on a night of religious importance. He was found jet skiing while he missed test match series in new Zealand because of calf groin injury.

He found himself in a back injury in 2004 playing against India Cricket team in final test match. Later he hits 28 of 14 balls in the same match. Inzamam-ul-Haq was not very impressed with this performance he gave with the injury. A should injury captured Shoaib Akhtar at perth while he was destroying Australian cricket team alone with his furious bowling. Even this year he was reported for disciplinary breaches.

A Bollywood Movie Director Mahesh Bhatt offered him a role in his movie in year 2005 as he was facing a hamstring injury and was not able to join the cricket team for VB Series. His relations with former Pakistan Cricket Coach Bob Woolmer and Inzama-ul-Haq corroded. Yet again, peaces out critics by enormous performance against England Cricket team with 17 wickets in series despite of getting an injury in last test at Lahore.

Greg Chappell raised his questions against Shoaib Akhtar’s bowling action in 2006, ICC refrained from commenting on this. Ankle injury followed by severe knee condition threatened his career ending. He was due for a surgery.

In 2006 Doping charges on Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif shocked the Cricket World as they were tested positive for the banned substance Nandrolone just before the champions Trophy. Later the ban for 2 years was cleared by a neutral tribunal.

Cricket fans all over the world were happy to see him named in 30 man squad for World Cup 2007. He was injured during South Africa Series and only could play one test match. An argument with Bob Woolmer was shown on a TV channel and Shoaib Akhtar was fined by Pakistan Cricket Board. His named was pulled off from the World Cup 2007 Pakistan Squad at very last moment because of injury. Some say it was a precaution for him not to find positive in dope-test as Nandrolone substance were still present in his body.

Shaoib Akhtar named in Asia XI Vs Africa XI was again a happy moment for his fans, Pakistan Cricket board removed him after he declared gimself unavailable for Abu Dhabi Series. His name was included in squad against Scotland and Twenty Twenty World Cup 2007 and he continued practicing in the cricket camp. He then leaves the training camp without informing and was nominated breaking a mirror in dressing room in anger. A committee formed by Pakistan Cricket Board leaves him on probation period of six weeks and holds the fine. Pakistan Cricket Teams reached South Africa to take part in Pre-Matches for Twenty Twenty World Cup. Shoaib Akhtar again performs well and proves his fitness in first 4 matches Pakistan played. The latest news from a Cricket Ground dressing room hits the media when arrogant Shoaib Akhtar hits his fellow Muhammad Asif with a cricket bat while in an argument. He has been sent back to Pakistan and an indefinite ban has been imposed for playing cricket by Chairman PCB Naseem Ashraf.”

Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, and Ricky Ponting, what really do these three diverse guys have in general?The common thing in all these guys is that all of them are highly professional cricketers, and have gained huge fame for their ability and talent. Have you even considered once what the cricket game precisely involves? To those people who have already played game of cricket, have you ever thought to improve your batting/bowling style, and turning out just as the professionals? If yes, then you better read this article as I’ve written this article especially for those who wish for mastering this sport and for those as well who are just a newbie in this sport.  

Here I’ve scheduled a couple of foundation tips you better consider when it comes to dealing with batting on the game, cricket:  

1. Technique is something that is a most-required component necessary to proficiency on game of cricket. When the time of batting arrives, make sure to respect the ball that your defense team’s bowler may bowl against you, meaning to drive the ball all the way down the pitch. Until the bowler deliver a ball poorly or if you’re confident enough to hit the ball, don’t try charging the ball to have some great sixes. 
2. Possessing excellent posture is tremendously vital when you’re batting at the crease. You should always cover up the utmost stumps as possible, making it hard job for the defending bowler to get rid of off your wickets. 
3. Focus watchfully over the ball and never take away your eyes off it. Focus at the space you want to thump the ball and hit the ball in an efficient manner.   

Now, let us look at some successful bowling tips:  

1. You should always complete the round arm action properly.  
2. Focus at the stumps and chuck your ball with accuracy.  
3. A best idea is to throwing your ball very speedily so the defense batsmen have no time to act in response your ball.  

                                                        India faced it worst terrorist attack on 26/11/2008, this time the target was India’s financial capital Mumbai. This attack is termed to be India’s 9/11 which was aimed at the upper class people of Mumbai and the foreign tourists who were staying at the luxury hotels (Taj and Oberoi – Trident) in the coastal Mumbai near the Gateway of India. This attack took place during the One Day International (ODI) Series which was played between India and England. The Visitors had lost the series already and they were lagging the series by 5 – 0 in a 7-Match series and they were heading towards the last 2 matches. There came the shocking news of the Terror attacks on the Mumbai Taj and Oberoi - Trident hotels on 26/11/2008. Immediately after hearing the news, The English Cricket Board announced the termination of the ongoing series and ordered the team to return by the next available flight.

                           This attack was very close to their heart and was disgusting because, they were spending time in the same restaurants in the luxury Taj hotel which were attacked by the dreaded terrorists. This attack has prompted the ECB to think about sending their team to the 2-match Test Series which was about to take place after the ODI’s. But the Board of Cricket Council of India (BCCI) was confident of staging the 2-Test series between India and England. The ECB has now decided to send their team to participate in the 2-match Test Series after changing the venues from Mumbai and Ahmedabad to Mohali and Chennai. They also sent their Security Inspectors to inspect the security conditions at the venues and the team hotels, now they have felt secure and have decided to send the whole cricket team to India.

                         The Decision to send the team to India was sharply criticized by former English player Geoffrey Boycott and he sought the intervention from ICC to stop the team from leaving to India. But most of the former players have backed the decision and they have quoted that terrorism should not be allowed to overcome the cricketing interests.

                        These Attacks have caused a severe blow to the proposed Champions League after the grand success of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Champions League was scheduled to be played from December 3 to December 10 in Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai, Since Mumbai was one of the venues all the Participating teams which were about to start from Australia, South Africa, England and Pakistan to India were stopped by their respective country boards, So the Champions League has been postponed till next year. But will the Impression which the Mumbai Attacks have made on minds the foreign players ever change? That has to be watched.

                   But As far as I am concerned we should not let terrorism to take the center stage over cricket and not encourage terrorist by suspending the cricketing ties between nations. Because today it’s India and tomorrow it may be some others.

Hello World, I am Kalai Selvan. I am From India. I’m new to blogging and I have joined here to improve my blogging skills and earn some bucks. I have chosen my interest as cricket, So In ths blog I am going to concentrate on Indian Cricket, Worl Cricket and Cricket Individuals, problems in the cricketting world etc. First of all, The Mumbai Attack have made me to think why is it happening so and what is the aftermath of mumbai attacks. Many of the cricketing nations have started fearing to send their team to India after these attacks. But this is not just the case in India, But Pakistan, Bangladesh and Srilanka all are suffering from the same problem. The latest addition to that ever growing list is India. How India manages to change is face is going to be a crucial one.