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Showing posts with label Graeme Smith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Graeme Smith. Show all posts
Out of South Africa
When the media pounded Smith about this decision, Smith with his usual pugnacious attitude, responded, “Listen. I didn’t want Morne to better his personal record of 40. We would lose a genuine number 11 batsman and our selectors – you know how they are – they might get Gibbs back in to play at #11.” When pushed further, Smith revealed, “I didn’t want to upset the delicate clique balance we have in our team. And also, Morne might want a move up the order. As valid as that request may be, considering the kind of form Alviro and Ashwell have been in recently, I was keeping an eye on the upcoming series against India. You know Dhoni is going to spread the field as soon as Morne steps in to bat. This will give us an opportunity to score all the runs we want.”
The Pak-SAF Freak Show.
On the surface, Pakistan are playing South Africa. Hang in till the last ten overs, Pakistan start to play themselves. Then around the last 7-8 overs, South Africa start playing themselves. The series is Pak vs SAF vs SAF vs PAK vs PAK. Who needs a triangular, these teams are two faced.
1. The Run-out: Haider plays back to Parnell. Runs a few paces down, and as it should be Haider’s call (but isn’t), Wahab runs more than a few paces down. There is time for a mid pitch conference, instead Parnell runs Wahab out. Wahab looks so sad, if only he could see the run out, he’d laugh too. (And so we tweeted: Next, they should try and run before the ball has been delivered. Even better when the bowler is gng back to his mark.
2. The Run-out that wasn’t: The tailenders go for a second which wasn’t. Ball thrown at bowler’s end, Steyn collects, with his back to the runner, responds to AB’s call, and instead of knocking the bails at his end, about turns and throws to keeper. If only he could see the replay, appears he does. He resembles an annoyed Wahab.
3. Brain fade that wasn’t: It was just Afridi. Just over a 100 to get, 18+ overs to get them in. Boom Boom down the wicket to hit Botha outta the ground. Yes, he’s the captain.
4. Return of the other Y: So the other, other Y has gone away. The world is not big enough for both Ys. Today, Younis hung in long enough to face more balls than Afridi has faced in his entire ODI career. He even made it to the Man of the match. He didn’t smile much, spoke in Urdu. Refreshing.
5. Return of the other captain: Smith was setting the field. Appears he was captain. The other day he wasn’t, Botha was. It is obvious now, both teams complement each other – but not themselves.
6. Gibbs takes his lance out – he sticks it into Smith and his gang. As a result, Smith, Kallis, AB, continue to think about weird excerpts from Gibbs’ book (most expensive shag) when they really should keep their eyes on the ball. Catch dropped. Demands for a new tech called Speech Blurb Cloud find voice.
7. Steyn takes his place – goes for 79 of 10. And that run out.
8. Shoiab Akhtar takes his place – scores 0 runs again to see Pak through. In the 2nd ODI he faced 1 ball, in the 4th, no ball. He did not however receive a free hit.
And so we tweeted: Gng by the freak cricket they produce, SAF and Pak should be part of each others' domestic tournaments.
Nail Biting Cricketers!
One of the most popular pastimes on a cricket field is ‘nail-chewing’ or ‘nail-biting’. After ‘spitting’ it surely is the most popular pastime on the field!
Amazing that -- in a [so-called] gentleman’s sport – these guys are allowed to do it and get away with it?! Why no fines here??
Let’s analyze this somewhat:
So, what are they really doing: Is it just nervousness? Are these fellows always too tense and is that why they are chewing their fingernails? Is it a lack of calcium in their bodies or is it just a way to recycle calcium?
OR
Are they still in a ‘teething’ state, where they desperately need to gnaw on things, just as little pups do when they grow up?
I mean, it doesn’t have to be the nails -- it can be the cricket ball itself!
Shahid Afridi can show you how that’s best done.
Now, if gnawing the ball is called “ball tampering”, why shouldn’t the prior, be referred to as “finger tampering”? In an abstract fashion, one may ask, does it lead to any particular advantage for the team with the highest percentage of chewed up nails?
Without complicating the issue, let me address what’s more obvious:
Weren’t these guys ever taught at home not to chew on their finger nails? This, well before they were let onto the cricket field, exposed to the cameras and a world-wide audience of children. Is that what our child viewers are meant to emulate [while learning more about cricket]?
Shah Rukh Khan (the poor Bollywood Filmstar with a nicotine addiction!) was banned from smoking in public, last exposed at an IPL cricket match on 21st April, 2009, simply because the cameramen (Nimbus or Neo… whichever?!) couldn’t keep his camera pointed towards the playing field. The reason I bring up smoking is because it is almost as bad an addiction as chewing on nails (ask a psychologist!).
In a day and age of greater consciousness about ‘addictions’, we do have to be careful what we expose our societies to:
Fact remains, nails are not just bitten during “nail biting finishes” (like the latest 1-ball win of India against South Africa in the 1-day international at Jaipur on 21st February 2010) but it is a rampant habit, an addiction that is an integral part of any cricket game on TV today. Some clinical psychologists even call it “a form of cannibalism and a sign of low self esteem”. Wikipedia states that “Onychophagia or nail biting is a common oral compulsive habit in children and adults, affecting around 30% of children between 7 to 10 years and 45% of teenagers” but what about ‘adults’ that are not teenagers anymore? That quoted, is there reason enough for yet another aspect of training/ coaching to come into play? Must India’s Cricket Coach Gary Kirsten concentrate on this aspect, too?
In the meanwhile, do watch reality unfold on TV for yourself, look out for:
Amazing that -- in a [so-called] gentleman’s sport – these guys are allowed to do it and get away with it?! Why no fines here??
Let’s analyze this somewhat:
So, what are they really doing: Is it just nervousness? Are these fellows always too tense and is that why they are chewing their fingernails? Is it a lack of calcium in their bodies or is it just a way to recycle calcium?
OR
Are they still in a ‘teething’ state, where they desperately need to gnaw on things, just as little pups do when they grow up?
I mean, it doesn’t have to be the nails -- it can be the cricket ball itself!
Shahid Afridi can show you how that’s best done.
Now, if gnawing the ball is called “ball tampering”, why shouldn’t the prior, be referred to as “finger tampering”? In an abstract fashion, one may ask, does it lead to any particular advantage for the team with the highest percentage of chewed up nails?
Without complicating the issue, let me address what’s more obvious:
Weren’t these guys ever taught at home not to chew on their finger nails? This, well before they were let onto the cricket field, exposed to the cameras and a world-wide audience of children. Is that what our child viewers are meant to emulate [while learning more about cricket]?
Shah Rukh Khan (the poor Bollywood Filmstar with a nicotine addiction!) was banned from smoking in public, last exposed at an IPL cricket match on 21st April, 2009, simply because the cameramen (Nimbus or Neo… whichever?!) couldn’t keep his camera pointed towards the playing field. The reason I bring up smoking is because it is almost as bad an addiction as chewing on nails (ask a psychologist!).
In a day and age of greater consciousness about ‘addictions’, we do have to be careful what we expose our societies to:
- Drug misuse & addiction (Floyd Landis, Cycling, UCI & Shoaib Akhtar)
- Sex addiction (Tiger Woods, Golf, PGA & Shane Warne)
- Nail biting addiction (LeBron Raymone James, Basketball, NBA & Harbhajan Singh)
Fact remains, nails are not just bitten during “nail biting finishes” (like the latest 1-ball win of India against South Africa in the 1-day international at Jaipur on 21st February 2010) but it is a rampant habit, an addiction that is an integral part of any cricket game on TV today. Some clinical psychologists even call it “a form of cannibalism and a sign of low self esteem”. Wikipedia states that “Onychophagia or nail biting is a common oral compulsive habit in children and adults, affecting around 30% of children between 7 to 10 years and 45% of teenagers” but what about ‘adults’ that are not teenagers anymore? That quoted, is there reason enough for yet another aspect of training/ coaching to come into play? Must India’s Cricket Coach Gary Kirsten concentrate on this aspect, too?
In the meanwhile, do watch reality unfold on TV for yourself, look out for:
- Harbhajan (Bhajji) Singh, standing at deep mid on and chewing away to glory.
- Graeme Smith, standing at first slip and chewing away, nervously.
- Daniel Vettori, biting his nails almost anywhere on the field.
- Even Virendar Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar are often seen with their fingers in their mouths, whilst standing in the slip cordon.
Here’s a case in point, as to how desperate [and deplorable] this habit/ addiction can get:
I hear that our own champion, pseudo sardar ‘Bhajji ‘ (Harbhajan Singh) had at one stage chewed off so much of his finger nails that none were left to chew. So, quite desperate to chew on a nail, he was caught on camera chewing on his toe nails doing one of the flexibility exercises for his back and upper thighs in the warm-up area of a cricket stadium -- you can’t beat that!
(The picture in now unavailable for us, as it was pulled off the net by concerned authorities!)
Where are we getting to?
Are these our heroes of today… our role models?
We’re not letting anyone off the hook here… I’ll write about ‘spitting on the field’ some other day!
by Ajoy Eric Lal
When I’m watching cricket, I’m not just watching the game but also thinking about all that is subtly happening on and off the field. It’s a kind of analysis Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Harsha Bhogle wouldn’t dare undertake!
The Night Before (the Nagpur test)
INT. NAGPUR TEAM HOTEL - NIGHT
(Kallis knocking on Smith’s door)
SMITH
Whoz dat?KALLIS
Iz me YakSMITH
I’m having a dream, Herr YakKALLIS
OK, I’ll run a few singles in the corridor and come back later(But Smith opens the door for Kallis, both men are in striped PJs)
KALLIS (Cont’d)
I ‘ave a big favour to ask you Mr SmithSMITH
Let me guess, you want Prince and me to go early so you can score a hundred to equal…KALLIS
YES, YES! Equal Lara and equal SunnySMITH
Prince will be easy, the umpires are disposed to…KALLIS
And you…SMITH
Turn around…
When Daddy is Away, Who Will Play?
Shane Warne pulled his hamstring trying to stretch too far to get a hold of that beer from the crowd and now sees himself out of a few matches in the IPL.
He'll be missing atleast 1 match definitely and that too a crucial encounter against the Mumbai Indians.
What happens now?
Who will Munaf Patel look to figure out what kind of delivery to bowl next?
Who will throw the new ball to Yusuf Pathan?
Who will the young Indians run to hug every time a Mumbai wicket falls?
Who will the batsman look to when they collapse like a heap of cards?
Who will Ravindra Jadeja look to for inspiration on the field?
Who will guide the fielders, the bowlers, the defence of a total, the run chase?
The Royals' daddy is going to be away and the kids are going to have a tough time adjusting, despite the abundant leadership experience of their adopted daddy, Graeme Smith.
They say when the cat is away the mice will play.
On Thursday it looks like when Daddy's away, Mumbai will play!
Q Moment of IPL Match #33
Graeme Smith b Kallis 20.
Stumps down.
Nothing like bowling your captain.
Graeme McKenzie gone!
South Africa in shock. They knocked two openers instead of one. With Graeme Smith caught behind, the SAF commentators were caught with their 'foot in the mouth' - called it "Graeme McKenzie gone...indeed, no Graeme Smith gone." Sounded just like the Aussies have all summer. Or the Kiwis are, in spite of winning.
2-2, Graeme Amla gone, and with him Hashim too.
Jo'burg is so much like Karachi!
On day 1 of the 1st test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the Lankans were 3 down for not much when the Pakistan Vice Captain dropped a sitter off the Lankan Captain.
Mahela was on 43 then and went on to score 240.
On day 1 of the 1st test between Australia and South Africa, the Aussies were 3 down for not much when the South African Captain dropped a sitter off the Aussie Captain.
Ponting was on 40 then and is on 76 now and will go on to score?
For Sydney
Even though both Smith and I didn’t see Sydney through, we’d already had closure.
I had to leave Sydney four overs before close. Smith spared less.
Not that it mattered.
When Steyn fell, and Smith walked in, Sydney, at least for me, was purged of its previous misdemeanours.
Some of its cricketing soul had returned.
Walking down the ramp, in company, never before had Smith seemed so aloof, apart, awesome. Almost a higher being, from another era. Bradmanesque.
We knew the injuries, we couldn’t see them. That added to the aura.
The Aurora Borealis of cricket.
Thank you, Graeme. Shine on.
the moment which defines man...
the moment which defines team...the moment which defines test cricket...
| What a moment ...Smith walks out to fight for his team ...broken hand and all ..the SCG rises to applaud | |
| 107.4 | McDonald to Steyn, OUT, pitches in line and slides on to hit him right in front of leg stump, Bowden has no doubts and Australia celebrate, MacDonald has made up for the drop |
| DW Steyn lbw b McDonald 28 (65b 2x4 0x6) SR: 43.07 | |
smith you beauty...you have made sure that this is one of those memories which won't fade away even from my 'flash' memory...
take a bow!
update: photo uploaded
Ponting brave?
By Q
Australia are on the verge of a rare test victory here.
Rare did I say?
That's rare!
South Africa were set a target of 376 in about 5 sessions.
Brave that of Ponting after the Aussies were creamed for 414 just about a fortnight ago.
But then...
Would Ponting have been so brave had South Africa been 11 men standing and Smith was there to kick off the chase?
Yeah, I thought so.
South Africa: Between then and now and the whipping post.
by Naked Cricket
Consider the ‘Bored of Cricket’ polls to your right. Now, reconsider it.
Where is South Africa? Apart from sitting on top of Oz that is.
Notice, there is no SAF in the bored stakes.
How did SAF evolve from full blooded boredom to one very engaging team?
Their most exciting player, Gibbs, gone – could that be it? And their least exciting player, McKenzie, cometh on top – can it be so?
For ages, South Africa have looked like a very good team on paper – allrounders all-over, potential match winners till the 12th man, and the general bonhomie that comes knowing the next guy will do the job.
Only the job never got done. Then came Graeme Smith; then went Lance Klusener.
Don’t mess with me couldn’t have been written any bigger even if Smith sired an aircraft to do the great gig in the sky.
Knocking Klusener off, match winner, all-rounder, almost there man, choker, Donald’s run-out partner in the World Cup knockout, and primarily, BAD INFLUENCE.
A guy who can do that will not stop at much. Selection was flawed, Smith said so.
Meanwhile Smith scored, and scored big. Fifty plus average, and before you know it, he’s not a rookie player anymore. Yet he spoke like one. And that last trip down under detained the little boy into the dark corner. Hush puppy, hush!
That was then. What happened between then and now?
Here are some hints.
Smith made his debut in 2001-02.
Six of his mates made theirs after him.
295 HM Amla India v South Africa at Kolkata, 2004/05
296 AB de Villiers South Africa v England at Port Elizabeth, 2004/05
297 DW Steyn South Africa v England at Port Elizabeth, 2004/05
300 M Morkel South Africa v India at Durban, 2006/07
301 PL Harris South Africa v India at Cape Town, 2006/07
302 JP Duminy Australia v South Africa at Perth, 2008/09
Harris (2006-7) and Duminy just the other day.
They are his boys, his team.
Blokes like Boucher and Ntini are hardcore team players (both 1997-98 debuts) they’ll even play for a statue.
Kallis (1995-96) was miffed after being sidelined for the T20 WC, but in that SAF dressing room nobody is beyond a dressing down, even if you are Kallis.
Mckenzie (2000) an oddball, eccentric, what can you say about him?
And Prince (2001) in the same series as Smith vs. Australia. Another go-to guy for Smith, along with Mckenzie, the workers, the ants of the team.
That’s twelve players.
No Gibbs, No Klusener, No Pollock, no baggage. Smith in command.
And for Australia, no Warne, no McGrath, no Gilchrist, no Langer, no Hayden, no Symonds, no Lee. Looks like that way, doesn’t it?
Three years back, Aussie whipped SAF by 184 runs at Melbourne, this very day.
And now SAF lashes 183 runs in the blink of an eye.
‘Sometimes it feels like I’m tied to the whipping post.’
Thus spoke Ricky Ponting.
Team of the Year - Really?
By Q
Do you first pick a team and then choose the best person out of the lot to captain them or do you first pick a captain and then fit him into a team?
That's what I thought when I took a glance at the 3 test teams of the year picked by the ICC, Vic Marks, and Peter Roebuck.
While the ICC chose Graeme Smith to captain their Test XI of the year, Roebuck picked Dhoni, while Marks shied away from naming his.
Dhoni had an 80% success rate in 5 tests as captain this year while Smith has a 66.67% success rate in 14 tests, which would be higher after this Melbourne test ends.
Based on that, both deserve it. I'll leave it till the end to decide on who it should be.
No two teams out of the 3 are identical thus leaving open the debate about which one is exactly the test team of the year.
Only Smith, Pietersen, and Steyn are common among all 3 teams.
Considering that Smith and Steyn head the leading run scorers and leading wicket takers lists respectively for 2008, their presence is a given.
But Pietersen, despite his awesome stature, has 11 batsmen ahead of him in the top run scorers for 2008, hence him being a unanimous choice in the XI is a bit bemusing.
Sachin makes the cut only for Marks' team, while the other two have left him out. Its difficult to leave a batsman of that reputation out of any team but when there are other batsmen who have done better, selection becomes a bit tricky.
But choosing KP when Sachin has more runs?
On the other hand Marks leaves out Shiv Chanderpaul, who is in the other two teams.
Chanders is the top ranked batsman currently. On top he's averaging over a 100 in 9 tests this year.
You can't leave him out!
Surely the three selectors had their own criteria but most runs or highest average is something even understood by the commoners.
Then how can you go wrong?
All three have picked different spinners.
Marks has gone for Harbhajan, Roebuck for Mendis, while the ICC have picked the best of the lot, Muralitharan.
Bhajji is the highest wicket taker among spinners this year followed by Vettori. So how Murali and Mendis are even considered is mind boggling.
Alright so Mendis averaged 18, but he played only 3 tests.
Murali averaged only 3 runs better than Vettori. When the difference in wickets is 15, I don't think 3 more runs per wicket makes much of a difference.
The choice of wicket keeper also makes one wonder.
Cricinfo picks Sangakkara, while the other two go for Dhoni.
They aren't even the highest run scorers this year.
McCullum is.
Even Haddin and Boucher have more runs than Sanga, while all 5 average around the same during 2008.
In terms of dismissals, Boucher and McCullum are heaps ahead of any other. Poor Sanga is right at the bottom.
They all got it wrong here IMO.
So how do you select a test team of the year?
The obvious way would be to pick the top 6 batsmen of the year, the top wicket keeper, and the top 4 bowlers.
Whether the top are the leading run scorers, wicket takers or those with the best averages is arguable.
Considering some play more than others during a year it shoud be fair to define a minimum number of matches and then select the ones with the best averages.
Lets say a minimum of 8 tests?
I think thats fair considering all top teams should have played that many in a year.
If they haven't the ICC need to revisit the FTP.
Besides Pakistan and Sri Lanka all teams played atleast 9 tests this year.
Even Bangladesh played more than the Lankans.
Pakistan is another story.
Going back to the team.
Batsmen
The top 6 batsmen in terms of averages (min 8 matches) are: Chanderpaul, Smith, Gambhir, Prince, De Villiers, and Katich.
It hurts me to leave Sehwag out but if Katich had played 3 more matches, as many as Sehwag, he would have gotten more runs.
Simple.
Wicketkeeper
Boucher had the most dismissals, McCullum the most runs, and Haddin the best average.
How do you choose?
McCullum has the most dismissals per match at 2.3, well above Boucher's 2.0 and Haddin's 1.9, hence he's the pick.
Spinner
The leading spinner in terms of average was Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan.
With 29 wickets in 8 tests with four 5 wicket hauls he did better than Vettori and better than Harbhajan. He even had a better strike rate than both of them.
Murali and Mendis just didn't play enough.
On top Shakib also has runs against his name.
Pace Attack
The top 3 pacers in terms of averages were Steyn, Sidebottom, and O'Brien.
Sure Johnson, Lee, Ntini, Andersen, and Morkel had more wickets but O'Brien would have gotten there had he played another 2-3 matches this year. His strike rate was far better than any of them this year.
Then what makes Marks ignore players from New Zealand and Bangladesh? In a better set up they would be match winners.
And what makes Roebuck take matches against Bangladesh out? Prince scored where Kallis failed and batsmen scored against the likes of Shakib who troubled the best.
Based on pure performance and no bias, here's the Test XI of the Year:
1. Graeme Smith
2. Gautam Gambhir
3. Simon Katich
4. Shiv Chanderpaul
5. Ashwell Prince
6. AB De Villiers
7. Brendon McCullum
8. Shakib Al Hasan
9. Dale Steyn
10. Ryan Sidebottom
11. Iain O'Brien
Picking a captain out of that isn't so difficult then is it?
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