Australia wins the World Cup (again) ...yawwwwwwwwwwnnn

Its 8.14am in Melbourne and Australia have triumphed for the third time in the World Cup. Aleem Dar and Steve Bucknor are insisting the game's not over since 3 overs remain. Another pig-headed decision by the ICC means that SriLanka will bat out the remaining overs in light that is best suited for an evening tea-party not a cricket final. Before this Australia decimated the SriLankan bowlers in the morning and then polished off their middle-order with some tight bowling. Most of the cricketing world would have been supporting a SriLankan but that man Adam Gilchrist again played like he had God batting for him. On one hand we marvel at how bloody good this Australian team but we also wonder where cricket heads from here. A dominant unbeatable team now holds all the major titles, has won in every cricket playing country and has an abundance of talent for another decade. I propose we do away with this farce of Australia playing in tournaments and beating everyone silly. Let’s have a World Test and ODI Series over 4 years where all teams bar Australia play each other and the winner then plays Australia at the end of it. At least we'll see more even matches and we'll have to bear Australia crush opposition only once in 4 years. If there's any consolation McGrath and Warne are gone forever ...maybe India can win something when they go down to Australia later this year.

Why SriLanka Must Win The World Cup

Two years ago I was lucky enough to spend a fortnight in Colombo and Dambulla during a triangular in the Emerald Island closely observing the start of SriLankan cricket’s revival under their new coach Tom Moody. That tournament victory sparked an enthralling run by the SriLankans that has taken them back to the cricket World Cup final, one game away from usurping the old enemy Australia again. So just why is it more important for SriLanka to win than for Australia to complete cricket’s first World Cup treble. Some may accuse me of a sub continental and personal bias having long since adopted SriLanka as my honorary second nation. But biases aside ... Cricket desperately needs a new champion team, one that can rule for the next four years, winning on the field but also bringing in new audiences to the game. One suspects that Australia with their all conquering stint and tasteless sledging seemed to turn off both purists and casual spectators - many tired of their one sided conquests and boorish on-field behavior. In any case Australia have won the World Cup prize twice and a loss in their third final will not diminish but only add to their legend just as Bjorn Borg's loss did in his last Wimbledon final. While South Asian teams have reached the final in the last 4 editions they have suffered embarrassing losses to Australia the last two times. If Srilanka goes on to win on Saturday, slaying the Australian dragon it will go a long way in restoring some sub continental pride. Finally SriLanka must win because that beautiful nation and its ever smiling inhabitants deserve a bit of providence and success on the cricketing field where they come to forget the strife that frequently engulfs their tiny nation. Not only will Jayawardene's Army be perfect ambassadors for the game, rest assured they will be far better behaved than their predecessors as a certain Mr.Sharad Pawar will testify. Come April 28, I hope Percy that undoubted talismanic figure and enigmatic #1 fan of SriLankan cricket will be all celebratory smiles and holding aloft his SriLankan flag with pride.

Chappell Vision - Lost in Transalation?

In his ground-breaking book 'The Making of Champions' Greg Chappell puts forth a thorough thesis on his viewpoint of what he believes are essential requirements to be a successful cricketer. He does this by dissecting the characteristics of a select group of 20 cricketers from the modern era. In doing so he breaks down cricket into more of an intelligent science than a skillful art relying heavily on terms such as kinetics to explain his viewpoint. It is not surprising then to imagine that such lofty principles and process driven terminology would be above the comprehension of the average Indian cricketer. Many of today’s crop hail from middle class non-English speaking backgrounds, having learnt their skills in the many maidans and gullies that dot the country. A large proportion of India's national players today come from the smaller centers like Baroda and UP and one wonders if Chappell’s theories would make any sense to them. Unlike the Australian cricketer, an Indian cricketer has other pressing matters on his mind, like handling fame, regional politics, a fanatic fan base and zealous journalists. Also Indians are essentially bad learners once they have reached a comfort zone and/or tasted success. When Chappell took over the team, it consisted of senior players who had just tasted success reaching the World Cup Finals, and scoring creditable test victories in Australia and Pakistan. It is not surprising that these senior players resented being denigrated in the national media by their new coach for weaknesses that the previous placid coach had overlooked for much of his tenure. Perhaps Chappell’s only fault then was serving up an unpalatable menu that offended his wards tastes. Ten years from now Chappell may regret that while he got the message right, he might have considered toning down the delivery to suit his audience.