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July 15, 2019  

Were There Any Royals At Lord’s For The ICC Cricket World Cup — England vs. New Zealand?

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE. The Queen at Lord’s (when she was much younger).

It was THE CRICKET World Cup and England was playing.

But, I did NOT see any Royals on the TV coverage I have watched so far, and I have watched about 4-hours of it, ball-by-ball.

Yes, I saw soon-to-be ex-Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband. That was good and I am glad she was there. A nice way to show your support while having a day off. She sure has earned that right.

I did NOT see the Queen or expect to see her. Yes, she used to visit Lord’s, without fail, for the Saturday of the Lord’s Test Match and I have seen her there often — since I too, given that I lived outside London, used to be a Saturday man.

One or more of the Princes should have been there. They must like cricket. They have to like cricket.

I might have to look into this. I might have to write another letter to the Queen!

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by Anura Guruge

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July 11, 2019  

Jason Roy’s Outrageous Dissent Against Umpire Was NOT Cricket, NOT British — But Kumar Dharmasena Goofed TOO.

by Anura Guruge

Click to access CricInfo original. Google for more.

I watch at least an hour of cricket, on my 47″ TV, nearly every day — year around. So, I, indubitably, have seen a LOT of cricket.

But, what I saw from Jason Roy, I am sure, was unprecedented. I am sure I have never seen such open dissent on an umpiring decision. Yes, I saw the various ball tampering ‘rows’. But, that was not a single batsman, in the middle, complaining about an umpiring decision. This was not cricket. I was surprised. It was also not very British. We are guardians of the game.

He should have been punished more severely. They should have made him miss the final. Doesn’t matter that it was a HORRIBLE, wrong umpiring decision.

Plus, it was NOT like the game was tight. England had basically won and had more than enough wickets in hand.

Kumar Dharmasena has made some real howlers in the past and this was up there. You could tell he looked confused. He also started to raise two-fingers. He probably had forgotten that England had no reviews left. He must have thought the review would sort it out. But, there was no review. But, still NO EXCUSE for such dissent. That is NOT cricket. We can’t let this happen. It will ruin the game.

Click to access my post from 2016.

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by Anura Guruge

June 23, 2019  

Should I — Could I — Be Mad At West Indian Carlos Brathwaite For The Rush Of Blood To His Head?

by Anura Guruge

Click image to access post from 3-years ago when Carlos was THE MAN.

He, Carlos Brathwaite, with his quite brilliant & incredible maiden ODI century had got the asking rate down to BELOW a run-per-ball. They only had one (damn) wicket left.

They had a 7 balls in which to get 6 runs.

Oh, NO!

Carlos goes for the glory shot.

How stupid.

The private school in London I attended, 1969 to 1971, Mill Hill had an astute slang term for such behavior: Munda Logic (literally African logic).

This was classic Munda Logic. He can’t help it. He is programmed as such.

Now, I can empathize, though I as a cricketer was a true midget compared to Carlos’ occasional bouts of being an outworldly giant. Yes, I have swung the bat way too many times when I did not have too. But, I was never playing in the World Cup or in a match that we had to win.

This was so, so, so unnecessary and he knew it AFTER he did it. That is Munda logic. It never occurred to him beforehand.

Well, it would appear that my two favorite teams, South Africa and the West Indies are out of this World Cup.

C’est la vie. Both teams played liked pillocks. I am ashamed on both.

Good world cup. Good matches and more to come.

But, Brathwaite … WHY?

He will have nightmares for weeks to come. And he should.


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by Anura Guruge

June 12, 2019  

2019 Cricket World Cup: English Rain Is Going To Make This World Cup A Mockery.

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE and study here. Link to original below.

Click here for the ORIGINAL.

Three matches rained off ALREADY and they are expecting MORE rain this week — never mind the two weeks ahead.

I gather no other ICC Cricket World Cup had 3 matches abandoned due to rain.

There is one thing that we all know: it RAINS in England. That was a given. Arranging this tournament without a rain-day provision was ludicrous. It is going to distort the rankings and thus make a mockery of the whole World Cup.

Sri Lanka is racking up more points thanks to the rain than they were likely to get by playing these games.

West Indies could suffer.

South Africa is doomed, methinks.

This is CRAZY. I am NOT happy. Plus, I haven’t seen any cricket in 2-day! Yikes. Having withdrawals!

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by Anura Guruge

June 6, 2019  

2019 Cricket World Cup: I Said It Last Week, Will Say It Again, Hashim Amla Is STRUGGLING.

by Anura Guruge

DO NOT get me wrong. I THINK THE WORLD OF Amla. One of the GREATEST cricketers ever.

But, that was then, and this is now and we are in the midst of a World Cup.

He is at sea against pace. His reaction time is shot. I understand. My reaction time, in cricket, always was what Amla’s is now.

Hate to see him struggling. You can see it in his eyes. The twinkle has gone.

DROP HIM.

But, South Africa, after losing 3-games out of 3, is unlikely to get very far in the Cup. So, maybe keep him on. Let this be his swan song. South Africa, I think, are done.

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by Anura Guruge

June 1, 2019  

2019 Cricket World Cup: Sri Lanka Does NOT Disappoint; They Lose As Was Expected.

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE.

Click to ENLARGE. This is worth studying.

Sri Lanka’s 2019 World Cup squad does not look like they are ‘settled’. They seem distracted and preoccupied and the tensions back home, of course, must be playing on their minds. They didn’t look that impressive during the warm-ups and I did not expect them to excel against New Zealand — and they did not. But, even I did not expect them to fold as badly as they did. At one point it looked like they would be all out before they got to 100. Three were out for a duck. Not good.

New Zealand impressed. A 10-wicket win in 16.1 overs. It doesn’t get more emphatic than that. That Sri Lanka could not get a single wicket is quite the indictment.

Another match that finished in under 50-overs. Folks this is NOT T20! It is 50-overs each, 100-overs a match.

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by Anura Guruge

June 1, 2019  

2019 Cricket World Cup: West Indies, Again, Prove That Fast, Short-Pitched Bowling Gets Wickets (& Is EXCITING).

by Anura Guruge

Click to ENLARGE. Ahhh!

Click to ENLARGE. Now those are what I call decent bowling figures.

Click to ENLARGE. Look him up.

Wow, the West Indies showed GLIMPSES of their fast bowling legacy from the 1970s. It was FUN.

I like aggressive, short-pitched bowling. I grew up in that era — and it was also before the DREADED helmets.

Fast, well-directed, short-pitched bowling works, despite the helmets. Pakistan was all at sea, and that should not have been. It was not pretty.

That the WHOLE game lasted less than 50 overs is a crime. Folks paid good money to see the game. But, they got to see some good cricket.

Yesterday, I criticized South Africa’s Ngidi & Rabada for NOT being able to bowl effective short-pitched, throat balls. They bowled like girls. The West Indians showed how it should be done.

I was genuinely excited when I saw that Nicholas Pooran was in the side. I had seen him before and he is quite the talent. This boy can bat.

After a streaky start he showed what he is capable of. Wow. Hope we get to see some even longer innings from him.

Though it was too short for my liking, it was a good match. I enjoyed it. Felt sorry for poor Safraz. His side was totally out-gunner.

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by Anura Guruge

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