Many good men and women from the worlds of both cricket and medicine deserve credit for the fact that cricket has finally addressed one of the oldest and grubbiest taboos in its history. Among them is Makhaya Ntini, albeit inadvertently. It was April 1st, 2006, the second day of the third Test between South Africa and Australia […]
It has to be one, which you’ve actually seen, and almost certainly live. A batting exhibition, which made you feel different about the player, the game in general and about the bounds of what was possible. To rethink everything you had thought before. The context and consequences of the innings are also significant. Graeme Smith […]
Last week Dale Steyn had no doubts about the future. He believed he was strong enough and determined enough to continue playing all three formats of the game and to remain available for national selection. The idea of retiring from one form of the game was unpleasant enough to be upsetting. He was quite clear. […]
The launch of the Test Championship took place this week with the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston kicking off a two-year competition which, it is hoped, will add much needed vitality to the game’s greatest format and provide context to the lower profile bilateral series as well as encourage players to stay longer in international […]
A lot of people were left with a hangover after the World Cup final and it is taking a long time to get over it. Not the physical sort induced by champagne celebrations or commiserations, but an emotional hangover induced by the unprecedented unfairness of it all. Eoin Morgan was the first of the players […]
I’ve been asked about it on and off for much of the last 20 years but, with the World Cup returning to England for the first time since 1999, there has been a glut of revisits to the most infamous run out in World Cup history. Poor old Lance Klusener and Allan Donald. They would […]
The cricketing world now has its collective focus on the World Cup. But for Eric Simons and many thousands of Chennai supporters, the pain of losing the IPL final by just a single run is still lingering. I do not think I have ever been in a quieter change room after a match than the […]
How does a player move from outside the ‘standby’ group of World Cup hopefuls straight into the 15-man squad when he wasn’t even close to being named in the original 15? Especially a cricketer as talented as all rounder Chris Morris. It is a mysterious state of affairs but, by almost unanimous consent, a happy […]
As I write this we have just completed our preparation for the ‘Qualifier’ match against Delhi Capitals this evening. A second bite of the cherry courtesy of the top-two place on the league table. Obviously we would have preferred to be sitting in Hyderabad waiting for whoever our opponents would be in the final, but […]
Q – Whereas all of the other teams have been focussed on qualifying for the play-offs, it has looked and felt like CSK were “inevitable qualifiers”. Is that how it felt within the camp? A – No! First of all, you need to be an actuarial scientist to understand just when you have actually qualified. […]
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