The Googly

India and England: conflicting cultures

Boria Majumdar, the author of various books on Indian cricket, writes a fascinating article on the contrasting cultures of England and India.

It is cricket's worst kept secret - that English players were averse to touring the sub-continent until not very long ago. The Indian public missed out on Holmes, Sutcliffe, Wooley and Hammond in 1934. Trueman, Statham, May, Graveney and Bailey all pulled out in 1961-2.

The timing of this piece might cause a stir, given half of England's team have flown home. But he makes some valid and interesting points, not least about Indian sides who toured England

 

Soon after the Indians arrived for a series in 1932, the Evening Standard commented: "There has never been such a team of contrasts meeting on the common footing of cricket."

 

"The 18 players speak eight to 10 languages, belong to four or five different castes, some may not eat this and some may not eat that, a few are denied smoking by their religious laws.
 

 

"Some similarly have drink proscribed; they are captained by a Maharajah rich beyond the dreams of county cricket treasurers.

 

"Some come from the plains where cold is almost unknown, and others from the hills where the climate has insured them even to an English summer."

Fascinating to think our cultures were so vastly different not so long ago. And yet I know for a fact that even now, some teams and players are vary wary of touring the subcontinent. Why? I don't know. I've yet to visit India or Pakistan or indeed any of the subcontinent - and I can't wait - so I'm not fully qualified to argue either way.

"The Shift", as Majumdar says, started in the 1990s with the realisation that the subcontinent had an audience of tens of millions, far more than any other country. An audience of that size brought fervent marketing and a monopoly over advertising; indeed, in 2005 the ICC moved its headquarters from Britain to Dubai.

India is now the centre of the cricketing world, both geographically and metaphorically. With its recent withdrawal from the Champions Trophy, some questioned whether it was getting rather too big for its boots which my Editor, Sambit Bal, put far more eloquently than I can:

But at the same time, to be taken seriously as a leader, India must learn to behave like one. It is justified in seeking to redress the imbalance in the international calendar, which it finds discriminatory and inimical to its interests, but it must assure the international cricket community that it is prepared to think beyond itself and put its might behind causes that transcend commerce. That sport is big business today is an inescapable reality. But it must not be lost on anyone that there is a fundamental difference between sport and business. Money may be sport's biggest driver, but it is not its soul; cricket needs to make money in order to exist, but it doesn't exist to make money.

Cricketers may not want to go to India for reasons of their own choosing. They now have to and it's in their monetary interests to do so. The balance of power has shifted, and dramatically so.

Will Luke writes for Cricinfo.com and edits The Corridor of Uncertainty

India v England, 1st Test, preview

In about 11 hours, a chaotic England team take to the field in Nagpur for the first Test against India. Preparations have been farcical and they've been thin on luck, but it's time to get on with it. However worrying it may be, the start of a new series brings fresh hope and excitement, especially one littered with debutants. Ah, it's like the 1990s all over again...

Hope and excitement are probably two adjectives Ian Blackwell and Alastair Cook, the likely two debutants, might use to describe their feeling; "bricking it" and "is this for real?" might be closer to the mark, however. My colleage at Cricinfo, Rahul Bhattacharya, provides an interesting preview of tomorrow's Test, which ought to carry a health warning to English readers.

Presuming they don't return home this evening, those two should be Ian Blackwell, whom Indian viewers will remember more for a 68-ball 82 against them in the Champions Trophy of 2002, and Shaun Udal, 18 days shy of his 37th birthday. Udal's 690 first-class wickets have come at 32.56 apiece; and Blackwell's 185 at 43.39. They have between them three Test victims. They are up against a pair with over 700, and the surface is expected to assist them.

The pair Rahul speaks of are Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble, two leaping, enthusastic and fabulously talented spinners - and two of my favourite to watch, although I enjoy watching any spinner bowl (apart from Ian Salisbury. Remember him?). I won't, however, enjoy them outbowl England's in this Test, as it merely highlights our woeful, depressing and never-gonna-be-fixed dearth of spin bowlers in England. Ian Blackwell might well quote his career economy rate of 2.88 runs per over, but it's wickets we need, Ian, and you won't have faced Virender Sehwag or Sachin Tendulkar all that often. (although, truth be known, he has once or twice in some one-dayers).

Ian Blackwell is arguably the new Darren Lehmann - in terms of his athletic finesse, if nothing else. We need a Singh, a Kumble - and although we have Monty Panesar, I highly doubt Duncan Fletcher will want to risk extending his/England's tail any further.

Rahul goes on:

If England win the toss, thus, it will not be a bad place for Alastair Cook to debut. "We discussed him in our bowler's meeting last evening," said Rahul Dravid. "Some of the guys who have played against him in county cricket think he is a very good player."

I don't want to hype the lad too much, especially considering that I've yet to see him play, but by all accounts the bloke can bat rather well. He hit a double hundred against Australia, for Essex, in a tour-game in last summer's Ashes and is exceptionally well regarded. For all the commotion and chaos surrounding him at the moment, this is an opportunity afforded to very few: open the innings for England and, oh by the way, your country needs you to make a hundred because we're falling apart at the seams. A nightmare it might seem, but if he shows some bottle and has a good series, the selectors will wipe the expected 3-0 loss from their minds rather quickly. Technically-correct, left-handed opening batsmen are a rare treat and ones to savour.

My other blog will be carrying partial live coverage of the Test (in terms of night owls commenting and chatting to their heart's content), but otherwise tune into Sky, or Test Match Special or, of course, Cricinfo.

Will Luke writes for Cricinfo.com and edits The Corridor of Uncertainty

An Englishman in India

Paul Coupar, a colleage and Assistant Editor of The Wisden Cricketer, is kindly blogging for us at Cricinfo on his tour of India. It promises to be a great read, so don't miss out.

Short boundaries and meaty bats

Gideon Haigh

The announcement of the composition of a one-day team is not usually the
subject of much comment.  Someone always seems to be announcing a one-day team somewhere, carefully arbitrating on the quality of one dibbly-dobbly purveyor over another when a game of rock-paper-scissors might be just as definitive.  When Phil Jaques was overlooked for his New South Wales team-mate Simon Katich in Australia’s one-day team for South Africa, however, it was as though Frank Ward had been preferred to Clarrie Grimmett again.

To recap, Jaques got his chance at Docklands last month when Katich was
ruled out by a groin strain; he slathered 94 off 112 balls against South
Africa before giving up his place again.  Then something interesting
happened.  Paul Reiffel once observed that his reputation grew whenever he wasn’t playing; likewise, the long diminuendo of Jaques’ innings seemed to make him a better player each succeeding day.  Incanting Steve Waugh’s soundbite that Jaques could be ‘the new Gilly’ like an election slogan, journalists turned him into Australia’s new one-day saviour and World Cup
secret weapon.  When he did not make the cut for South Africa, it was Mark Waugh’s turn to provide the soundbite for repetition: ‘I think his performances have been outstanding and I think it's a bit of a lame excuse to say his fielding isn't up to scratch’.  Jaques’ reputation will now be further enhanced by Australia’s defeats in the Twenty20 international and the first one-day match in South Africa; at this rate, expect him to be mentioned as a possible CEO of Cricket Australia if the Proteas win the series.

Katich, meanwhile, a thoughtful cricketer who’s known his own selection
misfortunes, is suffering the burden of incumbency, which he’d probably just prefer, although maybe not by much.  His century against Sri Lanka at the Gabba on 15 February was accompanied by one of the most histrionic
celebrations this side of the Oscars.  Sooner or later, I grant you, a
player scoring a century is going to vault the fence and plant a kiss on
every member of his entourage.  But Katich belied the dourness of his
batting by threatening for a moment to become the Mark Latham of Australian cricket; at his emotional press conference afterwards, one half expected him to say: ‘Say anything you like about me.  Just leave my family out of it.’ Except that he brought his family into it, dedicating the innings to them.

This rivalry, however, is more than a selection controversy du jour.  It is a reflection of the direction of the game’s technology and regulation. Jaques is a beneficiary of the era of high-performance bats and ever shorter boundaries. Katich suffers for the same reasons: his métier of finding space
through the field is passing out of fashion because it has become so easy to hit fours and sixes.  The tide of Twenty20, a game set to be populated by clones of Andrew Symonds in which the bowling is reduced to a static mechanism, is set to expedite the trend.  If Jaques is not at the World Cup
next year, he will only have himself to blame; if Katich is not, he probably shouldn’t blame himself too much.

Gideon Haigh is an Australian-based cricket historian and author. He writes for The Age and Cricinfo.com among others

Morning Everyone by Simon Hughes

I wrote this around Christmas for Cricinfo but, for whatever reason, it never reached the site. So rather than have it sit in my inbox of fate (I'm a big I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue fan, so forgive any tenuous references to the gameshow in future posts), I thought I'd stick it up here.

I had eagerly anticipated the release of Simon Hughes' third book. His previous two - A Lot of Hard Yakka (1998) and Yakking Around the World (2001) - were both well received, particularly by this reviewer. He had a lot to live up to. Thankfully, he matches and exceeds both his previous efforts.

While his first two were essentially light-hearted, honest – and invariably hilarious - anecdotes of a life of a county cricketer in the 1980s, Morning Everyone focuses on Hughes' life as a sports journalist, and the Analyst on Channel 4; of hardened hacks, of unremitting subbers and shiny media types. It's unfailingly funny, magnified by his very British self-depreciation (often making mention to his hair, or lack thereof).

As a county bowler in the 1980s, he writes longingly about his dream to accompany Blowers, Johnners, CMJ and others in the exalted territory of the Test Match Special commentary box: "the Holy Grail of broadcasting, from a wannabe's point of view". His arrival on our screens Aside from endeavouring to conquer the world of cricket broadcasting on radio and television, his insights into the people we see on our screens, hear on the radio and read in the newspapers are often scathing but always entertaining. He said of Piers Morgan, the media magnet: "His commitment to a cause is pit-bullish." Mike Atherton's very holy shoes and general fashion sense come in for scornful derision, but it's clear the joke between the two is very much two-way.

The only person not to fall foul of Hughes' mockery is the man who inspired him most – which the book's title, surely, refers to: Richie Benaud. So much has been written of the cream-jacketed doyen, but rarely from the perspective of a colleague. Hughes portrays him as the complete professional, fastidious in his preparation (and indeed enunciation); foremost a cricket addict and junkie, unfailingly helpful and honest. The book is almost a eulogy to Benaud, without a hint of sycophantism either.

After the torrent of Ashes books released since September – 12 at the last count - Morning Everyone is a welcome change. "My name has never sold newspapers," the book starts, "but I've rubbed shoulders with the sportsmen who have." That sentiment neatly surmises not only this book, but Hughes' unshakable enthusiasm and dedication to the game. Not a world-beating bowler, but his average as a writer is improving with every attempt.

Buy it at Amazon

Captain Freddie to the rescue

With Vaughan's dodgy knee letting him down and with Trescothick off on leave for 'personal reasons', Freddie Flintoff has stepped forward as captain.

This is not a development that his captain, Michael Vaughan, thinks is a good idea. In his Ashes biog, 'Calling the Shots', he said that Freddie already does too much and that the extra responsibility would be too much. Vaughan feels that Freddie likes to be one of the lads and enjoys his fun and games. All this, he
suggests, would have to change if Freddie ever became captain.

It won't be easy for Freddie to take over with Vaughan watching over him. As
far as comparisons go, you can't help thinking of Botham and how his game
suffered when he took over the England captaincy.  Now is the time to
protect Freddie. We don't want another star in trouble.

Justin Hunt

Graham Thorpe's autobiography

I was lucky, if that's the correct word, to receive Graham Thorpe's autobiography the other day (there are perks to my job!), and skimmed through it on the train on Friday. I was unfortunate enough to be sitting next to an impossibly large gentleman who spent the three hour journey scribbling numbers on a curled notepad. I never did decipher what he was doing, but in a moment of panic and fantasy, thought perhaps he was a spy for the government.

Anyway, such was my predicament and general lack of space that I settled down to read this book. And what a great disappointment it was.

I should point out that I didn't, and still have yet to, finish the book and I admit that I'm not very well qualified to complain about it. But balderdash to that - I'm going to. While I have a lot of time for him as a batsman and cricketer, I couldn't decide whether this was simply an honest portrayal of his life; an extended therapy session (he suffers from depression) or an attempt to remove several large chips from his shoulder. I don't doubt that what he has been through has ruined him and his life - it has. But I question his reasoning behind publishing it. Worryingly, an extra chapter looks like it's being released in June this year.

Ian Blackwell, the cult

A really interesting article in today's Independant about Ian Blackwell. He's competing with Monty Panesar for a place in England's lineup for the first Test; if anyone doesn't know about Blackwell, he's not what you might describe as an average sportsman. He's larger, rounder and altogether more like the rest of us, as Stephen Brenkley explores.

Size, weight and attitude to one side, he hits the ball thunderously hard; a journalist once described him as a "bull in a china shop," which is perfectly apt, not only for the manner with which he hits a ball, but his overall demeanour.

BSuch is the obsession with professionalism these days, he doesn't quite fit into Duncan Fletcher's ideal. Fletcher's all "keep 'em lean, treat 'em mean," as Blackwell conceded:

"My eye and natural ability had got me so far," he said. "Then you come up and see the Fletcher regime and if you don't comply you're quickly out.

If anything, his inclusion in the tour to India only highlights his talent even more. Anyway, read Brenkley's article. It's rather good and very interesting, including gems such as:

The trouble with Blackwell, the big trouble with Blackwell it might be said, is his size. He simply does not fit the idea, still less the ideal, of the modern professional sportsman. In the field and at the crease, he looks, well not to put too fine a point on the issue, he looks fat. This is his strength as well as his weakness, of course. It makes him one of us, and the fact that his shirt flops out of his trousers as soon as he tucks it in only increases the sense of identification.

Will Luke writes for Cricinfo.com and edits The Corridor of Uncertainty

Owais Shah in line for call up

Following Marcus Trescothick's withdrawal from England's tour of India, it appears Vikram Solanki and Owais Shah are favourites to replace him.

Comically, Shah  too isn't fully fit following knee surgery (in the summer, I think, but I could be wrong). I've followed Shah's career since he captained the Under-19s in the 1990s; he is an extraordinarily talented batsman, although his method has changed a lot since I first saw him. He's become quite crab-like, and there's less of a flourish when he strokes fours.

Alastair Cook joined James Anderson as cover for England's beleagured squad. Cook was the bloke who smashed a double hundred for Essex against Australia in a tour game last summer. Now he is exceptionally well thought of, particular by Graham Gooch who knows a thing or two about opening the innings (and batting in general).

Depressing though these injuries are, they nevertheless open up opportunities for other players.

Will Luke writes for Cricinfo.com and edits The Corridor of Uncertainty

From bad to very bad, England lose Trescothick

As if England's situation couldn't be worse, Marcus Trescothick has flown home for family reasons and might miss the Test series.