It seems that Greame Swann, the English spinner, hasn’t learnt to quit while ahead; else the little bit of fame he has achieved has gone to his head. Other than that there is no reason for him to shoot his mouth off about scrapping the 50 over ODI’s in favour of more T20s and Tests.
Certainly he has no reason to enjoy the 50 over games ever since his team was soundly thrashed by India in India (5-0 of 5 for India)- though England did pummel India in England (3-0 of 5 for England). Even a slap on the wrists by his coach Andy Flower has had no effect.
There is also no doubt that World Cricket, especially the Test playing nations should start giving more importance to Test matches than the ODI or T20 versions. Given the right conditions the Test matches can also be (or be even more) thrilling and nerve wracking than either of its shorter counterparts. The two test matches played over last 10 days are fine examples:
Swann wants the 50 over match to be converted into 40 overs match! WTF? Now we know why he is against 50 over ODI. It is not because of any great anguish for Test cricket, it is just because England is being regularly thrashed in 50 over games. Perhaps Swann thinks that England might do better in 40 over versions as their county games are (till now) of 40 overs. A definite case of sour grapes!
Back home, the man of the moment winning both the ‘man of the match’ and ‘man of the series’ awards was Ravichandran Ashwin, who joined the Bradman Club by playing in the Mumbai Test match, one day after his marriage. Seeing that he took his second ‘man of the match’ award in the match, while scoring a century in the process, it appears that popping the cherry has been good for Ashwin.
;-)
I never knew that the French played Cricket! But there seems to be a few guys trying to …
My Mischievous half murmurs, ‘There may be some ideas to make Test cricket a bit more happening, though Dhoni’s plea for spinning wickets from day one is criminal’.
Certainly he has no reason to enjoy the 50 over games ever since his team was soundly thrashed by India in India (5-0 of 5 for India)- though England did pummel India in England (3-0 of 5 for England). Even a slap on the wrists by his coach Andy Flower has had no effect.
There is also no doubt that World Cricket, especially the Test playing nations should start giving more importance to Test matches than the ODI or T20 versions. Given the right conditions the Test matches can also be (or be even more) thrilling and nerve wracking than either of its shorter counterparts. The two test matches played over last 10 days are fine examples:
- the South Africa vs Australia match in Johannesburg, which saw the highest successful run chase at the Wanderer’s;
- the India vs West Indies in Mumbai, which resulted in the only second test match to end in a draw with scores level.
Swann wants the 50 over match to be converted into 40 overs match! WTF? Now we know why he is against 50 over ODI. It is not because of any great anguish for Test cricket, it is just because England is being regularly thrashed in 50 over games. Perhaps Swann thinks that England might do better in 40 over versions as their county games are (till now) of 40 overs. A definite case of sour grapes!
Back home, the man of the moment winning both the ‘man of the match’ and ‘man of the series’ awards was Ravichandran Ashwin, who joined the Bradman Club by playing in the Mumbai Test match, one day after his marriage. Seeing that he took his second ‘man of the match’ award in the match, while scoring a century in the process, it appears that popping the cherry has been good for Ashwin.
;-)
I never knew that the French played Cricket! But there seems to be a few guys trying to …
My Mischievous half murmurs, ‘There may be some ideas to make Test cricket a bit more happening, though Dhoni’s plea for spinning wickets from day one is criminal’.
No comments:
Post a Comment