CricDigs Blogs

1. All other Cricket playing nations should lobby to make a rule that a bowler (specially the kind Mendis is) needs to announce what kind of a delivery he is going to bowl. Just like the bowlers have to tell the Umpire that he is going to bowl right-arm or left-arm and over-the-wicket or round.

2. Change the ball so that somehow the Batsman gets to see clearly the rotations. Of course this changed ball is to be used by Mendis only…

3. Somehow find issues with his bowling action and declare him a chuck(er)

4. As one of the Commentators was saying (and I do not agree with this at all) somehow get him out of the game (hitting the ball hard at him etc etc.)

5. Offer him an early retirement package

6. Offer him Nationality with free health care insurance

7. Take him for some spiritual discourse and get in his head that it is all a waste of time to play Cricket….

8. or Just simply give up and hope that he loses his skills miraculously.

Any other suggestions??????

I have not been able to see a lot of these matches (being on vacation for about 10 days with limited internet access) but quite honestly I just love to see all these teams with a fantastic mixture of international stars playing against each other. No one team seems to have lob-sided advantage. They all have reasonable fire power in batting as well as bowling and we should see a very tight finish for semi-final births towards the end.

It is fun and great site to see Dhoni and Michael Hussey batting together, Ponting and Ishant Sharma playing for the same team, Symonds and Afridi representing the same team, Shane Warne and Graem Smith in a huddle and many many more interesting combinations (including Bhajji smacking Sreesanth ).

I hope to catch more of those matches (may be some live ) and hope that IPL continues to flourish.

It does not get any better than this as far as close & exciting ODI finishes are concerned. Sri Lanka made 235/7 in their allotted 50 overs and West Indies made 236/9 in 50. That is not all though. Chanderpaul hit a Six off the last ball of the match with those many runs required for WI to win. Vass was the bowler, who will remember this for the rest of his life. I guess he can seek Chetan Sharma and form a club.

Chanderpaul has this uncanny talent in him to keep his team in the match and threaten to make impossible things possible. When WI visited India last year, it was Chanderpaul who played a few gutsy knocks to almost create a couple of upsets.

It is matches like these that makes ODI form of Cricket such an exciting thing to follow.

India looked invincible, especially with Ishanth Sharma bowling some fiery spells and Gautham Gambhir smashing the balls to all parts of the ground. Little was expected that Srilanka would beat India. Although it was a rain curtailed match, 195 runs in 29 overs was quite some total to defend. It never would have been easy to notch up 195 in the stipulated overs.

Rohit Sharma played a classy knock to help India post 195 on the board. J’dena’s decision to field to me was the turning point of the match. J’dena assessed the conditions perfectly and realised it was crucial to play the waiting game in a rain shortened match. Chasing 154 in 21 overs is much simpler than chasing 195 in 29 overs. But even this requires, a brisk start upfront. J’surya was due for a knock and it was so obvious that the Lankans were so desperately in need of his aggressive opening knock. Ishanth Sharma was India’s trump card. J’surya had different ideas. Though he contributed just 27 runs, but the rate at which he scored them and the way in which he smashed Sreeshanth to all parts of the ground set up the tone for the Lankans. His explosive knock was instrumental in making things easy for the one’s to follow. Dilshan grabbed his opportunity with both hands and has made a name for himselves. Srilanka registered their first victory of the series.

This victory has not only brought this series alive, but also opened gates for all the three teams to compete. Friday’s match is a crucial one, and so is the sunday’s clash. This seris is shaping really well, and cricket lover’s can expect some real nail biting finishes in the days to come

Though Sri Lanka has a strong ODI team and were the WC finalists last year, I don’t think Indian batsmen tried their best to post a big total in the 29 overs alloted to them. At some point it looked as if Dhoni and Rohit Sharma were still playing the match they had played two days ago against Australia. There was no sense of urgency to pile on as many runs as possible. Their effort looked too well controlled for that situation.

Sachin had provided India with a decent start. I say Sachin because Sehwag seems to be going to back to his last year’s self. The one aggressive shot that he connected ended up costing him the wicket. It looked like a very planned dismissal. To add insult to injury, Jaysuriya hammered Sreesanth for a towering six in the same region.

One example that will describe the “take it easy” attitude would be the fact that after hitting Murali for a Six on the first ball of an over, India managed to make only 2 more runs on the remaining 5 balls. That is just wrong. If you hit a six on the very first ball of an over, at least 11 runs should be scored (one each on the remaining 5 balls). I really think that Dhoni and Rohit still had the hangover from their earlier innings against Australia. There were couple reasons for frustration about that approach. First of all, despite having all these wickets in hand, not enough runs were put up on the board to put any significant pressure on the Lankans and secondly, players like Yuvraj and Uthappa did not get to spend time out there to get some form.

Hopefully, in the next match, Indian team comes out with more passion and energy and last but not the least, the Indian bowlers control their stride and not give all these no-balls and the free-hits that follow them.

Australlia vs Srilanka, sounds a big tie but did end up as a one-sided affair. Australlians were made to toil hard for their runs. 253 was a competitive target, but never really an invincible target. Having restricted the Aussies to 253, the Lankan’s might have fancied their chances. Lots was expected from J’surya, but it was so disappointing to see him lose his wicket in that manner. S’kara is just getting better and better, and his flamboyant strokes in a short lived innings spoke volumes of his callibre. Unfortunately it was just him who’d taken the attack to the Aussies, and all the others failed miserably. It was a tough wicket to bat on, but by no means an unplayable wicket. The lankan batsman, have themselves to blame for everything. Wrong shot selections were the key to their defeats. Very little match practise prior to this game might just have been a reason, but the teams at this level of cricket are expected to be right up there anyday anytime.

It was a dismal batting performance by the Lankans. Its time they seriously have a look at their batting line up, and do the necessary corrections to ensure the team gets better as the series progress. These are early days, but still a serious consideration needs to be put in if Srilanka aspires to make it to the final of this series. Looks to be a daunting task for them, but we know they are pretty competitive lot and they will comeback soon

Well played Aussies. It was nice to see gilchrist playing a well measured knock. It was so unlikely of him to play a sedate innings, but he did what the team required and thats wat matters at the end of the day !!

At their own backyard, Srilankan’s are a formidable team to beat. England would have to play outta their skins to cause an upset. The first test match looked very much a Srilankan victory. Prior & Bell staged a brilliant fight back which almost saved England the test match. Unfortunately for England the magician struck at the closing hours of the test match and won Srilanka the test match.

England team was a lot more confident lot this time around. One could see a big improvement in their batting ranks and no wonder they managed to draw the test match quite convincingly. Well saving a test match was the best possible thing England could think off, because Srilankan’s were too good aswell.

Any chances of England staging a comeback and drawing square this series were totally ruled out with a famous England batting collapse. Scoring 81 runs in less than 31 overs, well there is nothing to write home about. England’s best hope to draw this test match is to pray for rain. Their prayers are working out, and let us wait and watch if it will take them home tomorrow aswell. Looks very unlikely though. Whatever happens, this test series has been a walk round the park for the Srilankans. England has some positives to take off, and a lots of negatives to take off aswell. Hopefully they learn from their mistakes and come back strongly in the years to come !! Good luck England !!

This series started off with a bang. Muthiah Muralitharan became the highest wicket taker in the history of test cricket. He followed that up with a typical 10 wicket haul in the first test match. Sanath Jayasuriya masaccred a brilliant 78 crucial runs and announced his retirement. He signed off test cricket in great style. Kumar Sangakkara showed the world what consistency is all about. He continued his rich vane of form and scored back to back 150+ scores in the first two test matches. Mahela J’dena played a captains knock by following up his 195 with a breathtaking 213*. Chaminda Vaas destroyed the England batting line up and helped Srilanka bundle out the England team for just 81 runs. Vaas followed up this brilliant bowling spell quickly after his calculative 90 in the final test match. Well it has indeed been a brilliant series for Srilanka !!

Mathew Prior struck form with his bat. Mathew Bell is a revelation this series as he has always been. Peterson wasn’t really at his best. Mathew Hoggard started off the test match with a mindboggling spell of swing and seam bowling. Vaughan & Cook played a gutsy knock. England also have some positives to take home and they really missed Andrew Flintoff.

To sum it up, this series has been a real pleasant one to J’dena and boys. They played good cricket and deserve every bit of what they achieved this series. !!

The overall schedule is 4 Tests followed 1 T20 match. Then Sri Lankans join for the Commonwealth Bank (CB) triangular series between India, Australia and Sri Lanka. Heres the schedule and hope to shout with y’all on the match days! The first test starts on the boxing day:

Test 1 - Wed Dec 26th - Sun Dec 30th at Melbourne Cricket Ground
Test 2 - Wed Jan 02nd - Sun Jan 06th at Sydney Cricket Ground
Test 3 - Wed Jan 16th - Sun Jan 20th at W.A.C.A. Ground, Perth
Test 4 - Thu Jan 24th - Mon Jan 28th at Adelaide Oval

Only T20 Day-Night match - Fri Feb 01st at Melbourne Cricket Ground

Then, there will be 11 ODIs played between the 3 teams from Sun Feb 3rd to Fri March 7th.

Let the FUN begin!!!

Ever since Sangakkara handed over his gloves to Prasanna J’dena in test cricket, there’s been a significant difference in his contribution towards the team’s total. If i remember right, not a long time back Sangakkara smashed a scintillating hundred which almost won Srilanka a test match against the Kiwis’. He then repeated the same, this time even better than his last outing. He almost won Srilanka the match against Australlia. Smashing 192 runs, and taking the Lankan total within striking distance really needs a special mention. If it was not for the wrong decision given by the umpire, who knows Sangakkara might have snatched victory for Srilanka from the jaws of defeat. He then follows up that special innings with a mind blowing 92. Srilankan batting line up is crumbling too frequently for comfort. But Sangakkara is now leading by example. He’s performing as consistently as anyone would or can expect him to be. Three marathon innings in the last three test matches. Well Sanga is right there amongst the best players in test cricket. He might not be the best, but he looks like he’s heading towards being the best very soon. Beware other teams