Elementary for Holmes, this curious incident of dog and ball

Mike Selvey with this delightful conversation in 'The Guardian, UK'

"Well, my dear Watson, what do you make of it?" Dr Watson stood by the window overlooking Baker Street, took the spherical red object delicately between thumb and forefinger, as if to keep it dry, and held it up to the light for examination.

"A cricket ball, Holmes," he answered his friend, "manufactured by Dukes, I perceive, and, judging by the general appearance, the flattening of the seam and its softness, by no means brand new."

Guardian Unlimited Sport | Columnists | Elementary for Holmes, this curious incident of dog and ball

The iron duke - Arlott on Jardine

Douglas Jardine is arguably one of the shrewdest captain of all time in my opinion. Here's John Arlott writing on Jardine from the archives of wisden monthly. A delightful read to say the least.
Extract :

Say to any cricket follower ` Douglas Jardine' and the invariable reply will be `On, Bodyline.' The tone of that comment, though, will vary from the mildly, sometimes half-apologetic, note of triumph from the Englishman to genuine indignation on the part of an Australian. It is no exaggeration to say that, among Australians, Douglas Jardine is probably the most disliked of cricketers"

Complete article here.
Cricinfo - The iron duke

East and West : Will the twain ever meet? : HTCricket.com

I have always enjoyed reading Akash Chopra. Here he is writing on the ball tempering issue in Hindustan Times. Arguably he is one of the best cricketer turned writer today.

Extract

"England, in a sense, is burning and it has nothing to do really with England itself. Cricket's mother country is in the midst of what is probably one of modern sport's biggest crises - a crisis accentuated by the circumstances of the times in a world being increasingly polarised along the lines of race and, more particularly in the UK of today, religion.

For the past few weeks, I, an outsider, have watched, with thousands of others, as a society that was already fraught with nervous tension is being forced to deal with issues that its people, for the most, had swept under the carpet. It is a situation waiting to implode.

Even as I write this tucked away in Stoke, bang in the centre of England, I can hear the sirens. They are almost invariably headed for Shelton, which largely houses Pakistani (read Muslim) immigrants.

If you had walked through the area during this final England-Pakistan Test, you would have heard cheers for the most: Pakistan, finally, were on top - till fate, in the form of the umpires, intervened. One hour to my south is Birmingham and to the north, Manchester."

Full column
Columns - Outsider’s view: Will the twain ever meet? : HTCricket.com:

'Cricket law 42.3 is an ass' says Woolmer

Woolmer wants to Cricket law dealing with ball tempering to be scrapped and I think he has his reasons
Extract

These are troubled times for the Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, but he is not the type to take refuge behind circumstance. With his team standing accused of ball-tampering and his captain Inzamam-ul-Haq also facing a charge of bringing the game into disrepute, the temptation might have been to lock himself in his hotel room and bury his head under a pillow. Yesterday, however, in his first major interview since the cheating scandal broke on Sunday, Woolmer called for the abolition of law 42.3, which governs the condition of the ball and which, after being applied by Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove, could yet lead to the cancellation of Pakistan's tour."

Guardian Unlimited Sport | Special reports | Woolmer: Why I would scrap the ball-tampering law: "

4th Day - Pakistan Vs England

Update at 10:00PM IST : Saddest day in test cricket ? Now Pak players are back in field and umpires are not coming back. I think this is the end of Darrel Hair and Bill Doctrive. Surprisingly Botham is right behind Pakistan in this case and rightly so.

Update at 9:20PM IST : Pakistan team is protesting against the ball tempering accusation and not coming back to ground after the tea break.

Update at 9:30PM IST : Akmal is without pads on and sitting in pavilion. Umpires have taken off the bails and pitch is getting covered. Looks like Pakistan has forefeited the match. This is going to be huge.


I am watching the match live on ESPN and this certainly has been one of the most interesting days of test cricket.
Pakistan has become the first nation to give 5 runs away to opposing team as a fine for tempering with the ball. Decision has been made by on-field umpire and now it cannot be taken back whether you agree or not. I certainly think it is not fair unless you have proof of someone actually tempering with the ball. One cannot and should not take decision arbitarily just by looking at the ball. There are hundreds of things that could have happened to the ball during its 60 overs of life with this this ball.
Kevin Pietersen has certainly cost his team this match. I was just about to write that he might be the saviour for England but he is too trigger happy for my liking. He was playing well against Danish Kaneria being patient and picking the ball to hit. I think he simply got complecent against the medium fast bowler and wanted to reach century in style. Irresponsible batting to say the least!

YouTube - Donald vs Atherton

One of the greatest overs of all time. Donald firing on all cylinders, quick,vicious and unlucky !
YouTube - Donald vs Atherton

Martin Johnson on how to play with shoelaces tied together.

Extract

It was a nice idea for Sky TV to celebrate their 100th Test with a giant anniversary cake, but maybe not quite so appropriate, as things turned out, to adorn it with a marzipaned image of Kevin Pietersen. If there were any analogy to be drawn between the commentators' tea-time treat and Pietersen's first-ball dismissal, it was that both were of the fruitcake variety.

Pietersen's naturally attacking instincts are largely to be encouraged, and smacking his first ball straight back over Glenn McGrath's head in England's next Test match in Brisbane would be worth quite a few pyschological bonus points. But on a day when it was announced that Marston's Pedigree were the team's 'official' beer, Pietersen's decision to dispense with any kind of initial reconnaisance made you wonder whether he'd also been appointed as the beer's official taster.

Mind you, if Pietersen's innings was, so to speak, short on pedigree, it was a long way from being the worst of the day, for the simple reason that one delivery is not long enough to qualify. Marcus Tresothick, on the other hand, hung around for 46 while making regular contact with fresh air, and this was yet another of those occasions in which the opener - whose Test average on this ground is over 70 - looks to be conducting an experiment in how to bat with your shoelaces tied together"

Full article here
Telegraph | Sport | Hardly a cakewalk as Pietersen flops

Jones has dropped us down the order - Cricket - Sport - smh.com.au

Dean 'loudmouth' Jones has never been one of the favorite commentator of mine. His 'terrorist' outburst has cost him a tax free employment and Ten Sports have done the right thing in sacking him immediately.
The incident has generated lots of reaction from down under. Here's Alex Brown writing in Sydney Herald.

YET AGAIN a racism controversy has rattled international cricket. And, yet again, an Australian is at its epicentre.

When Dean Jones labelled Hashim Amla, a coloured South African batsman and devout Muslim, a "terrorist" on air this week, he not only lost his tax-free $US2000 ($2615)-a-day contract with his Dubai-based employer but hinted at a national problem - one that will further deteriorate unless it is acknowledged and acted upon.

Racial insensitivity is real and a serious issue in Australian sport. Unsavoury? Perhaps. But it's better to be stung by the truth than appeased by a distortion of it.

Read the full article here
Jones has dropped us down the order - Cricket - Sport - smh.com.au

Panesar star turn was up there with Bedi - Sport - Times Online

In an insightful article Bob Woolmer talks about facing 'steep bouncing' bowling , players burnout and compares Panesar with Bishan Bedi.
Read it here
Spin when you're winning — Panesar star turn was up there with Bedi - Sport - Times Online

Chappel ( Greg ..that is) defends Manjrekar

Now, is Chappel asking Tendulkar to grow up ? Please stop this.

Extract :

Tendulkar’s response also shows a familiar lack of understanding by players of the job that ex-cricketers are employed to do as a commentator or journalist.

An ex-player is paid to give his opinions and to utilise the knowledge he has acquired from years of playing so that he may enhance the viewer/reader’s enjoyment. This is best done by producing insights into the game that aren’t necessarily observed by a professional broadcaster/journalist who relies heavily on questioning players for his information.

Criticism is part of the game