Well done India

To start with congrats to the Indian team for taking a well deserved 2-0 lead in the series. India have been on the rise what with series victories in Australia, Lanka and now up 2-0 against England. India have a youthful side with Dhoni leading the team well. As far as their game was concerned Yuvraj again lead the way with a superlative effort with the bat and what was impressive about this innings was that he came in at a difficult time with the pitch having a bit of variable bounce but he was up to the task as he took a bit of time to settle down before exploding in the middle and late overs, he was well supported by Gambir who will no doubt be one of the mainstays of Indian batting in the days to come. In the field India’s fielding was quite impressive and this is a area they have improved on as with a youthful side made up of energetic players like Raina, Yuvraj, Rohit, Pathan, Gambir means that their fielding has definitely improved and bowlers too bowled tidily with Zaheer again mixing it up, Harbie bowling a tight spell, and of course the magic man Yuvraj with a 4fer and I have to say that he bowled slower through the air than Patel. Anyhow what a game it has been for Yuvraj.

As far as England were concerned they were again rigid as the quicks leaving Broad kept on banging it in the middle of the pitch, Anderson was underutilized. In my view either have confidence in him and give him a decent spell or drop him but giving him just 6 overs just doesn’t look right, Patel’s selection was a mystery as he is mainly a batsman and I would rather have Swann instead of Patel. When England tried to chase down the target Shah, Freddie, KP all tried their best especially Freddie who smacked some big hits in the third power play but they were left with too much to do. I also wonder why did Bopara a good player of spin came in at 8.

All in all a well deserved victory for India.

What England should do to make a come back?

To start with it was a disappointing to see England getting crushed by India. Credit has to go to Yuvraj and co. for playing great cricket as India won by a handsome margin.

So can England come back in this series? what should be done to improve the performance is the big question? The first and foremost thing England's management should keep in mind is that in India if you win the toss don't hesitate to bat first, yes due to most of the matches being an early morning start there will be a bit of moisture in the pitch still they are good batting tracks which will get better as the day progresses and may slow down a bit during the second innings. So the first lesson is if KP wins the toss elect to bat first.

The second thing that should be looked at is the strategy as I still believe that thought process is wrong and I keep on hearing from Mooresas well as commentators like Botham that on Indian tracks tall quicks should bang it in but what crap is that as on Indian wickets shorter you bowl more it will disappear out of the ground. The best way to go about it is to allow the ball to float a bit in the air to and try to get a bit of swing by pitching it up. Have Moores and co. thought that Indian wickets are like Perth, Brisbane, or Durban to bang it in? what utter rubbish, also England have to think of better strategies for each batsman as for Dhoni one can have few of the fielders in early on even if it means Dhoni will try to whack it. He likes to begin his innings with singles, with S'wag as I have said before that Anderson should pitch it up further and look to get that inswing going and it was sad to see that even Anderson was trying to bowl a much shorter length. I can't understand all this fascination with short of a length bowling on Indian wickets.

England have to also look at their batting as Prior coming at top of the order may not be the right way to go as he is not capable of getting big hundreds which is so imperative on Indian wickets as the top order batsmen have to fire. So why not have Shah at top of the order and KP at 3 as both can stand still better than others and hit it through the line which is the way to go about in India. Bopara too should come up the order. The one plus was that fielding was ok.

All in all England have to think of better strategies but somehow I feel that Moores is a stereotype coach who has his own impractical theories. I hope I am proved wrong.

Australian side

I thought of looking at the present Aussie side to see how they may perform in the future.

Openers

Katich has come back very well but Haydos is coming to the end of his career but Jacques is battling with back problems and he isn't that convincing as a opener.

Middle order

Ponting, Hussey, Clarke still make up a formidable middle order but they will now be under more pressure to score big runs as Aussies don't have McGrath and Warne to bowl out opponents for 200 almost every time.

All rounder

Watson, who I believe was the most improved cricketer on this tour to India, yes it would have been better if he had scored few more runs but he was very good as a bowler as he was the only bowler in the Aussie camp who was able to move the ball and the interesting thing was that he was able to reverse the old ball both ways.

Haddin as a keeper played one or two fighting knocks but 30 and 40's won't help and he should aim for bigger one's. His keeping was a touch inconsistent.

Quicks

Lee, Johnson, CLark, Siddle. Lee had a forgettable tour as he was down on pace and confidence and Aus desperately need him to come back to form. Clark was disappointing as he rarely made the batsmen play, yes injuries did not help but he needs to develop his skills otherwise he will be good only on wickets which helps quicks. Johnson bowled quick and got a bit of success but he should look to move the ball and he does not have the one that comes back into the batsmen. Siddle looked raw but bowled with a bit of pace and was able to move the ball a bit. Bollinger did not play though he is said to be someone who gets a bit of awkward bounce, maybe one for the future.

Spinners

Krejza, and White. Krejza in the only test he played did well as he flighted the ball and turned a bit and hopefully with time he will become better with his control too, White was more of a stop gap option and as expected he was no good as a bowler.

Outside the squad

Batsmen- D.Hussey, Hughes, Marsh, Voges, all of them are ok but Hodge, Hussey are not young. Marsh looks like a promising cricketer as seems to be Hughes.

Bowlers-Tait, Hilfy, both are good but they seem to lose confidence very quickly, someone like Tait can be very effective as he bowls with real pace and a slingy action but comes with it waywardness. McGAIN got injured and flew back to Aus very early in the tour but he is said to someone who is a ok leg spinner but he is well into his 30's, maybe they can have a look at Casson the left arm chinaman bowler who was ok in Westindies.

Ronchi as a keeper looks more like a one day cricketer, maybe Paine is better. Symonds may be recalled as a all rounder but question marks would be still be there on his attitude. He can do well in tests but I still believe he is more suited to the shorter formats of the game.

All in all the future is not that bad but it does not look like they are going to dominate.

England's strategies in India

So with Australia losing the series and going back home it is time for England to play in India. It will be a huge challenge for England to do well in India.

Anyhow coming back to the series first up are the onedayers and it won't be easy for England as they are up against a formidable opponent who are on a high after winning the test series against Australia.

First up let us look at how can England batsmen play on those flat wickets. To start with Indian wickets are relatively flat and scores of 300 are easily gettable, so England have to consistently get big scores and for this Bell has to get big one's and someone like Prior has to play the role of pinch hitter at the top . England have always been sluggish during the middle overs, so maybe Collingwood can split the duo of Freddie, and KP, if England are say about 100 for 2 after 18 to 20 overs. So England may have to be flexible when it comes to the batting order and has to say that England have the players to be flexible with the likes of KP, Freddie as big hitters and Shah has shown that he is a handy strokemaker too. England also have a strong lower order with players like Broad, Swann, Patel, in the ranks especially Patel is good. He is mainly a batsman who can play shots as well as rotate the strike. It will be a great challenge for the batsmen to come up against the likes of Sharma, Harbie, Zaheer etc.

When it comes to England's bowling Anderson will be the key early on as he does swing the new white ball and he also brings the ball sharply back into the batsmen which can prove to be the ball to dismiss Sehwag as he is generally vulnerable against the swinging ball early on especially the one that comes back, players like Yuvraj, R.Sharma are players who look to play inside out shots so no room can be given to them and bowlers like Freddie, Harmy can be used against them then there is of course Dhoni who I have noticed that he looks to take quick singles early on and once he gets settled he starts smashing bowlers, so it is important to set the right fields to him maybe England should bring the field up to him and make him hit over the top from the start which he is not that comfortable with and one has to say that Dhoni is the key man in the side.

India have a fine one day side with few younger players like R.Sharma, I.sharma, Raina doing well and someone like Dhoni leading the side well so it will be interesting to see how England will play.

Ponting's strange tactics

I have to say that I found Ponting's tactics today to be bizarre as India were 166 for 6 at the time of tea and one expected the Australian captain to continue attacking with quicks like Watson, and Lee, it has to be also that Watson was bowling beautifully as he was getting it to reverse both ways but inexplicably after tea break Punter started to give overs to bowlers like White, Clarke, and Hussey which was hard to fathom as it is Australia who have to do all the running to win the test as they are 1-0 down but instead the pressure that was created on India was released after tea.

It is understandable that Ponting was worried about the poor over rate and the chances of him being banned but there was a chance of Aussies winning, so that should have come first and the next test is against Kiwis who are not a daunting opponent. Actually even during the end of day's play when Watto finally came back to bowl he got it to reverse and bowled well. I don't know what Aussie quicks may be thinking of this tactic by Ponting.

All in all Aussies had a chance of winning the match at tea time but now it looks rather difficult and it could have been different but for some strange tactics.

Can Harmison stand up to the Indian challenge?

With the tour of India around the corner the question that many fans are asking is can Harmy, England's enigmatic quick stand up to the challenge and perform well away from home?

Harmison who after his disappointing performance in the first test in New Zealand this year was rightfully dropped as he looked out of sorts and England were just frustrated to have a bowler who is talented but performs inconsistently but credit should go to Harmy for going back to County cricket and taking bagful of wickets as he looked in good rhythm and bowled with good pace. Finally all those good performances in county cricket bore fruit as he was given the chance to play against South Africa and to his credit he bowled with good pace as well as control throughout the Oval test match, even in the onedayers that followed he performed well but can he do well in India where the wickets won't suit quicks? and there will always be question marks over his commitment over his attitude when England plays away from home, yes when he gets it right he can be a handful like who can forget his spell of 7 for 12 against Westindies when he bowled with good pace and got awkward bounce and reminded many of us of a young Ambrose, or for the matter his spells in the Ashes 05 but for those good days one won't forget his dreadful performance in 06/07 Ashes where he looked short of match practice and more so he did not look committed.

One good thing is that last time around though he was not great when he bowled in subcontinent in 05/06 still he bowled some fine spells like in the first test in Pakistan and at Mohali in the first innings where he got S'wag with a brute of a delivery. Let us see how will Harmy do this time around.

Can Owais Shah get his chance in India?

Owais Shah has been on the fringes of English cricket for a while now and has not got a decent run to cement his place in the test team what with him having played just two tests in his 8 years of international career. So till now for Owais. Shah in tests it has been so near yet so far though in the one day internationals and in the twenty/20 format he has cemented his place. It has been said that during Fletcher's time he did not like his attitude or for the matter his technique as Fletcher was someone who liked all his batsmen to have a forward press while defending or attacking but Shah did not do like that though it was likely just a rumour.

As far as Shah is concerned he is definitely talented. He is a wristy player who can be very unorthodox as he looks to use his wrists to play shots square off the wicket. The one thing Shah can do on Indian tracks is that he can frustrate the spinners by using his wrists to play those flick shots to rotate the strike and get boundaries and he showed that in 06 as to what he can do on slow wickets in India with a crucial 88 at Bombay which helped England to draw the series 1-1.

On the down side he can be vulnerable early on against well pitched up deliveries which swing late but in India one rarely gets to see new ball swinging which should work in his favour. He also sometimes premeditates his shots against spinners which may not be the right thing to do in test cricket especially on Indian wickets.

All in all I think selecting Shah in the team for the test series is worth a gamble as with him in the x1 I believe England look stronger as they will have a player who has the confidence and the ability to take on the Indian spinners.

Krejza- A new find for Australia?

After seeing Jason Krejza for the first time I think that Aussies have found a spinner who will serve them well. What I liked about Krejza's bowling is that even though he was repeatedly smashed by batsmen like Sehwag, Tendulkar, Laxman, Ganguly, yet he was not afraid of flighting the ball which helped him to reap rewards.

Krejza may not have good enough records at first class level but he seems to be someone who thrives on the big stage as to bowl well against the likes of Tendulkar, Sehwag, Laxman etc on his debut is indeed a amazing task. He is more of a traditional type of bowler who looks to flight the ball and get revolutions on it because of which he will get hit a few times but at the same time he has the ability to get wickets and he is also tall for a spinner which will help him getting bounce.

I hope that Aussies can nurture and give him a decent run in the side as here is someone who can do well for Australia.

How will the South Arican pace duo perform in Australia?

So with South Africa about to embark on a tour to Australia I thought of looking at two of their quicks Morne Morkel, and Steyn and it has to be said that both Steyn, and Morkel have a major role to play as South Africa look to defeat Australia at least for once.

It is going to be a tough test for these two quicks as Australian batsmen like Ponting, Haydos, Clarke, Hussey etc tend to do very well at home as they are well versed with the conditions. Another factor to consider is that contrary to what many think it is not that easy for visiting teams to bowl well in Australia as the tracks in Australia to start with have slowed down a bit, let it be Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide which leaves only Brisbane, secondly the ball that is used the kookaburra loses its shine very quickly and more importantly one has to get the length absolutely precise as it does not move in Australia because of the pitches being hard and kookaburra ball being used. So unless a team is playing at Adelaide back of a length is what one has to go for but the one advantage for South Africa is that there is no more McGrath who used to specialize in bowling back of a length, yes Clark is there but he is not in the class of Glenn.

As far as Morkel, and Steyn are concerned they should not get excited as young bowlers tend to think that playing in Australia means they can blast the batsmen. Steyn pitches it up to the batsman and looks for swing which may not be the right length for Australian conditions but that does not mean that he should look to change it but continue with his natural length and look for whatever swing one can get with that new kookaburra ball and afterwards with the older ball he can experiment with bowling back of a length. I don't think one saw the best of Steyn in England but when he is in good rhythm he can trouble the best of batsmen as he bowls quicker than one expects, he can also bowl a very good bouncer as well as he can reverse, yes again Kookaburra ball or for the matter the pitches which is hard does not offer much for reverse swing but whatever it is there Steyn can extract it. Morne Morkel is the perfect bowler for Aussie wickets as he is tall and bowls back of a length, hits the deck hard, with good pace but he sometimes gets carried away with pace and loses his line which he has to be careful of as Aussie wickets are quite unforgiving for wayward bowling.

All in all if SA quicks get it right they have it in them to give back the Aussies a taste of their own medicine.

Part -2 of South Africa's re- entry into cricket and a look into the future

As we saw in the first part of the article that South Africa developed into a formidable outfit since coming back from isolation and were a tough side to beat. So let us now look at their cricket since 2000 and have a look into the future as well.

As I said in part 1 with the advent of new millennium came the shocking news that their captain Cronje was involved in match fixing and he had tried to fix matches in India. It was a shocking news as Cronje was known to be very passionate about South African cricket and it was hard to digest the news for all those who liked cricket. It surely must have been hard for his teammates but even more shocking was that some of his teammates like Boje, Gibbs, Willams were also said to be involved in it. As expected Cronje got banned for life and players like Gibbs, Willams were banned for about one year. So during those turbulent times in South African cricket Pollock took over the role of captaincy and one has to say that he did a admirable job and South Africa still had a good side what with Kallis becoming a prolific batsman as well being a handy bowler, experienced hands like Gary Kirsten, Boucher, Rhodes, Cullinan were still around as was the fearsome quick Donald though with age he had slowed down a bit, they also had the Ntini who in the years to come lead the bowling attack with Pollock and of course Gibbs came back strongly as a batsman after serving his ban. So South Africa were still a formidable force as they continued to be successful at home and away with important series victories in India, West Indies etc though the series win in India came just before Cronje got banned and at home they continued to be very successful but the one team who stood in their way was again Australia as they continued to crush South Africa. The other big disappointment was the early exit in 03 WC that too at home as a result of not understanding the rain rule properly. Oh man what it is with rain rules and South Afirca. Anyhow with that loss out went seniors like Donald, Rhodes both of whom retired and Pollock resigned from captaincy, so it was the time for the young Smith to take over and one has to say that he has done a admirable job. He started of superbly in England as a batsman with double hundreds in the first two tests and with Pollock as well as Nitini bowling very well it looked like SA were going to win the series but England came back strongly to draw the series. It was the last series for veteran batsman G.Kirstan who was a great servant of South African cricket. After that series South Africa still were a tough side to beat but their performance did nose dive a bit because of players being not too happy with quota system as younger players like KP, Kieswetter, Malan left South Africa though it is a different matter altogether that KP who is now the captain of England was not that good when he left South Africa as he was more of an off break bowler than the batsman he became but it was a major problem as even senior players like Jaarsveld, Kemp left for England as did Rudolph and played for English counties as kolpaks, yes they were not outstanding players but they did a decent job for South Africa, one can also take into consideration the case of Ryan Mcleran who at present is playing for Kent as a Kolpak but he was not released to play for South Africa by Kent. It is a matter of concern for South Africa as younger players are looking for greener pastures outside SA.

as far as South Africa's performance was concerned under Smith they did make a good comeback after a lull period in 04 and 05 when they lost to England at home which was a cause for concern as no other team other then Aussies have beaten South Africa since their re entry into international cricket and as expected Aussies again crushed them however SA reached the semi finals of 07 WC , wins in Pakistan, being very strong at home as well as drawing a series in India and winning a important series in England has maeant that South Africa again look lie they are on the up and ready to challenge Aussies. It was also the time for Pollock one of the great all rounders of the game to retire and with Ntini not looking like the force he was it was up to to the younger players to take up the responsibility and one has to say that Steyn as well as M.Morkel have done a fine job, especially Steyn with his incredible performances in Pakistan, and India showed that he was here to stay, yes players like Kallis, Gibbs who actually has been dropped from the test team are on the wane but South Africa have their captain Smith who is in the form of his life and leading the side well as well as younger batsmen like Devillers, Amla.

So it will be interesting to see can South Africa at last challenge Aussie in Australia, especially with Aussies now in a transitional phase what with legends lke McGrath, Warne, Gilchrist gone as have good players like Martyn, Langer, Dizzy. If South Africa have to win then they need their two strike bowlers Steyn and Morkel too fire with Nitini playing the supporting role and batting line up lead by Smith, supported by Prince, Amla, Dumminy, Devillers, Mckenzie have to fire, of course Kallis will be there and he will be looking to show that he still can do well.

Finally South Africa still have few problems as some of their younger players are looking to leave South Africa as they look for better opportunities elsewhere and it is a fact that football is still the number one sport among blacks but with Smith as the captain and few promising players around like I have mentioned about Devilleres, Dumminy,Amla, Steyn, Morkel brothers, Zondieki and few more like Parnell, Abdullah etc it does look fine. South Africa's true test will be against the Aussies.

South Africa since their re- entry into cricket and a look into the future

I thought of looking at South Africa's re entry into cricket and how they may perform in the near future. As we know that they made a re entry into the international arena in 91/92 under the leadership of veteran all rounder C. Rice and one has to say that he did a good job on their first trip to India in 91/92 but as he was becoming older as expected he relinquished the captaincy to Wessels who was a real street fighter and had the experience of having played for Australia. He along with the then coach Procter made South Africa a tough side as can be seen by their performance in the 92 WC where they reached the semifinals, yes they lost the semifinals to England though one has to say that loss came in controversial circumstances on the basis of a stupid rain rule because of which they suddenly had to chase 22 from one ball, nevertheless it was a great WC for SA and they showed that they had a formidable outfit who can give any team a run for their money what with players like the fearsome quick Donald, lightning quick fielder Rhodes, solid opening pair of Hudson and Wessels, fine young batsmen like Cronje veterans like Kuiper, P.Kirsten, a very fine all rounder in Macmillan and steady type of hardworking medium pacers like G. Matthews, Pringle, Snell etc in the squad. One has to admit that they had a good team.

in 92/93 when they played India everyone expected SA to lose as Indians had a experienced side but South Africa showed that let it be tests or onedayers they are a different kettle of fish especially at home as the fearsome pair of Donald and the ever enigmatic, lightning quick, very much injury prone left armer Schultz just tormented the Indians in tests and they had good support from medium pacers like Matthews and their batting though a bit inconsistent at times, yet players like Cronje, Cullinan who in this series showed that he will be one of the mainstays of South africa's batting in the days to come along with Rhodes, Wessels and others made sure that India would be defeated both in the onedayers and tests. During that period they continued to show that they are a force to reckon with as they defeated Lanka in Lanka which is by no means a mean feat and surprised the Aussies at Sydney by winning that test match by just 5 runs as De villers stood up to the challenge and one has to say that he bowled beautifully as he got late swing to blow away the Aussies. In that series South Africa were hit by number of injuries but South Africans are always a proud team who are fighters which helped them to draw that series.

In 94 Wessels was on a decline and decided it was time to hand it over to Cronje. He too was a fine leader as under him South Africa were very successful especially in onedayers, also at that time Woolmer was appointed as a coach and he along Cronje proved to a successful combination as South Africa almost became invincible s at home by defeating teams like India, Pakistan, Westindies, England, New Zealand and away from home too they were a formidable unit and one good thing for South Africa at that time was that lots of younger players like Kallis, Pollock, Klusner, Adams, Boucher, Gibbs, G.Kirsten etc came through, especially Pollock who was we know became a superb all rounder in the years to come, Kallis, an outstanding batting all rounder, Gibbs, Kirsten who in the years to come would became a fine opening pair as well as Boucher a fine keeper helped South Africa to remain a formidable unit, yes they had their disappointments like losing to Westindies because of Lara's brilliance in the 96 WC and that incredible tie match in 99 WC when Klusner who was so good in that WC had a terrible mix up with Donald which made sure that Lance was run out leading to a tie against Aussies as they went out of the WC on the basis of SA having lost the match to OZ in the super six, they came unstuck against Aussies even in tests as they were beaten home and away in 97 mainly because of their players inability to play spin as their main players like Cullinan struggled against not just the magical leg spinner Warne but even against Bevan who with his left arm chinaman troubled them. Actually their bowling would stand up to the Aussie challenge as quicks like Donald, the enigmatic Schultz, the ever consistent Pollock would come with odd match winning spells, yes Waugh twins did score heavily for Australia against South Africa at that time but their bowling during 90's was strong. In 98 they also lost to England in England as Atherton played few gutsy knocks to keep South Africa at bay and this particular loss must have hurt Cronje big time as they were the favourites before the series started.

So that was almost one decade of South African cricket. It was a decade in which South Africa showed that isolation period had not dented them too much as they became a formidable unit under the able leadership of Wessels and of course Cronje. It was at that time when there was a storm brewing underneath which would hit South Africa very hard in the form of match fixing. Let us look at it as well as South African cricket's future in part 2 of this article.

Kumble announces retirement

So Kumble has announced his retirement from test cricket and in my view he has taken the right decision as he was struggling with his form, and injuries and because of which it looked like it was affecting his captaincy too. Whatever it is he will go down as one of the best cricketers India have ever produced and no doubt India will miss him as a bowler. His greatest strength was that he would always be at the batsmen as he was relentless and just like all good bowlers do he hated to give runs as he would bowl maidens and make it uncomfortable for the batsmen as they would start to worry about when the next run will come and these attributes helped him to become a very good bowler.


I first saw Anil in 93 when he tormented our batsmen and one has to say that England's batsmen looked clueless against him. At that time he used to be a lot more quicker through the air and used flipper to great effect, I still remember Blakey the keeper from Yorkshire looking like a club cricketer everytime Anil would bowl at him as he would go back to all those flippers Kumble used to bowl and was getting out L.B.W or bowled, even others like Smith, Stewart etc never looked comfortable, only Hick and surprisingly Lewis handled him a touch better. After that series he continued to be potent especially at home but there came a time in mid 90's when players like Desilva started to play him as a medium pacer as result Kumble suffered what with others too taking the same route against him but the fighter Kumble is he came back with a vengeance when Aussies toured India in 98 as he played a major role in helping India win as well as bowling that monumental spell against Pakistan at his favourite ground Kotla when he became only the second bowler in the history of the game to take all 10 wickets in a innings still doubts persisted about his class away from home as he struggled in England, Australia, South Africa what with tracks not turning much or getting uneven and in 01 there was a setback for him as he was out with shoulder injury but Kumble is like a gladiator who has a never say die spirit as he worked hard on his fitness and came back stronger as in Australia in 03 he took lots of wickets by adding variety to his bowling like developing a potent wrong un, and occasionally he would flight the ball to bring the batsmen forward and make him drive. He continued to perform consistently at home and away as for eg. he did a decent job in England in 07 and during that year itself he got the chance to captain the side and started of well against Pakistan with a series win and in Australia in 08 he handled the fallouts of Sydney fiasco pretty well, his bowling too was good in Australia. Unfortunately for him his performance after the tour of Australia started to decline and injuries did not help, especially in the on going series against Australia he looked out of sorts as a bowler which also looked like was affecting his captaincy. Kumble realised that his time was up and took the right decision of retiring from the game.

All in all Kumble was a great ambassador for the game who with hard work and dedication became a very good bowler which is proved by the fact that he got over 600 wickets which is a phenomenal achievement and he was successful in onedayers too. Well done Kumble, I salute you.

Westindies's selection problems

Let me start by saying that the Westindies have been poor in recent times but to some extent it is due to inconsistencies in selections because players like Lawson, Collins have been badly treated and same goes with Jaggernauth, or Mahmood etc as they too were not given a fair run in the side. If one elaborates it one can see how bad it is as I see now Roach, Baker, Johnson, Nash being picked for tour of New zealand, yes Nash is said to be good but the question is will all these players be given a fair run. It again looks like a player showing some promise is picked then dropped after one or two bad performances like it has happened to Banks, Ramdass,Best,Breese, Washington. It is so bad that someone like Nurse who looked like a good prospect when he played in the under 19 WC as a bowler has disappeared for whatever reason, same with Washington who went to USA .One can add many more players like Macgerell, Colin Stuart who had a whippy action and was impressive in Australia in 2000 but is dropped though he had reasonable records, same with Dillon who had one or two bad series like in Southafrica in 03/04 out he goes or for the matter even King, Rose, Hendy Bryan, Black, Baugh, Anthony, Drakes,Maclean, Deonaraine, Wavell Hinds, Ramnaraine who looked like a impressive spinner but was against WICB so they take the mediocre Nagmootoo, or that dreadful Rawl Lewis who even got a recall in 05 in New zealand and again in Southafrica in 07/08 and does anyone remember Austin Richards who was picked to tour England last year but where he is now? so another player picked when he is raw and thrown out of the team.

Finally it is sad to see the Windies in decline and one has to say that whatever talent is there it isn't rightly used as they are picked when they are too young and usually shown the exit door as soon as they fail.

Well done Gambhir

It is great to see that Ghambir scoring a double hundred against Aussies at Delhi. He has always struck me as an attractive player who looks fine against both pace, and spin. He looked in good touch in Lanka and negotiated the threat of Mendis as well as Murali well but he was not getting big scores as he was getting out after scoring 40's and 50's but in this series he has already scored a hundred at Mohali and now a double in this match. As far as the double hundred was concerned he was rarely troubled by Aussie bowlers and more importantly he showed great levels of concentration.

On the down side I still think that he can improve his game further and look to play a bit more in the V otherwise bowlers will pitch it up on and about off and middle and will try to get him out L.B.W or caught behind and of course it would be good if he cools down a bit when batting. Anyhow congrats to Ghambir on what was a fabulous knock in the first innings and as I say it looks like India need him to do well in the second innings too what with two wickets already down.

Kasprowicz- the underrated cricketer

I can't believe how underrated Kasper is. On 606 for instance as soon as I take up his name poor Kasper gets ridiculed. In my view he played a big part in helping Aussies win in 04 in India as he was the perfect support bowler to Glenn, and Dizzy, someone who could bowl long spells, and be very effective with the old ball as he could bowl off cutters, and get it to reverse as well, even in 98 it was Kasper who helped Australia to get a face saving victory at B'lore with his 5 wicket haul yes, he was hammered in 01 by Indian batsmen but his role in India in 04 cannot be forgotten. He was also good in Lanka which shows that he was effective in sub continent and who can forget his lion hearted spell in the first test at Edgbaston in 97 when he tried his best to make up for the sudden loss of form of McGrath yes, it is a fact that after doing very well in 04 he had a bad time in 05 in England which ended his career but one bad series does not make him a bad bowler. He also played in a era when Aussies had the likes of McGrath, and Gillespie and not to forget the likes of Reiffel, Bichel and afterwards came Lee, yet whenever he got a chance he did a good job.

I think it is time players like Kasper get some credit as a team is built not just on star performers but the likes of Kasper who would do the work of a supporting cast are also required. I surely think that Aussies would have liked to have a workhorse like him this time around in India.