Tag Archives: cricket

Cricket World Cup: And then there were four! 

March 21, 2015 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , Leave a comment

The Cricket World Cup has reached the knock out phase and after the quarter finals Australia, South Africa, India and New Zealand have made it through to the final four!

To be honest I think most people would have said at the start of the tournament that these were the four teams who would make the semi-finals and given how they dominated their respective quarter final opponents the favouritism that has vested in these teams has been well founded it would seem. 

Here are some initial thoughts on the coming semi finals: 

New Zealand v South Africa (Eden Park)

Home ground advantage vests in the Black Caps, as it has the whole tournament, and one expects that they will be backed by yet another delerious crowd.  Both sides have much to prove in this fixture given that both of them have been regular “bridesmaids rather than the bride” in the Cricket World Cup in the past. For two teams who have some of the most explosive batting in the tournament in their line ups it is strange to say but I think this game will come down to the respective bowling units of each on what is a postage sized ground in Auckland.  Boult v Steyn, Southee v Morkel, Vettori v Tahir are all match ups that make the mouth water.  

I am going to stick with the home team in this game: I tipped at the start of the tournament that they would win the tournament and nothing has changed after their performance in the quarter final.  

Australia v India (Sydney Cricket Ground)

These teams have played so much this summer that they must be getting sick of each other by now! The crowd at the SCG will be heaving but one wonders whether Cricket Australia is worried it will be an Indian supporting crowd given the sudden “Wear Gold” campaign that has popped since Friday night’s victory.  The batting line-ups, again, of the two teams appear to be evenly matched.  It is in the bowling that the key differences appear.  Mitchell Starc is head and shoulders the best fast bowler in this game.  On the other side of the ledger are two excellent spinners in Ashwin and Jadeja.  The premier bowlers being so different the pitch could effect the outcome of this game.  

This fixture is very hard for me to pick.  My heart says Australia but my head is leaning towards India.  I might reserve the right to hold judgment at this stage until just before game time when the pitch has been reviewed.  

I can not wait for these two fixtures: they will be much closer than the quarter finals and one expects that the cricket will only get better! 

Cricket: Mustafa Kamal it is time go and go you must NOW!

March 21, 2015 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

India and Bangladesh fought out the second quarter final of the Cricket World Cup on Thursday.  India won the game moderately easily after amassing 302 batting first, an innings anchored by a 137 run innings from Rohit Sharma.

Sharma’s innings had a tone of controversy about it: on 90 he hit a waist high full toss in the air that was caught.  However, the umpires decided, as the laws of cricket prescribe, that it was a no ball and Sharma was judged to be not out.

In a game where Bangladesh only scored 193 and, frankly, were outplayed in all aspects of the game that should have been the end of it.

It wasn’t though because Mustafa Kamal made these comments on Bangladesh TV:

“There was no quality in the umpiring. It looked like they took the field after it (the outcome) was pre-arranged,” he alleged.

“I cannot represent the Indian Cricket Council. If someone has imposed a result on us, in that case no one can accept it,” added Kamal

Who is Mr Kamal you ask? Well he is the President of the International Cricket Council.  That’s right: this is the man elected by the members of the ICC to lead the Council.  He just called the umpires in the second quarter final, Aleem Dar and Ian Gould (two of the best in the game), match fixers and cheats.

Yes, the CEO of the ICC, David Richardson, has come out in the strongest possible defence of the umpires and yes, Mr Kamal has stated that he was commenting as a fan of the game and not the president of the ICC.

However, frankly, the context of the comments means absolutely nothing! This is not some bloke in the pub or on social media blowing up about a bad umpiring decision.  This is the president of the governing body of the game of cricket internationally saying that the umpires are cheats.  That is just not acceptable no matter the excuse and no matter how much the CEO of the ICC bites back about those comments.

This is simple: Mustafa Kamal CAN NOT be the president of the ICC for another second.  Every second he remains the president of the ICC there is a question mark around the integrity of the umpires in question, the Indian team and, more broadly, the game.  He must go! If he does not do it of his own accord then the ICC should convene a meeting of its board immediately (not after the World Cup is over), via phone if necessary, and vote Mustafa Kamal out as president for bring the game into disrepute.

Mustafa Kamal: your comments are disgrace, against the Spirit of Cricket and defamatory.  Do the right thing and quit for the good of the game.

Cricket World Cup: Quarter Final’s Crystal Ball

March 17, 2015 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , 2 Comments

After 42 games involving a spectrum of cricket that ranges from the mediocre to the sublime and all parts in between, we are now down to the final 8 teams. If you had have been asked on 14 February when this tournament started who was in your final 8 these are the 8 teams many would have chosen with the notable exception of England being in there instead of Bangladesh.

With New Zealand and India going through undefeated in their respective pools, they, righlty in my view, are the top seeds going into the finals stage.  Here is how the quarter finals have been matched up: 

  • 1st Quarter Final: South Africa (2nd in Pool B) v Sri Lanka (3rd in Pool A)
  • 2nd Quarter Final: Bangladesh (4th in Pool A) v India (1st in Pool B) 
  • 3rd Quarter Final: Australia (2nd in Pool A) v Pakistan (3th in Pool B)
  • 4th Quarter Final: New Zealand (1st in Pool A) v West Indies (4th in Pool B)

Each of these games looks to be absolutely quality encounter.  Here are some thoughts on the keys to each game: 

South Africa v Sri Lanka

This is about the pick of the games for mine and could all hinge on who bats first.  South Africa have struggled chasing totals in this World Cup but when they have batted first they have been largely unstoppable.  Sri Lanka possess the best batsman in world cricket for mine in Kumar Sangakkara but have been a little bit thin on form after him in the order.  South Africa has the edge with the ball.  I am prepared to back the South Africans in this fixture but I will be getting very nervous if they loose the toss and have to chase a target. 

Tip: South Africa

Bangladesh v India

This has just been an amazing four weeks for the Indian cricket team.  They were just destroyed in Australia before this tournament in all forms of the game but have shown, again, that the maxim “Form is temporary, Class is permanent.” rings true.  There is no better tactical captain nor judge of a run chase in the current game than MS Dhoni and they possess the best remaining spin bowling attack in the competition.  Bangladesh look on paper to be vastly out matched in this fixture however they seem to find a way times to clutch victory from the jaws of defeat.  India will win this game with class all over the field. 

Tip: India

Australia v Pakistan

To start rhetorically: is there a more enignmatic cricket team in world cricket than the Pakistan team? Some days they look like a club side, a very bad club side, and yet other days they conjour the sublime.  They will have confidence from both the ghosts of 1992 and their win against South African earlier in the tournament.  Australia have the ability to bat teams out of games with power all through the line up.  The blossoming of G Maxwell as a force in this tournament has been a highlight so far.  Starc’s bowling aside, there remains a significant question mark over the bowling attack whose talisman, Johnson, has lost his way again.  Australia should win this game but it may hinge on which Pakistan team actually turns up. 

Tip: Australia 

New Zealand v West Indies

Can anyone see New Zealand being beaten in this game? If Chris Gayle plays many will suggest that he could play a big innings but I think that is a false hope given his form (one big knock aside) this tournament.  I would back the New Zealand swing bowling against Gayle et al every day of the week and, to me, that makes this fixture the easiest one to pick.  Setting aside the bowling of New Zealand for a moment, in McCullum the Black Caps also possess the best opener in the competition backed by a solid, if not spectactular, middle order.  Add the New Zealand crowd to this and this game is a no brainer. 

Tip: New Zealand

I know I have picked all of the favourites here but that it the way this tournament has gone so far and I do not really expect it to change.  The Sri Lankans are the best placed team to pull an upset whilst Pakistan may also surpise.  

The Sheffield Shield Final: Cricket Australia has gotten this spectatularly wrong!

March 17, 2015 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , 1 Comment

In case you have missed it, the Sheffield Shield season is drawing to a close with Victoria winning the right to host Western Australia in the final.

Unfortunately for the Victorians, the MCG is not available due to World Cup duties and their attempts to hold the final at an alternate venue has fallen to the requirement that the game be held at a venue suitable for a first class fixture.  

In this context one turns to the the Sheffield Shield’s 2014/15 Conditions of Play which state: 

The team that finished first on the points table at the conclusion of the preliminary matches shall earn the right to host the final at a suitable first class venue within its state, provided that this venue is acceptable to Cricket Australia.  Should the team waive this right, the choice shall be offered to the team that finished second.  Otherwise the decision shall be made by Cricket Australia.

That should mean that the Victorians, having not been able to source a qualifying ground within its state (my emphasis added), have waived their rights to host the final and the Western Australian ought to have the right to host the final offered to them. 

Instead, Cricket Australia has decided, unilaterally it would seem, to host the final at the Bellerive Oval in Tasmania without first offering the final to the West Australian cricket team to host. 

This is an absolute travesty on two counts: 

  1. The playing conditions clearly state that the game should have been offered to West Australia to host; and 
  2. Cricket Australia knew at the start of the summer that there was a three in six chance of this problem, potentially arising, given that Adelaide and Sydney are also hosting World Cup games over the next two weeks, and still they included the playing condition they have now ignored. 

The failure to comply with the playing conditions is astonishing.  If the Victoria Cricket Association can not host the final, or did not plan to host the final and thus did not prepare a second ground, they have no one to blame but themselves and they should not benefit from Cricket Australia now trying to, seemingly, right this perceived wrong.

This game should be being played in Perth as the playing conditions allows: simple.  To play it elsewhere is just another indication of how little importance Cricket Australia places on the traditions of the first  class game in this country and the rules it itself has set.  

Cricket: Sangakkara v Gilchrist … Sorry but there is only one winner!

March 4, 2015 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

I was listening to the Tatts Bet Breakfast show this morning on my commute to work when the discussion turned to the record of Kumar Sangakkara.  Whilst much of the discussion was focused on just how good a player he is there was also some discussion comparing him to Adam Gilchrist.  Indeed one of the commentators stated that he would still prefer Gilchrist over Sangakkara if asked to choose between the two.  That statement, and the discussion around it, got me thinking about these two, both fine, cricketers and their respective places in the cricket’s history books. 

Frankly, I can not countenance any view other than this: Kumar Sangakkara is one of the greats to play the game, not just a modern great, but a great across the near 150 years the game has been played at test match level.  In a two horse race between Sangakkara and Gilchrist there can only be one winner in my view and that is the man from Sri Lanka. 

I have oft heard about the record of Sangakkara that he scores runs against lesser opposition and has the benefit of batting on, allegedly, “easy” wickets at home and that skews his numbers.  So I have come up with this statistical comparison for the battle between Gilchrist and Sangakkara using these paramaters:

  • Away test matches;
  • Against India, South Africa, Pakistan and England; and
  • Against Australia or Sri Lanka (as the case may be).

I have chosen India, South Africa, Pakistan and England as they have been the benchmark, Australia and Sri Lanka aside, for tough cricket in difficult conditions over the last 15 years.

Here is how Gilchrist and Sangakkara match up based on those paramaters:

Player Against Matches Runs HS  Ave 100s  Ct St
Sangakkara Australia 5 543 192 60.33 1 8 0
England 11 862 147 41.04 2 15 1
India 6 365 137 36.5 1 8 0
Pakistan 11 1377 230 72.47 5 10 1
South Africa 8 572 108 35.75 1 10 0
TOTAL 41 3719 230 49.58 10 51 2
Gilchrist England 10 521 152 40.07 1 42 3
India 7 342 122 28.5 2 29 0
Pakistan 3 122 66* 40.66 0 10 1
South Africa 6 523 204* 65.37 2 24 2
Sri Lanka 3 201 144 40.2 1 11 3
TOTAL 29 1709 204* 41.68 6 116 9

It is interesting that both players have exceptional records against the teams that have been the best opposition in each era for them with both averaging over 60 against Australia (Sangakkara) and South Africa (Gilchrist). Sangakkara has not been as successful in South Africa as Gilchrist whilst there is a notable disparity between the performances of the two on other subcontinent wickets. 

Statistics only tell part of the story though.  The fact is that Sangakkara has batted in the top 3 for the bulk of his career and has, on most occasions, faced the new ball .  Sangakkara has also been the leader, either as captain or in deed, of a team that has rarely been the favourite in contests with the top teams in test match cricket whilst Gilchrist played in a team full of superstars and bearing the perennial tag as the best team in the world. Gilchrist batting at seven in a dominant Australian batting line up more often than not strode to the crease with Australia in a strong position. 

Then of course there is the question of technique with the willow: Gilchrist was an “eye” player who often clubbed the ball whereas Sangakkara is more of a purist in style.  Defensively, Hashim Amla aside, there is no better defensive player in the game than Sangakkara at the moment whereas with Gilchrist there was always a nagging concern about his play early when the ball was aimed at the fourth stump. 

The foregoing gets me back to my initial thought when I was listening to 4TAB this morning: if I had a choice between Sangakkara or Gilchrist to play in my team I would pick Sangakkara every single time without hesitation.  Substance in this context bests style just as defensive steel best attacking flair!    

Cricket World Cup: 19 pool games to go but only two matter

March 2, 2015 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , Leave a comment

The Cricket World Cup has meandered through 23 pool fixtures to date with a mix of excellent cricket and mismatches keeping fans around the world entranced.  Much has been made about the length of the tournament and, at the time of writing, there are some 19 pool games left to go before the quarter finals commence on 18 March.

Having run the eye over the table and thought about who might win which games I have come to the conclusion that only two of the coming fixtures have the potential to significantly impact on how participates in the final series.  Those games are:

  • England v Bangladesh, Match 33; and
  • Ireland v Pakistan, Match 42.

To understand why these two games are the “only” important games lefts, one must consider the following:

Pool A:

  • New Zealand and Sri Lanka presently sit atop Pool A.  Each have two games left (NZ face Afghanistan and Bangladesh whilst Sri Lanka play Australia and Scotland) and I think they are unlikely to lose either. That puts them at the top of Pool A and in the finals.
  • Scotland will not win a game and thus will not make the finals.
  • Afghanistan, who have been one of the revelations of this World Cup, have the toughest run home playing Australia, New Zealand and England to complete their campaign.  I do not expect them to win any of these games and thus predict they will not advance beyond the two points they presently hold.
  • Australia have a soft draw for the rest of the pool rounds with the exception of their fixture against Sri Lanka which, on current form, they are likely to struggle to win. Whether they win or lose that game they will be in the finals with victories against Afghanistan and Scotland.
  • That leaves Bangladesh and England to fight the battle for the 4th spot in this pool.  Bangladesh have 3 points from 3 games and face Scotland, England and New Zealand to final the pool rounds.  They will defeat Scotland and, absent any strategic play from New Zealand, will be defeated by them which means they will would sit on 5 points with their game against England in dispute.  England are on 2 points with 2 games to play against Bangladesh and Afghanistan.  Even in their current woeful form I think they will defeat Afghanistan which just leaves their game against Bangladesh to gain points from.
  • The winner of Bangladesh v England on 9 March will have the advantage and make the finals.  The loser will head home. It is that simple.

Pool B:

  • Much like in Pool A there are two stand out teams in Pool A at the moment: India and South Africa.  Both are yet to play Ireland.  India also play the West Indies and Zimbabwe whilst South Africa is yet to play Pakistan and the UAE.  I can not see them losing in their remaining fixtures and thus predict they will be the top two teams in Pool B.
  • UAE will not win a game and thus will not make the finals.
  • Zimbabwe have two games left against Ireland and India.  They are presently on 2 points from a victory against the UAE and whilst they were plucky in defeat against Pakistan I do not think they have the team to best either Ireland or India on current form.  They will stay on 2 points.
  • The West Indies have two games left with which to add to their current tally of 4 points.  The West Indies have been scratchy at times in the competition and then at times they have been brilliant.  Against the quality of India I can not see them winning but they will bank 2 points from a run rate enhancing win against the UAE.  This will put them on 6 points and in the frame for the finals (subject to the final bullet point).
  • That leaves Ireland and Pakistan.  Pakistan have had an ordinary start to the competition raising, unsurprisingly, comparisons to 1992.  Presently on 2 points from 3 games they face South Africa and the UAE before they contest the final pool fixture against Ireland at the Adelaide Oval.  I would expect them to best the UAE but lose to South Africa.  Ireland have been one of the stories of this World Cup but now they face the worse schedule with 4 games in the next 12 days whilst travelling extensively including across the ditch for their game against India.  In addition to that game I suspect they will lose to South Africa tomorrow but defeat Zimbabwe.
  • These results would love Pakistan on 4 points and Ireland on 6 points with the last (42nd) pool game to be played.  If Ireland win they will end up 3rd in Pool B.  If Pakistan win they will join Ireland and West Indies on 6 points and then Net Run Rate will decide who fill the final two spots in Pool B.

Obviously there is still some great cricket to come in this World Cup.  That said: given the form of the teams to date it is easy, in my view, to predict who will win what games.  Those predictions taken into account the race to the finals could really go down to the wire with the last pool game almost a preliminary final in Pool B.