FEATURES

With the IPL returning to India after their African safari last year, Here is cricketweb’s two part preview of the teams featuring and how they are expected to fare. Part one features defending champions Deccan chargers, runners-up from last year Bangalore royal challengers and the losing semi-finalists from last year Chennai superkings and Delhi daredevils.

As the Bangladesh and England series gets underway, what progress have Bangladesh made since their Test inception back in 2000?

Thirty years on David Tossell wrote the story of the 1976 West Indian summer. His account of “that session” is a modern classic and a fitting conclusion to Brian Close’s story.

Part 1 of this feature told Brian Close’s story up to the beginning of 1976. Part 2, through the writings of Alan Gibson, now looks back to May of that year.

With a short stature and nimble footwork he cut, drove, hooked and pulled, fast bowlers and spinners were both treated with disdain, everything about him had an aura, even his stance and for 17 years one name was synonymous with West Indian Cricket, Brian Charles Lara. He had people’s expectations reach a crescendo when he came out to bat and carried the hopes of a fragile team on decline for those 17 years. With a high-back lift and his peerless ability to pierce gaps in the field marked by sublime timing was indeed a sight to behold. It would be safe to say that cricket watching experience would not be complete until you have seen an innings by an in-form Brian Lara.

In a series of three features, with help from David Tossell and Alan Gibson, we look back on the life and times of that great character of English cricket, Brian Close.

From the year 2000 to 2010, Australian cricket fans have been more than just spoilt, they’ve been down-right ruined given the talent that represented their country in this decade.

A look at why Australian cricket has failed to achieve success in Twenty20 that it has in other forms of the game.

I lamented on the use of referrals and how ICC should prompt the use of technology to the fullest extent in cricket last year during the fourth test between West Indies and England at Bridgetown, Barbados. Daryl Harper, the TV umpire from Australia was at the hot seat for a period of play on the final session of the third day during that Test when he gave two absolute shockers which baffled one and all. As the year went by ICC had realized the importance of technology and to eradicate umpiring errors implemented the UDRS (Umpire Decision review system) from October 2009. When this announcement came out, I was elated that ICC had taken the step in the right direction to help the game, the players, the umpires and the fans.

I felt so disappointed after India lost to Sri Lanka in the Tri Nation Idea Cup. Not because India lost. But for the fact that I did not feel disappointed after India lost. For me, it was just another ODI, just another India-Sri Lanka match. Tharanga, Dilshan, Sehwag, Kohli, Sanga, Yuvraj blah blah blah.

No, I am not getting Americanized, I have not started losing interest in cricket. I watched the Aus-Pak test (Sydney Test) with utmost interest and also updating my “what you feel like” status on Facebook during the match! I followed the Eng-Sa tests with so much more interest. I want to talk about a few of issues here, all of them related to ODI cricket:
1) Too much ODI cricket and improper planning.
2) Empowering bowlers/ De-powering batsmen.
3) Changing the format of the game to remove the monotony from ODIs.