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England 3 - 0 India, 2011 Pataudi Trophy
Aug. 14th, 2011 05:45 pmof
INDIAN CRICKET,
which died at Edgbaston
on
13th AUGUST 2011,
Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing
friends and acquaintances
R.I.P.
of
INDIAN CRICKET,
which died at Edgbaston
on
13th AUGUST 2011,
Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing
friends and acquaintances
R.I.P.
I must admit this was probably one of the most surreal things I've ever heard on the radio and to hear it live during yesterday's play had me doing double takes. And I'm sure I wasn't alone. But to be gifted two slog sweeps for six by Sir Geoff (he's not really knighted) on the same day was quite something. As rare as a blue moon I suppose. Enjoy them both and while you can. We may not hear anything like it for a long time to come! TMS Zindabad! And long live Mr Boycott!
I suppose when a cricket fan decides to make their Test debut as a spectator having followed the game with a religious passion for nearly twenty years, it seems only fitting to pick an occasion that turns out to be the biggest ever crowd for the last day's play of a Test at Lord's, the home of the world's greatest sport. And so it was for me last week Monday. The record books will show that England outplayed India comprehensively but as far as experiences go, few will match the pure joy that was 25 July 2011. It felt special from the moment the ticket prices were announced the evening before and the response online was immediate. I knew it was going to be a big crowd but I never imagined people would be turned away because it was full! It wasn't as bad as Old Trafford in 2005 but for the biggest ground in England, this was something new. At £20, boy was it worth it!
(If you missed the panoramic views of my day out at Lord's that I posted about a week ago, you can view them here).
By the time I arrived at St John's Wood tube station around eight, the queue had already snaked itself in an orderly fashion half a mile from the ground and onto Circus Road (as pictured above). Ticket sales were to begin at half-eight, gates to open at nine and play to start at eleven. And as the rate of people joining the queue behind us increased after my arrival, I'm fairly sure it eventually ended up close to a mile long.
The queues were so long because the MCC wanted to negate the effect of touts buying tickets in bulk. I'm led to believe the MCC normally sells a maximum of four tickets per person on Day Five at Lord's but for today they sold a maximum of one per person. And with free entry for Under-16s who had just embarked on their summer vacation, a lot of young fans could be seen waiting patiently with the rest of us. Stood in front of me was an Indian gentleman who was also attending his first Test at Lord's but he had arrived in London just for the match alone from Dubai. The lucky bugger didn't have any tickets until ten days before the first day's play but his English manager at work (he was employed with Willis Group Holdings) suggested writing to the MCC. He did and they got him tickets for the first four days and then he queued for the fifth!
( 23 More Pics From A Great Day Out ... with Commentary! )
By the time I arrived at St John's Wood tube station around eight, the queue had already snaked itself in an orderly fashion half a mile from the ground and onto Circus Road (as pictured above). Ticket sales were to begin at half-eight, gates to open at nine and play to start at eleven. And as the rate of people joining the queue behind us increased after my arrival, I'm fairly sure it eventually ended up close to a mile long.
The queues were so long because the MCC wanted to negate the effect of touts buying tickets in bulk. I'm led to believe the MCC normally sells a maximum of four tickets per person on Day Five at Lord's but for today they sold a maximum of one per person. And with free entry for Under-16s who had just embarked on their summer vacation, a lot of young fans could be seen waiting patiently with the rest of us. Stood in front of me was an Indian gentleman who was also attending his first Test at Lord's but he had arrived in London just for the match alone from Dubai. The lucky bugger didn't have any tickets until ten days before the first day's play but his English manager at work (he was employed with Willis Group Holdings) suggested writing to the MCC. He did and they got him tickets for the first four days and then he queued for the fifth!
( 23 More Pics From A Great Day Out ... with Commentary! )
You can imagine what a happy bunny I must've been when I realised not only would I be attending my first-ever Test match, and at Lord's no less, but I'd also have a camera with which to capture the special occasion!
Click image(s) to enlarge. This is probably my fave panorama to date. It was taken at 11:41am, forty minutes into the day's play from the Lower Mound Stand, described by Blowers on TMS as "like a province in India".
The problem with the cleaned and cropped up version of the picture above is that it cut off too much at the bottom for my liking, so you've got both to make your own mind up with.
This panorama was taken at 4:28pm, not long before the game ended. And as you can tell, there was a fair amount of cloud cover by this point but it was still quite warm.
And just for the sake of completion, here's the clean and cropped up version of the same panorama.
Click image(s) to enlarge. This is probably my fave panorama to date. It was taken at 11:41am, forty minutes into the day's play from the Lower Mound Stand, described by Blowers on TMS as "like a province in India".
The problem with the cleaned and cropped up version of the picture above is that it cut off too much at the bottom for my liking, so you've got both to make your own mind up with.
This panorama was taken at 4:28pm, not long before the game ended. And as you can tell, there was a fair amount of cloud cover by this point but it was still quite warm.
And just for the sake of completion, here's the clean and cropped up version of the same panorama.
270 runs, 10 wickets. England should win and India only have themselves to blame. Our only hope is to bat better and salvage a draw, while the Poms should score 275 runs tomorrow and then declare. [SCORECARD]
----
Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's infamous spin doctor, was the guest on TMS at tea time. Fascinating stuff as usual. Big cricket fan. Was at the match today by invitation of Beefy Botham's son and future daughter-in-law and hence sat in their private box. He grew up in Yorkshire so he was a big fan of Geoffrey Boycott. Even set up one of the earliest fan clubs for the great opening batsman and was at Headingley in 1977 when Boycs scored his 100th first-class century at his home ground. Then Aggers mentioned Ed Miliband as another chap who hero worshipped GB and was also present at Headingley in 1977. So I did the natural thing and googled this golden nugget of news. Turns out Ed Milibean even skipped a day at school to watch Geoffrey's final innings at Lord's. Still not endeared to his politics but he's definitely gone up in my estimation. Aggers then nudged the Sultan of Spin to use his "professional skills" (or words to that effect) to market Test cricket in the modern-age. Campbell played a straight bat and offered some interesting suggestions none of which I can remember right now but they seemed sensible at the time. As angry as I am with him vis-a-vis the Iraq War dossier/Dr David Kelly etc, I am intrigued as to his ability in promoting the longer-form of the game using his undeniable talents.
----
Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's infamous spin doctor, was the guest on TMS at tea time. Fascinating stuff as usual. Big cricket fan. Was at the match today by invitation of Beefy Botham's son and future daughter-in-law and hence sat in their private box. He grew up in Yorkshire so he was a big fan of Geoffrey Boycott. Even set up one of the earliest fan clubs for the great opening batsman and was at Headingley in 1977 when Boycs scored his 100th first-class century at his home ground. Then Aggers mentioned Ed Miliband as another chap who hero worshipped GB and was also present at Headingley in 1977. So I did the natural thing and googled this golden nugget of news. Turns out Ed Milibean even skipped a day at school to watch Geoffrey's final innings at Lord's. Still not endeared to his politics but he's definitely gone up in my estimation. Aggers then nudged the Sultan of Spin to use his "professional skills" (or words to that effect) to market Test cricket in the modern-age. Campbell played a straight bat and offered some interesting suggestions none of which I can remember right now but they seemed sensible at the time. As angry as I am with him vis-a-vis the Iraq War dossier/Dr David Kelly etc, I am intrigued as to his ability in promoting the longer-form of the game using his undeniable talents.
Tags:
364 runs, 6 wickets. A brilliant double-century and some inept bowling barring P Kumar's stellar effort. Two performances added to the Lord's Honours Board. A decent day's cricket. I hope our batsmen get stuck in tomorrow and eke out a draw because there is only one other possible result: an England win. Ishant Sharma needs to sort himself out and Sreesanth better stop heaping praise on Twitter and prepare for Trent Bridge. He was rubbish at Taunton and will need to step it up if Zaheer is unavailable. However there were encouraging signs of Zak working out at the Lord's gym which suggests the injury/niggle is not serious. Let's hope for the best!
In other interesting developments, Lily Cooper nee Allen was the secret guest at tea time on TMS. Her knowledge of the game was surprisingly good. Moreover she attends village cricket regularly. She provides the cakes and tea! Apparently she got into the game because of her partner whom she recently married. I remember the media interest generated by her previous appearance on TMS a couple years ago. Aggers was obviously having a good time, flirting on-air with the London-based singer. She also earned brownie points for turning down an ECB-inspired Twenty20 initiative to exploit her celebrity value because it wasn't Test cricket! [SCORECARD]
In other interesting developments, Lily Cooper nee Allen was the secret guest at tea time on TMS. Her knowledge of the game was surprisingly good. Moreover she attends village cricket regularly. She provides the cakes and tea! Apparently she got into the game because of her partner whom she recently married. I remember the media interest generated by her previous appearance on TMS a couple years ago. Aggers was obviously having a good time, flirting on-air with the London-based singer. She also earned brownie points for turning down an ECB-inspired Twenty20 initiative to exploit her celebrity value because it wasn't Test cricket! [SCORECARD]
Tags:
It's not quite the end of day's play yet but I doubt they'll return before tomorrow morning. How disappointing the rain and bad light have played spoilsport, though as an Indian cricket fan it's probably a good thing. Hopefully Zaheer's injury is not as serious as it looked when he winced off the field in pain with a twinge behind his right leg. A hamstring perhaps? With Sehwag already out until the third test, Zak's exit will ruin our series chances.
Dhoni won a good toss and I was happy he put England in to bat. I thought we bowled well without much luck in the first session. Perhaps the lack of experience of bowling in such conditions worked against Kumar and Sharma who couldn't control the pronounced movement, both in the air and particularly off the pitch. Kumar especially seemed to start off really well but tailed off as the session went on. We also suffered from the lack of a genuinely quick opening bowler to make use of the new ball and overcast conditions. Nevertheless, it was no surprise Zaheer secured the first breakthrough with a fantastic delivery to trap Alistair Cook in front. The TMS commentators questioned whether the ball had done too much but the replays showed it would've probably still hit the top of middle and leg. At lunch it was pretty even at 1/43 with Strauss playing Khan fairly comfortably.
After lunch India gave away a few cheap runs before Zaheer Khan surprised Strauss with his first bouncer of the day. It was a clever delivery and resulted in yet another scalp reading "Strauss c whoever b Khan", though as one tweeter pointed out, such a dismissal could have repercussions both for the IMF and the French Presidency. The wicket put the breaks on the English scoring rate and just when it seemed like we were getting into the groove, Zaheer pulled up with yet another injury and the two South African-born English batsmen built up a fifty-plus partnership. There were a couple of tough chances put down and a couple direct hit run-out opportunities, but England did well to battle their way to 2/127 before bad light enforced an early tea break. This was followed by a downpour which kept the players off the field for even longer but apparently it has stopped, the covers are off and the umpires will inspect the pitch in a bit. I doubt they'll come back on with only an hour left but ye never know. On balance, England have the edge and India will be praying Zaheer returns.
EDIT @ 1825:
I have been proven wrong as the players are back out on the field and will attempt to deliver 13.4 overs by the closing time of 1930. I didn't realise they could play until then. It's still gloomy but the floodlights are still on.
EDIT @ 1826:
Oh. The covers are apparently back on, the players and umpires are running off... and that seems that. Well, that re-start ended almost as quickly as it began. Onto tomorrow!
Dhoni won a good toss and I was happy he put England in to bat. I thought we bowled well without much luck in the first session. Perhaps the lack of experience of bowling in such conditions worked against Kumar and Sharma who couldn't control the pronounced movement, both in the air and particularly off the pitch. Kumar especially seemed to start off really well but tailed off as the session went on. We also suffered from the lack of a genuinely quick opening bowler to make use of the new ball and overcast conditions. Nevertheless, it was no surprise Zaheer secured the first breakthrough with a fantastic delivery to trap Alistair Cook in front. The TMS commentators questioned whether the ball had done too much but the replays showed it would've probably still hit the top of middle and leg. At lunch it was pretty even at 1/43 with Strauss playing Khan fairly comfortably.
After lunch India gave away a few cheap runs before Zaheer Khan surprised Strauss with his first bouncer of the day. It was a clever delivery and resulted in yet another scalp reading "Strauss c whoever b Khan", though as one tweeter pointed out, such a dismissal could have repercussions both for the IMF and the French Presidency. The wicket put the breaks on the English scoring rate and just when it seemed like we were getting into the groove, Zaheer pulled up with yet another injury and the two South African-born English batsmen built up a fifty-plus partnership. There were a couple of tough chances put down and a couple direct hit run-out opportunities, but England did well to battle their way to 2/127 before bad light enforced an early tea break. This was followed by a downpour which kept the players off the field for even longer but apparently it has stopped, the covers are off and the umpires will inspect the pitch in a bit. I doubt they'll come back on with only an hour left but ye never know. On balance, England have the edge and India will be praying Zaheer returns.
EDIT @ 1825:
I have been proven wrong as the players are back out on the field and will attempt to deliver 13.4 overs by the closing time of 1930. I didn't realise they could play until then. It's still gloomy but the floodlights are still on.
EDIT @ 1826:
Oh. The covers are apparently back on, the players and umpires are running off... and that seems that. Well, that re-start ended almost as quickly as it began. Onto tomorrow!
Tags:
Photostitch #3 | Lord's Cricket Ground
Jul. 20th, 2011 12:30 pmAs the first test between England and India at Lord's gets underway tomorrow morning, here are four photostitches taken at the home of cricket on 15 April 2008 during my first-ever visit there, along with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pappubahry.
Click image to enlarge. This is my favourite of the four panoramas. It's taken from the Compton Stand, where incidentally I sat during my first-ever Lord's cricket match in June 2009.
Click image to enlarge. This was taken in front of the award-winning media centre which you can see in the first panorama.
Click image to enlarge. This was taken from the Grand Stand and it hasn't turned out as well as I would've hoped. But I did manage to cram inpappubahry on the far right!
Click image to enlarge. Similar to the third panorama but not as wide. You can get a good view of the (Old) Pavilion on the right built in 1890 and the Media Centre on the left built in 1999.
pappubahry.
Click image to enlarge. This is my favourite of the four panoramas. It's taken from the Compton Stand, where incidentally I sat during my first-ever Lord's cricket match in June 2009.
Click image to enlarge. This was taken in front of the award-winning media centre which you can see in the first panorama.
Click image to enlarge. This was taken from the Grand Stand and it hasn't turned out as well as I would've hoped. But I did manage to cram in
pappubahry on the far right!
Click image to enlarge. Similar to the third panorama but not as wide. You can get a good view of the (Old) Pavilion on the right built in 1890 and the Media Centre on the left built in 1999.
Rob "The Cricket Man"
Jul. 4th, 2011 07:55 amIf you're into cricket then I'm sure you've already discovered YouTube user "robelinda2" who's uploaded over 1000 videos. In case you haven't, it's a stellar collection. I've wasted many an hour on it the past few months.
From The Guardian:
Jul. 3rd, 2011 05:55 pm"The runner is no more, killed off by the International Cricket Council's anti-fun police, so there's no chance of a recurrence of one of the game's greatest ever scenes, which starred, as so many do, Gloucestershire's incorrigible spinner Bryan "Bomber" Wells. A poor judge of a run, he once found himself batting with a runner and a partner who also had need of one. Playing a push into the offside, he called for a single, forgot he had a runner and set off himself, as did the two men at the other end. "No" followed "Yes" and all four found themselves at the same end. A fielder dislodged the bails at the other end and the umpire, Alec Skelding, professed himself to be as confused as the four batsmen. "One of you buggers is out," he said. "I don't know which. You decide and inform the bloody scorers!"
Coincidence? Think again!
Apr. 4th, 2011 07:15 pmSome people have a lot of time on their hands. A forward is doing the rounds in Indian circles seemingly positing why we won the World Cup this year. You see the last (and only) time the tournament was played when January 1 was a Saturday was... you guessed it, 1983. The email goes on to say that there is one element that 'ties' together all of captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's tournament victories. In the 2007 World Twenty20 won by India, we tied the league match against Pakistan. In the 2010 IPL edition, the Chennai Super Kings tied Kings XI Punjab in a league match before going on to win the whole thing. In the 2010 Twenty20 Champions League, yep you guessed it, the Chennai Super Kings tied a league game with Victoria and in the just concluded World Cup, we tied England in the Group Stages before winning the Final. Many people say Dhoni is a lucky captain. Now you know why!
The Right to Offend
Apr. 4th, 2011 08:00 am
This picture appeared on my Facebook Wall through a mutual friend and has created a stir amongst a bunch of Muslims. I think it's just a bit of fun but the response reminds me of a Jyllands-Posten waiting to happen again.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Apr. 2nd, 2011 11:55 pm2007 World Twenty20 CHAMPIONS
2008 IPL 1 FINALISTS
2009 IPL 2 SEMI FINALISTS
2010 IPL 3 CHAMPIONS
2010 Twenty20 Champions League CHAMPIONS
2010- Top Ranked TEST Team
2011 World Cup CHAMPIONS
Coincidence? I think not.
2008 IPL 1 FINALISTS
2009 IPL 2 SEMI FINALISTS
2010 IPL 3 CHAMPIONS
2010 Twenty20 Champions League CHAMPIONS
2010- Top Ranked TEST Team
2011 World Cup CHAMPIONS
Coincidence? I think not.
No: they were the Test scores
Mar. 24th, 2011 09:00 pm~ More Than a Game: The Story of Cricket's Early Years by John Major, page 11/12 ~
I thought I'd shared this before but either I didn't or I failed to tag it properly. Either way, it's worth a second read. For what it's worth, the ex-PM (and Ken Clarke) are probably the only Tories I don't find nauseating.
England had it coming
Mar. 2nd, 2011 05:35 pm6-1 loss Down Under. Piss poor against Canada and Netherlands. Flash in the pan against India and ridiculously terrible fielding overall.
GET IN YOU IRISH!!! Way to go and show two fingers to the powers that be at the ICC. Sure, the minnows get spanked more often than not but the World Cup is richer for upsets like these. There's a long history of them and long may they continue! Roll on Sunday!!
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In the last World Cup, the now injured Eoin Morgan played for Ireland and Ed Joyce for England. Had Morgan travelled to India it would've been the other way around today. But if Ireland produce another upset or even two, will Morgan reconsider his patriotism?
GET IN YOU IRISH!!! Way to go and show two fingers to the powers that be at the ICC. Sure, the minnows get spanked more often than not but the World Cup is richer for upsets like these. There's a long history of them and long may they continue! Roll on Sunday!!
-----
In the last World Cup, the now injured Eoin Morgan played for Ireland and Ed Joyce for England. Had Morgan travelled to India it would've been the other way around today. But if Ireland produce another upset or even two, will Morgan reconsider his patriotism?
Shipping Forecasts and The Ashes
Jan. 14th, 2011 06:20 pmFrom this afternoon's BBC Radio 4s More or Less programme presented by the delightful, Tim Harford:
- "You may remember that in our New Year's Eve special, sports statistician Bill Edgar from The Times, calculated the chance of key football moments being wiped out by advertisements on ITV, as indeed they were. How we chuckled smugly in our advertising-free zone. But while Radio 4 has no commercial breaks, it does have a break for the Shipping Forecast. As Jack, the not so psychic monkey predicted, England beat Australia three times in the recent Ashes Test series, so what were the chances of all three Radio 4 LW broadcasts being interrupted by the Shipping Forecast right at the moment of English triumph as, alas, happened.
The Shipping Forecast is broadcast twice a night with a total length of twenty minutes. The Test match day is six hours long, overlapping both of those broadcasts. Bill Edgar reckons that this means any randomly chosen moment in the Test match has a 1 in 18 chance of being obscured by the Shipping Forecast. For this to happen three times is a 1 in 18 chance cubed, or a 1 in 5832 chance. There are various possible complicating factors but we and Bill reckon that unlike Mitchell Johnson's bowling, it's fairly accurate."
A mere five runs added this morning while the Proteas cleaned up the remaining two Indian wickets. SRT left unbeaten on 111. To Durban!
