Friday, September 10, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Groups A and B - after the dust has settled - 2010 FIFA World Cup
So France is out… at least they scored a goal this time… in 2002 they were out without scoring a goal… and they were defending champions that time… I make a prediction for the 2014 world cup right now itself and for the 2018 one too… France will be a semi-finalist in 2014 but will not make the finals… and in 2018, they will score 2 goals in the group matches and then make their exit… very predictable team… and, in hindsight, was it worth Henri going through that shameful act to get France a place in the World Cup… Life has a great way of squaring all things up, even if the football is spherical…
For those who would like to take another look at the Henri "special", here it is...
And Argentina have won all their group matches… but Messi has not scored… looks like they will lose when he scores… and when I supported Argentina, Brazil were doing well… and now I am with Brazil, these guys do well… very unfair world…
Mexico go through despite losing and South Africa go home in spite of winning… how ironic!!! And hopefully the vuvuzelas now will be left at home too…
South Korea make the next round for the first time when playing outside home turf… some improvement… that’s an achievement when you consider that Greece and Nigeria were the teams eliminated in this pool…
So the next round is Argentina vs. Mexico and Korea vs. Uruguay… looks like this is going to be a South American World Cup after all… some things never change…
For those who would like to take another look at the Henri "special", here it is...
And Argentina have won all their group matches… but Messi has not scored… looks like they will lose when he scores… and when I supported Argentina, Brazil were doing well… and now I am with Brazil, these guys do well… very unfair world…
Mexico go through despite losing and South Africa go home in spite of winning… how ironic!!! And hopefully the vuvuzelas now will be left at home too…
South Korea make the next round for the first time when playing outside home turf… some improvement… that’s an achievement when you consider that Greece and Nigeria were the teams eliminated in this pool…
So the next round is Argentina vs. Mexico and Korea vs. Uruguay… looks like this is going to be a South American World Cup after all… some things never change…
A new place... and a new beginning...
There is a new sense of purpose now - probably sparked by the shift to a new location and its accompanying new emotions - a long stay outside the country prompting me to stay in touch with old friends and the eternal hope that they read this, at least from sheer loyalty.
Two all-time favorite events currently underway - the 2010 FIFA World Cup and Wimbledon, mean that there should not be any dearth of topics to write about. Throw in the fact that the F1 season nicely poised, India is about to play Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup finals and oneis convinced that the moment is right to make a new beginning.
So here I go, in what may be called, in these days of reality televison shows, Season 2 of Greg's Sports Diary. As always, I hope that there will be some frank comments. Read on...
Two all-time favorite events currently underway - the 2010 FIFA World Cup and Wimbledon, mean that there should not be any dearth of topics to write about. Throw in the fact that the F1 season nicely poised, India is about to play Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup finals and oneis convinced that the moment is right to make a new beginning.
So here I go, in what may be called, in these days of reality televison shows, Season 2 of Greg's Sports Diary. As always, I hope that there will be some frank comments. Read on...
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Champions League T20 - The Final Showdown - Flair Versus Professionalism
The battle lines are drawn for the finals of the inaugural Champions League T20 - it is going to be the flair and natural attacking game of the Caribbean team versus the disciplined and strategic professionalism of the team from Down Under.
The momentum and the crowds, the bookies and even the Gods seem to be with the red brigade from Trinidad and Tobago. They have swept all before them, much in the same fashion as the hurricanes in that part of the world. And the boys do seem to be in a hurry, going from strength to strength as the tournament progressed. There is a lot of joy, both in their cricket and for those who have waited a long time to see the Windies style of cricket of the 70s.
The onus of planning for the finals seems to lie entirely on the shoulders of Simon Katich, the NSW Blues captain, as the T&T play their cricket very simply - straight from their heart. Katich's problems start right from the toss - if he wins the toss, should he bat first, relying on the form and power of Warner, while telling Hughes not to go for the singles and to play dot balls if they cannot be hit for a boundary or over the ropes? Surely, the bowling of the T&T side is their weaker link and the initiative gained from the start by attacking this chink in their armour. Or should he choose to bowl first and have Henriques complete his quota on the trot, to avoid a replay of the episode with Pollard? Should he prefer to let the opposing batsmen play a longer innings to give Dwayne Bravo and Pollard fewer balls to smash out of the park? Obviously, butter is out of the day's breakfast menu for the Aussies - you cannot take the chance of having butter-fingered fielders like the Cobras, knowing that the T&T boys prefer the aerial route, as seen from the high number of sixers they hit in their innings. Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Moises Henriques, Doug Bollinger and Nathan Hauritz have been successful in restricting their opponents to small scores, except for the blitz from Pollard, and this might prompt Katich to favour putting the opposition win. But I feel, this is one toss Katich would not mind losing, as T&T have put up the tournaments's highest score when they batted first.
All said, one can expect a real contest on the cards. The stakes are high - David Warner and Phil Hughes may be fancying their chances of overtaking Duminy as the tournaments top scorer; Dwayne Bravo would like to prove he is the leading all rounder and Pollard would like to enhance his reputation. All this is addition to the ultimate prize - the Champion's Trophy.
My take - I would put my money on the Trinidad and Tobago team - they are on a roll, jell well as a team enjoying each other's success, enjoy their game, have adjusted to their adopted home ground with a 100% win record, much to the disbelief of the actual home team, the Deccan Chargers, and they have beaten the NSW Blues once before, so there's nothing to stop them from believing that they can do it again.
The momentum and the crowds, the bookies and even the Gods seem to be with the red brigade from Trinidad and Tobago. They have swept all before them, much in the same fashion as the hurricanes in that part of the world. And the boys do seem to be in a hurry, going from strength to strength as the tournament progressed. There is a lot of joy, both in their cricket and for those who have waited a long time to see the Windies style of cricket of the 70s.
The onus of planning for the finals seems to lie entirely on the shoulders of Simon Katich, the NSW Blues captain, as the T&T play their cricket very simply - straight from their heart. Katich's problems start right from the toss - if he wins the toss, should he bat first, relying on the form and power of Warner, while telling Hughes not to go for the singles and to play dot balls if they cannot be hit for a boundary or over the ropes? Surely, the bowling of the T&T side is their weaker link and the initiative gained from the start by attacking this chink in their armour. Or should he choose to bowl first and have Henriques complete his quota on the trot, to avoid a replay of the episode with Pollard? Should he prefer to let the opposing batsmen play a longer innings to give Dwayne Bravo and Pollard fewer balls to smash out of the park? Obviously, butter is out of the day's breakfast menu for the Aussies - you cannot take the chance of having butter-fingered fielders like the Cobras, knowing that the T&T boys prefer the aerial route, as seen from the high number of sixers they hit in their innings. Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Moises Henriques, Doug Bollinger and Nathan Hauritz have been successful in restricting their opponents to small scores, except for the blitz from Pollard, and this might prompt Katich to favour putting the opposition win. But I feel, this is one toss Katich would not mind losing, as T&T have put up the tournaments's highest score when they batted first.
All said, one can expect a real contest on the cards. The stakes are high - David Warner and Phil Hughes may be fancying their chances of overtaking Duminy as the tournaments top scorer; Dwayne Bravo would like to prove he is the leading all rounder and Pollard would like to enhance his reputation. All this is addition to the ultimate prize - the Champion's Trophy.
My take - I would put my money on the Trinidad and Tobago team - they are on a roll, jell well as a team enjoying each other's success, enjoy their game, have adjusted to their adopted home ground with a 100% win record, much to the disbelief of the actual home team, the Deccan Chargers, and they have beaten the NSW Blues once before, so there's nothing to stop them from believing that they can do it again.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Champions League T20 - Know the Teams - Trinidad & Tobago
Brian Charles Lara played for the Trinidad & Tobago team in the Caribbean domestic matches. With that one statement, one can conclude the introduction to this team. But let's say more - the team has 2 pairs of brothers - Dwayne & Darren Bravo and Daren (the captain) & Sherwin Ganga. Dwayne Bravo has come to be the face of West Indian cricket in recent times - he is always in the thick of the action, be it batting, bowling or fielding, as seen from his performance in the IPL-2 and the T20 World Cup. The Stanford 20/20 Cup was established in 2006 and Trinidad & Tobago have an impressive record in the 2 seasons it was held. They lost the finals to Guyana in 2006 but cantered to a comfortable win in 2008 against Jamaica, to earn the right to represent the Windies in the Champions League.
Match Record:
Matches Played - 12
Matches Won - 8
Matches Lost - 3
No Result - 1
Players to watch out for:
Batsmen -
William Perkins, Daren Ganga, Denesh Ramdin & Kieron Pollard
Bowlers -
Dave Mohammed, Samuel Badree, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo
Match Record:
Matches Played - 12
Matches Won - 8
Matches Lost - 3
No Result - 1
Players to watch out for:
Batsmen -
William Perkins, Daren Ganga, Denesh Ramdin & Kieron Pollard
Bowlers -
Dave Mohammed, Samuel Badree, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo
Champions League T20 - Know the Teams - Wayamba Elevens
Wayamba in Sinhalese is North West and it is therefore no surprise that the Wayamba Elevens represent the North West Province in Sri Lankan domestic cricket, the local championship now being called The Inter-Provincial Twenty20 Tournament. Five teams participate in the domestic tournament, instituted in 2004-05. In the 2009 season finals, Wayamba beat Basnahira South to qualify for the Champions League as the lone team from the Emerald Isle.
Match Record:
Matches Played - 14
Matches Won - 11
Matches Lost - 2
No Result - 1
Players to watch out for:
Batsmen -
Mahela Jayawardene, the current Lankan captain, is the leading batsman for the team and has the experience and ability to be counted among the best; batsmen Jehan Mubarak , the captain of this side, Michael Vandort and all rounders Farveez Maharoof, K Lokuarachchi have played international cricket and are handy with the bat, while Mahela Udawatte is considered to be a promising talent.
Bowlers -
Ajantha Mendis, the mystery bowler, leads the attack and should be a thorn in the flesh of the sides that traditionally have a problem dealing with spinners; Rangana Herath lends variety to the attack with his left arm spin; K Lokuarachchi is the leg spinner and the pacers I Amerasinghe, Farveez Maharoof ensure that the bowling attack is well experienced.
Match Record:
Matches Played - 14
Matches Won - 11
Matches Lost - 2
No Result - 1
Players to watch out for:
Batsmen -
Mahela Jayawardene, the current Lankan captain, is the leading batsman for the team and has the experience and ability to be counted among the best; batsmen Jehan Mubarak , the captain of this side, Michael Vandort and all rounders Farveez Maharoof, K Lokuarachchi have played international cricket and are handy with the bat, while Mahela Udawatte is considered to be a promising talent.
Bowlers -
Ajantha Mendis, the mystery bowler, leads the attack and should be a thorn in the flesh of the sides that traditionally have a problem dealing with spinners; Rangana Herath lends variety to the attack with his left arm spin; K Lokuarachchi is the leg spinner and the pacers I Amerasinghe, Farveez Maharoof ensure that the bowling attack is well experienced.
Champions League T20 - Know the Teams - Sussex Sharks
The Sussex Sharks won the 2009 Twenty 20 Cup beating the Somerset Sabres in the finals. Sussex, is supposed to be the birthplace of cricket, but the team had to wait for more than a century to claim their first English County Championship and this success was followed by a couple of more triumphs. Piyush Chawla followed the footsteps of his legendry compatriots Ranjitsinghji and the Nawab of Pataudi, when he was signed to play for the Sharks and Pakistani Yasir Arafat, the only Pakistani to feature in the Champions League T20, followed the example of the charismatic Imran Khan. Dwayne Smith of the West Indies was responsible for the Sharks win in the finals against the Sabres.
Match Record:
Matches Played - 57
Matches Won - 29
Matches Lost - 25
No Result - 3
Players to watch out for:
Batsmen -
Luke Wright, the English international, has a century against his name in this form of the game and can be counted on for some big hitting; Dwayne Smith, the West Indian, can add some Carribean flavour to this English side.
Bowlers -
James Kirtley is the leading wicket taker for this team; Yasir Arafat, all rounders Dwayne Smith and Luke Wright and Indian leg spinner Piyush Chawla provide variety in the bowling department.
Match Record:
Matches Played - 57
Matches Won - 29
Matches Lost - 25
No Result - 3
Players to watch out for:
Batsmen -
Luke Wright, the English international, has a century against his name in this form of the game and can be counted on for some big hitting; Dwayne Smith, the West Indian, can add some Carribean flavour to this English side.
Bowlers -
James Kirtley is the leading wicket taker for this team; Yasir Arafat, all rounders Dwayne Smith and Luke Wright and Indian leg spinner Piyush Chawla provide variety in the bowling department.
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