India v South Africa, 2nd ODI, Gwalior
Sachin Tendular
200
Wow
I have a date with the highlights this evening for sure.
Sachin is not going to beat that, should he now retire?
India cricket
Archived Posts from this Category
February 24, 2010
Tendulkar scores 200, should he retire?
Posted by thevillagecricketer under India cricket, South Africa cricket, cricket[3] Comments
July 11, 2009
TVC gives thumbs up to Empire of Cricket
Posted by thevillagecricketer under Advice for spectators, Australian cricket, England cricket team, Entertainment, India cricket, West Indies cricket, cricket, cricket journalism1 Comment
I finally got round to watching one of the Empire of Cricket documentaries on the BBC tonight, and I have to say, it wasn’t bad. It was the one about how the Aussie’s got good, and there was some interesting commentary and archive footage.
It included, for example, how Steve Waugh stood up to Curtly Ambrose and scored a double-ton to seal the Aussie’s first series win in the Caribbean in donkey’s years in 1995, although they neglected to mention that much of Ambrose’s fury was because Waugh had in the same match claimed a catch off Brian Lara that had obviously bounced.
The following is taken from the BBC press release announcing the show:
Empire Of Cricket
Ahead of this summer’s keenly anticipated Ashes encounter between England and Australia, BBC Two explores cricket’s rich sporting and social history in a documentary series about the four countries whose very different cricketing cultures created the modern game as we know it.
From its origins in the public school playing fields and shires of rural England to its adoption in the twilight of Empire as the national sport of emerging nations such as Australia, the West Indies and India, cricket has always been shaped by factors beyond the boundary fence.
The series contains rare and revealing archive, much of it unseen before on British television, and contributions from leading cricket writers and a glittering line-up of top players, past and present, including Kevin Pietersen, David Gower, Shane Warne, Steve Waugh, Sir Vivian Richards, Michael Holding, Sachin Tendulkar and Kapil Dev.
I enjoyed what I saw today and will certainly be watching the full series on iPlayer.
June 14, 2009
Out-psyched India bombed out of ICC T20
Posted by thevillagecricketer under England cricket team, India cricket, Twenty20, cricket[2] Comments
Wow. Do England have just upset the apple-cart by beating a lacklustre India and kocking them out of the tournament.
Collingwood’s boys do need to back it up and put another good performance in against the West Indies tomorrow. Its going to be an intriguing contest.
Back to the England v India game. What impressed me was the way England out-pysched their opponents. All the talk ahead of the game was that England would bomb the Indian batsmen, and they did.
Sidebottom got into the Indian’s with short stuff, and – seemingly scared of how their gun player would perform against a pumped up England attack with a fairly new ball – dropped Youvraj Singh down the order.
The inexperience top order stuttered, and what should have been a cakewalk for the uber-talented Indian line up became a stuggle.
When Youraj eventually got to the wicket he needed to score at 12+ an over, Foster’s smart glovework off Swann saw off the dangerman, and – despite some late hitting getting them closer than they looked likely to – England got the result they were after.
December 15, 2008
England let brilliant India off the hook
Posted by thevillagecricketer under England cricket team, India cricket, India test series, cricket, cricket journalism1 Comment
Urrr, umm, yes, hmm, oh dear, bother. Read about it somewhere else:
Cricinfo: Tendulkar century sets up famous win
The Independent: Tendulkar hails special performance
Telegraph: Sachin Tendulkar steers India to famous win over England
Times Online: India defeat will be psychologically damaging for England, says Mike Atherton
Monty looked short of he best and the use of technology would have seen off Gambhir and Youvraj. KP says no excuses, so bugger! We should have won this one.
December 12, 2008
Magnificent cricket as England gain the upper hand
Posted by thevillagecricketer under England cricket team, India cricket, India test series, cricket1 Comment
What a day. Seemingly underachieved with the bat this morning, but England’s bowlers, inspired by the debutant Graeme Swann – who took two big wickets the last over before lunch, his first in test cricket, have fought back magnificently. This is shaping up to be a magnificent contest. There is a lot of cricket to be played, but England are ahead. If they can roll over the Indian’s early tomorrow England will have a crucial first innings lead, and the opportunity to set India a daunting run chase in the last day and a half. This is cricket at its best.
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An appeal from The Village Cricketer: In June 2009, The Village Cricketer’s English All Stars will play the Cricket with Balls Aussie Code of Conduct XI in a charity cricket match to raise runds for the Everyman Male Cancer Campaign. So, if you enjoy this post, please support the cause by donating £2 or anything you can spare via our Justgiving page. 1 in 3 of us will get cancer at some time in our lives, please show your support!
December 11, 2008
Good start spoilt, all is not lost though
Posted by thevillagecricketer under England cricket team, India cricket, India test series, cricketLeave a Comment
Arrgggghhh, how very Australian. England grafted and ground, and Andrew Strauss was marvellous in compiling an excellent ton, but failures from pretty much England’s entire middle-order, means that the good foundations he and Alistair Cook built in the first session and beyond could yet be wasted. The pitch is good and will become increasingly spin friendly. England need to stop the rot and build another 150 – 200 runs tomorrow to put the pressue on India. This was the toss we hoped for, but Flintoff and Prior need to dig in and build a commanding first innings total.
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An appeal from The Village Cricketer: In June 2009, The Village Cricketer’s English All Stars will play the Cricket with Balls Code of Conduct XI in a charity cricket match to raise runds for the Everyman Male Cancer Campaign. So, if you enjoy this post, please support the cause by donating £2 or anything you can spare via our Justgiving page. 1 in 3 of us will get cancer at some time in our lives, please show your support!
December 8, 2008
Two cricketing feasts in store over festive period
Posted by thevillagecricketer under Australian cricket, England cricket team, India cricket, India test series, South Africa cricket, cricket1 Comment
Now we are talking! After an autumn of mismatches it finally looks as though there will be some enthralling cricketing contests coming up.
England are on the way to India with a pretty much full strength side. Reasons to be cheerful following the ODI results? Yes, absolutely. Despite what happened against the Saffas this summer, England are far better at test cricket than ODIs. The batsmen are better able and better inclined to build the slow, steady centuries that are required in tests, rather than the flamboyant, rapid ones required for ODI cricket. In addition, England’s bowling attack has more variety than the one the Canary Yellows took to India. India are favourites to win, especially given that England will be woefully underprepared, however Monty Panesar is a proper spinner and the key to England coming away from India with a drawn series, or even a sneaky win should a crucial toss go in Kevin Pietersen’s favour.
Meanwhile, there is the mouth-watering prospect of a confident South Africa versus a ponderous Australia in the land of Oz. Ricky Ponting is saying that Australia are still the best wide in the world, and would remain so even it the South Africans sneak a series win. I think the Aussie batting line up edges the Saffa’s, however given that the best spinner on either side is Paul Harris, I think we can be confident in saying that this will be a series that will be won by the best pace attack. Graeme Smith is talking up Dale Steyn, but it could be Morne Morkel that really unsettles the Canary Yellow batters when they meet for the first test in Perth. This series is too close to call.
Sponsor’s message: In June 2009, The Village Cricketer’s English All Stars will play the Cricket with Balls Code of Conduct XI in a charity cricket match to raise runds for the Everyman Male Cancer Campaign. So, if you enjoy this post, please support the cause by donating £2 or anything you can spare via our Justgiving page. 1 in 3 of us will get cancer at some time in our lives, please show your support!
November 18, 2008
Pietersen praises ‘fantastic’ Yuvraj
Posted by thevillagecricketer under England cricket team, India cricket, cricket[2] Comments
Following England’s defeat in the second one day international against India, Kevin Pietersen praised match-winner Yuvraj Singh who dominated England with bat and ball in Indore. The 26-year-old scored his second century in as many games before proceeding to take 4-28 to condemn England to defeat, writes Thomas Rooney, exclusively for The Village Cricketer.
Unsurprisingly this meant that Yuvraj received the man-of-the-match award for the second time in the series and Pietersen admitted that the Indian is very much a man on top of his game. The England captain said that ‘the boy’s playing good cricket’. Perhaps a slight understatement from KP – but true none the less.
As for the man himself, Yuvraj believes that his recent success is down to sheer hard work by saying that he has been ‘trainer harder than ever’ and that the ‘electrifying atmosphere’ inside the stadium also played its part. It certainly seems that Yuvraj is the type of character that revels in big occasions – the bigger the stage, the more he will perform.
Pietersen wasn’t just talking about the Indian talisman after the defeat though. The Hampshire man also revealed that to win cricket matches ‘we need the bowlers to take wickets and the batsmen to score runs.’ Hmm. It’s that type of analysis that got him the job I presume?
Seriously though, what KP is getting at with this comment is that each player needs to be more defined in their role. I’m not convinced that enough players are aware of what their specific duties are in the team. Take Ravi Bopara for example. He isn’t getting a sniff with the ball and is batting at number eight. This just doesn’t suit him. If selected he should be much higher up the order. If not, you may as well stick Graham Swann in at eight for the extra spinning option.
In fairness to England though, at least they competed in this game. Chasing 293 to win, they were in the game at times. When Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff came together, the cricket odds suggested that England could get within touching distance. In reality though, the game was lost when the bowlers allowed India to reach 292. A score of 240 would have been much more achievable.
As Pietersen says though, England did improve from the last game and will hopefully improve once more when the teams meet in Kanpur on Thursday. In terms of whether changes should be made for this game, well I’d have had Swann in from the start so he needs to come in. Even it means replacing Bopara of whom I am a big fan.
Other than that, I’m not sure how many changes can be made given the other players in the squad. It will just be a case of hoping India have an off day and England can improve a bit again. Cricket betting will undoubtedly favour an India win, but if KP’s men can bat first for once, it will be interesting to see if the hosts are as successful chasing down a total.
Final word has to go to Yuvraj Singh though. This is a man that has lost his place in the test side recently, but considering he has smashed around England bowlers that will be playing in the tests and dismissed top-order England batsmen that will be playing in the tests – I think there is every chance he will get the nod for the longer form of the game.
November 13, 2008
Mickey Arthur provides top tips for surviving the sub-continent
Posted by thevillagecricketer under England cricket team, India cricket, cricket[2] Comments
What advice would you give to a bunch of chaps travelling to the sub-continent? Don’t drink the tap water? Be careful with the prawns? Keep hold of your bags at the airport? Don’t upset the locals by refusing to buy a Buddha statue? Nope, South Africa coach Mickey Arthur has given some top cricketing tips to The Wisden Cricketer on how to adapt to the unique conditions in India. The Wisden Cricketer has given them to The Times, which means you can read them for free, here. Perhaps you could pass them on to Mickey Arthur? Only then would the circle truely be complete.
Here are some of Mickey’s missives (TVC coments in italics):
* Be prepared to play boring cricket (we invented boring cricket)
* In India the game is very slow to begin with (especially if Cook and Collingwood are batting!)
* Win the toss and bat first (no useless tossers required)
* Stay leg side of the ball and score through off (avoids LBWs on the piss poor slow wickets)
* You need two key scoring options against India’s spinners (shots would be nice)
* Stephen Harmison is crucial (oh dear!)
* Bowl reverse swing (sounds sensible)
* In India “caught cover” is as good as “caught second slip” (suitably village)
November 9, 2008
Bizarre Aussie tactics make unlikely win impossible
Posted by thevillagecricketer under Australian cricket, India cricket, cricketLeave a Comment
Bizarre happenings in India today. The Aussies battle their way back into the match with some good bowling, and at tea – with Tendulkar run out and the tail exposed, they had a sniff of rolling the Indians out, and setting a stiff, but not impossible, chase of just around 300 in a day-and-a-bit. With Brett Lee looking better, Shane Watson looking like a cricketer, and the ball reversing, Ponting instead, seemingly for over-rate reasons, opted for part-time spinners and part-time slow-medium pace from Hussey. The result? Dhoni and Harbhajan put on a ton between them off the buffet-bowling on offer, and the Canary Yellows now have to chase around about 400 in a day. Read about it on Cricinfo. My take was that Ponting must already have thought that the game was gone, it was very un-Australian, and rather VILLAGE!
