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August 31, 2019  

West Indies’ New 308lbs ‘Rahkeem Cornwall’ Looks Out Of Place In A Test Match.

by Anura Guruge

Click image to access ‘The Cricket Times’ original.

Never heard of him. Saw him for the first time when I watched the highlights of the 1st day of the West Indies vs. India 2nd Test.

Yes, he took the catch for the dismissal of the first Indian wicket. I thought my eyes were deceiving me. Thought he had to be a substitute and even that surprised me. I can’t remember seeing any fat West Indian cricketers. Then he came onto bowl — spin, of course. This guy can’t run.

Yes, he was involved in three wickets — two catches and one as a bowler.

But, this to I is not right. He won’t be able to run! That is not fair on others.

Yes, though his batting was entertaining I always found Afghanistan’s Mohammad Shahzad incongruous. He did not look like a cricketer and that kind of came to be in the last 18-months. He basically couldn’t play cricket.

Yes, I am old enough to remember and to have even seen Colin Milburn. But, that was a different era and Colin was fairly fit.

This guy, however, in my opinion, is the last straw for the still struggling West Indies cricket team. He looks a joke. I am SORRY.

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by Anura Guruge

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August 2, 2019  

Cricket Umpiring, At The Highest Level, Has To Be Revamped — Too Many Outcome-Changing WRONG Decisions.

by Anura Guruge

From ESPN ‘cricinfo’, of course. Click to ENLARGE.

Of course DRS (Decision Review System) has made a HUGE difference, and for that we should all be thankful. I often, watching DRS in action, SHUDDER to think of ALL the bad decisions that must have taken place in cricket over the centuries — all of us having see our fair share, first hand.

There was a time, even up until quite recently, when the ICC ‘Test Panel’ umpires seemed to be doing extremely well, i.e., they had got most of their decisions RIGHT.

But, something has gone wrong recently and, OF COURSE, to the chagrin of all cricket lovers (who adore FAIR PLAY), the outcome of the ICC 2019 World Cup might have been the result of a bad call! And this is what kills me. There were 4 umpires and a match referee. Yes, 4 umpires & a match referee. So, between the FIVE (5) of them they did NOT know the overthrow rule? That is ludicrous.

Then we had the Eng. v Ireland Test and now the 1st Ashes Test. Wow. The number of bad or wrong decisions. Yes, of course, it is DRS that is highlighting these. Without ‘ultraedge’ and ‘ball-tracking’ we would not know what really happened. But, now thanks to technology we do.

We have to change the system for International games, i.e., Tests, ODIs and T20Is. At a minimum ALL out decisions should be checked, if nothing else for no-balls. It is not fair that the no-ball checking is only done for ‘special’ players — sometimes the batsman, often the bowler. But, let’s start by using DRS to make sure that every out is indeed a valid out. Yes, it will add delay but I think we will tolerate that. We now check some outs for no-ball. Just make that apply to all outs, no exceptions.

But, that leaves open, outs that are deemed not-outs. What do we do there? Yes, ideally we would review those too BUT that could get out of hand. Players will appeal for stupid stuff hoping against hope. It will become a time-waster. That is a problem. I do NOT have an answer for that. I am still thinking.

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by Anura Guruge

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

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

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