A thing of Beauty is a Joy forever... Cricket is a Beautiful Game ! This Weblog is dedicated to this Wonderful game which has billions of passionate followers.

 
Saturday, February 08, 2003

Hi Friends !


GREAT NEWS !!



I have been selected as the Online World Cup Correspondent for CRICKETNEXT.COM, the OFFICIAL INTERNET PARTNERS for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 in South Africa.




It is indeed a proud moment for me considering that the other panelists are


Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Richard Hadlee, Jaques Kallis, Saurav Ganguly, Dilip Vengsarkar,


Anil Dharkar, Sanjay Jha, S S Ramaswamy, Tapan Joshi and Miling Rege !!!





I will be writing throughout the duration of the tournament and I hope I will be successful in this assignment.



Watch out for more at www.cricketnext.com



Best regards



Venkat.



Venkatachalam. A. Krishnan
Director - Sales
Inca Tech Solutions
A-4, Madhuban Apartments
Adugodi, Hosur Road
Bangalore - 560 030.


Mobile: +91 98 45 46 44 77
DID: +91 80 5506568
Phone: +91 80 5531641
Fax: +91 80 5500378


Email: venkii76@hotmail.com


Internet: www.cricketnext.com


http://southafrica2003.blogspot.com

- _______________________________________________________________________________

SNIPPETS

Banners seen on cricket grounds---

Geoff Borecott


England needs Botham on grass


Bring back Bradman - when things were not going in Aussies' favour in 1985


First it was convicts, then it was rabbits, then it was Botham - during the 1978-79 Ashes series


Hey guys ! Play with some New Zeal and Pride !!! - During the recent India-Newzealand series


________________________________________________________________

- Venkatachalam, 12:37 PM


Thursday, February 06, 2003

by Steven Lynch
Wisden, Saturday, February 1, 2003

Here's a selection of ten half-forgotten - or best-forgotten - moments from the rich history of the World Cup, starting with one from the first match ...


Sunny’s go-slow
As pipe-openers go, it wasn’t a great advert for the festival of cricket to follow. In the very first match of the very first World Cup, at Lord’s in 1975, England dashed to 334 for 4 in their 60 overs. Dennis Amiss amassed 137, and Chris Old smacked 51 from just 30 balls. In response, India managed only 132 for 3. Sunil Gavaskar seemed to be playing for a draw as he blocked his way to 36 not out after opening. He actually faced 174 balls and – presumably accidentally – hit one four. One disgusted spectator marched out to the middle and threw his lunchtime sandwiches at Gavaskar’s feet.


Canada v England
After a rain delay at Old Trafford in 1979, Canada’s eager amateurs survived 40.3 overs against England’s canny pros. But survive was about all they did – they managed only 45 runs in total. Bob Willis took 4 for 11 and Chris Old 4 for 8 as only Franklyn Dennis (21) reached double figures. England knocked off the runs in 13.5 overs. In all the entertainment lasted only three hours and 35 minutes. Back in the World Cup after 24 years, Canada will be desperate to avoid a repeat. At least they’re not playing England this time, but you fear for them against South Africa’s bowlers ... and Sri Lanka’s batsmen.


The dream final
As the 1987-88 tournament chugged along, it looked more and more likely that the co-hosts India and Pakistan would meet in a final to delight the subcontinent. But then Australia outfumbled Pakistan at Lahore, and England swept India to defeat at Bombay. The World Cup’s only Ashes final was a bit of a Calcutta party-pooper, and local heroes Sunil Gavaskar and Imran Khan decided to end it all, as far as international cricket was concerned. But for Imran, retirement was short-lived: he bounced back and won the Cup in 1992.


Gatt’s reverse sweep
England were on top in that Calcutta final in 1987, reaching 135 for 2 in good time in response to Australia’s unimposing 253 for 5. Allan Border brought himself on, after his five regular bowlers hadn’t made much of an impression. Mike Gatting tried an ambitious reverse-sweep off his rival captain’s first ball, and the resultant top-edge was eagerly swallowed by Greg Dyer, the wicketkeeper. Top-scorer Bill Athey (58) was run out soon afterwards, and England clattered to defeat. The final margin was seven runs, the closest World Cup final of them all – this by an England side lacking David Gower and Ian Botham, who both gave the tournament the thumbs-down.


21 off 1 ball
If you think Duckworth-Lewis is complicated, try the bizarre rain rule that was in force during the 1992 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. It was a countback system that disposed of the batting side’s least-productive overs in the event of weather interference. It stymied England at Adelaide when, after bowling Pakistan out for 74, rain meant there was time for only another hour’s play. England had bowled 14 maidens, for start, which actually counted against them: after the overs had been slashed from 50 to 16, their target came down from 75 to 64. It rained again after eight overs, which saved some embarrassment ... or rather postponed it to the semi-final. Now it was England’s turn to gain: a brief shower, with South Africa needing 22 to win from 13 balls, lopped off a couple of overs. The least-productive overs included three maidens, so suddenly SA needed 21 from one ball. Not surprisingly, they didn’t quite get there.


Neil Smith’s pizza
England’s second match of the 1995-96 World Cup was against the unfancied United Arab Emirates. Neil Smith, who had earlier taken three wickets, was tried as a pinch hitter, with unexpected results. After he’d made 27, Smith was spectacularly sick on the pitch, and had to retire ill. Ray Illingworth, England’s manager, was dead-pan (or possibly deep-pan): “He ate a pizza last night and now it’s out there.” There was a consolation for Smith: his allround performance won him the Man of the Match award. Not in the groundsman’s book, though.


The riot
Despite losing both openers in the first over, Sri Lanka ran up 251 for 5 in the 1996 semi-final against India at Calcutta. Sachin Tendulkar made 65 for India, but no-one else contributed much – there were three ducks – and defeat was inevitable at 120 for 8. The crowd of around 110,000 was unimpressed, and started lobbing missiles onto the pitch. One bottle zoomed out from the members’ stand over the sightscreen. A few bonfires made things worse, and eventually Clive Lloyd, the referee, called the match off and awarded it to Sri Lanka.


The national anthem
For the final at Lahore in 1996, the teams dutifully lined up for the national anthems. “Nkosi Sikelele Afrika” blared out round the Gaddafi Stadium – a proud moment for all the South Africans present. Unfortunately there weren’t that many, as the final was between Australia and Sri Lanka, whose players mostly thought they were listening to the other side’s anthem.


The trophy presentation
The end of the 1996 final was almost as much fun as the beginning, as officials, sponsors and the occasional player jostled for prized positions on the dais as Arjuna Ranatunga sidled up to collect the World Cup. It got even more crowded as the media closed in for interviews. Ian Chappell, spotting Ranatunga not too far away, grabbed his microphone and made a beeline for his man. On his way he elbowed aside just about the only woman on the stage, with a cheery “Excuse me, love.” Her expression suggested that Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan’s prime minister, wasn’t exactly used to such offhand treatment.


The 1999 opening ceremony
England didn’t pull out all the stops for the start of World Cup 1999. A few fireworks left smoke hanging around St John’s Wood on an overcast May day at Lord’s. The dodgy weather meant that the dancers on the grass for the opening ceremony had to look lively to avoid the groundstaff dealing with the covers. And the welcome address by Tony Blair was hamstrung by a microphone that spluttered into life halfway through his address (MCC committee-man John Major has an alibi, apparently). England did beat Sri Lanka on that opening day, but they crashed out of the competition the day before the official World Cup song – a Dave Stewart number that wasn’t written specially and didn’t mention cricket – was released to yawns all round in your local record megastore. It hurtled in at No. 184 in the charts and hasn’t been heard of since.
__________________________________________________________________

posted by Venkatachalam Krishnan at 10:25 AM