Spring cleaning

Spring is in the air, and closets are being swept out! Over the past few months, while trolling the web, I picked up articles that I thought were very interesting or informative. The following links will give you an idea of what I do when I am not watching the riveting action on the screen.

1) Sanjay Bangar describes the role played by the 12th man in a squad. Methinks that some of the things they have to do is really menial and degrading, for want of a better word.

2) Paras Mhambrey gives us a very revealing inside look of the dressing rooms, a view that very few people get to see.

3) R. Ashwin talks about cricket as a professional sport in India and how it compares to Australia.

4) Anand Vasu interviews Sourav Ganguly. Like Anand, I have changed my opinion about Ganguly, too, having written him off as a Test player not too long ago.

5) When the umpires for the India-Australia 2007-08 Test series were announced, DSC and I had had a long discussion about the persons chosen and I remember agonizing over the choice of Steve Bucknor. Unfortunately, I never put it down in writing so I can't really claim the "I-told-you-so" high ground, though I did feel he was going to be responsible for a ruckus even then. Amit Verma, in his own way, talks about Bucknor and what can be done to assist fellows like him and prevent them from destroying matches.

6) Of all the fluff pieces that came out after Anil Kumble crossed the 600 Test wicket threshold, this article by Anand Vasu was the best one I read.

7) Another fine writer, Sambit Bal, interviews Anil Kumble after the dust has settled on the India-Australia Test series.

8) Peter Roebuck, in his inimitable style, pays tribute to Adam Gilchrist - one of my favourite cricketers ever. Strange to think that a guy younger than me has retired from his profession, while I am just starting in mine!

9) And while on Peter Roebuck, here is an article he wrote in 1991 predicting the 7 players who represented the future of Australian cricket. Pretty prescient of him, I must say.

10) You say potatoes, I say potatoes. Here are two contrasting views that were gleaned from the same basic interview that MS Dhoni gave to the press. The Aussie view highlights how Dhoni promises to keep on sledging, while the Indian view is that Dhoni is criticizing the Aussies for their sledging. You say tomatoes, I say tomatoes.

11) I judge a batsman's true worth not by the runs he scores or the average he maintains (though those are useful indicators) but by the partnerships he is involved in. A very revealing statistical study by CricInfo separates the show ponies from the real players. Note how many 100+ and 50+ partnerships Rahul Dravid has been involved in!

12) Peter Roebuck once again. In my estimate, he is one of the top 3 or 4 cricket-writers in the world. He gives his views on the rising fortunes of Indian cricket.

13) The richest cricketing Board in the world, the BCCI, has a very pathetic, non-functional excuse for a website. Compare that with the excellent offerings of the rebel Indian Cricket League. Shameful. It can't be that hard to set one up. Even MS Dhoni, that boy from Ranchi, has his own official website. What about the Indian Premier League, you say? Well, here's their official website - better but it still leaves a lot to be desired. Just for fun, click on the tab for the Tournament rules. The players have been bought, (ahem) auctioned, but there are no rules in place, it appears, on what to do with them or what they will do!!

14) While writers outside India (and some within) have been slamming the IPL, and all the money that is being flouted, Amit Verma tells us why the IPL is a good thing. I just wish (hope? pray? beg?) that the IPL honchos leave the ICL players alone rather than continue with their current efforts to treat them like pariahs. After all, there are a limited number of players who can play in the IPL. Why not let the ICL be a source of income or an avenue for the fringe players to display their talents? I think the IPL and the ICL can coexist, but it will never happen as long as the current set of administrators rules the roost in the BCCI and the ICL. There is too much pride at stake now, and too much mud that has been slung.

15) Mukul Kesavan bemoans that something Sachin Tendulkar said recently may have been an indication that Test cricket is dying. I don't share his pessimistic view but I am concerned, nevertheless. Give me the attritional swings of fortune during a Test match over the slam-bang, whim-wham, of an ODI or T20, any day of the week and then twice on Sunday.

16) Siddhartha Vaidyanathan explores the schedule of cricket's busiest player and wonders when the body will give in to the strain. Watching Dhoni collect the ball with one hand during the 2nd final of the VB Series was very disconcerting. Judging from the "appearances" he is making on a daily basis, ranging from hectic visits to temples to opening motorbike stores, I wonder if he is really getting the rest he needs before the series against South Africa.

16) And finally, in his own words, Daniel Vettori describes the only time he ever asked for an autograph from a cricketer. It is not who you think it would be. It is very revealing that in a testimonial match for Sir Richard Hadlee, he took someone else's autograph!