Sports : life magnified

If you get a hold of Pundits From Pakistan by Rahul Bhattacharya switch over to the chapters where he describes the enigma of Karachi - the city. Switch over then to the pages which show the atmosphere after the Karachi one dayer in 2004. Jagmohan Dalmiya declares that when India next tours Pakistan, the first test match will be held in Karachi. This after India’s refusal to play in the venue.

Such was the brilliance of the match in which nearly 700 runs were scored in a day, described so aptly in this archived piece by Bhattacharya that I remember I started cheering for Pakistan beyond a point. And when Md. Kaif took that brilliant catch, and every one in Cafe Coffee Day rejoiced, I quickly sank back on my seat.

Now we have England refusing to play a test in Karachi. Samiuddin, who is fast becoming the young voice of Pakistan cricket, voices his anguish. It is more to do with the fact that people, not players, not PCB officials have done any thing when a lot could have actually been done.

My stand is simple. If India and Pakistan can play a one dayer in Karachi some time after Musharaff had life threatening attacks, England has no case. If Pakistan guarantee player safety, England have no case. If specific players wouldn’t like to play in a specific match, in this case a Karachi test for fear of family and self, they can be allowed to opt out but I doubt many England players will try to make a stance in a crucial series in Pakistan like some did in Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe when players opted out, though the scenario was different, and yet the English toured the country, the case brought up against Karachi is unnecessary.

After the controversial disqualification of McEwen in the earlier stage of letour, McEwen made a late spurge to beat Boonen.

BBC Sport reports:

Robbie McEwen claims victory on the line in front of Boonen. The Australian sat behind the Belgian and sprung off his wheel to take the sprint by half a wheel at most. Thor Hushovd was third with Stuarty O’Grady fourth.

The best answer on the face of adversity : Success

Cricinfo has put up this article on cricket and the Olympic games as Lords is likely to be host of the Archery event in 2012.

Apart from the sole Olympic cricket game, 26 first-class cricketers have competed at the Games in other sports.

And the legend of WG Grace has so much more to it:

A teen-aged Grace had actually competed in the National Olympian Games, an early attempt at reviving the Olympics back in 1866. He made a high-speed dash by cab from The Oval to Crystal Palace to win the 440yds hurdles race and dashed back - all while playing for All England against Surrey and apparently with the approval of his captain VE Walker, later to become MCC president.

More on the soley cricket Olympic game was found as I searched the cricinfo archives in this article. I spoke onthe 12 a side games and various side matches being there in cricket in the past and the Olympic game between Great Britan and France, which Great Britan won (scorecard) was a 12 a side game spread over 2 days. The story is amusing as players didnt even know they were taking part in the Olympics!

And so ended the competition. Neither side seemed aware that they had taken part in the Olympics, and the match was only retrospectively formally recognised as being an Olympic contest in 1912, when the International Olympic Committee met to compile the definitive list of all events in the five modern Olympiads up to that point.

Meanwhile, other sports are not new in Lords as cricinfo reports:

Although Lord’s is renowned as the home of cricket, this will not be the first time that it has played host to alternative sports. The ground has rackets and real tennis courts behind the pavilion, while one of Britain’s first running tracks was put in place at the ground in 1837.

A Canadian lacrosse team played an exhibition match at the ground in 1883, while Oxford and Cambridge played their Varsity hockey match on the ground from 1969 to 1991, when the fixture moved to Reading. And even baseball has had a look-in. It hosted the first match on British shores in 1874, and teams from Canada and the USA were frequent visitors until 1914.

Olympics will be held for the first time in Britain since 1948 when London host it in 2012. London won outdoing favourites Paris 54-50 as BBC Sport reports.

Personally I would have liked to be in Paris in 2012 but London is not that bad either. Any way the French Open and Wimbledon being my favourite tennis tournaments in that order, I should have visited the two cities before 2012 in all probability.

See all you sports lovers from around the world in London in 2012 then!

After resisting to write on the subject, I cant stop now.

hahhahahahahahhahahaa

So Gerrard has done a U-turn and has decided to stay at Anfield.

One second.

hhahahahhahahahhahahaha

Okay I am done. About a week back papers and websites speculated Gerrard may leave Anfield. Then they speculated whether Gerrard wont leave Anfield. Then they speculated where Gerrard would go. Then they reported Liverpoll officials saying he wont leave Anfield. Then they reported Gerrard will leave, quoting him. Then they reported Benitez pleading Gerrard to stay through the media.

And now Gerrard, the off season newsprint favourite of the week says he wants to stay after all. The reason?

The 25-year-old told Liverpool he wanted to leave after contract negotiations broke down.

The substitutes bring in many possibilities as I pondered over the thought of how they can be used a few days ago. Most of the arguement against it has been the fact that cricket is traditionally a 11 a side game. But if we look at the history of the sport, there was 12 a side games, 13 a side games, games of all kinds - even 22 vs 11 a side games until uniformity was set in.

We always resist change and thus my conservative view on the substitutes when the law was brought into place.

Derek Pringle, one of the most intellegent cricket writers around, analyzed the situation perfectly in yesterday’s Telegraph UK. I knew it would be relevent soon and thus book marked it.

With football allowing the use of three subs, and basketball allowing entire teams to be replaced, it is surely just a question of time before cricket follows suit now the first breach has been made. With players expected to play and travel more, multiple substitutions could be a way of prolonging careers.

In the next few days, we will see the cricket world analyze how England and Australia used the substitutes in the Natwest Challenge which begines tomorrow. But we will also see more comment from every one on the question of how many can/will be used by cricket in due course. John Buchanan, who always likes to speak on changes which are made on cricket and always excited with new possibilities believes 15 players to be used a game is realistic thing in the future:

At the moment all touring teams travel with parties of 15, so the concept could be that we actually play all 15

Its to be accepted then that one day cricket which has existed since Kerry Packer, for nearly 35 years, is going to change more than ever before in the next two years. Surely the game has evolved in the past (Greatbatch - 1991, Jayasuriya and Kalluwitharana - 1996) but it is a totally different ball game now.

I am happy with my 5 days of test cricket and twenty20 and one day cricket will be taken as masala remixes of the game I call cricket. I have never given much weight to one day cricket and till they dont tinker with tests or encroach into the schedule of test matches(which is my real fear), I have no qualms.

Play 12 a side, play 15 a side, play 30 a side. Its nothing new ICC.

A few former players react on Baloo Gupte’s demise:

Nari Contractor under whom Baloo made his test debut:

Baloo was born at the wrong time when there were others like his own elder brother Subhas. And when he got the chance to play for India, he did not perform well.

Bapu Nadkarni:

He used to turn the ball bigger than Subhas but paled in comparison as far as flight and accuracy were concerned. Baloo was one of those cricketers who underperformed at the Test level.

In Indian Tennis, the WTA supervisor seemed satisfied with the Netaji Indoor Stadium. Telegraph Calcutta also reports Myskina, Petrova and Pierce may come to play. I will definitely have my camera and autograph book ready then!

With the drama and early lead of Lance Armstrong yesterday, stage 5 brings in new excitement. McEwen has announced he will race on as there are just bruises and no bone cracks. So what does the stage look like?

From Cyclingnews.com:

Another of the Tour’s early stages for the sprinters, there are plenty of green jersey points on offer over a stage with only one Cat 4 climb - it’s mostly flat, fast riding… The route sweeps further north and heads closer to its entry into Germany, with plenty to look at throughout the scenic Loir-et-Cher region - not that the riders will have much time for that, as average speeds of around 40-45km/h will prevent most from enjoying the sights.

The stage map can be viewed in the above site as well.

Yahoo has more onChambord and Montargis, the departure and arrival destinations.

It will be another day of the tour where drama is likely to unfold right in front of our eyes. Will Armstrong increase his lead or play it safe? Will Boonen win another stage?

As the day ends, Eurpoe will answer that. From Singapore, will will finally know whether its Paris or London or an outsider who manages to get Olympics 2012 hosting rights. Another momentous day for sport!