Right on

I actually agree with this. I think if Indians actually started paying even a fraction of attention to a few other sports, we might even make a few Olympic medals. It would be good if some of the money started pouring out of this overhyped game and into some other more deserving ones.

And no, by 'other sports' I do not mean Test Cricket! Futbol, anyone?

While the article is not without a semblence of reality, I think it goes way over the top in its characterizations. As if all people who like cricket are exemplified by the mostly mythical "cricket effigy burning mob of South Asia." The article is a comment piece, conversation-starter, but I think it tells fewer "hard truths" than half truths

This is how crazy our fans are...

My brother: It's a shame that India lost, they did not even make 200 runs.
Me: Yeah, but a coach died.
Him: I know, but still, I thought India would have done better.
Me: Never has this happened in any other sport. And you are not bothered by it. India losing is more important than cricket being tarnished?
Him: I understand that this is bad, but still India...

For the outside world who were learning about cricket, this is bad.
For fans, it's just another chapter.
For the ICC and BCCI this just means lesser revenue.

Someone needs to fix the system.

Test cricket is a good option, but without the support of the ICC and BCCI, it will never take off. Unchanged opinion from the part of the fans does not help.

And might I add, news about Bob will be slow to come and the case will be concluded only after the world cup. Again, thanks to the ICC.

sahej is spot on in my opinion. mr. kesavan is going a bit over the top here, although there is truth to what he says as well. yes there are fans who burn effigies and attack houses, but they hardly represent the majority, they just get all the attention. the people who attacked dhoni's house were part of some youth wing of a political party. what's interesting about this article is that it first appeared on cricinfo and is now on bbc (i've never seen that before). it plays right into the hands of those who are upset by and jealous of the shifting of cricket's power to the subcontinent - a move which comes with associated goods and evils. they use articles like this to hark back to some mythical golden age of cricket free of any corruption, bad behavior etc. (of course at a time when cricket was ruled by London). there are comments by some, subtle and not so subtle, saying india and pakistan should be demoted and banned from cricket for 6 months to a year, that these problems only appeared when "certain" countries were "admitted" to cricket's inner holy sanctum sanctorium. should england be banned because it's football fans create havoc - not even in their own country like indian fans but in other people's countries? cricket in india and pakistan has problems for sure, but it's sad that people are using the events of this world cup as a guise for some deeper, more virulent generalizations and characterizations and mr. kesavan, good intentioned though he may be, is giving them ammunition by being a bit shrill and hysterical himself.

Even with that subtext, which has been a subtext for years, I don't fault the writer. It's not his fault other people may use the article for different purposes. This subtext about the rabble tarnishing the game has been going on for years, and its fed by those of us who get our jollies just being mentioned by the BBC. If it takes pretending like we really are crazy lunatics, some people actually will, in the words of MLK, scratch where we don't itch and smile when there's nothing funny being said

And here is some proof that most of these protests are coached.

And I should thank aNTi from Superstarksa.com for sending me that link.

Of all people, Bal Thackeray is urging the fans to be calm. I'm actually shocked he didnt join in on the protests and blame Pakistan for the defeat. Also there is a growing sentiment that these protests are "staged" by the numerous news channels searching for news material and local goons just for getting on camera.

"And might I add, news about Bob will be slow to come and the case will be concluded only after the world cup. Again, thanks to the ICC."

the jamaican police are investigating this case, not the icc, although they will help with any information.

on a different note, those who are calling for the cancellation of the world cup due to this tragedy forget that the biggest losers will not be indian advertising etc., it will be the west indies. they have poured millions which they can probably ill afford into this tournament and it is a great matter of pride for them. things have not always gone smoothly in terms of organization, facilities etc, but they are still staging a complex tournament that a lot of west indian businesses are depending upon and doing it mostly successfully. i wonder if the indian (meaning ethnically indian) or pakistani coach had been murdered during a world cup held in england or australia if there would be this overwhelming call for the cup to be cancelled? would english or australian businesses/fans be willing to lose out and see their teams not play after buying expensive tickets? england wouldn't tour zimbabwe for "moral" reasons, but had no problem inviting the same zimbabwe team to england to play so that the ecb wouldn't lose out on its own financial commitments.

this is not to sound callous. bob woolmer's death is deeply disturbing and needs to be addressed, but it has to be put into context of the current needs - this wasn't a huge terrorist event or natural tragedy that would make the cup seem impossible to go on with at this point. even the munich olympics went on despite several athletes being murdered.

Good one Karthik. I was searching for aNTI's link. The bottom line is you cannot blame the large majority of the fans for the actions of a few and also what is essentially a staged protest for the news channels, by the news channels.

no, i don't fault mr. kesavan for writing what he did, although i do think he is being a tad over-the-top. but we cannot hide our heads in the sand, i agree. i fault those who use it as a cover for their own agendas. i still maintain that the influence of india/pakistan on the game of cricket has been more positve and good for the game than bad.

Its a sordid business, that what to South Asians may have seemed like good-natured fascination with our supposed "love of cricket" was really a way for those who used to find South Asians inferior beings to prove their point. There's always a little too much glee with which the reports of yet another "wild and crazy" episode from South Asia come in. Its like there is still nostalgia for when we could be dismissed as either primitive children or primitive savages

This is apart from the trult tragic events that have happened, and all reasonable people have felt badly on a human level for the death of Bob Woolmer

Speaking of sport as a proxy for war, there's always England v. Argentina in soccer:

The encounter (1986 World Cup quarter finals) was made particularly incendiary by the Falklands War which the two countries had fought four years previously, and many in Argentina saw the game as being an opportunity to exact revenge upon England for their loss of that conflict, and incidents during the fighting such as the sinking of the warship General Belgrano in debatable circumstances. link

Argentina won the match, 2-1, in controversial circumstances, including a famous handball goal. Diego Armando Maradona, hero and villain of the match, would later write: "it was as if we had beaten a country, not just a football team... Although we had said before the game that football had nothing to do with the Malvinas war, we knew they had killed a lot of Argentine boys there, killed them like little birds. And this was revenge."

The rival, one of the most bitter and intense in world sport, continues till this day. Fans in the stands make explicit reference to the war, and ultras from both sides fight in the streets.

Have any of you ever read the book A Corner of a Foreign Field by Ramachandra Guha? It's an excellent book on the history of cricket.

Cricket helped cross caste boundaries with the famous Palwankar brothers.

A really good read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palwankar_Baloo

There's always a little too much glee with which the reports of yet another "wild and crazy" episode from South Asia come in. Its like there is still nostalgia for when we could be dismissed as either primitive children or primitive savages

And this is exactly why occasionally, there is fierce debate within the bunker about the utility or implications of blogging certain stories..."Woman Breastfeeds Tiger Cubs" comes to mind, even though it went down in Burma. Sensational, exotic, weird...gag.

The most important thing that Mukul Kesavan touches on is notthat of the effigy burning hot heads --- the most serious point he makes is about how the demands of commercialism have begun to warp the game --- this allied to the constant level of mafia involvement in betting and matchfixing (all centred on Bombay - Karachi - Dubai --- hey, why was Sharjah picked for all those India-Pakistan one days?), the toxic levels of jingoism that accompanies the India-Pakistan series / matches....

Now more than ever this has to be looked at. If something is not done cricket will be strangled to death. Bob Woolmer's death should be the wake up call for everyone. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. It is an important article.

I agree with Whose God --- the ending of the tournament would be a disaster for the West Indies and it would come close to bankrupting the ICC with cancelled contracts. It should go on and whoever wins commemorate and dedicate their victory to Bob Woolmer and it should all be played in a good sporting manner.....if you do love the game, think on this, that there are syndicates and mafiosi who want to turn the game into a personal gambling den for them to make money through matchfixing, betting, corruption and cheating. Cricket shouldnt belong to a bunch of underworld thugs --- it should belong to the players and the fans.

The betting aspects, sure look at that with an appropriate vigilence. The jingoism, I think, this is part drama and part real. For every over-blown cricket as proxy for war enthusiast, there is an over-blown cricket as proxy for peace enthusiast. A well-recieved cricket match between Ind-Pak can get everyone dreaming of the next confidence-building measure as much as anything else.

I think the crisis-building tone of the article is wrong. There are problems with South Asia as a home of world cricket, just as there were when the UK was the home of world cricket. I think there is a serious distortion here, because, for one thing, two teams that were supposed to bring a high level of quality to the tournement have been terrible. That in itself in an ordinary tournement would leave a sour taste.

In short though, I don't think there is any need for a "special circumstances" allowance to be given here by which South Asian influence in cricket has distorted the generally applicable rules of human nature to the extent the article seems to imply

Sahej, you think the crisis-building tone of the article is wrong? Do you really think there isnt a crisis in cricket? You really think Kesavan is artificially creating an image of crisis? You get it all the wrong way. Cricket is in crisis. These things need to be discussed. Discussing the effect that Indian TV money and other factors have had on the game in the light of everything should be commended, and shouldnt lead to defensiveness.

No I don't think there is a crisis to the extent you seem to and I don't think I have it all wrong, or I wouldn't have said it. For one thing, no one has proven that either India or Pak lost because of match-fixing, and until that happens, I'm not sure on what grounds one can say what the "crisis" is about. Or what to do with it. I'm not sure what you think is the crisis here. Should all national team coaches be given 24 hour security? Is there a "crisis" by which cricket players and staff are not physically secure? Is there a crisis because players houses are actually being destroyed? Not sure if thats the case? Is there a crisis because the burning of posters and effigies is causing a fire hazard?

Is there a crisis because India has not selected a good team, and the actually number of cricket playing-nations are very small. And truth be told, only Australia is ever reliably any good? Sure, that one I agree with.

I am sure the betting problem is a huge problem, but the betting problem has been going on for a number of years, and its hardly a wake-up and smell the burning fire kind of thing

OK Sahej --- all is good in the garden of cricket! Nothing to worry about. Kesavan is slandering India and pandering to 'the West' etc etc

Peace to you if you think that.

Hmm, no I'm not saying that at all, and I specifically said I don't think the article is pandering to the West. That's a gross over-simplification of what I wrote or what I think

The death of Bob Woolmer is a horrible thing and once its known why it happened, more can be said.

On the merits of this article, its just not simply a path-breaking analysis we're being given here. Its actually quite simplified and caractured, and has almost no nuance

Its interesting to note that if Pakistan and India decided at this point to play a bilateral series at some offshore venue, the World Cup would be a financial flop for the ICC (International Cricket Council)

I think the article has nuance, insight, complexity, and asks the right questions at the right time. Respect to Mukul for writing it. Makes me keen to read his book on cricket when it comes out on Penguin India later this year.

Its interesting to note that if Pakistan and India decided at this point to play a bilateral series at some offshore venue, the World Cup would be a financial flop for the ICC (International Cricket Council)

Seems more petulant that interesting. Nice image though -- India and Pakistan playing cricket endlessly on an atoll in the Pacific Ocean whilst the rest of the world carries on.

Seems more petulant that interesting. Nice image though -- India and Pakistan playing cricket endlessly on an atoll in the Pacific Ocean whilst the rest of the world carries on.

And give Indian and Pakistani fans some credit. Remember when India clobbered Pakistan 4-1 on their 2005-2006 one day tour, and the team and the Indians that went to see the matches were still treated in the best way possible everywhere, with no law-and-order problems. Even when the Indians celebrated their wins on Pakistani soil, right in their faces.

Sport rivalries get fierce, but trust me, the Third World War won't be the result of a cricket match.

thats all I'm saying, just relax a little bit. The article asks some good questions. Not sure why the conversation has degenerated to the extent of basically name-calling

Relax, Red Snapper. No one is suggesting they actually do that.

You didnt get the joke I was making? Next time I'll put in a smiley and emoticons ;-) LoL!!

Typical self-hating racism. If not for subcontinental money, cricket would be fast fading into irrelevance in a modern era.

India played two bad games and lost. It has happened to every major country in the course of world cup history. Indian fans will get over it, and the game will go on. And for this Indian fan, I think its fabulous for the game that Ireland and Bangladesh, who both played great cricket, get to do it on the big stage.

Its good in a way that India is out of the tournament. All the folks who would have kept watching TV will now actually do some work. Have a feeling it might even increase India's GDP by 1 % ;)
Not bad for my investments!!

Also in the vain of #33, what might be the loss caused by SM to American GDP :D.

By extension does Mukul Kesavan argue that football (i.e. soccer) would be better off without the participation of European teams whose supporters bring with them ultranationalist/racist violence ? He is writing about cricket but this is a question that comes to mind. Many Brit "Asians" are not comfortable attending games because of the ugly mood that often permeates these events

Speaking of sport as a proxy for war, there's always England v. Argentina in soccer:

Without athletic proxy wars, we may never have won the Cold War, 4-3.

It would be hard to take a look at the scandals in Italian football (soccer) and not do a double-take

Many Brit "Asians" are not comfortable attending games because of the ugly mood that often permeates these events

Not at the top Premier league teams they don't.

It would be hard to take a look at the scandals in Italian football (soccer) and not do a double-take

Juve got relegated to the second division as punishment. The point is, something got done.

And something should be done about the betting in cricket as well

aside: Erick and Parrish hate all of you. ;)

As you were, gentlemen, as you were. :D

Once more cricket shoots itself in the foot

I'm not going to wait for India's athletic boards to get their act together. It's not guns or butter, you can have both. Nor am I going to wait for the diaspora to finally unleash a sporting legend upon us. No sir. I am going to do my part and father a superstar. Hand-eye coordination drills begin in the crib. The feet will be nimble like hands. Tactics will be learned early. Castling in four moves, suicide sprints, backhand slice winners, birdies from the bunker, dropshots, freethrows, drifting, all will be mastered. My child will not be one of the swarming bee's in youth football.

I will not fail you, my people. I will even tattoo 'South Asian' on his or her backside as a pre-emptive strike against claiming wars.

Now all I need is a wife girlfriend spingtime fling a date.

Betting mafia, useless pretty boys, boorish fans, bum games -- most sports have them. But sometimes gods of sports (and Hollywood cliché) hit back.
NBA stars getting schooled at Olympics. India and Pakistan getting knocked out in prelims. That’s what makes it interesting. That .01% chance when the little guy wins. Children need stories.

Nor am I going to wait for the diaspora to finally unleash a sporting legend upon us. No sir. I am going to do my part and father a superstar. Hand-eye coordination drills begin in the crib. The feet will be nimble like hands. Tactics will be learned early. Castling in four moves, suicide sprints, backhand slice winners, birdies from the bunker, dropshots, freethrows, drifting, all will be mastered. My child will not be one of the swarming bee's in youth football.

Man, this is a good idea. I'm going to father a team of sporting legends too. A footballer, cricketer, tennis player, and just for the hell of it, an ice skater, in case one of my sons turns out to be gay.

If he doesnt, that's fine, I'll have two footballers instead.

What about the daughter you might say. Well she'll be the Wimbledon champion one. I've had enough of this lack of brown at the football World Cup. And if any of them wants to be a doctor or lawyer or something like that, I'll disown the ungrateful, reckless bastards. No son or daughter of mine shall have a secure career.

What about the daughter you might say. Well she'll be the Wimbledon champion one. I've had enough of this lack of brown at the football World Cup. And if any of them wants to be a doctor or lawyer or something like that, I'll disown the ungrateful, reckless bastards. No son or daughter of mine shall have a secure career.

I love how you think. Red Snapper, will you breed with me? ;)

I love how you think. Red Snapper, will you breed with me?

E-mail me your records for the following:

++++

* 100 metre sprint

* Keepy Uppy

* Tennis serve speed

* How long can hold breath underwater

* How fast can you do 30 squat thrusts followed by 20 sit ups

* If you can rub tummy and pat head at same time

* Youtube video of you bowling googlies

* How many hot dogs can you eat in 10 minutes

++++

I have a team of sporting geniuses to breed.

* How many hot dogs can you eat in 10 minutes

Ha!

Amateurs.

(linky link)

Ha!Amateurs.

You obviously have no idea of ancient Indian training and nutrition techniques. ANNA is just lucky that I havent asked her to send me a video showing her Kabaddi skills yet.

ANNA is just lucky that I havent asked her to send me a video showing her Kabaddi skills yet.

In the video Red posted, it's the Indian girls who seem in better athletic shape, but they're playing to lose - they keep letting the tackled European girls get away! Also, this being a game where wearing patkas is actually a safety precaution for girls - only the European girls are wearing them!

I don't know how many of those that feel Kesavan's article is over the top have grown up in India, loving the game, and following it passionately, but I'd be one of those. To me his article is a very sane analysis of the situation in the subcontinent.

The game is THAT crazy in India - obviously people engaged in violence or angry protests are a minority, but one, they are generally not staged - no one is paying them in money or notoriety to burn effigies, vandalize homes or pelt establishments. And two, I have had ample opportunity to be part of such happenings, and I might have been one of them had I not thought the whole exercise stupid. Obviously those who do these things don't feel it is stupid. In my experience, all the over-the-top craziness you see in media is not overblown or madeup. It is more frequent and more wide-spread when about cricket, than you might think.

The India-Pak rivalry really is that intense - the matches are proxy for war in that sense. For someone who was old enough to register the 1983 world cup match and India's stunning victory over the-best-of-all-time West Indies, India's victory in 1985 mini-world cup in aus, Kapil Dev's unbelievable banana yorker that dismissed Qasim Omar, and that last ball six by Javed Miandad off Chetan Sharma's full toss in Sharjah, the game between India-Pak has been more than a game for a long time. What Kesavan writes about corruption is true also - just a few years ago a number of players were indicted on match-fixing charges - Indians, Pakistanis, South Africans etc. Kesavan's analysis is also spot on about where in the world the money is in cricket. I also agree with him that the game may be better off without India or Pak in the world cup this time around.

To the people who have suggested that Indian media's comments regarding the plight of Indian performance don't hold a candle to the death/murder of Woolmer, I agree there is no comparison between the loss of a game and the loss of a life. However, you need to see the comments you are deriding in their context. The channel is not comparing the two events - his death, and India's ouster from the tournament, and THEN claiming that the latter is the greater issue. The channel is feeding to its audience's interests - which is not so much in Woolmer's death, but more in India's performance. I don't think the Indian media are wrong to focus on India - if they are, then really every news media should devote space to every wrongful death on the planet over the last 24 hrs, before resuming with vacuous fare. So while I do enjoy the wit and intelligence of the conversations here, sometimes IMO the snark goes overboard.

I wish that Indian's found other sports interesting as well. That they weren't looking for demi-gods for just a game, to that point that even a Sachin isn't good enough. That BCCI ever did anything to improve cricket playing conditions in India with all the money that's coming in - better structured internal tourneys, coverable stadia for uninterrupted games, better coaching and analysis etc. That the govt or some other agency invested part of BCCI's earnings to promote other games.

Wow, Seeker...what a great contribution to the discussion. So much to think about. :)

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2007 12:17:08 AM] NEW DELHI : There's a brighter side to India 's exit from the World Cup. Something that can cheer up disappointed fans and angry advertisers. Sri Lanka has done a great favour to Indian economy by ousting the cricket team from the World Cup. There are about 80 million cable and satellite viewing homes in India .

According to TAM ratings, the average viewership of all World Cup matches held till now stands at about 3%, with India vs Bangladesh touching a high of 7.25%. To reach the finals, India would have played at least seven more matches.

Considering a TV Rating of 7.25%, at least 5.8 million people would have watched the match. This would have resulted in a productivity loss of 371.2 million man hours (5.8 million x 8 hours x 8 matches), apart from stress faced by mothers during exams.

About 3% of 81 million TV viewers (2.4 million) were ardent cricket fans and would have sat through all eight hours in the remaining 28 matches. Thus overall, Indian team's ouster would result in a productivity gain of 481 million man hours of work (28x2.4x8 man hours), if put to use.

The Sri Lankans have given a boost to the Indian economy by saving 54,902 man years of work (one year = 8,761 hours). Indians can build seven phases of the Golden Quadrilateral connecting Delhi , Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai spread over 5,846 kilometres all over again, with this time saved.

A daily wage skilled labourer in Delhi earns Rs 17 per hour. If put to productive use, the 481 million man hours can produce Rs 817 crore of GDP, which is 63% more than BCCI's annual revenues of Rs 500 crore, last year. It's 401% more than the Rs 163 crore losses, corporate India has predicted to incur due India 's ouster.

The state electricity boards are also thanking Sri Lanka for the great favour. A TV consumes 45 watts per hour. Assuming a viewer will now switch off his TV by 12 midnight, it will save Rs 135 watts at least per viewer (not considering the electricity consumed by other appliances running simultaneously.)

This will save the electricity boards 324 million watts of electricity (3.24 lakh kilowatts) in just 28 days. According to estimates, SEB losses in India will touch Rs 1 lakh crore by 2008.

If disappointed viewers completely switch off their TVs for eight hours, it will save the government at least 8,64,000 kilowatts, along with many more lives - at least three Indian citizens have been reported to die due to cardiac arrest or suicide after India 's defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka .

(UberMetroMallu…profiting from tragedy is a sin!)

Losing a cricket match is not a tragedy:)

Has a consensus ever been reached on why India (and other SA countries) fares so poorly at the Olympics?

To be clear, I don't think Kesavan is pandering to the West, because as you said Seeker, I understand that cricket is that crazy in South Asia. But I think when one looks at it from a point of view outside South Asia, apart from some variation, cricket does not seem all that especially unique to me. The betting influence, many major sports have this problem, and periodically there is a cleaning house. Baseball has gone through serious match-fixing scandals itself. And right now, on a different angle, there have been articles claiming that steroid use is absolutely wide-spread in american football. And the entire home run chase between Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa, which people credit with bringing baseball back from the brink of irrelevance after a prolonged strike, has now widely been decided to have been tainted by the use of steroids. McGuire, once thought to be a candidate for the Baseball Hall of Fame, is now thoroughly disgraced. And Barry Bonds, who is abou to break the most well-known record in baseball, for all-time home runs, can find no one to be excited by the prospect.

Yesterday we brought up the ultranationalist violence that can accompany soccer/football; and there are plenty of examples of sport serving as a proxy for war, with all the uglyness this can entail. Nationalism was even an issue when Ireland and England played rugby recently, although it was taken as a huge sign of advancement that the visit by England went totally without major incident. However, 20 years ago, there would probably have been some fireworks. Celtic Versus Rangers has served as a proxy for Protestant versus Catholic enmity as well.

I see cricket as any other world sport, but one that South Asia happens to follow and play reasonably well. Other than that, it is prone to the same vices as any other sport, and right now, has a betting problem. The jingoism, while ugly, is nothing unique to the sport. I personally don't see a unique crisis special to South Asia or cricket.

Muralitharan named as the leading player in the world (by wisden. others are panesar, collingwood, yusuf, ramprakash)

if woolmer had not been murdered and india and pakistan had managed to go through to the super eights, would there have been articles over the toxic effects of their presence in the world cup? why were there no articles before the world cup pointing out that their presence would be toxic and what to expect? after all, these problems that have been written about have been around for a long time and would have still been there despite india/pakistan progressing. the run-up to the tournament has been four years in the making and nothing has changed since the last world cup. why was india's presence not toxic the last time? because they made it to the finals? Why no articles before the world cup saying 'india's slip would be good for world cricket"?

Hey Anna! Thanks :) Talk cricket, and I'm there!! I am an unabashed fan of the game and I love that SM covered not just the news of a cricket world cup but also some deeper analysis on the happs.

Nada, at least for India the answer is relatively simple - people are generally not interested in following other games as much as cricket. A much smaller pool of participants in other games compared to that of cricket follows. A vicious spiral ensues. These days, there's very strong commercialization aspect to sport in India - huge foreign companies are looking to market their wares, and are in need of sport heroes. Perversely, as soon as someone becomes a little better than mediocre (think Sania Mirza) janta becomes overenthusiastic about their success (which still is nothing on world level - how many dozens of players were ranked higher than Sania in her heyday?!), and they suddenly make enough money to not care about improving anymore (Sania is going to be an actress, yay!). So no incentive to play sport when there's no money, and no incentive to become world's best because you get enough money at a mediocre level. I guess unless its personal pride of excellence at work, even this new money will not produce world champions.

Check out this on slate: http://www.slate.com/id/2162769/

Anna, you don't know what you are talking about.

BREAKING NEWS

BCCI has released an official statement accusing the following people for India's World Cup debacle:

1. Indira Gandhi: For creating Bangladesh.
2. Hanuman: For not burning Sri Lanka completely.

#62: Awesome.

Anna, you don't know what you are talking about.

She never said she was a cricket expert, so what is your actual problem with this post, her, global warming etc?

Can you be more specific? The whole point of covering the World Cup was to learn, so if you have something to contribute besides that, please do.

Kapil Dev's unbelievable banana yorker that dismissed Qasim Omar,

Whats a banana yorker? eh what do I care, I live in America. Excuse me, I need to get a cheeseburger now.

Amitabh,

My in-box has been flooded with jems like this ever since India blew it:)

Sri Lanka ans Windies are in trouble. Sigh.

Santosh - the thought of Bal Thackeray urging calm had me laughing for two minutes straight.

I think Kesavan has a point, but the thrust of his article is mildly elitist (very typical of the Indian academic) in its distaste for the popular war-like appeal of the sport, and his blaming of Bad Commercially-driven TV for turning cricket into more of a gladiatoral spectacle than a nuanced pleasure. Let's not forget that it was the presence of cricket on telly and particularly the Prudential Cup victory that inspired lots of little kids to become cricketers and probably increased the talent pool for the sport.

SP I think Kesavan has a point, but the thrust of his article is mildly elitist (very typical of the Indian academic) in its distaste for the popular war-like appeal of the sport, and his blaming of Bad Commercially-driven TV for turning cricket into more of a gladiatoral spectacle than a nuanced pleasure. Let's not forget that it was the presence of cricket on telly and particularly the Prudential Cup victory that inspired lots of little kids to become cricketers and probably increased the talent pool for the sport.

Actually, I thought the thrust of his article was major-league elitist, rightly so. It's a not-even-disguised plea for a return to Tests-only cricket. I mean, there was such a time, and it was fun, even for me as a kid! Of course, you still had the one dayers played by visiting Test teams against schoolboys and counties and such, all in fun, the visiting Test side would be resting its best players and so would field their 'second XI', etc etc. The corrupting influence of the bookies - who had to have wins and losses to stay in business - must be exposed for what it is. As for the mass participation that World Cup frenzy supposedly encouraged - did it really do that? I see it as having created a huge audience of couch-potatoes - not even talking of the occasional on-field Aloo. Cricket need no more be a mass-participation game (and it's mainly spectator participation anyway) than opera or jazz need have mass audiences, it loses something essential by going pop. That's what soccer and basketball are for, to be played and watched by the hundreds of millions.

Anil Kumble retires from ODIs.

Chachaji without all the money that ODIs draw in terms of TV coverage and ads, would the players be paid as well, and without the fame and mass adulation would it be every little boy's dream to play for India? Would there be as much money for developing the sport locally (if there's any left over now from pocket-lining by Dalmiya and Pawar)? There's good and bad in commercialisation and popularisation.

MALINGA MALINGA MALINGA MALINGA

Yeah, Malinga almost grabbed the match back for SL. But SA still won it. Nice bit of drama.

That was amazing, as gripping as any nba finals ive ever seen, wow. 4 in a row, wow.

damn! that malinga ball in his penultimate over barely missed the stump - could have been all over. south africa escapes, but lanka's fightback was heartening. the highlight of the world cup matches so far.

Indeed. Sri Lanka showed good spirit. They were so close.

Let's face it, the World Cup is over. The Aussies are going to win it. Again. They battered the Windies. Who is going to beat them?

My in-box has been flooded with jems like this ever since India blew it:)

I will not write jem instead of gem.
I will not write jem instead of gem.
I will not write jem instead of gem.
I will not write jem instead of gem.
I will not write jem instead of gem.

Red Snapper (#77):

Let's face it, the World Cup is over. The Aussies are going to win it. Again. They battered the Windies. Who is going to beat them?

BANGLADESH!!!!!!!!

UberMetroMallu,
Don't be so hard on yourself. It's just a jame.

West Indies v Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka made 303, and then took 3 early Windies wickets. It looked dark down at the Providence Stadium. But now Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shiv Chanderpaul, the the local Guyana desis have come together and the chase is ON. Sixes and Fours coming in all directions.

Don't miss this:
http://mfile.akamai.com/21317/live/reflector:34764.asx?bkup=21549

Whoops. Spoke too soon. Sarwan out. Stumped. Ouch. The required run rate is creeping back up to 11 an over. But Chanderpaul is still lingering with intent. And now another SIX by Chanderpaul. The third SIX of the Innings!!!

Forget it. The Sri Lanka wicky is a demon stumper. The Windies are giving their wickets away cheaper than Woolies' Pick and Mix.

Looking forward to an Aussie Sri Lanka final now...

some good articles on the sri lankan cricketers:

The secret of Lankan cricket's good health

Down-to-earth behavior makes Sri Lankan cricketers popular

it is disappointing to see the windies afflicted with the same ennui that sent india out of the tournament. was hoping for a windies-lanka final, but that looks highly improbable. even worse for the windies, because this is probably the best world cup crowd so far in terms of some atmosphere and home-side support (other than the their first round match against pakistan in jamaica).