Cricinfo Select
Flawed yet fascinating
Tim de Lisle
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Cricket generates a lot of lists. So do the modern media. There are now so many lists coming at you that even a list-lover may be left feeling a little listless. But Shane Warne's list of the top 50 cricketers of his time, published last week in The Times, bucked the trend. It was everything a list ought to be: provocative, surprising, talked-about, and, in places, plain wrong.
Full postA matter of formats
Ian Chappell
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Ian Chappell
I'll bet the administrators wish they possessed a reliable crystal ball that would provide a glimpse of cricket's future. Especially when it comes to Twenty20, the shortest but suddenly most desirable form of the game.
The fans can't get enough of Twenty20, the players are starting to embrace it, and private promoters are spending millions in the hope of cashing in on the popularity of the sport's latest entertainment craze. The question the administrators would love to have answered by that crystal ball is: "Does it have a long and viable future?" If they knew the answer to that question, they would know what approach to take in regard to the 50-over game.
Full postMuddy waters run deep
Osman Samiuddin
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Osman Samiuddin
Rare is the issue in Pakistan cloaked in black, white and little else. The deeper you delve, the more complex it gets; contradiction, hypocrisy, incompetence, lies, and sometimes facts, happily swim together in this cesspool, where nothing is really right or wrong. So it is with the decision of four active internationals to sign up with the Indian Cricket League, and maybe sign away what remains of their Pakistan careers.
Full postNo room for backbone
South Africa's cricketers were probably contemplating their increased earning potential and a healthy relationship with Cricket South Africa when their groundbreaking memorandum of understanding was unveiled a month ago
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Ken Borland
South Africa's cricketers were probably contemplating their increased earning potential and a healthy relationship with Cricket South Africa (CSA) when their groundbreaking memorandum of understanding was unveiled a month ago. But the last week has been a traumatic one, with the players feeling that the board has turned on them.
Full postRoom at the top
Throughout the last year the seniors in the side were divided over Chappell, but his exit has had a healing effect
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
"Undefeated after Chappell," bellowed a hack shortly after India's historic series win at The Oval. Following Greg Chappell's exit after the World Cup debacle, India have won two Test series - one of them admittedly against Bangladesh - and six one-dayers. A solitary defeat against South Africa in the first match of the Future Cup remains the only blemish.
Full postThis game has just started
After more than four months of acting coy, the Indian Cricket League (ICL) has made as bold a statement as possible, parading the 48 Indian cricketers and naming the six overseas players who will form the backbone of its inaugural season
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Jayaditya Gupta
After more than four months of acting coy, the Indian Cricket League (ICL) has made as bold a statement as possible, parading the 48 Indian cricketers and naming the six overseas players who will form the backbone of its inaugural season. It is as much a statement of intent as a challenge to the Indian board, with which it has been shadow-boxing since the gauntlet was first thrown in April.
Full postGood teams, good pitches, good cricket
Ian Chappell believes that the good pitches and the swinging ball played their part in providing entertaining cricket during the England-India series
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Ian Chappell
The entertaining and competitive Test series between India and England provided much good cricket and plenty of food for thought. In addition to two evenly matched teams, good pitches and the swinging ball played their part in providing entertaining cricket.
Full postLessons from a salvo
Vaneisa Baksh writes how Ramnaresh Sarwan's recent criticism of former coach Bennett King is symptomatic of what ails West Indian cricket at large
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Vaneisa Baksh
Recent comments by West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan while he was in Toronto for therapy for his shoulder injury have raised eyebrows and set tongues wagging. Sarwan was reported to have called former coach Bennett King the "worst coach" he had ever had, and to have said King's manner was aggressive and intimidated younger players.
Full postAway advantage
India made better use of the English conditions than England, and their victory was richly deserved
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Sambit Bal
In the end the margin of 1-0, it could be argued, was a fair way for the series to end. England were the superior side at Lord's and India dominated the last two Tests. Speculation is futile, but if it hadn't been a draw at Lord's, the Oval Test would possibly have yielded a result, most likely in India's favour. But draws aren't necessarily dull, and this was an enthralling series. More importantly it was Test cricket as it ought to be: tough, challenging, skilful, full of crackle and contest, and bends and surprises.
Full postSympathy for the devil
Aakash Chopra on the difficulty of making adjustments to your game during a series
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Aakash Chopra
The man who scored a ton on his debut at Lord's earlier this summer wouldn't have dreamed that people would be baying for his blood by the end of that same summer. Every move Matt Prior makes now is closely monitored or, in this case, every move he doesn't make. He has dropped a few crucial catches, conceded a few byes too many (some of them were ridiculously wide and out of reach) and, unfortunately, things haven't been too rosy even in front of the stumps. He has also been advised to keep his trap shut and concentrate on the job, something that probably wouldn't have been said if he hadn't messed up.
Full postMost Read
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