An excuse to name-drop

After their retirements, two of my favorite sportsmen Greg Maddux and Graeme Hick have, not surprisingly, stayed out of the limelight. So, when I read their names again I feel a familiar happiness flow through me as it rekindles fond memories.

Recently, Graeme Hick was honored with an MBE (Member of the British Empire). I am not one to put much stake into honorary awards, but I am glad his services to English cricket in particular, and fans worldwide, is getting some recognition now that he has stopped playing.

Since you are already here - here's Scyld Berry writing about Hick when the great man was on the verge of retiring from all forms of cricket. And Christopher Martin-Jenkins revisits a golden summer that promised so much.

(I do wish the story on CricInfo had been written by someone who cared more for the person he was writing about or, indeed, about editing his own piece.  I am not sure how this article passed by an editor before being printed. Check out the atrociousness at the end of the article:

"I take more out of the other side of cricket rather than just the cricket. It is what it gives you, the friendships, the fun, the laughter, the good side of things. Yes, I enjoyed my cricket, had some good times, but your memories of 25 years don't revolve around facts and figures at the end of it. "I take more out of the other side of cricket rather than just the cricket. It is what it gives you, the friendships, the fun, the laughter, the good side of things.

"Yes, I enjoyed my cricket, had some good times, but your memories of 25 years don't revolve around facts and figures at the end of it. It is being able to go always back to the ground, see the faces and friends and things like that.")

Reading day

While waiting for the second Test match in Mohali to start, here are some of the links I have found interesting, of late.

1) Roger Ebert is, arguably, the most widely read/regarded movie critic in America. I regularly visit his blog and movie review page and have not found anyone else who writes a more coherent and thoughtful review than he does. We have differed in opinion a few times (notably for "The Ghost and the Darkness") but I tend to enjoy reading his reviews, sometimes more than the movies themselves. He has suffered a great deal in the past two years and this article documents what keeps him going in the face of such physical adversity.

2) A few days ago, before the India-Australia Test series began, Rohit Brijnath wrote what he called an elegy for the Indian veterans. I am not sure whether to call it an elegy or a eulogy. Either way, I think that tales of their demise are definitely premature. And why on earth is VVS Laxman being lumped into that category?

3) Harsha Bhogle talks about the merits and demerits of a Voluntary Retirement System for long-serving players.

4) I know, I know, I said that I would not bring up this topic again, but I cannot resist. Here's Simon Hughes talking about Graeme Hick's legacy.

5) The most fearsome fast bowlers I have ever seen (naturally on TV) were Malcolm Marshall and Imran Khan (circa 1982). Marshall is tormenting the angels with his wicked bowling while the Pathan is now a retired cricketer and active politician. In an extensive interview Imran Khan talks about cricket and politics. Articulate and not afraid to voice his opinion, this interview is a must-read. I wish more interviewees were as candid as Imran is in answering questions.

6) Peter Roebuck weighs in on the premier batsman of the last 20 years (and more), Sachin Tendulkar, as he sits on the verge of having his nose ahead of everyone else in the international run-scoring department. (The title of the article made me think of William Brown's lisping friend, Violet-Elizabeth Bott. By the way, I did not know until today that Richmal Crompton was a lady!!)

7) And finally, Prem Panicker wonders whether the lady (Anil Kumble) doth protest too much. I think he does.

So long, and thanks for all those failings

As Graeme Hick finished his career it seemed as if every writer had to say goodbye, many of the very same folks who couldn't get rid of him soon enough years ago. Everyone worked their way through the same "Yeah-but" thesis - Yeah, he was good, but he was a failure in Tests. And everyone wrote as if they were presenting something new (I have written my feelings about him here and here).

Unless something new comes up, I promise these will be my last links to Graeme Hick retirement articles:

a) David Gower, another English batsman forever accused of not "maximizing his potential" which is odd since he scored more than 8,000 runs in Tests, offers his take on it. The article is interesting in that he tries to understand Hick from a more personal angle, his own. (A double treat is that the photo that accompanies the article features two of my favorite non-Indian players!).

b) Vic Marks, who had one of the best seats in the house when Hick scored a mammoth 405 not out, describes that day, and a few others, in a very engaging piece on the County giant.

The long goodbye

The advantage of announcing your retirement while you are still playing is that you get to have a farewell tour with lots of people having the chance to walk up to you and thank you for all the memories you have provided them over the years.

Graeme Hick is discovering the joys of such a scenario (much against his initial desire, actually). Here is another interview with the great man where he is, as always, very candid in his self-analysis. But right through the interview you get the sense that he is at peace with himself, a rare quality to have.

More of my thoughts on Graeme Hick's retirement can be found here.

P.S. I found another article that discusses Hick, now that his first-class career is indeed over. In it, Mike Selvey talks about an innings played by Hick years ago against one of the best sides in the history of the game.

...Hick launched the most withering assault of his international career, driving and pulling, so that great bowlers had no answer. Hick made an ubeaten 42 of the 59 the pair added in a dozen overs that evening, and the game had been transformed to one almost of parity. Given the manner of his play, the way in which he seized the initiative, and the generally low scoring on a helpful pitch a further hour of Hick might just have turned the game on its head. Instead stumps arrived and the moment passed.

Tears on my pillow

On September 2nd, at a press conference in England, Graeme Hick announced his retirement from first-class cricket at the ripe young age of 42. For the past few years I have been dreading this moment. It was inevitable but with each passing year, my hopes were kept alive just that bit longer. Not any more.

I first remember taking note of Graeme Hick when he scored THAT monumental 405 not out for Worcestershire. The next highest score in the match was 56, and unlike most other matches that feature such big scores, this one produced a victory for Worcestershire. I liked the fact that he hit a six when on 399 and did not mind the declaration that came. In fact, at that time, he did not even know that the record was 499 or else he may have gone on to that, too! I followed him closely over the years and have revelled in the milestones he has crossed along the way; 136 first class centuries, 178 overall, and still counting...albeit for just a couple more weeks. Over 64,000 runs in all forms of the game and 1,007 catches, second all-time for any non-wicket-keeper in the history of the game. Very impressively, as of today, only one batsman has scored more Twenty20 centuries and no other Englishman has hit more sixes! It is rumoured that he will join the ICL once his playing days are totally done. In a bittersweet way I shall look forward to watching him live for the first time since 1993 when I had the pleasure of following his first Test century, a gorgeous 178 at Wankhade Stadium.

As the greatest run accumulator of the past quarter century puts his bat away , the eulogy's on his cricketing career come gushing in to appease me for a few more days.

Andrew Miller on CricInfo, pens a fine piece on a fine gentleman.

The scars of his England experience have long since healed, and the Hick who heads for retirement is a man who knows he gave his all for the sport - and the club - that he loved. Quite what he leaves behind him, however, is another matter entirely. Perhaps his very longevity has perpetuated the era that he helped to define, but without his totemic presence in the first-class averages, there's suddenly a void that may never be adequately filled.

Derek Pringle shared the England dressing room with Hick and has some insight into why the first-class giant failed at the Test level. He ends with this epitaph.

...the disappointments at international level have been counter-balanced by longevity and success in the county game. History tends to mythologise those who burn bright and brief, but it is built by those who stick around and no one has done that in the modern era longer than Hick.

David Foot reminisces about the day Hick scored one of his defining innings - 405 not out - and searches for pointers to explain, yes, yet again, why Hick could not translate his first-class success to the Test level.

An old article by Andrew Miller on the enigmatic Mr. Hick is worth reading again.

And finally, George Dobell, gives a Worcestershire person's perspective on what Hick has meant to the folks at New Road.

One more hero of mine quietly goes away...

Catching up

While I was away from the blogsphere these were some of the articles that caught my eye.

a) Who is (statistically) the greatest all-rounder in the history of Test cricket? The answer is someone who has very quietly put together a very formidable career. Get this: he is the only man to have scored over 9,000 runs, taken more than 200 wickets, and snagged at least 100 catches in BOTH Tests and ODI's.

b) Jamie Alter describes Virender Sehwag's approach to the Sri Lankan bowlers, especially Mendis, en route to a coruscating double century in the second Test against Sri Lanka. A must read.

c) Yuvraj Singh really has nice parents. After hearing from his mother, it is now the father's turn to talk about his son. Of particular interest is this snippet (I will let the comment speak for itself)...

Yograj doesn’t sound too happy with all the pampering that Yuvi has got from his mother Shabnam. He emphatically states, “A mother can give birth and maintain a house. But she can never show the right path to the child. It’s a man’s job. I have ruled my family with an iron hand.”

d) Two fellows - Graeme Hick and Mark Ramprakash - who made their debut in the same Test, underachieved at the highest level, and then forged a formidable career in the English County scene are linked forever as members of one of cricket's most exclusive clubs - the hundred 100's club. Simon Hattenstone pays glowing tribute to the ageless warriors.

e) In all the years of Test cricket, only 9 times has a batsman batted more than 1,000 minutes in Tests without being dismissed. Astonishingly, one man has done it on 4 different occasions, the latest being earlier this year. I will give you a dozen chances to guess who that might be, but I can bet that only a few of you will get it right. Not surprisingly, this dude also gives among the most boring interviews around, filled with banal observations and very little insight into the way he really thinks. Or maybe that's the secret of his success - he is really a very simple person!

f) Dileep Premachandran wrote about the declining fortunes of the Indian middle order after they failed miserably in the first innings of the Third Test match. After the series was done, he expanded on his thoughts and discussed the state of India's cricketing cupboard.

g) One of my favourite cricket-writers is Peter Roebuck. While it is probably too soon in his career for such fawning pieces to be written about him, it voices many of my sentiments.

h) And finally, Sambit Bal reviews the process of challenging an umpire's decision that was unveiled during the just-concluded Indo-Sri Lanka series. A tentative thumb's up is his final verdict, with the emphasis on the word tentative.

It was meant to get rid of obvious umpiring mistakes - the kind in the Sydney Test that threatened to derail India's tour of Australia - but it has ended up ruling on marginal calls.

My pages are numbered

As many of you know, I like to read. Books, magazines, newspapers, coupons, posters, billboards, brochures, and (in the absence of anything else to read) notices on walls. Of this lot, books take up the most time and it is only rarely that I can read a whole book in one sitting. In the past few years only books by Rowling and Child have moved me such that I read the book in one sitting. Over the years, I have been gifted numerous bookmarks by friends and relatives. But I rarely use these bookmarks for I have my own, possibly unique, way of remembering what page I stopped at the last time I put down the book.

It is simple really, and it merges my book-reading with my first love - cricket. The page numbers remind me of some score made in the past by some batsman or team. All I have to do is remember which player (or team) and the events associated with it. Sometime, I find it hard to remember a number so I associate that number with the nearest one to it of significance, in the process finding another number that fits the difference between the two.

Some memorable numbers for me are:
22 - the number of centuries by Azharuddin in Tests.
38 - K. Srikanth's score, the highest by a batsman, in the '83 Prudential Cup final.
45 - the score that Sehwag seems to lose his concentration at most frequently in ODI's (any number in the 40's would do, really!).
51 - VVS Laxman's score on Test debut versus South Africa.
58 - the number of 50's by Azhar in ODI's, a record when he "retired".
83 - for 1983 and Kapil's Devils.
87 - the number most feared by the Aussies (13 short of a 100).
93 - score made by Azhar in his first ODI outside India (in Australia).
99 - 101 short of a double century (a nod to AV).
100 - naturally!
114 - GR Viswanath's match-winning score in the Melbourne Test of 1981.
123 - K Srikkanth's highest score in Tests and ODIs.
130 - Sehwag's highest score in an underachieving ODI career, so far.
135 - Number of Graeme Hick's first-class centuries. This changes with time!137 - GR Viswanath's score on Test debut (with 25 fours!).
140 - Laxman's score against Zimbabwe, the aftermath of which changed Indian cricket.
148 - Laxman's score in THAT Adelaide Test match.
158 - Kevin Pietersen's favourite score, it seems.
163 - Kapil Dev's highest Test score.
175 - what else, Kapil Dev, Tunbridge Wells - 1983.
178 - Laxman (and Tendulkar) ruin Steve Waugh's memories of his final Test match.
183 - Highest score ever made in the second innings of an ODI (and, of course, 1983).
186 - Sachin Tendulkar's highest ODI score.
194 - Dravid's declaration with Tendulkar at this score causes a furore.
195 - Sehwag's Melbourne massacre.
201 - Jason Gillespie's highest score in his LAST Test - the best by a nightwatchman.
204 - Adam Gilchrist's highest Test score - the fastest 200 at that time.
222 - GR Viswanath's highest score in Tests.
227 - Vinod Kambli's highest score. So much promise...
233 - Rahul Dravid's magnum opus in Adelaide.
236 - Sunil Gavaskar's highest score - now surpassed by 5 Indian batsmen.
239 - Sourav Ganguly's highest score and first double hundred.
241 - Tendulkar's lesson in self-denial at Sydney (scroll down the page to the run-scoring chart) .
242 - Ricky Ponting's effort at Adelaide (the highest score in a losing cause).
248 - Tendulkar's highest score in Tests (and shockingly, in first-class cricket, too).
254 - Sehwag's third-highest score.
267 - Aravinda de Silva's highest score (overshadowed by 299).
270 - Rahul Dravid's highest score.
274 - Zaheer Abbas - the highest score outside the Indian subcontinent by an Asian player.
281 - really...do you even have to ask?
299 - Martin Crowe chokes (as AV would say, he has to score 299 runs all over again just to get to 300).
309 - Virender Sehwag breaks a barrier - for the first time.
310 - John Edrich's highest score - most boundaries (52 fours, 5 sixes) in a Test innings.
317 - Chris Gayle shows that he is not always a mindless biffer of the cricket ball.
319 - Virender Sehwag is at it again!
333 - Graham Gooch thrashes India at Lords.
334 - Mark Taylor and Don Bradman are inexorably linked forever.
340 - Sanath Jayasuriya lays down a marker.
353 - the higher of VVS Laxman's two first-class triple centuries.
365 - Sir Garfield Sobers's first century was his biggest one.
375 - Brian Lara, part I.
380 - Matty Hayden rightly surmises that people will not remember who the opposition was.
400 - Brian Lara - the sequel.
405 - Graeme Hick, my hero, announces himself to the world with a 6 to get to 405 (check out the next highest score in the entire match).
443 - BB Nimbalkar's tryst with glory was cut short by petulant opponents.
452 - the highest score in the storied career of the Don.
499 - Hanif Mohammad falls short, and then achieves, cricketing immortality.
501 - Brain Lara completes his trilogy.

Not-so-average Joe

As the years go by, my respect and liking for Graeme Hick keeps increasing. Even in the twilight of his career he is the prize wicket to take when playing Worcestershire. (A little bit about him can be found on the Different Shades of Green blog).

Christopher Martin-Jenkins wrote a nice piece about the man who, if he plays a couple of years, could become the most prolific run-getter in the entire history of cricket.

His 40,624 first-class runs have been scored at an average of 52, which speaks unequivocally of his class, especially as Worcester pitches have by no means always been batsman friendly. If he were to keep going for another two seasons he could surpass (Graham) Gooch's record aggregate in all cricket of 65,928 runs. Before today's Friends Provident Trophy match he had 63,054, including his Twenty20 runs, more than Jack Hobbs's 61,237, the first-class record still, compiled before limited-overs games started.

Note: As of July 8th, 2008, Hick has accumulated 63,822 runs in all forms of the game.

Virtual tour

After a long hiatus, I am back to blogging, so I shall start by taking you through some of the stories that have caught my fancy in the past few weeks.

1) Greg Maddux was in pursuit of win number 350, which he has managed but has not won a game since then. David Pinto breaks down Maddux's feat into smaller numbers and finds that Mad Dog's achievement is more astounding the deeper you dig into it.

2) While many others were following the launch of the 20-20 league, I was following the progress of Graeme Hick. Typical Hick results so far...3 catches each in both innings, blasting a century with 15 fours, while setting up a total for the other team to chase. May he churn those runs all season.....135 centuries and counting. By the way, if he continues in this vein for another two years, he will become the most prolific run-scorer in the entire history of cricket. No joke. (More on that in another blog post later on).

3) In the time since I started watching cricket on TV, only two fast bowlers have evoked fear in me (for the plight of the batsmen, mostly Indian) - Imran Khan and Malcolm Marshall. Imran Khan terrorised the Indians to the tune of 42 wickets in the 1982 series, ensuring that GR Viswanath's career came to an abrupt end. Malcolm Marshall then took revenge for the loss of the World Cup by scaring everyone in the Indian team in the 1984 series, going on to become one of the most feared fast bowler the game has ever seen. On what would have been his 50th birthday,Pat Symes writes a moving piece on the man with the angular run-up who left us long before we had a chance to properly say goodbye. Somewhere among the clouds, I can still see him shining the new ball and coming in to bowl. I hope the angels facing him have good protective gear...

4) No player - past or present - moved me as much as Mohammad Azharuddin did. It helped that I watched him start his career along with my grandfather. Dadu did not praise players easily, but when he saw Azhar score 8 runs (yes, 8 runs) in a rain-affected day on Test debut he told me to watch out for the lad. 15 minutes of watching Azhar bat were enough for him to find out what took me years to figure out - Azhar seemed to have some extra time to play the ball. Not surprisingly, super-fast bowling reduced that reaction time and made him jumpy. People forget that when his career ended abruptly, he was the world record holder for most 50's and most runs in ODI's. Also, he is one of a select few batsmen who have scored centuries in their first and last Test. Rohit Brijnath wrote a pretty good piece on Azhar examining the enigma that Azhar was and still is.

5) The 1983 World Cup did as much for cricket in India as the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup triumph did for the BCCI's coffers. Indians did not care for One Day Internationals back then. Yes, India was one of the last countries to play one day internationals and it took a World Cup triumph to change the face of the game. Notice any parallels with Twenty20? June 25th, 2008, marks the 25th anniversary of that tumultuous day in England when Kapil Dev's team successfully defended a total of 183 runs in 60 (yes, sixty) overs. With the cash registers still ringing in their heads from the IPL, the BCCI honchos have decided that the 1983 World Cup team is old news and not worthy of honouring. Funny, since the Under-19 World Cup winning team was treated to a ticker-tape parade and given money that could run a small nation for a few days.

6) As a cricketer of very limited skills, one area where I was able to hold my own (until age and fading eyesight came into play) was as a fielder. I wish I had been able to read these interesting fielding tips by Trevor Penney, a very successful fielding coach.

7) Along with Greg Maddux my favourite baseball player is Frank Thomas. On his 40th birthday ESPN.com came up with a list of 40 things to cheer about the man nicknamed the Big Hurt.

Confluence

Once in a blue moon comes along a game, insignificant to almost everyone else not involved with tthe two teams, but monumental to me. A few days ago, in the 40-over championships in England (called the Pro40 championships), Worcestershire defeated Lancashire. Oddly, I had been looking forward to this game for some time now, ever since I found out that VVS Laxman was going to spend the rest of the summer in England.

This match featured two of my favourite cricketers ever - VVS Laxman and Graeme Hick. Both are no longer picked for their country's one day squad though both could probably still serve them with distinction (before you laugh at this, check out Graeme Hick's stats, especially in the shorter version of the game, these past few years. He is the only batsman I know who has scored multiple centuries in Twenty20 cricket!). Both scored undefeated half-centuries for their teams - Laxman made 80-odd and Hick 50-odd - with Hick's being the decisive score.

And quietly flows the (county) Don

Graeme Hick continues to pile up runs in County cricket and, to my delight, has re-signed for another year at Worcestershire. The quiet giant is trying to make every innings count.

Watching Kevin Peitersen's remarkable ascendancy to the top echelon of Test cricket, I often wondered what Hick would have achieved if he had some of Pietersen's iron will and flair for the dramatic. Surely more than 6 Test centuries in 65 Tests. Luckily, better writers than I echo similar sentiments.

Stalking by any other name

Here is a semi tongue-in-cheek article about that diffident and reticent hero of mine - Graeme Hick. Just like Greg Maddux, a mid-season slump has been replaced a little more authority in his recent performances, giving all of us fans of both players hope that there is still some life left in their sporting careers.

Flames finally flickering

Continuing on my previous post, it appears now that Graeme Hick has hit a rich vein of good fortune and form. He scored his second consecutive century and jumped up the list of all-time century makers. At 40 (yes DSC, another person for your 40 brigade), Hick is showing that he is not totally washed up and me-saah is pleased!

Final flickers or finally flickering?

Graeme Hick has been having a very poor English County season so far and I am not the only one worried about an ignominous exit from cricket for him. However, at the site of his greatest first class innings, Hick turned back the years and gave himself some wiggle room for the next few games with a thunderous 182.

Hopefully, this will spur him onto some more big scores the rest of the year.

Atlas sighed

My favourite non-Indian cricketer ever (there...I have said it!) is now entering what could possibly be his final season. On the eve of the English domestic season, the man who had greatness in sight is the subject of a fairly personal interview. I shall follow Graeme Hick's scores, as I have been for decades now, and hope that he goes out with a bang.

Who knows, there may even be a phoenix-like resurrection in time for the next World Cup, what with England struggling to put together a decent batting line-up in ODI's these days. The odds of it happening are very, very remote, but I am an optimist by nature. Eternally so.