20 Years of Cricinfo

Cricinfo (or now, known as ESPN Cricinfo) is one of the oldest websites, still operational. It started as a community driven initiative, and as far as I know, it is the largest dedicated single-sports website on the net. It has become the defacto repository for cricket knowledge, opinion and journalism. I blogged previously on the facinating history, and as it celebrates 20 years, some of the back story is now being published online.

10 years ago, a lecturer at UCT posed the question - would anyone pay for news content, when there are so many alternative sources for free. I replied then, that I would pay for Cricinfo and Autosport.com. My Autosport subscription has since lapsed - more due to my waning interest in F1 than the content; and Cricinfo has never asked for subscriptions - but yes, I would still pay for Cricinfo. And there is really, no alternative out there.

The fascinating history of CricInfo

I have been using CricInfo (now known as ESPNCricInfo) since the late 1990's. I remember using it at school to follow the world cup in 1999 and other matches before that. It has become a publishing phenomenon as well as a treasure trove of cricket data. During the recently concluded world cup, the site has been running a video series "Running Between the Cricket", and the last video (episode 30) spurned me to look deeper on the history of the website.

CricInfo's own about page is pretty barren, and its Wikipedia page is not as informative as it should be, but there is a link to an alternative Wiki page here, and it is a fascinating story of an Internet phenomenon - a group of people, who contributed their time and energy (and in some cases hard money) to fuel their passion. There are interesting tidbits on the history of the Internet itself, and some naivety in this regard - such as the expectation of a single Unix server to last for 10 years!

Cricket, and India's obsession from a foreign view

Wright Thompson has a long, but brilliant article on his introduction to cricket at the recently concluded World Cup. It focuses a lot on the celebrity focus of Indian cricket, particularly on Sachin Tendulkar, and the links between the cricket celebrity obsession and India's economical growth.

I have watched cricket in India (see here), and the celebrity focus is easy to spot, especially with Sachin Tendulkar. But at the same time, the crowds around me were genuinely knowledgable on cricket, and cheered South Africa's heroics as much as celebrated India's. But then, it was a test match and not a one day match. One day matches and 20Twenty matches in particular are the simpler, dumber formats, that feature more entertainment than artistry or skill. In many respects, Wright Thompson, a novice at the game, manages to capture much of this "decline", and it is a truly fascinating article on his experiences.

I think some of the implied conclusions are correct for India, cricket is not a religion, certain players however are god.

Second Test: India vs South Africa

Test cricket is apparently dead. Yet, within the last few months we have seen some matches that have been better than any 20-20 or ODI; not only in the manner of scoring runs, but in the tension and skill exhibited. There was the Pakistan-New Zealand match where Bond showed what Test cricket has missed out on and the emergence of Umar Akmal. There was Shewag's 290 odd runs in one day of battin against Sri Lanka, and then there was South Africa vs India, in the recently concluded test match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, where I am currently.

Eden Gardens is trully a different atmosphere for test cricket - both to what I have seen and experienced in Durban or Cape Town. While the (current temporary) capacity of 70 000 was never reached on any of the 5 days, there was still a sizable crowd; with each day's crowd probably exceeding 5 day combined crowd numbers at most other grounds, and if nothing else Eden Gardens showed that there is a paying public willing to watch test cricket (and makes a good case for why certain cities should just not get test cricket matches). The atmosphere was electric featuring a few interesting characters - especially the man painted in the Indian flag, carrying a massive flag and blowing a conch shell (used mostly for Hindu prayers) for either showering blessings on a 4, 6 or wicket, or to usher wishes to the bowler or batsmen.

But the noise and the crowd would be meaningless without good cricket - and there was tons of it. Amla and Petersen provided great batting on Day 1. Khan and Harbhajan caused one of the biggest collapses, also on Day 1. Shewag, Tendulkar, Dhoni and Laxman showed their respective skills while Amla stole all the glory and praise for his technique and patience as he almost single handedly saw South Africa home.

I had tickets for all 5 days; but I only went to days 1, 2 and 5 - and I wished I was there for all 5. It was definitely one of the best matches in recent history; and a great showcase for test cricket.

IPL: KKR vs DD

So, I finally went to an IPL game. Incidentally, it was also the first game I watched start to finish. It was an impromptu decision, so had to buy tickets from a scalper at inflated prices. Although the cricket itself was not the great (a lot of bad shot selection for KKR, some really bad fielding, and not that great bowling from some pace bowlers), it was really an amazing atmosphere and very entertaining. It's not just the cricket - but the whole package of the cheerleaders, music, live bands (Prime Circle for today) and the fireworks. It is a very well packaged, entertainment show - and the ground was packed by people of all ages: from babies to grannies.

It was also a smooth operation from the organisers, police etc - well controlled and this definitely bodes well for the football later. One point of concern though - could there not be more park and ride areas? It is a lot easier to have safe parking away from the ground and then a bus/shuttle to the ground than trying to navigate car guards along the streets!

Sport and Race

It finally had to happen - an in form "player of colour (POC)" (the official term from the department of sports, honest) is selected ahead of another in form player of colour, one is upset and not being selected, the other is upset in being selected as a quota player, and both decide not to accept selection!

The problem with quotas, especially when they are set in stone, is that they become stupidly rigid. I remember, when I was part of the Western Province Badminton Association executive, we had an interesting problem in selecting a junior team - the requirement was that each team needed to have 2 POCs (one boy, one girl). There were two junior teams, and 3 girls who would be classified as POCs. But, all three girls were selected, on merit, to the A team, and there were no girls, who could be part of the B team, and were classified as a POC. I don't remember how it was resolved - but this is a similar situation.

The fact is, Langeveld is good enough to be part of the Proteas. And so in Nel. And on Zondeki's (the replacement) recent form in the domestic series - he should also be there on merit - but he will always be regarded as the quota player. That is sad, and just plain wrong.

Cricket SA could have handled this a lot better - and more importantly, could have picked a 15 man squad instead of a 14 man squad.

The Cricket World Cup Farce

Australlia, deservedly, won the World Cup. Regardless of our number one ranking, we never really deserved it, neither did we ever feel comfortable saying that we were the number one team in the world. And, with respect to the world cup, we can't say that we are the number two team in the world - Sri Lank, were deserving runners up, and gave Australlia their closest match.

The fact is, the organising and the format of the World Cup has been a farce. A 7 week tournament? Cricket tours are sometimes shorter than that! How many people have the time to watch all the matches? And then there was the number of mismatches. In fact, it would be fair to say, that there were only a few really close or exciting matches - a small percentage. In hindsight, it all started with the "super" stage nonsense ... bring back the format of 1996! And if you want less of a knockout, then use the 2003 format without the super stage.

It is sad that some of the best players had to end their careers in this farce. Excet for Glen McGrath off course. He took the most wickets, didn't have to bat, and walked off with the player of the tournament. He went off with a high, and deservedly so. But, to see Brian Lara's last game ended with a run out, or Flemming's last match in a thrashing by Sri Lanka? They deserved better; and the cricketing supporters deserved better.

What a game!

No, I am not talking of the farce, that was the Netherlands-South Africa match, even with Gibbs' six sixes in an over. Instead, I am talking about the Pro20 semi final between the Warriors and the Cape Cobras.

Initially, the Warriors did not impress, with only 139 runs on the board at the end of their innings, and with minimal excitement in that innings, I was thinking I should have rather watched the SA-Netherlands game. With the Cobras in fine form this season, and having scored 221 (yes 11 runs an over!) recently, the match seemed decided, especially as Adam Bacher hit a six and a four in the first over.

But then the Warriors struck back, with regular wickets, and the run scoring from the Cobras was pedestrian at best. After 15 overs, they were scoring about 5.5 runs and over, with the asking rate reaching 13 runs per over, and with only 5 wickets in hand. But then the fight back began, and slowly the match was tussled out of the Warriors' hands with some massive sixes doing good damage. With 5 balls remaining, only 4 runs were required; and victory seemed assured. And then, the Warriors took two wickets in two balls, and the scenario changed drastically - the Warriors were almost back in command.

3 balls, 4 runs, and a hat trick ball to negotiate. Alan Dawson managed to get a single off, but then Kleinveld at the other end only managed a single instead of the two he needed to get to assure the tie. So with the entire crowd at its feet cheering him on, Dawson managed to somehow get the ball past mid wicket, and scramble for two ... it was close, but safe.

Certainly one of the best matches I have seen, and definitely the best live sports event I have attended ... now I wonder if the final is also at Newlands ...

Gloriously Inept

Cricinfo has a wonderful article on Glen McGrath's lack of batting prowess in the ODI arena. It's just hilarious reading.

Cricket Madness

Went to the cricket today with a whole bunch of people (mainly from badminton) ... SA played well to come back to a really good total, and Indian top order batted badly, so it was not really a contest, or a great game. But Kemp and Dhoni's innings were great to watch, so it was good value for money. I still have to see Sachin Tendulkar perform ... second time, and both utter disappointments.

Fallen Heroes and the American Cricket Fan

It did not even take a week before the South African cricket team came back to earth with a bang - loosing the first test match within 3 days. In my opinion, it all started with fear and wrong decisions -- after all, after a good night's rain (in fact it even rained early in the morning), heavy cloud cover -- all indications of a good bowlers wicket, why on earth would any one choose to bat? Understandably, Graeme Smith was wary of Shane Warne bowling on the last day -- but still -- if you are not going to take him on, why bother to play in the first place?



But to be fair, batting was slow going for both sides, and for once the bowlers had a good match. But regardless, it was pretty bad viewing for Saturday when Tim, Justin (Aaron's brother and a UCT Radio DJ) and I went in for the third day - hoping (actually more like praying) for a South African fightback. Alas, it was not to be - although bad umpiring decisions did not help the South African cause.



Justin's valiant effort in the rousing the crowd (with the help of an inflatable sheep and my big SA flag), was well, valiant. It did not help that the security guys seemed to be on a power trip - constantly taking down posters (ok they were a tad offensive including ... but the players laughed) and generally pissing everyone else off. As for the pictures, we started off sitting in the Oaks embankment (pic 1), but moved to railway embankment (on the opposite side) during the lunch interval (to get more shade). There was a large contingent of people wearing SAB gear ... presumably got a company day outing or something, and were one of the more vocal supporters.

We also met the unknown - American cricket fans (well the guy loved cricket, the two girls thought it was better than baseball but not as great as basketball or American football). Not the migratory Indians and Pakistanis who have made America their home - but born and bred American who also tend to like American Football and Basketball. One of the girls works for the US embassy in Turkmenistan and had quite a few interesting stories to tell about the country and its madcap dictator. I think Tim put her into a tight corner asking her about her opinions on US foreign policy, which she declined to answer.

[I had more pics, but uploading pics has been a nightmare ... so none of the "action" shots ;)]

Hero Gibbs se Babelas

That was just one of the headlines I saw this morning on my cycle ride, and for once, Zuma, baby Jordan and the powercuts were off the front page. Sunday's cricket match was remarkable - not only because of the number of runs scored, but also because of South Africa's spirited chase and victory. But Cricinfo's label of the match as the greatest ever ODI is just wrong in my opinion. After all, a cricket match is a battle between the batsmen and the bowlers, and in Sundays game, other than Nathan Bracken, bowlers did not even feature in the game. To be honest, I think that neither Gibbs nor Ponting really deserved the man of the match - because while their performances were good - it should be expected that at least one batsman will make a lot of runs on that pitch. On the other hand, Bracken took 5 of 14 wickets that fell on Sunday - a greater contribution percentage wise than any other player.

As for the greatest match - I think the 1999 semi final between SA and Australia still ranks as the best ODI ever - it featured everything about cricket - runs, wickets and great fielding.

The Super Series

I managed to watch only one match live; and even for that; only about 2 hours of it. The super series has been over hyped; for too long, and like all hype; it did not live up to its expectations. After Australlia thrashed the World XI in the ODIs, the test match seems to be going the same direction. After all, a line up consisting of some of the best batsmen in the world failed to even make 200 in the first innings of the test. As for bowling, Harmisson is good; but the team selection for the match is definitely dodgy. Kallis has not been bowling for quite some time; so there are effectively 2 fast bowlers in Flintoff and Harmisson and two spin bowlers in Vetorri and Murali. But the fact that there is no 5th bowler that can keep the pressure locked in (like Pollock) or a wicket taker (like Shoaib or Ntini) the bowling is quite toothless really ... Murali can only bowl for so long! And I won't even go into selecting Smith as captain instead of Flemming or even Vaughn.

The test is scheduled for 6 days; but I fear it might not even reach 4 days .... the series was always a pipe dream ... but its clear; to make the greatest team in the world you also need them to play for something to entice them to perform to their best.

Ganguly vs Chappel: Indian Cricket's new Lows

In the past week, a lot has been said about the fallout between Indian Cricket captain Saurav Ganguly and the coach Greg Chappell. For those of you who don't know - sometime during the recent Zimbabwe tour (IIRC, it was before the 1st test), Ganguly asked Chappell on which player (between Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif) to leave out of the test squad. Chappell told him, that on current form, Ganguly should consider leaving himself out and rather play both Yuvraj and Kaif. Later, there was a leak of an email that Chappell sent to the Indian Cricket board detailing Chappell's points on why Ganguly should no longer remain captain.

While there has been a large outcry, one of the important points is that Chappell is essentially right. Ganguly, while he is an inspirational leader, does not seem to be performing on the field. And this is not a temporary slump - it has been going on for over 2 years! It is high time that other players, who are just as talented and who are actually on form.

Maybe India should consider the off-field captain. After all there are some sports - notably Tennis - that uses this approach. If captaincy is about strategy and inspiration, the captain could easily do the job on the sidelines (which Ganguly does anyway considering the number of times he goes off the field). There are just too many talented players (on form) that go in the Indian middle order and frankly there is no place for Ganguly. This will be a bigger problem once Tendulkar is fit (and ready to play).