Daniel Vettori v Michael Clarke
Young Daniel Vettori vs India
Funny Daniel Vettori Appeal!!! FUNNY
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Vote 1 4 Dan the man!
Daniel Vettori v Michael Clarke
Young Daniel Vettori vs India
Funny Daniel Vettori Appeal!!! FUNNY
Click here to read the rest of the post »
Twenty20 Years of Sachin Tendulkar!
from cricinfo.comDiscipline
He never comes late to any practice session, never comes late to the team bus, never comes late to any meeting - he is always five minutes ahead of time. If you are disciplined, it shows you are organised. And then he is ready for anything on the cricket field.
Mental strength
I've learned a lot of things from him as far as mental strength goes - on how to tacke a situation, how to tackle a ball or bowler. If you are not tough mentally, you can't score the number of runs and centuries he has in the last two decades. He is a very good self-motivator.
He always said to me: whatever the situation or whichever the bowler you face, always believe in yourself. There was this occasion in South Africa, early in my career, when I was not scoring runs fluently, so he suggested I try a few mental techniques that had worked for him. One of the things he said was: Always tell yourself you are better than others. You have some talent and that is why you are playing for India, so believe in yourself.
Picking the ball early
He can pick the ball earlier than other batsmen and that is a mark of a great batsman. He is virtually ready for the ball before it is bowled. Only great players can have two shots for one ball, like Tendulkar does, and a big reason is that he picks the ball very early.
Soft hands
I've never seen him play strokes with hard hands. He always tries to play with soft hands, always tries to meet the ball with the centre of the bat. That is timing. I have never been able to play consistently with soft hands.
Planning
One reason he can convert his fifties into hundreds is planning: which bowler he should go after, which bowler he should respect, in which situation he should play aggressively, in which situation he should defend. It is because he has spent hours thinking about all of it, planning what to do. He knows what a bowler will do in different situations and he is ready for it.
In my debut Test he scored 155 and he knew exactly what to do every ball. We had already lost four wickets (68 for 4) when I walked in, and he warned me about the short ball. He told me that the South African fast bowlers would bowl short-of-length balls regularly, but he knew how to counter that. If they bowled short of a length, he cut them over slips; when they bowled outside off stump, he cut them; and when they tried to bowl short into his body, he pulled with ease. Luckily his advice had its effect on me, and I made my maiden hundred!
Adaptability
This is one area where he is really fast. And that is because he is such a good reader of the game. After playing just one or two overs he can tell you how the pitch will behave, what kind of bounce it has, which length is a good one for the batsman, what shots to play and what not to.
A good example was in the Centurion ODI of the 2006-07 series. India were batting first. Shaun Pollock bowled the first over and fired in a few short-of-length balls, against which I tried to play the back-foot punch. Tendulkar cautioned me immediately and said that shot was not a good option. A couple of overs later I went for it again and was caught behind, against Pollock.
Making bowlers bowl to his strengths
He will leave a lot of balls and give the bowler a false sense of security, but the moment it is pitched up to the stumps or closer to them, Tendulkar will easily score runs.
If the bowler is bowling outside off stump Tendulkar can disturb his line by going across outside off stump and playing to midwicket. He puts doubts in the bowler's mind, so that he begins to wonder if he has bowled the wrong line and tries to bowl a little outside off stump - which Tendulkar can comfortably play through covers.
Only great players can have two shots for one ball, like Tendulkar does, and a big reason is that he picks the ball very early
In Sydney in 2004, in the first innings he didn't play a single cover drive, and remained undefeated on 241. He decided to play the straight drive and flicks, so he made the bowlers pitch to his strengths. It is not easy. In the Test before that, in Melbourne, he had got out trying to flick. After that when we had a chat he said he was getting out playing the cover drive and the next game he would avoid the cover drive. I thought he was joking because nobody cannot not play the cover drive - doesn't matter if you are connecting or not. I realised he was serious in Sydney when he was on about 180-odd and he had missed plenty of opportunities to play a cover drive. I was stunned.
Ability to bat in different gears
This is one aspect of batting I have always discussed with Tendulkar: how he controls his game; the way he can change gears after scoring a half-century. Suddenly he scores 10-12 runs an over, or maybe a quick 30 runs in five overs, and then again slows down and paces his innings.
He has maintained that it all depends on the team's position. If you are in a good position you tend to play faster. He also pointed out that the batsman must always think about what can happen if he gets out and the consequences for the team. The best example is the knock of 175. I was confident he would pull it off for India and he almost did.
Building on an innings
I learned from Tendulkar how to get big hundreds. He told me early on that once you get a hundred you are satisfied for yourself. But it is also the best time to convert that into a bigger score for the team because then the team will be in a good position.
If you look at my centuries they have always been big. A good instance of this was in Multan in 2004, when he told me I had given away a good position in Melbourne (195) the previous year and the team lost, and I needed to keep that in mind against Pakistan. In Multan, in the first hundred of the triple century I had hit a few sixes. He walked up to me after I reached the century and said he would slap me if I hit any further sixes. I said why. He said that if I tried hitting a six and got out the team would lose the control over the game, and I needed to bat through the day. So I didn't hit a single six till I reached 295. By then India were 500-plus and I told him I was going to hit a six!
Dedication
This is the most important aspect of his success. In his life cricket comes first. When he is on tour he is thinking about nothing but cricket, and when he is not on tour he dedicates quality time to his family. That shows his dedication to the game and to his family. He has found the right balance.
Sachin Tendulkar The Legend
Part 1 - Click here to download this video
Part 2 - Click here to download this video
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So much for the next Don Bradman?
Phillip Hughes’s first ever test innings was in Johannesburg against the mighty South Africans. He survived three balls until:
However, he rebounded superbly with a well made 75. He went on to make a whopping 415 runs at an average of 69.16, including 2 centuries and 1 fifty in the whole series – which is most runs by any batsmen in the series. Keep in mind that this was just his first ever series playing in the white Australia uniform. That was when critics compared Hughes with the greatest batsman of all time, ‘Sir Donald Bradman!’ Have the critics possibly spoken too soon?
He is in his second series and has started to expose his weakness, the short balls. We can all thank Mr Freedy Flintoff for exposing that, dismissing Hughes 2 out of the 3 times that Hughes has been dismissed so far during the Ashes series 2009. Just a reminder of the dismissals:
Hughes has managed just 36, 4 and 17 at Sophia Gardens and Lord’s, and posted scratchy innings of 10 and 68 in the most recent tour against Northamptonshire.
As a consequence, he has been dropped for the 3rd test and Shane Watson has brought in to replace him. It has been reported that it was the ‘fundamental flaws in his technique have prompted the selectors to act.’ The selectors have brought in a player boasting a batting average of 19.76 and who has never batted higher than No. 6 in the five-day game. One fact that might go in his favour are the quickfire 84 and 50innings he made against Northants. Wise move? We will just have to wait and see…
Some reactions to the axing of Phillip Hughes…
NeilCameron (July 30 2009, 06:05 AM GMT)
79KAH79 (July 30 2009, 03:23 AM GMT)
Rusty_1 (July 30 2009, 02:51 AM GMT)
0.4 Steyn to Hughes, OUT, super start for Steyn, and a duck for Hughes on debut! Short delivery just outside off stump, rises up off the surface and Hughes jumps at it, trying to slash it over the slips, but can only succeed in getting a faint under-edge through to a gleeful Boucher, who springs up and takes the offer
PJ Hughes c †Boucher b Steyn 0 (1m 4b 0×4 0×6) SR: 0.00
However, he rebounded superbly with a well made 75. He went on to make a whopping 415 runs at an average of 69.16, including 2 centuries and 1 fifty in the whole series – which is most runs by any batsmen in the series. Keep in mind that this was just his first ever series playing in the white Australia uniform. That was when critics compared Hughes with the greatest batsman of all time, ‘Sir Donald Bradman!’ Have the critics possibly spoken too soon?
He is in his second series and has started to expose his weakness, the short balls. We can all thank Mr Freedy Flintoff for exposing that, dismissing Hughes 2 out of the 3 times that Hughes has been dismissed so far during the Ashes series 2009. Just a reminder of the dismissals:
14.6 Flintoff to Hughes, OUT, got him! Flintoff wins the battle with a ball that perhaps moves in a touch and Hughes, trying to punch it through off, gets the thinnest of inside edges behind to Prior
PJ Hughes c †Prior b Flintoff 36 (61m 54b 5×4 0×6) SR: 66.66
9.2 Flintoff to Hughes, OUT, gone, got him, gone! Is he? Hughes edges it to Strauss at first slip who claims this low, scooping catch. Ponting sends Hughes back, asks Strauss if he caught it. Koertzen’s given him though. This will run, and run, and run…
PJ Hughes c Strauss b Flintoff 17 (46m 34b 2×4 0×6) SR: 50.00
Hughes has managed just 36, 4 and 17 at Sophia Gardens and Lord’s, and posted scratchy innings of 10 and 68 in the most recent tour against Northamptonshire.
As a consequence, he has been dropped for the 3rd test and Shane Watson has brought in to replace him. It has been reported that it was the ‘fundamental flaws in his technique have prompted the selectors to act.’ The selectors have brought in a player boasting a batting average of 19.76 and who has never batted higher than No. 6 in the five-day game. One fact that might go in his favour are the quickfire 84 and 50innings he made against Northants. Wise move? We will just have to wait and see…
Some reactions to the axing of Phillip Hughes…
NeilCameron (July 30 2009, 06:05 AM GMT)
Hughes does have a problem with the short pitched ball but this weakness has yet to really dent his form. Granted, his form so far in England hasn’t been great, but it is only two matches. As other comments here have pointed out, some players in the top side seem to find it harder to be dropped than others. My gut feeling regarding Hussey was to give him one moretest to score runs before dropping him, but this is what I also applied to Phil Hughes as well. I don’t think Watson is a good choice as an opener but he is a better batter than bowler so I would prefer him at no.6 and bring Hussey, who has experience opening, in to partner Katich. Nevertheless I am quite annoyed thatHughes has been treated so poorly after such a great start to his career – other players (eg Steve Waugh) were given a lot more leeway early in their careers.
79KAH79 (July 30 2009, 03:23 AM GMT)
Terrible decision, the Australian selectors continue to amaze me. Hughes is one of the most sumpremely talented young batsman I have seen in years. He has only had one bad game and wasn’t even out in the secondinnings at Lord’s. His confidence and brashness is refreshing at the top of the order and has the potential to quickly change games. I don’t have a problem with Watson but Hussey or North should have gone beforeHughes. Granted, Hughes has lookes a little uneasy against Flintoff but he needs to be given more than two games. Flintoff has bowled awesome but these are foreign conditions forHughes , he should have be given a chance to hit back, learn and develop further as a player. I honestly think that the Australian selectors get worried when a young player is hyped as much asHughes. They are sometimes OVERPROTECTIVE. He will be back more hungry just like Clarke did before. I’m bitterly disappointed that I won’t be able to watch the Hughes/Flintoff rematch at Egbaston.
Rusty_1 (July 30 2009, 02:51 AM GMT)
What a disgrace! The selectors had better come out and make a strong statement as to why they have perpetrated this act of madness! Watson had also better back them up with a century in bothinnings & 5 for. What’s the rationale behind his inclusion? Is it the same as in India? He is a handy bat & he might take a wicket or two, so throw him in? Did we learn nothing from India? What must Stuart Clark be thinking? Here is a man with atest bowling avg of 22….. 22 and he can’t get a run on? For mine, the batting line up was strong as it was (certainly strong than the English), it was the bowling that needed assistance. Johnson is off form, Siddle is trying to hard & not effective & Hauritz & Hilfy are only in theirtest infancy. Why not drop North, move Haddin to 6 & include Clark?? Or replace North with Watson at worst? Looks like the “be like Flintoff” curse has struck the Aussie selcectors once again after his heroics at Lords.Click here to read the rest of the post »
ICC World Twenty20 2009 Lowdown – Report Card
Sri Lanka entered this tournament, playing their first international game since the devastating bombings in Pakistan. They did not disappoint, accounting for Australia and the West Indies with ease. Heading to the super8s, making totals became a big problem and many teams faltered because of their bowling. What made Sri Lanka such a dominant side was no matter what score they made, their bowlers made the scores defendable. Sri Lanka’s MMM combination comprising of Mendis, Malinga and Muralitharan were absolutely brilliant with the ball - restricting runs, creating pressure, taking wickets and eventually winning games. The starts with the bat were Dilshan and Sangakarra, who were major contributors in Sri Lana’s totals. However, their fairytale tournament ended with a comprehensive defeat at the hands of Pakistan. Nonetheless, a great tournament for Sri Lanka given the context of their most recent events. Grade: A
Pakistan, the most unpredictable...
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Pakistan, the most unpredictable...
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A Tale of Upsets
The ICC World Twenty20 2009 Tournament has been quite a spectacle to watch so far. One asset of this tournament that makes it so fascinating to watch are the upsets. Unlike the older formats (that is, test and ODI), the Twenty20 format is so fast and action-packed that
“Anything can happen…”
What better to kick off the twenty20 tournament than to have the hosts upset by an associate side. That’s right, England were beaten in a last ball thriller by the Netherlands. Wright’s superb 49-ball 71 was negated by Doeschate’s 2 – 35 and Grooth nice 30-ball 49 cameo. It was great to see how much this game meant for the Netherlands, as they all rushed out into the middle in celebration after the last ball win. It was indeed a real and successful wake-up call as England have not looked back, defeat last year’s champions, India and Pakistan.
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What better to kick off the twenty20 tournament than to have the hosts upset by an associate side. That’s right, England were beaten in a last ball thriller by the Netherlands. Wright’s superb 49-ball 71 was negated by Doeschate’s 2 – 35 and Grooth nice 30-ball 49 cameo. It was great to see how much this game meant for the Netherlands, as they all rushed out into the middle in celebration after the last ball win. It was indeed a real and successful wake-up call as England have not looked back, defeat last year’s champions, India and Pakistan.
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The Theatre of the Absurd
There is something no right about the Indian Premier League Season 2 2009. Part-timers are taking hattricks, teams are losing from just winning positions, teams are winning from impossible situations and teams at the top of the (points) table are going down to teams ranked below them...
“THE THEATRE OF THE ABSURD”
Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh are two part time bowlers and hardly bowl for India. Yet they are the only two bowlers in this tournament to have taken hattricks. Another part-timer who has taken a decent bag of wickets is Suresh Raina. He has hardly bowled for India and has one career wicket to his name in all forms of cricket for India. Notice that all these part-timers are Indian – bizarre! Here are their statistics with the ball in this tournament (courtesy of cricinfo):
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Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh are two part time bowlers and hardly bowl for India. Yet they are the only two bowlers in this tournament to have taken hattricks. Another part-timer who has taken a decent bag of wickets is Suresh Raina. He has hardly bowled for India and has one career wicket to his name in all forms of cricket for India. Notice that all these part-timers are Indian – bizarre! Here are their statistics with the ball in this tournament (courtesy of cricinfo):
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