Monthly Archives: August 2010

England v. Pakistan Match Fixing Scandal

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Ok, so a quick summary for anyone not paying attention: a man named Mazhar Majeed was arrested on charges of defrauding bookmakers yesterday in England.  The basic accusation is that Mazhar was offering to bribe Pakistan bowlers to bowl no balls at certain points in the game.  This is a very serious allegation and the fact that it is reported that he was able to accurately predict certain no balls makes me very worried that this could end badly.

I want to say, though, that I truly hope there is nothing to these allegations against the Pakistan team.  The Pakistan players have enough trouble already.  Not being able to play in their home country for the foreseeable future is bad enough.

The game is scheduled to start again today, In about 10-20 minutes from the time I’m writing this.  I am interested to see how the players on both teams react to the news.  I wonder if some of the Pakistan players will step up their game to silence allegations of cheating.  I wonder if Stuart Broad will be even more aggressive because his great knock yesterday is under a cloud.

This is why match fixing and and cheating of all kinds is such a big problem.  Trott and Broad played incredibly well Friday and I can’t be the only one that looks at all this news and starts to wonder if their best was matched against the best the Pakistani bowlers had to offer.  I don’t want to think that, both for the England and Pakistan players’ sake.

No matter what happens now, there will always be a cloud over this game and that makes me mad.  I hope that all the players are cleared and the cloud gets a little smaller.  I guess as the day goes on we will learn more.

–Ken

Attacking England

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I love to see the England team playing to win.  I see this year so far as a real change on that front.  I’m not saying they didn’t want to win before, but there was just a certain lack of aggressiveness or confidence or something the past couple of years.  I mainly have in my head the two series against the West Indies in early 2009.  Whether it was a defensive field or a reluctance to declare, the draw just seemed to be on the table too often.

The 4th test against Pakistan may yet end in a draw.  England, however, are clearly trying to win.  This is especially praiseworthy because they could easily pull off a draw and secure the series.  If Trott and Broad had not literally saved the game, they may have had a different approach to the bowling.  But it is not just the morale boost from yesterday that has them in this play-to-win attitude.  It is, I think, the success that they have had giving the team a great deal of confidence, especially in the field – in England.

I think it’s very important that England find the mental character to continue this aggressive style in Australia.  This is going to require a drastic improvement in the batting department.  Whatever the conditions, too many English batsmen have disappointing records for the last few games.  I can’t be the only person who worries that a lack of confidence at the crease along with flatter, less swingy conditions will be a bad combination in November.

I will be looking forward to November with a lot of hope and a little confidence.

–Ken

Frustrated Fan

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So I was thinking yesterday how bad my luck has been finding other cricket fans in my town.  I admit I haven’t put out personal ads or anything, but I have come across a few people from cricket playing nations.  The problem is, none of these people actually likes cricket all that much.

The first is the owner of one of the Larry’s Subs here in town.  He’s a very nice guy from Ahmedabad, I think.  He is very willing to talk to me about what’s going on in Indian cricket, but he’s not what anyone would call a fan.  He basically knows about as much about cricket as I do about Baseball.  There are some things and people that you just know.

Next I was excited to find out that I was going to have a new student who was born in Australia.  I though, finally, someone I can talk to.  But no, of all the people in his extended family, his dad (and he) doesn’t follow cricket.  My student doesn’t really even know how to play.  He grew up mostly in the U.S.  He did give me a little stuffed duck dressed in an Australian cricket uniform.  I call it Don – for obvious reasons.  My student is a big Arsenal fan, and technically I am too(long story which involves the current mayor of London) so we can talk about that, and he is always interested to see how Australia have done, but he’s still no fan.

Last is the father of another student who was born in South Africa.  He’s a great guy, but he also has lived in the States for a very long time.  And while he has actually played cricket, he also is not much of a fan.  He is, however, very patient with me as I desperately try to discuss the sport I love with someone who actually has an idea of what I’m talking about.  I bug him constantly, really.

And of course, I annoy most of the people around me, especially when other sports are involved.  I just can’t help comparing everything else to cricket.  I took a couple of friends to the New Zealand v. Sri Lanka match in Florida last May and I think they genuinely enjoyed it.  But neither of them is going to subscribe to Willow.tv or watch every ball of a test match.  I can’t blame them, but last Sunday there was a guy from England visiting our church.  I got the impression that he was a bit more of a soccer fan, but he at least knew about Cook’s century after that dry spell.  It was so nice to talk to someone who not only knew about the game, but also about what was going on.  He had opinions about the state of the game.  It was a very nice change.

Maybe someday I will run into someone in town that might actually want to come over to my house an watch the Ashes this winter.  Or someone that follows the wrong IPL team (Like the RCB – sorry).  Who knows.

Ken

This is Awesome – Go USA!!!

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I just saw this article on the USACA site about the American victory in the division 4 tournament. I am very excited to see the US advancing in world cricket. It gives me hope that someday I will see the U.S. playing in the World Cup. I know we still have a long way to go in making the U.S. truly competitive in world cricket, but it does seem that we are proving ourselves capable of advancement.

I hope that by the time the U. S. gets into the World cup, the coverage of cricket in the country has become more available.  I know it’s unrealistic to think that Americans will get as excited about U. S. cricket as they were at the last soccer World Cup, but I would like to believe that more success from the national team will increase the popularity of the sport across the country.

GO USA!

Willow Cricket on Dish Network

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I was excited to learn today that Willow Cricket (From the Willow.tv people) is available on Dish Network. It is definitely affordable at $19.99 a month. Unfortunately, if you have Dish Network, you probably don’t have the right satellite dish for the channel. Unless you already have their Hindi Pack, you will have to have a new dish put in. this will also cost you at least $115.00 or as much as $195.00. I’m not saying its not worth it. I will probably still add the channel eventually, but it will definitely be a hassle. The channel is also available on DirecTV, but I don’t know anything about how easy it is to get.

I am very happy that a decent cricket channel is available, ZeeSports America has been a huge disappointment this year. However, I look forward to a day when cricket is much easier to watch in the U.S. For now, I will stick to willow.tv.

England v. Pakistan

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Anyone who says Test matches are boring has at least two major problems with their life. The first is that they don’t understand the game properly. Second – they are not watching the match at the Oval right now. When I woke up this morning I assumed Pakistan had it in the bag, and I still expect them to win. But as an England fan, I actually have hope! England could have just conceded and tried to slow things down and lull the batsmen to sleep or something, but no, despite the low target, they are playing aggressive, wicket taking cricket. Because there is a chance for both teams, I would say this is more exciting than the Cardiff match of the Ashes last year. Which was plenty exciting. Most exciting for me is – This is Day 4! No too flat pitches here. I also want to bring up how good all the tests have been in England the past few months. Just the though of England pulling out 4 more wickets before Pakistan can score 10 is giving me the giggles. Go England!

Why The Cricket Ball Swings When It’s Cloudy

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I remember a few months ago, one of the commentators on Sky Sports mentioned that the ball seems to swing more when it’s cloudy, and didn’t not know precisely why. Due to the recent matches and the copious amounts of clouds and swing, I decided to ask another teacher at my school who teaches physics. She said that that it made sense for the ball to swing more when it’s cloudy because the air is actually denser. That means the Bernoulli principle is more effective as the bowlers polish one side.

I might be ten years, or a hundred , behind on this, but it’s nice to finally understand a little better. So, what’s the forecast in Australia in Nov? Any chance of clouds?

Ken

Penguins, Pirates and Bananas – Cricket Costumes in England

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I might be over-generalizing, but in the U.S., it is common practice to dress-up at sporting events and also for pop-culture events like movies and conventions (Trek conventions, Comic-Con). In general, we as a society respect the people who paint themselves in their teams colors, or at least when its not -20 outside. I guess the idea is that team spirit is an appropriate outlet for a person’s more extreme nature. On the other hand, pop culture dress is usually seen in a derogatory light. I will admit that this is changing as Geeks inherit the earth, and that sort of behavior becomes more common. I’m not sure how I fell about that, but it is what it is.

In America, the sports and pop culture worlds are, for the most part, separate. Most sports fans are just that, their passion lies in the sport they love. On the other side, the type of person who would dress up as Voldemort, is often not that passionate about sports. I know I am stereotyping and I can think of a personal friend who’s Starfleet uniform hangs next to her Yankees Jersey, but I think the standard still holds. This wordview crumbles when I watch cricket in England.Cricket Costumes

I am still astounded and enthralled by the sheer lunacy of the costumes I see in many grounds in England. Just today I saw, in no particular order, Elvis (multiple and in a group), Marilyn Monroe, the Wendy’s girl, Penguins, a pirate (Not Jack Sparrow or Blackbeard, just a pirate). And at other times I have seen almost every pop culture reference I could think of. Why, why would anyone want to wear a full (and impressively good) Darth Vader outfit outside for 8 or more hours in a day, in the middle of the summer?

Part of me wants to see Wolverine at the matches I hope will be in FL this coming summer, part of me wants to BE Wolverine! I mean the stadium at Central Broward was rather comfortable in the stands. But I know that I won’t. Not because I am afraid (well maybe of heatstroke) or that I would be embarrassed, It’s just not who I am. And I don’t see many Americans going for it either.

I guess my biggest question is, is this unique to cricket in England? I haven’t seen much of it it in other countries, and I don’t watch any other English sports.

Ken

Little Things I Love About Cricket

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This post is just a list of little things about cricket that I enjoy. Most of these are, as far as I know, unique to cricket, but I could be wrong.

In no particular order:

Number 1: I love that the umpire holds the bowler’s things. It’s so nice abs polite. My favorite spin-off of this was when Billy Bowden(more on him later) ate a banana and put the peel in a player’s hat. I think it was Tendulkar, but I’m not positive. Whoever it was just laughed.

Number 2: The fact that the bowler is supposed to scream at the umpire, and if he isn’t convincing enough, the wicket might not be given. In a game that is thought of(whenever it is) as a stuffy game by Americans, the shouting is just funny to me

Number 3: I love that there are positions that are actually named “silly”. I know I’m not the first to point this out, but it’s still funny. It always reminds me of the “easy out” bit by Brian Regan (@BrianReganComic)

Number 4: I love watching a fast bowler nail the wicket and seeing the bails an stumps fly into the air. Usually the batsman has attempted a shot, which at first looks like he should have made contact. Then you see the bails flying above his head and the middle stump doing somersaults. Even when it’s someone from a team I want to win, It’s just awesome.

Well, I think that will do it for now. I’m going to get back to the England v Pakistan second test, which is turning out to be a wicket-fest. Always fun to watch!

Ken

Willow.tv Monthly Subscription

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Willow.tv has just announced that they will now offer a monthly subscription option. I am not sure if this is instead of, or in addition to the package model they had. I for one am excited about this. I did the math and there is a significant savings over their blockbuster package. As soon as my current subscription is up I will be switching to the monthly plan. I wonder if I can get switched over and save some money?

Ken