Cricket at the Crossroads : Part II - Test Bowling

The test bowling scenario looks to be in better health than its more crowd pleasing counterpart – at any rate there are more exciting young fast bowlers around in test cricket than at any time over the past decade. While marquee names like Steyn, Anderson and Zaheer continue to perform at an exalted level (though you wonder at least if the Indian is not running on borrowed time), names like Pattinson, Cummins, Philander, Roach, Starc, Finn, Yadav and co make fast bowling an extremely enjoyable sight to watch for the connoisseur. Even a few names that have been around for some seasons, have found fresh wind over the last year or so – the likes of Hilfenhaus ,Siddle, Morkel, Broad. The problem that the cricket boards and coaches face with this young and exciting crop, is to battle harden them and keep them free of injuries. Young Cummins, after one of the more spectacular debuts in recent memories (man of the match performance with bat and ball in a test in South Africa) has failed to play another test match, while Pattinson (who ideally along with Starc and Cummins should ideally form a long and potent pace attack for the Aussies) has also had his share of injuries. Though maybe not wrapped in cotton wool, the challenge is for these bowlers to be used wisely, especially in limited overs cricket and the lucrative but potentially career threatening professional leagues. It will be a travesty if any of these young guns go the way of a Simon Jones (though his demise can hardly be attributed to limited overs cricket).

Cummins and Pattinson : The great Aussie hopes

The spin bowling scenario is much more grim and the cupboard looks particularly threadbare, with the possible exception of Pakistan who have couple of decent spinners headed by the controversial but effective Ajmal. Elsewhere, the cricketing world still looks hopefully for heirs to the likes of Warne, Kumble and Murali. Swann is a good bowler but his performance has tailed off over the last  year (India will be the acid test for him). The Aussies have tried all sorts of combinations from Beer to Kreja to Lyon but still have that one spot to fill in an attack which is otherwise world class (so much the pity in that their batting look so fragile). Nowhere is the absence of quality spinners being felt than in their real background – India. Pragyan Ojha is probably the only spinner who looks likely to inherit the no 1 tag with his willingness to attack on any surface. Ashwin’s stellar start to his test career is a bit misleading; all his wicket taking performances have come against the likes of West Indies or New Zealand on turning pitches. He was found woefully exposed in Australia. If he is to cement the number one spinner’s tag, especially in overseas conditions, he has to attack more and show production on wickets offering less assistance. India’s lamentable spin bowling situation is expressed nowhere better than in the fact that Piush Chawla is apparently the 3^rd choice spinner – oh, how the mighty have fallen. Harbhajan Singh has done nothing of note during his fully justified exile from test cricket to warrant a return to the side. Though I have a sneaking suspicion that he may get back into the side for the test against Australia with at least one of our wise men citing how he ran through the Aussies in 2001 (let’s hope this fear and cynicism is grossly misplaced). 

Cricket at the Crossroads : Part I - Test Batting

Cricket is at a crossroads like never before – a bigger paradigm shift than bodyline or the World Series Cricket. This shift has been brought about by not merely a change in attitude of the administrators and the sponsors but by a major attitude change of the fans and the players themselves. This is part of a series of articles in an attempt to dissect the position of each and every format of the game and the likely direction in which they are headed. The following are my observations on the standards of test batting.

The powers that be, media personnel and players (current and past) would have you believe that Test cricket is in the pink of health and there is virtually no encroachment by the shorter forms of the game on the traditional one. I would bet an arm and a bit that all such persons have more than a little divested interest in speaking the way they do. Anyone who has followed test cricket for any length of time will admit that the format is getting increasingly hypoxic. There are obvious and the not so obvious pointers to this.

Hashim Amla : The Best Test Batsman to have emerged in the past 5 years

At the very outset – there has been a drastic drop of crowds at test match venues (even at the most traditional venues. Add to it the progressively increasing refusal of the so-called fans at home to sit and watch test cricket. An increased pace of daily life, overburden of social and professional commitments and the new found method of reading online commentary / scores on the move have no little bearing on this. You would be hard pressed to find even a handful of people who can claim to have watched all 90 overs over the entire duration of a test match. The more convenient evening schedule and an instant result (especially in T-20) make it obviously favourable for viewership in hordes. Furthermore, there is an entire generation of cricket fans which has been brought up idolising the limited overs version and in another decade there will be another generation in place who will consider the IPL as the premier form of the game.  Only England and Australia seem to draw relatively packed houses on all 5 days of a test match. The heart-breaking sights are empty stadia in the Caribbean and at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on the opening session of a test match.

It is the proverbial chicken-egg roundabout to attempt to decipher if crowds are responsible for the declining quality of test cricket or the quality has left the arena empty. But there can be no doubt about the fact that the quality on the pitch in the longer format has probably never seen worse days.

In terms of batting – attempt a quick finger count on the world class batsmen who made their debuts in the first 6 years since 2006 and the ones that have emerged since even discounting the pre 2000 stalwarts (Tendulkar, Ponting, Kallis , Dravid, Jayawardene and co).

Of the ones making their international debuts before 2006 , the names who claim a more than decent test record at first thought are the likes of Sehwag, Cook, Pietersen , De Villers, Clarke, Strauss, Bell, Smith, Hussey and maybe a couple of others. On the other hand the only names since then that can probably claim some sort of similar status are Hashim Amla and JonathanTrott ( Even Amla made his debut in 2004 but I'm placing him in the latter as his career really kicked off from 2007) .  The likes of Gambhir , Duminy and Watson have had good seasons followed by prolonged indifferent spells, while promising youngsters like Kohli have a long way to go to prove their test mettle. Not a single opening batsman to have debuted after 2006 can honestly claim to be one of the best in the world. Even that great Aussie assembly line of batsmen appears to have dried up – remember the nineties and early nougthies when the likes of Lehmann, Eliott, Love and Hodge could have walked into any other test side but managed only a handful of tests between them thanks to the sustained brilliance of the likes of the Waughs , Ponting, Hayden, Langer, Martyn, Gilchrist, Clarke and Hussey. India has still to provide a consistent test batsman since Sehwag and Sri Lanka one after the duo of Sangakkara and Jayawardene.

Equally abysmal is the increasingly predominant ‘Tigers at Home- Bunnies away” phenomenon.  True, teams were always strong at home, but you remember great overseas performances like India in Australia, Pakistan in England and South Africa in India. Australia of course won series’ in every country during their world dominance. Over the last couple of years, home dominance has been all the more magnified. England demolish India 4-0 at home and then are promptly whitewashed by Pakistan (with an Indian whitewash in the offing later this year if they don’t sort their act out soon. Non sub-continent bastmen are consistently clueless on turning tracks while those from the sub-continent are whipped decisively by seam and bounce (look at India’s combined 8-0 drubbing last season).

Progressively more batsmen are being inducted into test cricket from the shorter version of the game rather than vice-versa. Stories like David Warner will soon be the norm rather than the exception, not that there’s anything wrong with it, but you hardly expect the likes of Warner and those that follow in his ilk to eke out test careers similar to the likes of a Dravid or a Kallis. Even among the handful of stalwarts of test cricket that exist, there are characters like Chris Gayle and Kevin Pietersen who have compromised their test careers – a number of reasons behind them , but not least being the lure of more lucrative limited overs leagues.

The saddest outcome from this whole scenario has been the increasing absence of top test players from domestic competitions – be it in Australia’a Shield cricket or India’s Ranji Trophy. Some of the great cricketing stores have emerged from teammates taking each other on in domestic competitions. Duels between Marshall and Richards are still talked about in English pubs by the gaffers – how many Indians can remember similar stories between Tendulkar and Kumble. There is a dual rot caused to the system by this malady is: upcoming batsmen miss out on an early opportunity to play with seasoned and more skilful veterans resulting in an increasing gulf between domestic first class cricket and Test. Bowlers similarly miss the opportunity to hone their skills against the ream masters and as a result enter the test scenario undercooked (especially compared to their counterparts from the previous decades) – more on bowlers in the next article.

In recent years I have watched with great anticipation the debuts of touted young batsmen in test cricket – from Cheteshwar Pujara to Usman Khawaja to Johnny Bairstow. Most youngsters have flattered to deceive in recent years. There are occasional bright spots , none brighter than Pujara, but the careers have to be watched and honed carefully especially in the initial years. I fear that if recent history is any guide , the test batting arena is increasingly likely to be littered with an over-smattering of average players with the odd decent one. My greatest fear is a test match in a few years time minus the likes of Tendulkar, Ponting, Kallis, Smith, Pietersen and Jayawardne. For whom would one, even an avowed test enthusiast like me, tune in to watch bat?

European Football Season Opening- Roundup

The European Football Season is well and truly under way with all major leagues having played at least one weekend of games. The start to the English season is very much along expected lines with Chelsea (who somehow always manage to garner the easiest of opening fixtures) out to a perfect start. 3 wins  out of 3 , with the Eden hazard-Juan Mata partnership behind a rejuvenated Fernando Torres looking (at least at this early stage) like it’ll be the attacking jewel of the season.

Man City have now essentially become the New Man United with their ability to scrape points out of losing scenario. Despite an iffy start to the season in terms of form , they manage to rescue a point from Anfield , after an opening day injury time victory against newly promoted Southampton. Robin van Persie provided an earlier trailor for what might be another goal glut at Old Trafford as United overcame another defensively uninspiring performance to win against Fulham. Surprisingly , among the top teams, Arsenal have shown the most defensive mettle in the first 2 games. I can’t recall a Gunners team in recent years having visited the Brittania and not conceding a single shot on target. Trouble is , they still haven’t scored and didn’t really look like doing so against Stoke (last season they scored their first goal in the 3^rd game : a certain 8-2 defeat).

In Spain , Real Madrid are off to a horror start with 1 point from 3 games. C-Ron needs to get going early. Lio Messi already has 4 goals from 2 La Liga games. Moneybags PSG played out an uninspiring third consecutive draw , while the only talking point from Italy and Germany was AC Milan’s opening day loss. 

A Mere Quarter of a Billion Dollar Trade

Analyzing the Red Sox-Dodgers  deal - the Biggest in the History of Professional Sport

It is easily the biggest trade in sporting history. The recently concluded Boston Red Sox- LA Dodgers deal which ended in Boston sending marquee names like Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto along with ace pitcher Josh Beckett to the Dodgers in exchange for James Loney and a number of prospects. More importantly Boston ended up freeing about 250 million dollars worth from their payroll. The deal has set tongues wagging on the east and west coast with pundits discussing the merits and the demerits for both teams.

Gonzalez and Beckett : East-West Swing

From the Boston point of view, the trade smacks of a top heavy, lurching franchise admitting to its mistakes over the past 2 years, conceding defeat in the playoff race and aiming to rebuild with a view to next season.  In 2011 when Boston acquired the marquee free-agents Gonzalez and CC, they were touted as pre-season favourites to win the World Series. Things did not pan out quite so well. Although A –Gone had a creditable first season (putting up MVP numbers) his production since then has dipped considerably. Crawford, to put it bluntly, has been an abject failure in Boston with injuries, form and confidence making him one of the worst free agent transfers in recent years. Beckett, an undoubted pitching ace responsible for the 2 world series triumphs in 2004 and 2007, has been inconsistent over the past 2 years. Add to it last year’s abject September surrender , the managerial fiasco (the Francona sacking and the Valentine chaos), the beer –fried chicken saga and this season’s poor form – this was a team crying out to be revamped. What this trade ensures is that come November, the Red Sox will be in pole position to attract the big name free agents (Josh Hamilton being the most obvious one). Their starting pitching, even minus Beckett, on paper does not look very bad (Lester ,  Buchholz and a fit Lackey) : and they could obviously add to that with all the free salary space.

The trade for the Dodgers on the other hand signifies only one thing – mounting a serious playoff challenge. They are 2 games behind the Giants in the NL-West and given the riches at their disposal, are likely to at the very least secure a wild-card playoff spot. Their line-up (especially if A-Gone gets hot) with Ethier and Kemp matches the firepower of the rangers Texas and the Yankees. Beckett , of course is a different matter. The unquestioned ace in LA is the reigning Cy Young winner, Clayton Kershaw. Beckett might be the spark to fire the pitching staff to greater heights, or he could possibly be a divisive influence. One thing he definitely brings to the table is playoff and championship winning pedigree.

The quarter of a billion dollar deal has been locked in – the fun now begins to see how the cast plays out. Will the Dodgers reach the playoffs – likely. Will they win the World Series – unlikely (there are at least 3-4 better teams in the Majors) and as Boston themselves have proved: Marquee names do not necessarily mean a prolonged post-season.

 P.S. : Adrian Gonzalez launched a 3 run homer in his first at-bat as a dodger earlier today. 

The Tainted Yellow

Bemoaning the death of the greatest sporting story in history 

Lance Armstrong was the greatest sporting story ever....greater than Mohammad Ali or Jesse Owens. His achievements were at least on par if not better than the likes of Roger Federer, Michael Schumacher and Michael Phelps. Us ordinary mortals create sporting heroes by being enchanted by one of 3 things – an individual fighting seemingly insurmountable odds to compete at the top level or an athlete displaying a rare brand of sporting mastery to dominate either statistically , artistically or both in his individual discipline. Only rarely does an individual come who combines each of these – hence the names of Owens and Ali residing permanently in the hallowed portals of sport. Till yesterday, Lance Armstrong was destined to sit at least as an equal in this table if not as the head.

Then he decided not to contest the reams of charges levelled at him by the US Anti Doping Agency about systematic use and masking of performance enhancing agents, pretty much throughout his entire cycling career.  I do not understand the charges levelled at Lance and till all the alleged evidence against him is made public, the whole affair is likely to stay murky and dubious, casting a seemingly irremovable stain on an already tainted sport. Scanning the media pages over the last 24 hours has been a heartbreaking experience for this avowed Armstrong fan – a guy who’s annual July calendar is writ largely by the Tour de France principally because of the delights provided by the American.

The media has been  come out in a variety of poses – dominating of course , are those condescending smirks of “we knew it all the time” ; and there are those who bemoan the death of the Armstrong legacy and everything he stood for and the hope he provided to millions worldwide.  All media reports however are united over one issue – Armstrong’s white flag and refusal to contest the USADA charges, everyone feels, is a nailed on confession of guilt and a weak if not unexpected gesture to salvage whatever tarnished legacy he might manage for the future.

For those ignorant of the Lance Armstrong story – the Texan is a stage IV testicular cancer survivor – recovering from surgery and chemotherapy, he returned to professional cycling and proceeded to dominate the blue riband event in the sport, the Tour de France, winning the gruelling 3 week race for an unprecedented 7 consecutive times from 1999 to 2005 – a kind of dominance comparable with any athlete in any era in any sport. Masterminded by Johan Bruyneel , the US Postal Services and Discovery, perpetrated  a rare team dominance with lance as the lead act. Over the years, several of its more prominent members, notably Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis, tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and were banned. Gradually the accusations against Armstrong surfaced, his former team-mates accusing him of using and peddling both the agents and ways and means of masking them. Lance categorically denied the charges claiming himself the most tested athlete in the world. The USADA spent all the intervening years gathering evidence against him and finally launched proceedings against him, which after 2 weak attempts to block , Armstrong said he would not contest.

The implications of the Armstrong story are more than deciding 7 new TDF champions – there is now a question of establishing any kind of authenticity in an era of cycling where pretty much over every athlete hangs a doping cloud. This is a kick to the guts of sport in general, of belief in any kind of human achievement and perseverance. It is worse than finding out that Michael Phelps’ 22 Olympic medals were achieved illegally, or that Roger Federer’s 17 grand slam titles were won by systematic match fixing. Armstrong wasn’t merely a sporting icon , he was a champion of humanity. His Livestrong foundation has done more for cancer awareness and patients than anything of a similar vein achieved by any sportsperson. What does the future hold for Livestrong and the myriad of Lance supporters in the light of recent events. What exactly does Lance’s white flag refusal to contest the charges signify ?

Is it as his (and apparently his own alone) initial reaction suggests,  merely the sign of a man tired of fighting – against cancer , the against the tortuous passes of the Alps and the Pyrenees and finally against the prolonged (and apparently alleged) ‘witch-hunt’ against him.

What next for the Lance legacy ?

Or is it merely the best possible escape for a guilty man trying not only to salvage whatever bit of his personal reputation that he can, but also to keep the flag flying for his foundation and the hopes in the lives of the people it has touched? It is conceivable that Armstrong fears the dirt likely to be raked up in the course of the legal proceedings would be so heinous that his name would go from being from one of the most iconic in sports to one of the most vilified. In this manner at least, there would be a not altogether insignificant group of faithful supporters who would stand by him claiming that “after all he was never proved guilty”. The pragmatic would like the truth – there will never be any absolution though, with or without it. The greatest sporting story in history has been tainted. It will take long (if ever) before a similar story surfaces again...all we who romanticise the sports can hope is that our modern day heroes – the Bolts and the Federers , the Phelpses and the Messis can stay unsullied. Sport has never before been in such dire need of these men before.

VVS : A Throwback to the Game's Golden Age

Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman hangs up his boots after a magical career – easily one of the cornerstones of the golden age of Indian batting : A quintet of the likes of Laxman , Sachin, Dravid , Sehwag and Ganguly will never again be seen in Indian cricket.

Over the past decade and a half – if there was one Indian batsman who  I could choose to watch in full flow, would be VVS. Not that dual master of technique and consistency – Sachin, neither that Kamikaze bladerunner Viru , but Laxman, who’s batting seemed to belong to the golden ages of cricket , along with the likes of Victor Trumper and Ranji. Art for art’s sake – never hurrying , never flustered , elegant even in his dismissals. The only other batsman in the modern era whom I could similarly equate would be the ineffable Mark Waugh. Neither holds records for centuries or boasts over the top batting averages but therein is where their genius hides. Those wrists, the visible lack of footwork, the flick through mid-wicket , the threading-the-needle drive between point and cover. Oh for an opportunity to see the 2 bat together –sure there might be a run out before either got off the mark , but at their best , I’d rather have watched a partnership between Laxman and Waugh Junior than that between any combination of Sachin-Lara-Ponting-Dravid-Kallis.

Another characteristic which connected Laxman and Waugh was their prowess in the slips – while the Aussie was definitely more mobile and athletic , when it came to the sheer feel  and safety of the hands, Laxman was 2^nd best to none.  

VVS was the Stan Mc’Cabe of Indian batting. Like the yesteryear Aussie great who spent his entire career in Bradman’s mighty shadow, so too in later years will Laxman’s career be referred to as the Tendulkar years of Indian cricket. Yet some of Laxman’s best test innings would easily outstrip any that Sachin  has managed in a playing career almost twice as long. The epochal 281 at the Eden Gardens , the 4^th inning 167 in Sydney and the 80 odd in a match-winning 10^th wicket partnership against Australia spring first to mind.

Of Mc’Cabe’s greatest innings , 2 memorable quotes of the Don are often bandied :

“I’d be a proud man if I could play an innings like that Stan.”

(to his teammates , while Mc’Cabe was in full flow) “Come out and see this, you’ll never see anything like that in your life again”

No quotes like that have been attributed to Sachin Tendulkar , but I’m sure his sentiments would not be far off during those Very Very Special set of innings’ that Laxman seemingly monopolised.

Yet this was a guy who had a stop start international career- really only firmly establishing himself after the 2001 Australia series. Yet something that strikes me at once during those early years was his utter dominance of the domestic circuit. Those games were not widely telecast, and only reading the scores in the newspapers it seemed that he would not score anything less that 150 anytime he set foot on the pitch – a kind of domestic dominance that neither Sachin nor Dravid have managed (probably because they were so firmly entrenched in the national team). Looking back at those early domestic performances of his, it seems all the more pitiable that youngsters making the test team these days haven’t produced even a pittance of the brilliance and consistency of the Hyderabad man.  

Laxman was not cut out for the limited overs format – a very visible lack of mobility and athleticism would usually negate his best batting efforts, but who cares. Limited overs exploits are hardly the ink with which the pages of cricketing folklore are written. Of the stuff which matters, Laxman has penned enough to create a little chapter of his own. Add to it, the full set of virtues that cricket prides itself of embodying , a life free of controversy , happily aware from the media frenzy : aye VVS Laxman ,  a straight shoo in to any all time-India test eleven. 

Deconstucting the Gunners

Trying to make sense of yet another wild pre-season transfer saga

This little piece is being written by a long time (and one might say long suffering) Arsenal fan , during a long and tedious flight, even as Arsenal begin yet another season trying to cope with the loss of another talismanic player.

The loss of former skipper Robin van Persie has been bivalently received across all sections of the media. The majority (a significant number of them likely Mancunians) view RVP’s switch from London to Manchester as the potential death knell for Arsene Wenger; a blow that would probably finally ensure the Professor’s unblemished record of qualifying for the Champions League is ended. Of course, these writers do not even consider the Gunner’s chances at the EPL title even worthy of mention. Not a negligible few writers  however , have claimed that though Wenger was undoubtedly held to ransom by his captain , the ultimate result might turn out to be fortuitous for his team , especially considering how he’d already pre-empted the move and struck early in the transfer market to acquire 3 very differently capable players to replace the Dutchman.

Wenger : Furrows Galore

Let us consider the merits of both arguments:

At first sight, the Arsenal-bashing appears to need little debate to vindicate. RVP scored thrice as many goals as any other Gunner last season, and was single handedly responsible for his team either winning or drawing a number of games which could easily have gone the other way (fixtures against Everton and Liverpool readily spring to mind). His passing was first rate , set piece routines , above average at most times , and finishing in front of goal was exemplary. Add to this the fact that he has managed to remain fit for almost a year and half now, easily in longest span in his Arsenal carer.

The latter fact is what would be both United’s great hope and greatest fear. If the dreaded injury strikes , van Persie has shown that he is notoriously slow to recover from it. Add to this the undeniable dip in his performance over the last 2 months of the season, something which culminated in him headlining the dutch horror show at the European Championships. At the Euro’s he scored a sublime goal against Germany, but contrived to miss a hatful, some from positions which made you wonder if it was indeed him or his Arsenal teammate Marouanne Chamakh on the pitch. It is quite possible that rest and recoup since then, his batteries would be fully recharged and playing alongside Wayne Rooney and shepherded by Sir Alex Fergusson, he might proceed to put all doubts to rest. Time will bring out whether this is another historic coup by Sir Alex akin to Ruud van Nistelrooy and Eric Cantona or whether RVP is likely to end up as another failed transfer similar to the likes of Fernando Torres and Andy Carrol.

So all in all- 24 million for a transfer which at the face of it could not be prevented is not a bad deal , but the deal is likely to really rankle if RVP strikes gold at Old Trafford.

In my view , there is a more important transfer saga than RVP which the Gunners have to prevent at all costs – the switch of Alex Song to old nemesis Barcelona (the snatcher in chief of so many of Wenger’s boys before moneybags Man City came along..... Henry, Overmars, Gio , Hleb and of course Cesc). Van Persie may have got all the plaudits last year, but Song contribution was at least equal to the striker’s if not more. Although he still retains the propensity of picking up undesirable yellow card , there is no one better in the premier league in tracking attacking midfielders, and I’ve lost count of the number of last ditch tackles he made last season. Add to it a new found propensity to provide regular assists (especially via raking through balls and long balls) and popping up with the odd goal, and you have an indispensible asset to the arsenal system. Wnger excuse for letting Song go (with 3 years remaining on his contract) is that he has a fit Diaby and a Wilshire nearing fitness. I have not heard worse excuses: Diaby has hardly set the place alight in all of his years at the Emirates, and frankly is a defensive liability. Own goals, red cards , slack defence, letting strikers free on set pieces : he’s done the lot. Wilshere, for all his precocious talent , hasn’t played a minute in anger for more than a year. To expect him to settle down into the frenetic pace of the premier league with both a creative and defensive presence is too much to ask.

Song : More crucial to the Arsenal Setup than RVP

So to summarize my expectations for Arsenal’s season :

(1) EPL title : it’ll snow in hell if they win it.

(2) UCL qualification : probable , but chances likely to be dented if Song departs.

(3) Will they miss RVP : Unquestionably , the combination of Podolksi and Giroud will not even get them close to the 37 that the Dutchman scored last season. Goalscoring is going to be the major problem. Big scoring contributions needed from Walcott (assuming he stays put) , Carzola , Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wilshere, Ramsey and Arteta because the forward line is going to misfire big time.

P.S.: Arsenal managed a goalless draw in their first game against Sunderland after having 70% possession and 23 shots on target. Giroud contrived to miss an open goal. Wenger has sold Song to Barcelona citing Diaby as his number one choice in central midfield. The season is only a day old and I’m wincing already.