The Oz Spirit of Cricket, my foot

Ain't it funny that of all the people in the world the one are getting the most exasperated with sledging are the Australians? Have Rickey Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and the rest of the kangaroos forgotten about the 'art of mental disintegration'? Now much was said by players on either side in the India-Australia match at Kochi, but the ones complaining at the end were Andrew Symonds, on-field captain Adam Gilchrist and off-field captain Rickey Ponting. Ponting says on the eve of the 3rd ODI that "we will go out and play our best cricket, and leave the talking to the Indians"!! Symonds who was earlier shocked by the celebrations of the Indian team post their Twenty20 win is now worked up by the chatter.

When did the Aussies acquire sainthood? Has the entire country gone through some transformation? Do let the world know clearly so that after following your footsteps in the 'art of mental disintegration' we can now take a leaf out of your 'Spirit of Cricket' book.

Biltong-Cricket = Bread-Butter

"Biltong and cricket go together just like bread n butter ". So says Fanie Van Vuuren, who has a biltong vend inside the Wanderers cricket ground at Johannesburg, South Africa. No sporting event in South Africa is complete without a few pints of beer and a generous supply of biltong.

In case you have been left wondering (as i was), let me explain what Biltong is. Bilton is essentialy South African dried meat. Bil = Buttock, Tong = Strip, got it?!! While beef biltongs are the most popular, an interesting variation is the ostritch meat biltong. Except of course with Indian fans, who being averse to beef prefer game biltong. You game for that? I'd rather stick to my lager only.

Punters predict India to win Twenty20 World Cup

So you think Australia is the favourite to win the Twenty20 Cup ? And you also think that the rest of the world thinks the way you do. Well, the cricket pundits might agree with you but certain gentlemen (if that is the right word) in Central India certainly do not.

Punters in Central India have placed bets of over Rs. 20 crores on the teams they think are likely to take home the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup and these teams are called neither Australia or England. Nor do they include hosts South Africa. The punters of Madhya Pradesh, Gujrat and Chhatisgarh think that one of India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka will bag top honours in South Africa. Over 43,000 gamblers are reported to have put in their monies and 65% of them favour India. World Champions Australia, on the other hand have found favour with a measly 13% of gamblers.

Here's wishing the punters of Central India all the very best. May their favourite team win!!

Statistical Model developed by IIM alumnus firm predicted Indian Loss

While me and you and a million other Indian cricket fans were glued into our TV sets yesterday waiting and hoping for our team to overcome England and win the 7th and final one-dayer and clinch the series, a few IIM graduates knew the result beforehand!!

Score Wizard, a statistical model bulit and developed by Bombay based predictive analytics company Fractal Analytics Ltd., a venture of IIM alumni predicted England would beat India in the all important final encounter at Lord's. However, the model had predicted a close affair - Score Wizard said India would lose the match by 3 runs only.

The firm claims to have got the results of 5 of the 6 matches of the series right. Besides, they claim over 70% success in predicting the results of the World Cup matches.

Let's wait and see what their predictions for the Twenty20 World Cup are - and how right they go in what should be a more risky affair as far as predictions go.

"Mickey Arthur speaks too many lies."

Andre Nel is in the South Africa Twenty20 World Cup Team now, replacing openin batsman Loots Bosman. The reason given for the change is a back injury sustained by Bosman from which he has not yet fully recovered. But Bosman isn't too sure.....

Bosman is reported to have said that one specialist told him he is fit to play while the CSA doctor ruled him out of the T20 World Cup and he finds the decision of the CSA specialist 'suspicious'. What had made matters worse for Bosman are his comments over coach Mickey Arthur. "I am sick of lies.", said Bosman adding that Arthur tells too many lies.

Not too surprisingly Bosman is in the middle of lots of official trouble now. Cricket South Africa (CSA) said on Wednesday that Bosman will appear before CSA's Disciplinary Commissioner, Michael Kuper SC, to face charges of breaching CSA's rules and code of conduct.

What is funny is Bosman's replacement: Andre Nel. While Bosman may have privately said something nasty about a couple of folks, Mr. Nel hurls abuses and looks worse right in the middle of the cricket park. If Bosman is being accused of bring the game into 'disrepute', Nel has been far worse.

Google's Sense of Humour?

Do search engines have a sense of humour? Yes, they do. If you don't believe me, simply type "Cricketer" on your google search box and see what you get.

On top of all relevant searches from the world - no less than 3 million results there is this most cute picture of the ex-Pakistan Captain, Inzamam-Ul-Haq.

There ain't no one as cute as Inzamam on the cricket field, for sure. What say!


ps: do a normal search, not an image search.

Heard of Kwik Cricket?

" If you know anything about cricket, which is played with a rock-hard ball, big, wooden bats and some pretty heavy-duty padding for the batter, you’re probably concerned about those poor kids getting cracked on their little noggins and going to the hospital. "

That's Beth Better, writing for the Prague Post on a Beach Party being organised at the Prague Bohemian Cricket Club in the Czech capital. Added the party organiser, Scott Page: " Not to worry, Page says. Kids’ cricket, officially known as Kwik Cricket, has different rules and is played with plastic equipment. There’s even a fledgling Czech girls team."

The party was kicked off with UK music bands with names such as 'Testosterone' and 'Narcoleptics', who had come all the way to the Czech republic for free to promote the British sport called Cricket. Globalising cricket!! Don't know if this is with the express permission of the ICC or not, but Czech boys and girls trying to play cricket sounds interesting and fun. The ICC what being generous with World Cup entries to young cricketing nations, who knows, we might see a Czech Team competing in the 2025 World Cup. Or better still, Indians and Aussies learning a thing or two from the Czechs on 'Kwik Cricket'. Maybe even a ICC Kwik Cricket World Cup, or may be even an ICL one!