Graeme Smith's blog

Posted on/at 7:44 AM by Anonymous

SA's final ICC Match

Graeme Smith

It’s not pleasant having to explain and deal with another early exit from an ICC event just three months after the T20 disappointment in England but we have to deal with whatever life throws at us and move forward in a positive frame of mind.

There are reasons for our failure to reach the semi finals of the Champions Trophy but there are no excuses. We weren’t good enough over three games and we accept that. It hurts – it hurts a lot – but it’s happened and we have to do everything in our power to improve and make sure we are contenders in the next T20 World Championship in the West Indies next year and also at the 2011 World Cup on the subcontinent.

We always knew that our schedule might be a problem coming into this tournament because we had not played any hard, international cricket for over two months but we did everything we could to prepare and overcome that. We had two hard training camps and played warm-up matches but there simply is no substitute for the real thing.

Bowlers take longer than batsmen to shake off the rust and get back into the rhythm and we conceded over 300 in two of the games as a result. I’m proud of the way we chased a huge score against England but would have been a lot prouder if we had managed to get over the line.

I was a bit surprised and disappointed that Andrew Strauss refused to let me have a runner for the final five overs when I was suffering from cramp but that is something he will live with. The world is round which means things come back to you.

The inconsistency of the runner situation is a problem. Sometimes the runner is allowed and sometimes not. Most captains agree to a runner in that situation but Andrew decided to stick to the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law. Once again, it is not an excuse and I am not saying it would have made the difference.

As much as we have ourselves to blame and can look at the things we did wrong, or poorly, we have to pay due credit to Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood for the way they laid the platform for Eion Morgan who played some audacious shots which probably took the game away from us. England played superbly and deserve credit far more than we deserve criticism.

Sri Lanka are also one of the best one-day sides in the world and they, too, have been eliminated before the semi finals. Anything can happen in a sprint format like this involving the best teams in the world. India are also under pressure to qualify which means that the three ‘favourite’ teams could all miss the semis.

We have a lot of domestic cricket to play before England come back in November and I expect us all to be battle-hardened and ready to do justice to our status in both forms of the game. We had high expectations for the Champions Trophy but we have not lived up to them. The challenge now is to use the pain of defeat and disappointment as a tool to inspire an even more determined drive to win and consolidate our position at the top of world cricket.

I am deeply sorry for all those supporters who hoped and believed we would do it this time, but please don’t think for a moment that we won’t get the job done. We still strongly believe in our ability as individuals and our ability to win as a team. We will get the job done.



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Worth Every Penny

Posted on/at 7:08 PM by Anonymous

England has been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate during its 22-run victory over South Africa.

Match Referee Roshan Mahanama imposed the fines after Andrew Strauss's side was ruled to be one over short of its target at the end of the match when time allowances were taken into consideration. In accordance with the International Cricket Council (ICC) Code of Conduct regulations governing over-rate penalties, players are fined five per cent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined double that amount.
As such, Strauss was fined 10 per cent of his match fee while each of his players received a five per cent fine.




In other news the CSA chief executive, Gerald Majola said on Monday that South Africa's loss to England in their final Champions Trophy group match in Centurion on Sunday was "deeply disappointing".

"There are some hard questions to be answered. At no stage did the team look anything like a team that is the world No 1 in both Tests and one-day internationals.They certainly were way off where they should be at this stage, and I will be speaking to Mickey and the team management to find out what went wrong."

But Majola said there were no plans at this stage to fire either the captain or the coach.
"That's not going to happen, but we definitely want answers. The team's performance in this tournament was just not good enough. I don't want to pick out individuals, but there were problems with the bowling and the batting, and the team's body language was not that of the world's best team." -We just can't get rid of them, can we?





Former Pakistan Test Captain, Javed Miandad is very unhappy calling the pitches being used at the Champions Trophy in South Africa "dangerous".

"(With) the sort of scary pitches they have prepared for such a big event it is not going to help the International Cricket Council (ICC) or its members keep interest in one-day internationals alive," Miandad told Reuters.

"Some of the pitches they have played on can be ranked as dangerous. The bounce is inconsistent. Balls are kicking up from a good length. All this is not good for the survival of ODIs."

"The pitches at Centurion have made matches one-sided with the side winning the toss having the advantage. The ICC is quick to monitor the pitches in member countries but they also need to talk to their curators about the pitches in the Champions Trophy," he said.
The ICC moved the Champions Trophy to South Africa due to security concerns after it was postponed from its original date in Pakistan last year.



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Dinesh Karthik Interview

Posted on/at 11:03 AM by Anonymous

I found this recently at cricinfo, Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi



Are you tired of carrying drinks yet?
A little bit, but I prefer carrying drinks for the Indian team than being anywhere else. 
 
Any funny experiences as a drinks carrier?
The first time I carried drinks was during the 2004 Champions Trophy. It was a wet outfield and I was running with the drinks and I couldn't stop myself and just went sliding into Sourav Ganguly, who was giving a team chat in the huddle. 
 
We've heard Daniel Vettori gifted you a motorbike during this year's IPL?
He won the Man of the Match in our first game. He doesn't like motorbikes and he probably thought I was a good guy. I've kept it back home in Chennai and ride it sometimes. 
 
Name an interesting thing you own.
I have a St Bernard dog. They are very tough to take care of in the tropical wetather in Chennai. They usually are found in mountains and the snow. 

If you were a coach how would you keep Sreesanth quiet?
Send him to dance class every day. 
 
Are you talkative?
Hmm, yes, I am. 
 
Are you punctual?
I've overslept a couple of times. 
 
Do you swear in Hindi or English on the field?
Hindi - the other teams don't understand it. 
 
If you could change one thing in cricket, what would it be?
I would change 50-overs cricket into two innings each of 20-overs. 
 
Are you a walker?
Not really. 
 
You seemed to have finally settled on a name after changing it a few times. How many have you had?
My mom asked me to change it the first time. I had an extra "a" in my last name , and it then became an extra "c" as well, and then the extra "a" without the "c", and I don't know how many times I had to change it. But now it's back to normal: Karthik. 

Did you have to change your signature, too?
No. 
 
Name one disadvantage of having your wife on tour.
It's very tough to have a boys' day out. 
 
Tell us about a cricketing souvenir you treasure.
The 2007 Twenty20 World Cup shirt, signed by the whole team.


Who was your favourite Tamil movie hero as a kid?
It was Rajnikant, and it will be Rajnikant. I also like Surya, the present-day superstar, who is a good guy. 
 
What is your favorite Rajni line of dialogue?
"Naan oru thadava sonna nooru thadava sonna mathiri" [If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times]. 
 
What would you do if you're stuck at a airport?
I don't Twitter, and I'm done with Sudoku, so probably read a book or chat with someone.


Have you ever given MS Dhoni a wicketkeeping tip?
I don't remember giving him any tips, but I gave him my pads during the finals of the tri-series in Sri Lanka recently. He tried to stop a ball that was going down and he tried to slide, but the straps of his pads came off and he had to use mine. We won the game! 
 
Was there ever a cricket role you wanted to enact when you growing up?
I heard a lot about Ian Botham's Ashes, in 1981. Everybody still talks about his performance. I always wanted to do be an allrounder. I don't know why I picked keeping. I really wish I could contribute with both bat and ball, just like he did.

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Jonty Rhodes' blog

Posted on/at 6:04 AM by Anonymous

Miss a game at your peril

Jonty Rhodes

Just about every game is a knockout from here onwards which is a fantastic endorsement of the format of the tournament because there's no cruising for the players and no blinking for the supporters. Miss a game at your peril - you might not see your favourite team again.

I've thoroughly enjoyed the tournament so far although I have the feeling that we've only seen the support act so far and the real thing is about to burst onto stage. It only takes a couple of brilliant individual performances or a really close game, a classic contest and suddenly everyone is talking cricket.

It looks very obvious to me that the tournament is being played in a great spirit and there are plenty of smiles on the players' faces. I wonder whether that might become a feature of the ICC Champions Trophy. With $2 million at stake for the winners I'm not suggesting for a moment that the players won't be taking it seriously but it's not the ICC World Cup and, perhaps, this tournament can provide an opportunity for players to remember the spirit of cricket.

Andrew Strauss set a great example in that regard when he called the batsman back when he was run out after colliding with the bowler. That sort of gesture sets an example that thousands of kids might, one day, decided to copy. Just as kids can swear and spit and do other nasty things if they see their heroes doing them, so they can mimic the good stuff.

England were very good indeed against Sri Lanka and if they pitch up in the same frame of mind against South Africa on Sunday then they could well ruin the hosts' party. Supersport Park in Centurion is very different to the Wanderers, however, and a dry surface has favoured the spinners more than the seamers. Up until now the ball hasn't really swung at Centurion - if anyone can make it happen I guess James Anderson would be a contender.

Herschelle Gibbs is available for the Proteas once again although it was interesting to hear Graeme Smith speculating about the possibility of Hashim Amla retaining his place at the top of the order. Hashim is playing well and is probably a more ‘reliable' option than Herschelle but it would take a brave man to leave Hersch out. He's unique – capable of playing more audacious innings than just about anyone else. And he's still got the X factor in the field, even at the ago of 35.

It is still possible that at least one semi-final place could be decided on net run-rate. In my opinion the players shouldn't even consider that until well into the game. Get yourself into a winning position and take it from there. If you take anything for granted, if you assume victory, you will lose. Then run-rates are irrelevant anyway!

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Ricky Ponting's blog

Posted on/at 6:01 AM by Anonymous

I am looking forward to playing India

Ricky Ponting

It's been a challenge for Australia to come straight into this tournament with no acclimatization or practise. True, we were in the heat of battle during the recently-concluded one-dayers against England, but conditions here are vastly different from the ones we had gotten used to in England.

Our opening game was played in really difficult conditions, and the pitch at the Wanderers was borderline dangerous when we started our innings. Paine got a few sharp raps on his knuckles as the ball was moving and rising dangerously. Mitchell Johnson help us get to a very good total on that track, which helped us win quite comfortably in the end. The devils in the wicket had been laid when the sun dried out the wicket, and we had to defend our total in much more batsman-friendly conditions.

The tournament has been a little bit of a lottery especially in the day games. Sri Lanka got a rough one when they batted against England in very difficult conditions. It's early summer in South Africa and early starts, particularly at the Wanderers should have been avoided.

The Indians have been hit hard by the absence of Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag. These guys are really good in conditions like those at Centurion, and MS Dhoni felt their absence during India’s game against Pakistan. That said, it was a close game and India were in with a chance till the last 10 overs.

The loss to Pakistan makes tomorrow’s game a must-win for India. We are pretty confident going into this game primarily because all our players are fit and we have a full squad to pick from.

Michael Clarke, who was struggling with his back, has a good chance of being match-fit tomorrow, and that will be a big boost for us. It also helps that this is a day-night game, which means the match will be better balanced. However, there was a bit of dew in the evening, which was a bit hard for the spinners.

It's been a long time since we have played a one-dayer against the Indians, and I am looking forward to playing them. This tournament is a lot more open than many of the earlier editions. There are quite a few teams that fancy their chances of winning and India is certainly one of them. However, with the injuries list including some key players, there is a lot of pressure on their others at the moment, and we need to capitalize on this.



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Smith vs Strauss

Posted on/at 5:49 AM by Anonymous



"I was cramping quite badly and I requested a runner...Andrew spoke with the umpires and turned it down. He felt that if you score a hundred, you're going to be tired. From my perspective, it felt a touch inconsistent. Guys have got runners for cramps in the past, so there needs to be a degree of consistency there. This is the frustration that we have. I'm not going to sit here and slag Andrew and say that he should have done this or that. The decision rests with the umpires as well. From my perspective, it's just about putting it behind me now. The thing I've learned from this game is that the world's round. It's going to come back somewhere in the game, at some period of time in his captaincy. It'll be interesting to see how he handles it again." -Graeme Smith



"He asked me for a runner because he was cramping. The umpires were not particularly keen to give him one. I felt that at the end of a long game, after a long innings, you're going to be tired. Cramping to a certain extent is a preparation thing. To a certain extent, it's a conditioning thing. I didn't feel that he merited having a runner at that stage. You just go with each situation as it comes. I think the umpires were very uncomfortable with it as well. My personal view is that you shouldn't get a runner for cramps, full stop. That's something for the ICC to look at. I didn't feel he was cramping that badly either. He was still able to run. That was my view." -Andrew Strauss


That's the wrong finger.

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Same sh*t, different day

Posted on/at 12:00 AM by Anonymous

South Africa got knocked out of another major ICC tournament... Blah-blah-blah, what else is new?
Biff is back, leaner and meaner and he is coming to get Strauss.




 Now that SA is out who will we support? I'll feel like a traitor if I support England. So it will be either Sri Lanka or New Zealand then. Who ever will make it to the semi's will gain some Saffer support.

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