England v India ICC Champions Trophy 2013 FINAL In England, Home Match For Both Teams — How Convenient, How Cynical?

…
..
.by Anura Guruge

Related Posts:
>> India thrashes Sri Lanka — June 20, 2013.
>> South Africa crushed by England — June 19, 2013.
>> Watch Sri Lanka beating Australia — June 17, 2013.
>> England vs. New Zealand — June 16, 2013.
>> India vs. Pakistan (D/L) — June 15, 2013.
++++ Search for ‘DISH’ or ‘cricket’, or check CATEGORY ‘cricket’
for other posts using the sidebar options >>>>>>

I have up until now tried to avoid thinking about match fixing when it comes to cricket.

In that I was kind of helped by the fact that most of the furor took place over a decade when I did not have the time nor the resources (in satellite access) to follow cricket on a daily basis. By then I had stopped my 10 year indulgence of having the London ‘Sunday Times’ air mailed to me each week so that I would have it by Wednesday to read over the weekend. This way, plus the two monthly cricket magazines that I had air-mailed, meant that I was usually only, at worst, 6 days behind on big cricket stories.

An England vs. India final in Birmingham! That is akin to Manchester United playing Manchester City in Manchester. Home ground for both teams.

Well, at least it is not a Lord’s Final. That would have bordered on sacrilegious, a fixed final at Lord’s — THOUGH I now have my doubts about the 1983 Final that West Indies somehow managed to lose. I was there. Yes, I was also there for the very entertaining 1979 Final.

I am not amused. This bothers me.

40% chance of rain in Edgbaston, Birmingham on Sunday, June 23, 2013, for this final. Maybe the cricket gods will intervene, but 40% isn’t that high a percentage for always gray, always dreary Birmingham.