McGrath - caravans, coaching and meeting AB

Second great Australian player has announced his retirement. Lara can play another series against Aus :)
Read all about McGrath's retirement through this cricinfo.com link.

Cricinfo - Blogs - The Surfer - McGrath - caravans, coaching and meeting AB

God..we needed that win.

ndia have won their first ever test match on South African soil by 123 runs
Zaheer to Ntini, out Caught by Sehwag!! Fullish delivery on the off, Ntini goes for the nooming drive, gets a leading edge, Virender Sehwag runs across and takes a good catch at cover to finish things off for South Africa M Ntini c V Sehwag b Z Khan 8(20) 4s-1 6s-0

Cricbuzz.com - RSA v Ind LIVE

Monty's celebration

Panesar's celebration on taking a wicket is certainly the most unique thing about him among others. Here's the best description that I have read so far on this.

Gideon Haigh writing for "The Gaurdian, UK'

The wicket-taking party is cricket’s version of the rave: lots of unrestrained and frenetic activity in which it is hard to completely join. What happens on the other side of the boundary is connected in the event but not in the spirit. Panesar somehow unites the two occasions, behaving as we perhaps might ourselves. No sooner had he taken his first wicket on the first day than the Barmy Army was indulging in its choreographed ‘Monty Dance’, involving a lot of leaping and high-fiving. They kept it up – like most things they do – all day and with blissful abandon.

Cricket Speeches

It was said that Bradman used to receive more number of letters from India during his retirement time , than from any other country. This is what I remembered first when reading the following incident in an articlet in SMH.

On Bradman's death in 2001, he was farewelled at a memorial service at St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide, which was attended by the good and the great, several thousand fans, and a number of Invincibles. The Anglican archbishop read to the congregation a lovely letter from Lucknow, India: "God could have made a better strawberry, but he didn't; God could have made a better cricketer, but he didn't."

There are anecdotes too especially the one on AB and retirement.

Read it here

England going down in Adelaide

England is tottering and going down fast in Adelaide in the second Ashes test. Everyone expected this to be a draw but old wizard Shane Warne has pulled a rabbit and he has once again been the main player in this drama.

The best commentary on web is certainly from Guardian online.
Link below.

"WICKET! England 119-9 (Harmison LBW b McGrath 9) McGrath comes out of cold storage for his first ball of the day, after a mammoth spell from Lee. As Slater and Hussain observe, it really should be Clark - partly because he reverses it, partly because he's the better bowler, and partly because McGrath does not ball at the stumps, so Harmison can ignore most of the deliveries. Oh my goodness, the moment I wrote that Harmison padded up to an inducker and Rudi Koertzen raised the finger. It was an awful decision - it was going a long way over the top, and is yet ANOTHER LBW in an Ashes Test for McGrath that wasn't hitting - but it was an ill-judged shot and England are right back in trouble."

Live over-by-over coverage of the Ashes | Cricket | Guardian Unlimited Sport:

Negative Warne opts for leg theory - Columns - Ashes Tour 06-07 - smh.com.au

Peter Roebuck on a bad day for Australian cricket

Extract
"Overall it was a bad day for Australian cricket, a day in which the finest spinner that the game has ever known stooped to the sort of stifling tactics long regarded as the preserve of Australia's opponents. Nor did the local think tank object"

Negative Warne opts for leg theory - Columns - Ashes Tour 06-07 - smh.com.au: