Have been reading ‘The World According to Clarkson’ written by Jeremy Clarkson. He writes a weekly column in The Sunday Times and is better known to BBC viewers as the anchor of Top Gear. His writing style is witty, irreverent and (not atypically British) pulling down everything and every one. Many of his views/ opinions [...]
On 08/08/08, the Olympics begin in Beijing. They like that number and consider it auspicious. Lucky even. The Olympics are, of course, more than just that.
Take a look at this piece by Rohit Brijnath carried over the weekend in the Straits Times.
Its called :
Natalie is courage, she is self-belief.
Often in sport, we speak of it, [...]
This is an excerpt from Geet Sethi’s wonderful book Success vs Joy. An unassuming book with lots of depth - much like the man.
On being highly strung.
There are certain sportspersons who hype themselves up with gestures, punching the air with fists and other such gesticulations, which they think will induce a rush of adrenaline. This [...]
A Dialogue from the Kill Bill : Vol 2 script.
It’s Bill speaking - the one who’s supposed to get killed as the title suggests. z
“I find the whole mythology surrounding superheroes fascinating. Take my favorite superhero, Superman.
Not a great comic book.
Not particularly well-drawn.”
“Mmmmm”
“But the mythology…
The mythology is not only great, it’s unique.
Now, a staple of [...]
The Million Dollar Question - Is it just me getting old fashioned or is sports really changing too fast ?
Is the modern day sportsperson chasing that dream so hard that its becoming difficult to make him the role model ? At some stage we are inherently uncomfortable with the concept of watching a sportsperson competing [...]
A few weeks ago, Shane Warne writing a column for The Times in the UK, started unleashing a list of 50 greatest cricketers he had played with or against. As with all things Warne, it was not without its share of the controversial.
The list opened and in its first ten i.e. 50-41 itself there were [...]
“At a dinner in Leeds on Friday night, Sachin Tendulkar talked about playing under pressure. Nobody is better qualified to do so. He said the only way to cope with the extraordinary expectation that has followed his career was to see pressure as [...]
Now, thats not even a headline I thought of. Its an ad slogan for FedEx and since this is a post about Roger Federer, it just seemed kinda apt.
The US Open is about to enter its second week and as is becoming common (as opposed to boring), the guy to beat is this gent here.
Its [...]
The thing about Jim Murray is that he lived “happily” but somebody ran off with his “ever after.” It’s like the guy who’s ahead all night at the poker and then ends up bumming cab money home. Or the champ who’s untouched for 14 rounds and then gets KO’d by a pool-hall left you could [...]
January, 1998.
SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL; Serena Williams Stuns Davenport
… (Serena) Williams, only 16 and ranked No. 96, trailed 1-6, 2-5 and faced two match points at 15-40 when she grabbed control with a combination of wily play and youthful athleticism.
Limping on her bandaged right knee after taking an injury timeout at 1-3 in the second set, [...]
This is from Samir’s blog.
I’ll struggle to put up a introduction or conclusion that does justice to the exchange so I suggest you just read it.
First, Samir’s Letter to Cricinfo.. Then, Martin Williamson’s response to the letter and Samir’s response to it. And finally (assumption, mine), the response to the response …
Its the “take it [...]
Graham Ford’s Runaway Bride act (for thats the politest one can be) has done this. Its turned the focus solely on Rahul Dravid. This is going to be his summer. It will have to be. It had to be that way the day he reconciled it all by saying “Coming to a place like India, [...]
I’m beginning to lose count and will admit that I’m confusing ODIs and Tests - but lets see now … India’s list of vice captains in the not so recent past - Sachin, VVS, Sehwag, Yuvraj and in the Bangladesh series - Nobody. Somewhere Kumble and Ganguly felt good about it for a session or [...]
Sometimes you’ll look at stats & descriptions, such as Left handed bat, Left-arm fast-medium, Slow left-arm orthodox, Slow left-arm chinaman, Outstanding fielder and then read words written by people who were fortunate enough to see him perform and yet think that they’re always at least one adjective short.
The Independent carries a rare interview with unarguably [...]
After my last I-wish-I-wasn’t-so-clever post about the BCCI choosing coaches, I’ll limit this one to someone else’s silly points …
This is from the Telegraph in India and its Pat Symcox on Graham Ford - who, says Pat, doesn’t believe in frills.
On the other side, in a number of ways, is a small excerpt [...]
Sachin Tendulkar. 254 runs. 127 avg. 2 centuries.
Yes, its against a weak bowling attack and its on batting surfaces but its still the highest in his team.
But over at Cricinfo, Sidhartha Monga combines with Stats editor S Rajesh to ask this. Whither Tendulkar ?
Sorry ?
Maybe its because there’s a lot of cricket being [...]
A few days ago , I wrote here of John Buchanan’s wonderful plans of having ambidextrous cricketers. Somewhere in there was a Roebuck article that spoke similar.
Cricket’s changing. And its changing fast.
Maybe, sometimes too fast.
Take a look at this post by Karthikeya.
Its a brilliant example of a sharp observation by a keen student of the game. [...]
Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France seven consecutive times.
He’d earlier won against cancer in 1996.
Lance Armstrong knew about winning. This, though, is a bit about his first year while defending what he’d won. Its not the same thing. Like he said “I started the 2000 tour with a bull’s eye on my back. [...]
I think the reason that I look at Cricket the way I do is because it symbolised a lot. And so a lot of excellence that one sees, one likes to equate with cricket. And so, even tho I might say this is a cricket blog, I’ll pretty shamelessly write here, (probably increasingly) about anything [...]
And so there we have it .
Another sting operation on TV by Aaj Tak And Headlines Today. As of the moment of this post, the only reports I can find are the ones on Cricinfo and Indiatimes .
The “revelations” spoke to four national selectors - Ranjib Biswal, Bhupinder Singh Sr, Venkatapathy Raju and Sanjay Jagdale, [...]
Peter Roebuck yet again …. and its a small piece but they all count.Here.
Meanwhile, Ricky Ponting says its the proudest moment in his cricketing career in this article here.
Increasingly get the feeling that Michael Clarke is the next man to take Australia forward if Hussey slips up.
We shall see.
To youngsters his batting is a terrific example of how to play correctly without losing ones ability to play shots and that is what is important to youngsters. He is a superb batting model. As a sportsman he has carried himself through all controversies and tough and tense situations with dignity and he has shown [...]
A few years ago, one read the brilliant Pundits from Pakistan and the mind bookmarked Rahul Bhattacharya as an awesome cricket writer. Then one heard of his having moved over to the carribean, to research a book on West Indian cricket apparently. One to look forward to for sure. Alongside, he was writing for Cricinfo. [...]
I got this article on email (thanks JB). Was, apparently written in the HT Guardian a few weeks ago but I cant find the link, so reproducing in full.
That’s cricket too: Dark side of the game
- Mike Brearley
I DON’T know exactly what Marcus Trescothick has been going through during the past months, but clearly life, [...]
look no further than Homer !
Meanwhile , with England’s journey over and all that press, here’s a fan’s view.
He doesn’t quite say that but in a piece called Two Wrongs, One Wright, Geoffrey Boycott opines on the foreign v Indian coach debate.
These are confusing times for the Indian cricket fan, and indeed, for the rest of us who have been watching developments in India post the team’s exit from the World Cup. In [...]
Honestly, does this feel like a World Cup ?
Ian Chappell’s slammed the Cricket World Cup and the ICC and typically has a few good points garnished with hard hitting tripe.
The 2007 World Cup is a case in point. Malcolm Speed, the chief executive officer of the ICC, in response to strident criticism of the tournament [...]
With BCCI doing what they do best (ok, second best after packaging and selling Indian cricket) - buying time by deferring selection of the team for Bangladesh to the 20th of April, with the cricketers lying low as they too wait for the thunderstorms to pass, and with world cricket heading towards the [...]
Speaking at a function to announce the dates of the Afro Asian Cup (Cricket for Unity, if you please), the very honourable BCCI Vice President Mr Rajiv Shukla says that no directive has been issued to the National Selectors about team composition for the tour to Bangladesh.
Indeed.
And this was the BCCI press release after their [...]
Its a point of view. Bob Woolmer thought guess who has (had?) fantastic technique and was comparable to Bradman. And renowned sports psychologist Dr Rudi Webster who has worked on the mental skills with such athletes as Greg Norman , Viv Richards, Brian Lara and Gary Sobers and was to work with the Indian Team [...]
Ok - this was in 2005 and ____ was in the form of his life - But guess who Bob Woolmer wrote about when he said this.
- Has Bradman’s genius.
- I would often sit in front of the computer, with _____’s innings on the biomechanics screen, searching for the weakness; looking for [...]
- and diplomatic comparisons of John Wright and Greg Chappell, On Greg and the media (If I get a turning wicket , I will go and exploit it)
The second Part of Kumble’s Walk-The Talk.
More than anything else though , its team before self.
First part of the interview here .
In an article which questions the West Indian skipper’s credibility more than his credentials, Michael Atherton, takes off on Brian Lara’s leadership skills.
Its written by a man who clearly believes what he writes. That said, “the self-obsession, the ego, the individualism, the outrageous talent - are qualities that often do not transfer to captaincy” seems [...]
(after the Bangladesh defeat), says Anil Kumble in the first part of his Walk-The-Talk interview.
Did you know that in its last 60 ODI games , India’s conceded 300 just once? …
Ok, This is going to be my last Rohit Brijnath post. (for the day!)
And this time I’m not just going to link it. (In case at some stage in the future the link’s lost, I’m gonna cut and paste the whole thing.)
This was somewhat of an Open Letter to Greg Chappell. The circumstances are self [...]
Like to pride myself as a fan of the sport. But seriously , no games on Friday ?
Bangladesh v South Afrida on Sunday and Bangladesh v Ireland next Sunday and I’m not gonna stay up from 11 pm to 5 am in Singapore.
Mark Nicholas doesnt think its fun either.
And as the calls for a radical change grow, so does the intensity of the noise.
Lots of excitement about the weekend and typically lots of media on it.
And this post from Homer carries it all.
Look no further.
The number of syndicated columns of foreign ex players during this World Cup surely is in double digits. Most of them being Australians and West Indians. Add to that the so called experts on Setmax in Extraa Innings and we enter the realms of surrealism. And what are these guys paid those fat cheques for? [...]
It seems now that the match fixing issue is getting murkier by the day ..
Admittedly, its still just a “source” based report, and - must add- its only an investigation thats far from fruition just yet …
That said , this part of it is particularly worrying ..
According to the intelligence expert, in matches where umpires [...]
After Ian Chappell had said the unthinkable, comes another piece from Mike Atherton which piles the pressure on.
I’m with the Atherton view on this one. Partly because I’ll never be convinced that Tendulkar is incapable of magic but also because I think he’s commercially bound to.
It was Sachin with Mark Mascarenhas that brought serious money [...]
With even the future President Narayan Murthy talking the P word, and so much being said about the failure; and debates on whether its systemic, here’s an article about the other country thats shining.
Warning : - Its a really long article but when you consider what they have achieved in sport and what they aim [...]
July 2005. And this is Rohit Brijnath’s take on Greg Chappell’s arrival then.
India is intoxicated by the arrival on its shores of new national cricket coach…
and ends with
Eventually India’s destiny will be determined by the flexibility of selectors, the solidifying of its domestic cricket, the professionalism of its board, the state of its pitches, but Chappell must [...]
