warne and murali  

Camaraderie off the field!!!

One of the most enduring images of the 2004-05 season would be Shane warne and murali holding each other in the Tsunami Charity dinner held in Colombo. But its sad that a tsunami of such gigantic proportions would bring these old foes together. But its never late and augurs well for Cricket . Lets see how ranatunga reacts to this new found friend of murali!!!

My Favorite pieces of cricket trivia- PART-1

1. Hanif mohammed was runout tragically on 499 while he was gng for a single in a first class match in pakistan.The batsman at the other end when this happened was Abdul Aziz.there is another little known fact abt abdul aziz though .He is the only person whose last innings scoreboard entry read-absent dead. i'm not kidding!!!

2. Who was the Channel Nine commentator who once asked Bradman "Have you something to do with cricket administration?" - It was none other than Tony Grieg during the 1971-72 tour of World XI against Australia.

3. This astonshing cricketer began as a No.11 batsman, but his batting improved to such an extent that he opened the inningswith Hobbs in 1911-12 at Melbourne and shared in a stand of 323.Holds a couple of other records which will probably never bebeaten (can't tell you, otherwise it'll be a giveaway and I've given you too many already ;-) ). Died, aged 95.

Wilfred Rhodes. Rhodes took over 4000 first-class wickets (onlyplayer > 4000) and played his last test, aged 52 years, 165 daysvs. WI (the oldest to do so). His test career lasted for 30 years- another record. Died in Dorset, '73.

4. F.R Spofforth , 14-90 deomolished england, leading to the 'ashes' obituary notice.He also took test cricket's first ever hat-trick.

5. Sid Barnes holds the world record for the most number of wickets in a test series. His 49 wickets from just 4 tests against SA(1913) came at an astonishing average of 10.39.

The most promising performers of 2004.

10 . Jacob Oram -

Who would have thought that this genial goal keeper turned all rounder wound torment the aussies that too in their own backyard. He has gone from strength to strength this year and his performances with both the bat and ball has been splendid to say the least. His stock has risen among his peers and I feel that the replacement for the irrepressible chris cairns has arrived with a BANG.

9. Dwayne Brav0-

Dwayne Bravo is one of the most talented young cricketer to emerge from the carribeans. Like oram, he has been an honest trier with both the bat and ball. He has the brains to become a future west indian captain if nurtured properly.

8 . Virendar Sehwag -
The 309 epic in pakistan was one of the most significant events in Indin cricket. Though his one day form was pathetic and unimpressive, some impressive performances in the Tests has made him one of the top notch performers of 2004. India's fortunes in test matches this year had a similar graph as sehwag's performance with the bat. That makes him special indeed.

7. Irfan Pathan -
Atlast we indians can say that a genuine allrounder has arrived on the big stage to replace the over rated Kapil Dev. His attitude more than his performances makes him a special player and the accolades from another left-arm great Wasim Akram is well deserved . His natural good looks have won him many admirers and the fact that his village in gujarat is free from communal tensions speaks volumes about his personality. BEWARE batsmen all round the world - He is just 19 !!

6. Steve Harmison -
What can I say about this person who scorched the west indian cricket grounds with his sheer speed. His duels with Brian lara this year have been legendary and his opening over to kallis in the recent series in south africa will be definitely one of the greatest fast bowling spells of all time. The only shortcoming he possesses is tht at time he is not focussed and his mind is not fully in the game.

5. Kumara Sangakkara -
There was a time when the ardent supporters of Sri lankan cricket used to question his attitude. But these public perceptions have been been wiped out by his blistering performances both with the bat and the gloves. He can proudly claim that he is now the second best wicket-keeper batsman after Glichrist. His reliablity and dependability has increased a lot and he promises to be a future Sri Lankan Captain. But to be called a great batsamn he has to convert his 60s and 70s into big hundreds.

4. Andrew Srauss -
Move aside David Gower!!Here is a batsman who is as graceful as gower but at the same time not capricious enough to throw away his wickets as gower used to do and bring exasperation all round England. His greatness can be gauged only after he completes atleast 4-5 years of test cricket. But the start has been brilliant.He has scored hundreds against all oppositions and in different conditions. Presenting to u the unique combination of thorpe + gower.

3. Justin Langer -
Scrapper,hardworker call whatever u like but the fact remains that he has been the most consistent performer in test cricket this year. Invariably he scores a big hundred in the first test of any series and that sets the tone for the remaining series. His apetite for big scores can only be challenged by Brian Lara. His attackng intent is always overshadowed by men like ponting and hayden but this year he has emerged as Australia's leading batsman which is as good as a compliment anyone would get.

2. Anil Kumble -
U have to idolize this man for the sheer effort he puts in no matter what the circumstances are. His overtaking of Kapil Dev in terms of the number of wickets taken in test cricket is one of the greatest achievements of Indian cricket and he has won more matches for india than gavaskar n kapil put together. This particular piece of statistic proves that he has been india's best match winner after tendulkar. His spell in sydney cruelly came close in spoiling Steve waugh's farewell. one can say with full conviction that whatever India achieved in the Test arena in the past decade has been due to kumble !!

1. Andrew Flintoff -
Freddie,the entertainer has brought the crowds back to the english cricket grounds. Soon people would be flocking all around the world just to catch a glimpse of this genius cricketer just like what people used to do some 15 years back with a 17 year old boy called Sachin Tendulkar. His ascent to the top has been rapid and he can claim that he has successfully dethroned Kallis , who has been not bowling of late , as the number one allrounder in the world. He is lethal with the old ball, dangerous with the bat and reliable with his catching. He can demoralize anyone with his batting, bowling and fielding and he epitomizes what cricket is all about - ENTERTAINMENT.