"We arrived at the World Cup in a positive frame of mind," Vaughan told The Guardian. "But unfortunately incidents happened which affected the team. You have to be honest, the 'Fredalo' incident did affect the team. It did affect morale. Suddenly you've got players who have no freedom left. I like to see players enjoy themselves but no one would dare go out after that incident - and you can't create any spirit then."

"I never used the word 'Fredalo'," said Vaughan. "As soon as you mention that, you are pinpointing one person. I'll be having dinner with him in an hour's time. It [the article] has been blown out of all proportion. One word changed the whole context of the article, a word which I didn't say."

"I think it is completely out of order, I think it's despicable, I think it stinks against a guy (Flintoff) who has given blood for England these past three or four years," Cumbes said. "He was the talisman in the Ashes series in 2005...this fella has given blood for England and I think it is appalling he's been treated in this fashion."

Michael Vaughan's claim that he did not use the word "Fredalo" in describing the reasons England under-performed at the World Cup has been contradicted by the newspaper that originally ran the story. The Guardian has posted online an audio excerpt from its interview with Vaughan, proving he did use the term.

The Jamaican police have said they are analysing new information about the death of Bob Woolmer though they refused to comment on reports in the media that Woolmer had died of natural causes.

"Ravi is perfect to coach the team. He is an experienced man and understands the cricketers of the sub continent well," Sidhu said despite the former all rounder having made clear that he would not continue with the job.

In fact, Whatmore's chances had begun to dim after BCCI president Sharad Pawar met the Indian players in Chittagong during the recent Bangladesh series. "It was understood that the players would definitely have a say and that is what has happened as far as inviting Ford is concerned," said the panel member, who did not wish to be named.

It was then that some senior players requested recent interim manager Ravi Shastri to contact Ford, the former South Africa coach. Apparently, Ford's profile of being mild-mannered generally, but a hard taskmaster when it came to fitness, had impressed the Indians.

"As far as his cricketing technique is concerned, I cannot comment on that. But I will love to work with Sehwag (on his state of mind). I think he should relive the memories of his best performances," Agashe told PTI in an exclusive interview.

"When the negative images are disproportionately larger in your mind it puts you into a stressful state and the threat of failure becomes bigger.

The players then tapped into their own network - players from other countries, some old contacts from their time in county cricket in England - and the name of Ford figured prominently. South African cricketers including Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusener and former cricketer Jonty Rhodes had plenty of positive things to say about Ford.

A senior board functionary who does not work out of the Mumbai offices of the BCCI - to where the letter of interest was sent - denied any knowledge of Ford's interest, asking only, "Who is Ford? We have not had any communication with Ford."

However, Niranjan Shah, the board secretary, later confirmed that they had indeed received an application from Ford.

However, while it is tough to predict exactly whom Gavaskar will nominate for the job, no one should be surprised if he goes with a left-field suggestion, perhaps someone like Sri Lanka's Arjuna Ranatunga.

However, Gavaskar, 58, denied any such disapproval and said that his decision with regard to India's next coach would be in keeping with the team's interests. "If I was anti-foreigner, how did Greg Chappell become coach? It was a unanimous decision (in 2005)," he told Mid-Day, a Mumbai-based tabloid.

Venkatesh Prasad believes injuries "cannot be prevented" and a "transparent" rotation policy is the best way to guard against player burnout.

"To put it scientifically, when a fast bowler lands on his backfoot, the momentum created by the run-up and the jump before landing makes him bring down 10 times his body weight. Imagine doing that time and again. So we need to manage the bowlers correctly. We have to monitor the amount of physical fitness and the amount of bowling at the nets he does. It is the coach's job to keep the bowlers fresh. And this is where I think a specialised coach can be handy."

Prasad was of the opinion that good coach was one who went to the root cause of a player's problem. "Causes, not symptoms," he said cryptically. "Let me explain. Suppose a bowler's head is falling away at the time of delivery, you don't need a coach to tell you that. You can see that yourself. But you expect the coach to tell you why it is happening, the cause, and what should be done to rectify it.

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Ajit Wadekar feels that an Indian coach will be best for the team. And his reasons are:

"Personally, I believe because of the Indian culture, psyche and varied backgrounds of the Indian players, they can subconsciously form groups. A foreign coach may not be able to understand the nuances or work ethics as well as an Indian coach," said Wadekar.

I have said it before and I will say it again. I want to understand a few things.

I want to understand in very specific details, what do people mean by "Indian culture". With relation to sports, what is Indian culture? How is this culture important in terms of it affecting the victories and losses? What does Wadekar mean when he says that a foreigner will not understand Indian culture. Surely, a foreigner will not be an Indian. Surely he will not understand the Marathi way of living or southern way of living or Bengali way of living. But does it matter? Every sport has some requirements from the players. Every coach is obligated to make sure that the players meet those requirements. How can culture play a part in this? Did John Wright know Bengali culture? I don't think so. Still, he got good results. Did Kapil Dev know Marathi culture? Surely, he knew about it more that John Wright. Still he was the biggest failure as a coach. What is the guarantee that knowing Indian culture will give ANY coach an advantage over another one, doesn't know anything about it?

I want to understand in very specific details, what do people mean by "psyche". What does Wadekar means when he says that an Indian coach will better understand psyche of Indian players? Acutally, what IS the psyche of Indian players? It is that they don't want to be pushed out of their comfort zones? Is it that they want to be treated as stars or god by the coach, because media and fans treat them like that? It is that they want to do their own things, at their own pace? They want to have their own food habits, their own health habits? First of all, is the psyche of Indian player good for them? This is the most important question, IMO. Will Indian players be better is they are allowed to follow their psyche? If left alone, will they do things that will be good for them, strictly from sports point of view? I don't think so. I feel Indian players need to be told when they are going off-track. They need to be told what the correct tack is. Yes, there is a right way of telling and there is a wrong way. But whatever way you choose, it has nothing to do with the psyche of the player. A coach has to be honest with the players while guiding them. If he tries to understand their psyche, he will not remain honest. He will give in to the fakeness, the pretensions that surround the players.

Then Wadekar talks about work ethics and groupism. He talks about it in a tone that says that, per him, it is okay to form groups and also it is better is the coach follows the work ethics of the players rather then having them follow the ethics that will make them better. This is the biggest drawback of having an Indian coach, if the Indian coach follows what Wadekar preaches. Yes, players speaking same language will stick together. But it is the coach's job to try to bring them all together, say, by having team activities. It is a coach's job to tell them what good work ethics are, and point out the shortcomings of the ethic players currently follow. Saying that an Indian coach will better understand the players work ethics seems like saying that if a player is fat and lazy, the Indian coach will understand why he is fat and lazy. So? What will the coach do with that understanding? Will he try to make him slim and active or will he let the player be as he is, because he understands why the player is fat and lazy? If it is the former, coach doesn't need to know why the player is fat and lazy. He just needs to make him fit. If it is the latter, coach is a misfit in his job.

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Kapil Dev blasts the seniors for preferring a foreigner as coach.

"The players have never worked with Whatmore, how can they recommend his name," a miffed Kapil told news channel Aaj Tak.

He was against the preference for a foreign coach and if the trend continued, he said, "One day, things will be such than Sachin (Tendulkar), VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly will be in contention for the coach's job but would never get it."

Now you see why I get agitated when past greats open their mouths?

1. Dear Kapil, seniors prefer a foreigner, probably, because they remember your stint as Indian coach. Remember it? You were the last Indian coach and your stint was not exactly a trailblazing one (I will be charitable here). So, what is the guarantee of an indian succeding in the job? We have you, Madan Lal etc. for examples.

2. Dear Kapil, seniors prefer a foreigner, probably, because they feel that they can get a John Wright kind of a guy again, who will take the team forward. They might get a Chappell again, but it's a risk worth taking.

3. Dear Kapil, many players had not worked with you too, when you became the coach. So? Should you have not been given the chance, if we go by your logic? Should John Wright have not been given a chance?

4. Dear Kapil, first let Sachin, Rahul, Sourav, Laxman apply for the job and be rejected in favor of a foreigner; then we will talk about it. Talking hypothetically about something that has not happened and whose chances of happening are not bright, is not the right thing to do.

]]>Mon, 04 Jun 2007 20:55:09 +0530found a buyer for the useless Afro-Asian Cup. ESPN-Star has agreed to telecast this series. To refresh the memory, Nimbus has pulled out of telecasting it because most big stars were missing.

While ESPN-Star weren't willing to reveal financial details, it is understood the deal will be significantly lower than the original sum.

Nimbus Sports, which bought the rights for three editions of the tournament, first played in 2005 in South Africa, for $12 million, cited the absence of several big stars in the Asian XI as the reason for pulling the plug.

Is it just me, or is anyone else getting this feeling that BCCI's total grip on cricket in India may be starting to loosen? I mean, first Zee cancels its contract, and then Nimbus pulls out. These things were unimaginable till now. I am wondering what can be the reason for this? Is it the management, or is it the quality of play our team is dishing out?

First thought says, it is the quality. All TV channels can bear the mismanagement of BCCI if they get to telecast good quality cricket. After all, they are all about making money. Second thought says that quality of cricket is ultimately affected by the way cricket is managed. The scheduling of tours, the selection procedures, handling of players and support staff, etc. It all contributes the quality of cricket that the team dishes out.

It's not like this management is doing anything different from the previous ones. The high-handed and nonsensical style of management is the same. Player X, Y, Z were affected by this management, while player A, B, C were affected by previous ones. Names change, style of functioning remain the same.

I guess, unfortunately for this management, the tipping point has come. The cup is now overflowing. Bad blood had been accruing between BCCI and entities it interacts with, for a long time. Fortunately for the previous administrations, India reached WC finals in 2003 and everything was kept under the carpet. Now, with us getting shunted out in the first round of WC2007, the daggers are coming out and the previously quite entities are making their presence felt. I feel these two pullouts may be just a preview of things to come.

The point is, is BCCI sensing the same thing? Will it learn and take corrective measures? Common sense says, it won't. And that's the troubling part.

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Here is another angle (probably the real one) of why Zee pulled out on the IND-SA ODIs in Ireland.

It was Zee's failure to make money off the Kuala Lumpur tri-series last year, and the BCCI's insistence that it share feed with Doordarshan, that finally did it for the deal.

According to sources, Zee lost Rs 50 crore on the Australia-India-West Indies tri-series in Kuala Lumpur last year. "The deal was envisaged as an annual Sharjah-like event that would have a place in the international calendar," a Zee source told HT.

Broadcasters the world over are upset with the I&B Ministry's Sports Broadcasting Bill that makes it mandatory to share feed of all India games with Doordarshan, not just the games in India but also those abroad.

Now, what part of it was not known already? ;) And still, BCCI does not take any steps to find a solution for a problem it is guaranteed to face in future... again.

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Since conspiracy theories are the current taste of the time, here is another angle (this time from unnamed top Zee official) of why Zee pulled out from IND-SA series.

However, unofficially the reason is the lukewarm response of the BCCI to the new cricket league promoted by Zee group.

A top Zee official confirmed this to MiD DAY yesterday. "ICL is the main reason for the pull-out.

The ICL is driving the BCCI to its grave," said the official.

He he he he... Food for thought...

]]>Thu, 31 May 2007 19:30:21 +0530another operation on his ankle, and will not take any part in the ongoing series with WI.

"Andrew Flintoff has undergone rigorous fitness testing over the past two days, most recently 30 minutes of net bowling on Tuesday, but has reacted to the testing with further discomfort in his left ankle," said the ECB's chief medical officer, Dr Nick Peirce.

Well, that's probably one less player to worry about when India goes to England.

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IND-SA ODI series in Ireland is in doubts as BCCI's TV deal with Zee has been now been scrapped.

"We have decided to scrap the deal," Ashish Kaul, senior vice-president of Zee Group, told Press Trust of India. Zee and the BCCI signed a five-year deal worth around US$219 million last year, the terms of which obliged India to play up to 25 "home" ODIs outside the country. The deal was believed to have been scrapped after a meeting yesterday - it is not clear at which side's instigation - and the BCCI are now in discussions with another broadcaster. The Irish board told Cricinfo that a statement will be released soon.

Zee is accusing BCCI for the scrapping, while BCCI, true to its nature, is not saying anything. Instead, they are looking for another channel to catch the bait. On another thought, if the series is indeed scrapped, it could give players some more personal time and probably a longer camp to iron out whatever issues they have.

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Some changes in rules are in the offing, as ICC discusses the use of glue on pitches and ball tampering laws.

The committee has been asked to consider whether, in future, action should be taken against the captain and person responsible for ball tampering or just the person responsible and whether it is necessary to legislate to make it compulsory for umpires to first warn a captain before taking action.

The regulations that allow on-field umpires to consult the TV officials on the subject of clean catches are also likely to come up in the meeting.

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Avinash Iyer questions the logic of sending top fast bowlers to the Afro-Asian tournament, especially with 2 breaking down in Bnagladesh and a packed schedule coming up.

Zaheer has played 43 days of cricket this season and as per India's schedule has roughly 70 more days before the end of the year. Isn't that a lot of work for a fast bowler?

The game is to be held in Bangalore on June 5, while the camp is from June 4-9 in Mysore. So, Sreesanth is set to miss two or three days of the camp to bowl a maximum of four overs in the match.

Niranjan, in his top form, says that matches are more important than practice. This prompts Madan Lal to aptly ask, if that's true then why have camps at all? Pretty intelligent question, this one, but I'm sure Niranjan would have come up with a better one-liner for Madan Lal had some journalist told him what was said. If not Naranjan, Lalit would surely have had something to say, to put Madan Lal in his place. These damn pests....

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On one hand Madan Lal is making comments on how BCCI works, on the other hand he is throwing his name in for being India's coach for the second time.

"I would definitely love to coach India if I am offered the job. I have done it in the past and would love to have another go at it," Madan Lal said here today.

However....

Madan Lal insisted that he would not approach the board with his candidature. "I am not going to approach the board. In fact, I don't have any idea how to go about it. So if they come with the offer, I would definitely extend my service," said the former cricketer, part of "Kapil's Devils" who won the 1983 World Cup

Now, this is plain laguable. He wants to coach but does not want to apply!!! What's more, he says he's doesn't know how to apply!!! We had Jimmy who said he doesn't know how to operate a laptop. What's up with these ex-players applying for coach's job? Why do they feel proud in showing their deficiencies, showing off what they CAN'T do? Is it a matter of pride that Jimmy can't operate a laptop and Madan doesn't know how to apply for coach's job? Does that make them more qualified for the job? On top of that, Madan had been a coach before. Still he doesn't know how to apply? What, he doesn't have the most basic commonsense of writing a letter to BCCI secretary, if he wants to apply?

Geeezz... if this is what we are going to get from ex-player, then better not have them at all.

Continuing on, Madan Lal says this, if Whatmore gets the job:

"He has worked with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and had some success with both the sides. But coaching India would be a different ball game altogether. You have to deal with a different system here. Handling star players and living up to the expectations of India's highly emotional fans would be a daunting task," he explained.

What is this? Under Whatmore, Sri Lanka won WC96. From nobodies, Bangladesh reached super 8 after defeating India. This is "some success" ?? If this is some success, then what is more success? What can be considered more successful, than defeating Australia in WC finals?

So, Whatmore may find it difficult to handle indian stars. Will Madan Lal find it easy? What if a senior star asks him to either Shut Up or tell him what are his (Madan) own achievements as a coach or as a player? Ain't that enough to shut him up for good?

It's comments from nincompoops like him that make me agitated... very agitated.

]]>Wed, 30 May 2007 19:04:41 +0530rained off, in the India-Bangladesh series.

Both the teams practised at the indoor nets today. The weather forecast is nasty: a level-seven warning for winds from the Bay of Bengal has been issued, level ten being considered highly dangerous. Level seven is supposed to be a forecast for high winds and rain and the warning is expected to stay for three to four days. Even if it does stop raining, the groundsmen have a task on hand to get the ground ready for play on Tuesday. It will take at least three to four hours for the sun to single-mindedly beat down for the ground to be fit for play. The groundsmen have already started to worry about the Test due to start on May 18.

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South Africa is offering to host the Zimbabwe-Australia ODI series, after Australia refused to travel to Zimbabwe. However, the series looks unlikely to be played.

South Africa are willing to step in and host a one-day series between Australia and Zimbabwe but the Australian government believes it is "highly unlikely" the games will eventuate.

The Australian government would prefer that the series was cancelled completely and Alexander Downer, Australia's foreign minister, said it would be unpalatable for Zimbabwe to play elsewhere.

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Zee Sports' ICL has denied signing up some famous names for their forthcoming series, however it has signed up some famous ex-players in the administrative capacity.

Zee Sports, who are behind the newly-mooted Indian Cricket League (ICL), has denied the report circulating in media that Brian Lara, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Inzamam-ul-Haq, were signed up for the series.

It was announced that Kapil Dev, Tony Greig - former captains of India and England respectively - Dean Jones, the former Australian batsman, and Kiran More, the former Indian wicketkeeper, would be on the executive board of the ICL. Kapil was appointed as the chairman of the board.

With Kapil as the Chariman, "Let's Rock & Roll, Boyz"!!!

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In a welcome step, albeit one that is at least a couple decades late, BCCI may make it a policy to take advice from the Meteorological Department, regarding weather conditions, before finalizing tours in the subcontinent.

It seems that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) could soon be playing a major role in deciding the itinerary and schedule of cricket tournaments in India and other countries in the Indian subcontinent.

In the presentation, it was mentioned that the series could have been avoided, as the climate of Bangladesh is generally quite warm and humid during May, with more than 60 per cent probability of occurrence of moderate to severe thunderstorm activity on most days.

This has already happened as the first one dayer on May 10 was interrupted at the very start of the match, restricting it to 47 overs a side. The second ODI on May 12 was again interrupted by rain, and this time, it was made a 49 overs a side match.

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Meanwhile, Uthappa and RP Singh are slated to play in the 3rd ODI, if it is played.

"Zaheer and Sreesanth are not in the 12. RP Singh and Robin Uthappa will play," India captain Rahul Dravid told reporters in Chittagong on Monday.

India captain Rahul Dravid also announced that Uthappa would bat at the number three position, a slot Mahendra Singh Dhoni occupied in the first two ODIs.

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Police in Jamaica is insisting what most know already, that Bob Woolmer was murdered and did not die a natural death.

In the statement, the Jamaican Police dismissed the claim and said such media speculation was likely to cause more distress to the bereaved Woolmer family, besides hampering the probe.

Insisting that Woolmer had been murdered, Jamaican Police spokesman Karl Angell said, "That will remain our position until the results of the investigation are known."

This investigation has become somewhat of a joke to me. How long ago was Woolmer murdered? And he was murdered when his living quarters were under security (tight or lax or whatever). Because of the World Cup, we can assume that all team were monitored and the environments they lived in, in WI, were controlled environments. So I don't understand why is it taking so long for the police to find out who murdered Woolmer? What kind of incompetent, childish, nonsensical investigators are there in that police force? I mean, solve the case already!!!

Some journalist should do a little bit of research in the success ratio of the police there finding the culprits, success ratio of successful prosecution of such culprits based on the evidence provided by police. This will tell us how competent the police there is, and whether they will solve this case AT ALL, or will it become another Natalie Holloway.

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Income Tax department found out that certain Tax benefits given to people like Sachin and Gavaskar were incorrect and resulted in a short taxation by around Rs. 4.42 crore.

In the case of Tendulkar, an audit scrutiny of assessment records revealed that aggregate deduction of Rs 8.89 crore was allowed on foreign currency remittance received by him on account of sports endorsement-- advertisements and publicity activities.

As the income was not derived from the profession of sportsman, allowance of deduction was not in order.

]]>Mon, 14 May 2007 20:00:33 +0530some changes in the Players Contract, regarding remuniration.

The BCCI's latest proposal stipulates a base match fee of Rs. 1.5 lakh [US$ 3700 approx] per ODI and Rs. 2.5 lakh per Test, up from the Rs 1 lakh [US$ 2500 approx] and Rs 2 lakh, respectively, announced after the last working committee meeting and almost the same as under the previous contracts. Moreover, it has not reduced the win and draw bonuses put forward in the new performance-related payment scheme.

Another significant difference is that the BCCI has widened its net of contracted players, currently offering to sign up 22 players with a possibility of others being offered contracts in the future.

Also, now BCCI is saying that players can sign the contracts after returning from Bangladesh tour.

Shah also felt that if the players have some reservations then it would not be possible for them to sign the contracts before they leave for Dhaka.

"They can sign the contracts after returning from the tour of Bangladesh (May 7-29)," he said.

And while we are discussing the BCCI, let me give you one more detail of how it works.

Team India members did not get their payment since the Champions Trophy in October last year. Since then, the cricketers toured South Africa, played home series against West Indies and Sri Lanka before flying to the West Indies for the World Cup without being paid.

BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla sought to play it down and said arrears would be cleared once the contracts are signed by the cricketers.

Well, well.... such are the ways of BCCI.

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John Buchanan turns down an indirect offer to coach the Indian team.

"There was some indirect contact from India," Buchanan said in the Sydney Morning Herald. "But at the moment I am looking for new challenges as a mentor coach, and speaking to Cricket Australia and the Australian Sports Commission about that, as well as a move into corporate coaching."

Meanwhile Niranjan Shah is unaware that such an offer was ever made to Buchanan.

"I don't know anything about any such approach having been made. This is the first time I am hearing about it," Shah said.

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Atul Sondhi, on The HT, gives us 9 reasons why Shastri will be a good coach for the Indian Team. Some may find a few of the reasons hillarious, but read on and enjoy.

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Mid-Day tells us what conditions to expect in Bangladesh and how Indian team plans to tackle them.

Members of Team India, who are at the conditioning camp for the Bangladesh tour, are putting up with extreme conditions in Kolkata. Some trainees like Ranadeb Bose and Munaf Patel fainted or vomited due to the heat.

His predecessor Andrew Leipus predicts tough times. "It's all about matching the levels of hydration and dehydration," said Leipus, whose last tour with the Indian team was in Bangladesh in 2004.

This can be avoided by making the warm-up as efficient as possible. "Just do what you have to do to tune up and get inside," is Leipus's advice.

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Here is an incident that will surprise you. VRV Singh hit a groundsman bang on the knee, while doing fielding practice.

The incident occurred when the Indian cricketers were practising running between the wickets and VRV Singh was fielding.

As the ball struck him, Swain, who was working on the centre wicket, fell and was seen writhing in pain.

Now, this is no laughing matter, but I am surprised that our players actually hit something while throwing the ball. I'm not sure where VRV intended to throw the ball, but more often than not, throws of our players miss just about everything on the ground. I hope the groundsman will recover completely from this mishap and CAB or BCCI will take care of his medical expenses related to this injury. After all, he was injured on the job.
]]>Fri, 04 May 2007 20:44:06 +0530begin negotiations for the Players Contracts.

The players will first meet among themselves to discuss some of the broad concerns they have. Once they have had a chance to do that they will seek a meeting with the BCCI to put forth their reservations. After this is done, the negotiating between the players and the board will begin, as neither side can afford an ugly stand-off. Even after this is done, and both sides agree on the broad terms of the contract, a fresh draft will have to be prepared. Once this is done the players will have to take the contract back to their respective agents and lawyers who will go through the fine print. After this is done, the actual signing can take place.

So, it seems unlikely that all of the above will be completed before the team takes off for Bangladesh. On top of that, there seems to be a couple of points that can be bottlenecks in the discussions:

Firstly, the BCCI's plan to pay the players a flat fee of Rs. 1 lakh (approx US$ 2427) for each match will be a serious bone of contention. With domestic cricketers getting paid Rs. 65,000 per game (approx US$1578), it is felt that the gap between this and what the board proposes to pay the national team per game, is too low.

In the new system that is being proposed by the board this has been further diluted with the BCCI saying that the players' pay would in no way be linked to the top-line of the board. The BCCI contended that they were willing to pay even more than 26%, should the players win more matches.

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Kapil Dev wants Sachin and Sourav to spend some of their free time with the U-17 players at NCA.

He said that he would request the Indian board to allow Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammad Kaif and Irfan Pathan to train with the Under-17 players at the academy. "These cricketers - some of them are going later to Bangladesh and some of them are not going at all - I am sure they have some time to spare for these youngsters at the NCA," he said during the induction ceremony for a fresh batch of Under-17 trainees.

Noble thought, this. Now it remains to be seen in the big two have their heart at the right place or not. After all, with no immediate cricketing commitment in sight, they can surely spare a few days for the youngsters, even if it is for formality's sake. Let's see...

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West Indies board and players are up for yet another showdown.

On April 22, the WICB and WIPA, the players association, failed to agree on the status of the forthcoming tour to England and referred the matter to arbitration.

WIPA believes that the board constantly refused to discuss the matter until the last minute in a deliberate attempt to force players to sign contracts pending the ruling of the arbitrator. This would seem to be supported by evidence that Ken Gordon, the WICB's president, refused to agree to meetings, or even to discuss the matter, for six weeks after board officials had repeatedly indicated that they agreed with WIPA's assessment of the situation.

Every tour since a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two parties last year has gone to arbitration, and in every instance, the players have won.

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Media finds yet another stick to beat ICC over the just finished World Cup. Allegedly, the closing ceremony costed around $750,000. Read the article to get the whole picture, but here is one interesting part:

The cultural presentation, which lasted about 45 minutes, was seen by television audiences for fewer than 15 minutes. Additionally, because of the late start, the extravaganza was viewed by fans at Kensington Oval in relative darkness.

He he he he.... So people in stadium in near darkness viewed a ceremony that costed nearly 3/4 of a million dollars, and TV audience got to see only 15 minutes of the 45-minute ceremony. Niiiiiiccee...

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Dinesh Kaarthick has married Nikita Vanjara today, EST. Poor guy. First, none of his teammates were able to attend as everyone was at the camp. Second, he will have to leave for the Bangladesh tour quickly too, so he won't get to spend enough time with his wife. Well, he and his wife are just beginning to understand the rigors of his potential career as an Indian cricketer.

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Few ex-players have questioned the ICC policy of selecting umpires for important games, like World Cup finals, based on nationality, not ability.

The International Cricket Council has drawn flak from former cricketers Darren Lehmann of Australia and England all rounder Derek Pringle for considering umpires' nationality over their "excellence" in big games like World Cup final.

The duo believe the ICC must move beyond parochialism and mistrust that forced the introduction of "neutral" umpires, who were responsible for the farcical finish to last week's World Cup final.

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Hilarity never ceases to amuse. Police in Kolkata has decided that they will not allow public to watch cricketers practice in the preparation camp. Why? Security.

Local police, along with the Cricket Association of Bengal, have decided not to allow spectators to watch the Indian team train from the stands at their conditioning camp before the tour of Bangladesh. The camp kicks off at the Eden Gardens today.

The authorities want to ensure the camp is incident-free. They are wary of comments being passed by spectators, considering talk about a rift in the team after a disastrous World Cup.

Well, on second thoughts, some reputations precede the people.

]]>Wed, 02 May 2007 19:20:12 +0530says that Woolmer was first drugged, then strangled.

"It now seems certain that as he was being strangled, he'd already been rendered helpless, leaving him unable to fight back," said Adam Parsons, the show's producer. "The specific details of that poison are now very likely to offer a significant lead to finding his murderer."

Rediff reports from the same program, another angle of Woolmer's death.

Recalling an incident, Mir said, "A CD was being played, which was a Tabliqhy CD, and Bob, who was sitting behind me, said 'why don't you tell them to stop? If they want to listen to that they could on their iPods or personal devices', and he thought that he shouldn't be subjected to all that and I agreed with Bob."

Mir's observation that Inzamam-ul Haq and his team mates prayed more and played less irked some quarters back home and the media manager had to flee Pakistan after a fatwah was issued against him.

Mir had no doubt that "there would have been a fatwah against him (Woolmer) as well", had the coach made his observations public.

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Meanwhile, Sarwan has been confirmed as the new West Indies captain.

"I think the selectors felt that his knowledge of the game [went in his favour]," Bruce Aanensen, the WICB chief executive, told windiescricket.com. "They also felt that the opportunities he had to lead the team on the field, they were very impressed with that and those are two very important criteria and I think those mainly were the two things that swung things in his favour. [He also] has the respect of the players."

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Mandira Bedi is finding herself in trouble, by wearing a Sari with Inidan Flag printed on it.

Gyan Prakash, director of Save India Foundation filed the complaint at the Shipra Path police station against the duo saying 'in the sari worn by Mandira Bedi and designed by Puneet Nanda, the tricolour was printed below the knee and was shown as a show piece'.

"It was also not in proportion as prescribed in the Constitution."

Those who want to review the Indian Flag Code, visit this page. From the legal looks of it, Manidra Bedi seem to be in it this time. Here are some of the pertinent excerpts from the Flag Code:

2.1 There shall be no restriction on the display of the National Flag by members of general public, private organizations, educational institutions, etc., except to the extent provided in the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950*

Emblems and Names Act says the following:

Explanation 4. The disrespect to the Indian National Flag means and includes-

(a) a gross affront or indignity offered to the Indian National Flag; or

(b) dipping the Indian National Flag in salute to any person or thing; or

(c) flying the Indian National Flag at half-mast except on occasions on which the Flag is flown at half-mast on public buildings in accordance with the instructions issued by the Government; or

(d) using the Indian National Flag as a drapery in any form whatsoever except in state funerals or armed forces or other para-military forces funerals; or

(e) using the Indian National Flag as a portion of costume or uniform of any description or embroidering or printing it on cushions, handkerchiefs, napkins or any dress material; or

(f) putting any kind of inscription upon the Indian National Flag; or

(g) using the Indian National Flag as a receptacle for receiving, delivering or carrying anything except flower petals before the Indian National Flag is unfurled as part of celebrations on special occasions including the Republic Day or the Independences Day; or

(h) using the Indian National Flag as covering for a statue or a monument or a speaker's desk or a speaker's platform; or

(i) allowing the Indian National Flag to touch the ground or the floor or trail in water intentionally; or

(j) draping the Indian National Flag over the hood, top, and sides or back or on a vehicle, train, boat or an aircraft or any other similar object; or

(k) using the Indian National Flag as a covering for a building; or

(l) intentionally displaying the Indian National Flag with the "saffron" down.

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Okay, here is the REAL reason why India had to exit from World Cup in the first round:

While experts and a majority of cricket lovers are blaming players and the coach for India's first-round exit from the tournament, some prominent astrologers attributed the disastrous performance to 'unfavourable' planetary positions of the cricketers and Chappell.

The planetary position of the cricketers and Chappell did not match and this was one of the main reason for dismal performance of Team India in the World Cup, astrologer Akshay Kumar Sharma said.

There you go. End of discussion.

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5 unknown things about Adam Gilchrist are:

...... oh, my bad. Read this page to know the unknows.

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Niranjan Shah says that players will have to sign new Player Contracts with BCCI, before the Bangladesh tour.

"The drafts of the contracts are already with the players. They will have to sign them before leaving for Bangladesh," BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah told PTI today from London.

The players' contracts have been hanging fire for a long time now because of their reservations over some clauses.

Would have been mighty nice if a little more details of the contents of the new contracts were available (through unnamed sources or sources close to BCCI).

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Who would have thunk it, but the man from not-so down under has been voted as the "Sexiest Man in Cricket" by a Barbados magazine.

They were not good enough with the bat or the ball and now it turns out that the Men in Blue are not good looking enough either to feature in a 'Sexiest Men in Cricket' poll.

Neither did Mahendra Singh Dhoni's long locks, nor Rahul Dravid's charming looks impresse the fans, who, instead, chose Sri Lankan slinger Lasith Malinga for his blond-streaked hair and tattooed arms, in a contest conducted by a Barbados magazine.

]]>Tue, 01 May 2007 23:19:22 +0530chosen once the World Cup ends. Moody and Whatmore seem to be the favorites. Also, BCCI has appointed a 7-member committee to select the next coach. The members of the committee are:

Sharad Pawar, the board president, will head the committee which also includes former captains Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and S Venkataraghavan. N Srinivasan, BCCI treasurer, and MP Pandove, the joint secretary are also members of the committee while Niranjan Shah, the board secretary, will be its convenor.

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Sreesanth may be in trouble for speaking on the issue of Endorsements, and the BCCI cap on them.

"As far as I know, he [Sreesanth] didn't seek permission before speaking to the press," BCCI joint secretary MP Pandove told the Hindustan Times. "I will ask the state association whether he had asked for their permission." Pandove added that the board had never said that the players should not advertise.

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On the neighborhood front, Inzy seems to have fallen out of favor from PCB. He is likely to be dropped from the PAK Test side.

"They believe Inzamam is now over-the-hill and also blame him for Pakistan's humiliating World Cup performance. The Board and the members of the newly-appointed national selection committee believe that it is time Pakistan brought in new faces in a bid to rebuild the squad for the 2011 World Cup to be played in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh," the paper said.

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Bob Woolmer's body will be flown to South Africa today.

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Buchanan is hinting at Michael Clarke becoming the captain after Ricky Ponting.

Australian coach John Buchanan has tipped upcoming young batsman Michael Clarke to become captain after Ricky Ponting's time was up if he made right choices in that direction.

Buchanan, who has worked with Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting in his eight years as the team's coach, said Clarke, nicknamed 'Pup', could be the top dog once Ponting's time was up.

"I see him growing as a person. He is obviously performing pretty well on the field," Buchanan said.

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Khalid A-H Ansari, on Mid-Day, recalls his experience with the members of "Bharat Army".

Unbearably loud, grossly ill mannered and extremely inconsiderate towards fellow-passengers, their incessant chatter, tasteless jokes, discourtesy towards ladies, politically incorrect jokes and racist and sexist remarks do not redound to India's credit.

Despite living abroad — the majority come from Britain — their table manners are execrable and their unabashed jostling as they make a beeline for the food tables embarrassing.

They think nothing of screaming in the ship's corridors late at night and early in the morning to the annoyance of sleeping passengers, and the less said about their toilet hygiene the better.

Hhmmmm... now, most of the things Ansari said would have been done in public; so he was able to watch it. But what about this "toilet hygiene" thing? How did Ansari know anything about the "toilet Hygiene" of Bharat Army? That's interesting. Did he help the drunk Army members in toilet? Did he hide in the restroom and witness something? Did Army members do something in public, related to toilet? I wonder what exactly does he want to say about "toilet hygiene"? He doesn't elaborate on that.

But anyways, if what he says is true then it surely is despicable behavior. On the other hand, he says only the young indulged in such behavior. So, I'm guessing they must be teenagers or 20 - 22 year olds. I am wondering that on a cruise liner, the young would like to enjoy their stay. Right? Of course, discourtesey to ladies, hogging the food etc. are not the right things, but how many young people on a cruise liner would keep quite? Wouldn't they shout, crack jokes, drink, enjoy themselves the way they want to? Which young person would pay a high amount of money to go on a cruise liner and still behave like he was in front on his parents, in his home? I feel Ansari's extreeme criticism is unwarranted. Some acts were wrong, but not all acts were condemnable.

Why make it the India-issue? Were these Indian-origin people the only one who were doing these so-called "bad behavior" things? Were young people of all other nationalities behaving like they were coming straight out of Swiss Finishing Schools?
]]>Thu, 26 Apr 2007 19:34:57 +0530brilliant Cricket Satire on The Outlook.

If these reports prove true, India will have a strong chance of qualifying for entry into the World Cup 2011 in which over 100 nations will participate. It will be a feather in India's cap if our team succeeds in going through the qualifying round to actually participate in the World Cup. Apart from Afghanistan, India will face teams from Congo and Finland in the qualifying round. Bookies have placed odds of 5-11 on India getting through the qualifying round. Only Afghanistan has been given better odds. But if Mr Pawar succeeds in getting top Afghan players to defect, India will emerge as clear favourite.

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Ex-Players think that team for Bangladesh tour should be selected on merit and form, rather than reputation. And it were the ex-players who seemed to think that seniors could not be dropped from the team, after all they have so many runs behind them, they had served the country for so long and with such distinction. Anyways, here is what some of them think:

Madan Lal:

"Indian cricket is at crossroads and there would be lot of pressure on the selectors. They should pick only those players who they think are the future of Indian cricket," Madan Lal told PTI Bhasa.

Kirti Azad:

Asserting that form should be the only yardstick, he said, "They should not select any player who is out of form. Even a player like Sachin Tendulkar should not be made part of the squad if he is not in form."

Navjot Sidhu:

"Will Australia dump all their senior players in such a scenario? Axing all the seniors would be seen as BCCI's attempt to save its skin.

"I strongly feel, we need a balanced side. Such a drastic measure will not serve the purpose. We should think beyond the Bangladesh tour," Sidhu said

Maninder Singh:

"International cricket is altogether a different game. There is lot of pressure on the young players and having senior team-mates helps you learn from them," he argued.

"Selectors should take into account last year's performance and some of the youngsters are good enough to replace a few senior players," he said.

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There is some dope that Tendulkar and Ganguly would find a place in the Bangladesh tour, others may not be as lucky.

The biggest name in Indian cricket - Tendulkar - is expected to be chosen along with another ex-captain Ganguly after having given a satisfactory explanation to the cricket board for his outburst in the media against Chappell.

But some other experienced campaigners, including Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar, would be having a sleepless night.

Ganguly finds support from home turf.

"He has done well in the World Cup. He has scored runs. I cannot see any cricketing logic in keeping him out of the team," CAB president Prasun Mukherjee had said.

"Choosing the squad is the prerogative of the selectors. I'm nobody to comment on selection matters. But definitely all of us in the cab will want him in the team," he said.

Some other new names being circulated are those of Manoj Tewari (Bengal), Rohit Sharma (Mumbai), Ranadeb Bose (Bengal), Gambhir (Delhi), RP Singh.

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Balwinder Singh Sandhu thinks that ODIs against WI and SL, just before World Cup, could have been avoided to prepare better for the Cup.

Well, because if you keep playing highly competitive cricket day in, day out, before an important tournament like World Cup, the hunger is no longer there. It's like people in a village going to attend a wedding where there is sumptuous dinner. Most of them would prefer to remain a bit hungry in order that they can have a full meal at the wedding.

There you go. The punjabi explanation for the loss in World Cup. So, what should have the players done to prepare better?

Well, they should have played more domestic matches among themselves. They should have made plans on what they needed to do in the West Indies to win the World Cup. I mean planning is one of the areas where we may have gone wrong.

Uummm... I think the most basic plan was to bat well, bowl well, and field well. But hey, this is Indian team we are talking about. They need planning for these basic things too. Well, we still lost to Bangladesh. Why?

While Bangladesh had nothing to lose and everything to gain, India had to win the match by all means, being a stronger and more experienced side. It was this pressure of doing something remarkable that did India in against Bangladesh.

What? You serious?

Yes, I think the pressure would not have been so big if India had been playing against Australia, South Africa or any other major team. I am sure we would have done well against any of these teams in that particular context.

Oohhh... Okay... I think we have had enough of the punjabi logic for one day. Thanks.

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Meanwhile, Michael Holding finds something fishy in Sri Lanka resting Vaas and Murali for their game against Australia.

"I think what it does is allow people who know what is happening to get a headstart if they are gambling," Holding was quoted as saying in the Australian media. "I have an account with Betfair and I watch a lot of different markets.

"Before the game started, Australia were 2-1 on. As soon as the toss went to air, when they (Betfair) found out, Australia went to 5-1 on because Muralidharan wasn't playing, Malinga wasn't playing, Vaas wasn't playing," the former fast bowler told an Australian newspaper.

]]>Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:41:56 +0530