India were expected to thrash Bangladesh, and when the winning margins are 100+ runs and 10 wickets, it is fair to say Bangladesh were thrashed. Bangladesh had fun for at most 1.5 days – day 1 of the first test and around 50 overs on day 3 of the second test.

There was a lot written about Sehwag’s comment before the first test on Bangladesh being an ‘ordinary’ side. Sehwag was perhaps being politically uncorrect, saying such a thing in Bangladesh, especially when the BCCI had played a huge role in Bangladesh getting test status.

Yet, the facts are that barring a series win against a West Indies ‘B’ team, they had achieved zilch in nearly a decade of test cricket. There have been a few individual achievements (e.g. Aminul Islam in their first ever test, Ashraful v India in 2004, Shahriar Nafees v Australia in 2006, Shakib forming the ‘SLA Atlas’ club along with Vettori and occasional bursts from Mortaza).

They did run Pakistan and Australia close. They do indicate that they can be occasionally competitive. However, the reality is that as of the start of this series, they hadn’t made 300 in the first innings of a test since April 2006, which was also the last time one of the batsmen scored a first-innings century.

The malaise hasn’t just been with the batting. On an average, opponents can expect that one of their top 7 batsmen will score a first innings 100 every time they face Bangladesh.

There was absolutely no need for Sehwag to be politically correct. I’ll repeat what I wrote nearly 6.5 years ago.

I wonder why captains are nowadays so politically correct. I’m not saying the captain should do a Richie Richardson and claim that the visiting Aussies have been the worst side to play West Indies in the last 20 years after losing the series. Tony Greig’s attempt to make WI “grovel” backfired spectacularly. But why does Steve Waugh not say Australia is going to crush Bangladesh or Zimbabwe?

On a parting note, why on earth did the proceedings break for lunch with Bangladesh on the verge of defeat at 312/9? Why can’t the playing conditions be changed to allow captains to opt for extra time regardless of whether it is close of play or not?

Currently, under clause 16.2 of the test match playing conditions, the umpires can extend play by 30 minutes at the end the day (except the last day) if either captain puts in the application in triplicate along with a photocopy of their last 5 years income tax payment statements and if the umpires believe that the extension could end the ordeal for everyone.

Statistical trivia: This is only the 7th time that a side has reached the target in <= 2 balls.

Source: Cricket24x7

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During the first over after lunch on day two of the Perth test in the Frank Worrell Trophy featuring Australia v West Indies, Suleiman Benn, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson got into a fracas. The sequence of events, which you can see in the video on YouTube, was approximately this:

• Haddin plays a ball towards mid wicket and sees the possibility of a quick single
• Benn, bowling from around the wicket, runs across to his right to cut off the single
• Johnson put his head down and ran, reviving memories of Forrest Gump
• Benn tries to get to the ball, and ends up looking like he was dragging Johnson back with his hand
• When the ball is ‘dead’, Haddin points his bat at Benn possibly asking him to stop coming in the way
• Benn is now really mad and keeps chattering & abusing away
• Gayle is standing still, first listening to Haddin’s point of view and then to Benn
• Umpire Billy Bowden then steps in and asks Gayle & Benn to get on with it
• Benn, still very angry, asks Haddin some questions, throwing in a couple of obscenities rhyming with ‘chuck’
• Benn then bowls an absolute ripper of a delivery that Johnson has no clue about. The batsmen cross over for a bye
• Benn is still unhappy and chattering away. He even appears to ask Johnson something, while Johnson practices his straight drive at the non-striker’s end
• Benn bowls to Haddin, who drives the ball straight back. Benn threatens to throw the ball back (unsure if he was threatening to hit Haddin or the stumps) and Haddin provides a view of his stumps, requesting him to take a shot
• That was the last ball of the over. Haddin walks down the pitch grinning and saying something to Benn
• Benn tries to point out something to Haddin with his hand and accidentally brushes against Johnson
• Johnson pushes Benn away
• Bowden finally realizes things could be going from bad to worse and steps in

Purely going by what was seen on TV, there were multiple people at fault here:

• Benn – He had no business tugging at Johnson’s shirt and trying to drag him back
• Haddin – He had no business pointing his bat and interfering with something that Benn & Johnson should have (and could have) sorted out between themselves
• Johnson – He can’t be blamed too much because it is unlikely he would have realized that Benn brushing him was accidental. But given the heated situation at that time, pushing Benn away was a bad choice
• Bowden & Gould – The umpires are the biggest culprits here. The moment it seemed like Benn & Haddin were in a war of words, they should have stepped in and called a halt to the verbal warfare. They didn’t, couldn’t, or chose not to. Then, when Johnson pushed Benn away, Bowden was almost apologetically pleading with the players to move on. All this while, Gould, the square-leg umpire, was conspicuously absent, probably day-dreaming about the sumptuous lunch he had just finished

A couple of aspects of today’s incident are interesting, and give me a huge sense of deja vu.

Symonds v/s Harbhajan at Sydney in early 2008: Harbhajan patted Lee on the back and Symonds, standing quite far away from the scene of action, stepped in quite unwarrantedly to save his mate’s arse from Harbhajan.

Today, Benn ran into Johnson and Haddin batted on Johnson’s behalf.

A couple of years ago, during the 2nd final of the triangular ODI series in Australia, Michael Clarke, the bowler, nearly pulled down Sachin Tendulkar’s pants in order to prevent Tendulkar, at the non-striker’s end, from taking a single.

There was no sign of any apology from Clarke, because he was only doing it hoping that Tendulkar’s greatness would have ‘rubbed off’ on him. Tendulkar also seems to have rather enjoyed the fondling. Gautam Gambhir, who played the shot, did nothing. Of course, it is quite likely that this unwarranted & deliberate physical contact, and the absence of any action around it, ‘inspired’ him to try a similar stunt a year later.

Today, Haddin couldn’t keep quiet, and had to intervene. An issue that could have been sorted out in a few seconds dragged on and on. It’s quite likely that there will be follow-ups over the next 3 days of the test.

Benn has now been charged with a Level 2 offence while Haddin & Johnson have been charged with Level 1 offences under the ICC’s code of conduct for players.

Clause 2.2.4 refers to “Inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between Players in the course of play during an International Match”.

If Benn’s physical contact (the act of tugging at Johnson, for I am unaware of any other deliberate/inappropriate physical contact) was wrong, Johnson is also guilty of pushing Benn away.

Haddin would be guilty under 2.1.4 (Using language or a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting) or 2.1.8 (conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game or brings the game into disrepute). I don’t think he should be charged with a Level 2 offence because he only brandished his bat (admittedly, that did sort of make the whole incident a lot worse than it could have been) and almost definitely needled Benn.

Am I surprised that Haddin & Johnson are likely to get away with a lesser charge laid against them? Of course, not! We know by now who gets away with it.

Benn should actually feel proud that the Australians seem to be targetting him now. That usually happens to combustible folks who’re doing well against the Aussies.

On a related note, Malcolm Conn’s ghost-writer has once again forgotten to use the magic phrase “India have been the worst-behaved team in cricket over the last decade” in his latest piece.

source: cricket 24×7 blog

Even as the ICC is planning to do away with the concept of home and away, foreign boards want a window for the Twenty20 tournaments so they do not clash with the international calendar.
The ICC has expressed interest in doing away with the traditional idea that each team play a home and away series against another over a six year period.
But the FICA is opposed to the idea because it could still lead to an “unregulated” calendar that could also marginalize some of the lower ranker teams. Besides, FICA believes that a Test and ODI championship would better serve the purpose than having two teams play each other just once – either home or away.
The New Zealand and South African cricketers associations have also pressed for the idea of having a window for the IPL and the Champions LeagueTwenty20 so that the Twenty20 tournaments do not end up diluting the international cricket calendar where cricketers may choose to go freelance rather than make a choice to represent their country.
Rest assured, this is not the final word on the subject.

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