Ashes to Asses

When fast bowler Graham Dilley made his England debut in the first Ashes test in Perth in 1979, it was a momentous occasion for him. Unfortunately, the gravity of the situation was fatally undermined when he dismissed Aussie batsman, Dennis Lillee, through a catch by fellow teammate, Peter Willey. The scorecard read: "Lillee c Willey b Dilley" i.e., Lillee, caught Willey, bowled Dilley.

Peter Willey is also part of another famous commentary on BBC. During a Test match between the West Indies and England, Michael Holding was to bowl to Willey. The commentator at the time, Brian Johnston, described the action, quite accurately, as "The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey". This would have been a large double entendre as the word "willy" is English slang for a penis. » Continue reading

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Caught and left

On the eve of the semifinal against India in the 2002 Champions Trophy, a girl phoned Makhaya Ntini and asked: "What will you pay for a night with me?" Hopeful of an extra 'spell', Ntini queried, "Why do I need to pay?" In came the reply, "Use your imagination." Their conversation continued, but the night did not materialize as Ntini was unwilling to pay for sex. Eventually, it turned out that the girl was a journalist of the Colombo-based English weekly, The Sunday Leader. » Continue reading

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The Thommo syndrome

Those were days when English pitches were more of jumpin' jacks. And with Jeff Thomson in full throttle, you better keep the ambulance ready. In the 1975 World Cup league match against Sri Lanka at the Oval, Thommo breathed fire and let one down the throat of the stocky Duleep Mendis. In his desperate bid to evade it, Mendis literally head-butted the ball, and was rushed to the hospital. But he was not the lone casualty. His batting-partner and friend Sunil Wettimuny joined him, shortly, all because of Thommo. » Continue reading

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The world of Cricket - facts & figures

• The United Arab Emirates team of 1999 had 14 immigrant players and only the captain was a native of the country.
  
• Brian Lara has scored only two centuries in his 25 World Cup matches. Both were against the same country, South Africa.
  
• Graeme Hick represented Zimbabwe in 1983 and England in the 1992, 1996 and 1999 World Cups.
  
• Old Trafford is the wettest Test venue in the world and hence has been nick-named, 'The Pond'.
  
• The Melbourne Cricket Club is the home venue for the Victorian Bushrangers and was a US Air Force base during World War II.
  
• Nathan Astle, a top-order batsman, has the dubious record of having gone duck the most number of occasions in the World Cup - Five times.
  
• If any member of Kingston Cricket Club in Sabina Park, an all-male cricket club, names a woman on club premises, he will have to buy drinks for everyone present.
  
• Jason Gillespie is Australia's first acknowledged aboriginal Test cricketer.
  
• Chetan Sharma is the first to take a hat-trick in a World Cup.
  
• Photographer Patrick Eager's lens has covered nearly 300 Test matches, 94 Ashes clashes and every World Cup.
  

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Pigeon love!

Australians are better known for their swagger and their ruthless tenacity to finish off their opposition. But they have a humane side, too. In the inaugural super-six match between Australia and India at the Oval in 1999, two pigeons were struck by the ball and died on the spot. Medium pacer Paul Reiffel immediately took one of the birds to a steward and ensured that it got a decent funeral. » Continue reading

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Catch Champion

Ricky Ponting stretches high to his left to catch Iain O'Brien.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting took 18 catches and set the record for the highest number of catches in the World Cup. Of the 18, 11 were taken in World Cup 2003 alone, gaining him the record for the most number of catches taken in a tournament. » Continue reading

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Bowling genius

The record number of wickets taken in the World Cup is 55, by Wasim Akram of Pakistan. The best figure by a bowler is Australian Glenn McGrath's, 7 for 15, against Namibia at Potchefstroom in 2003. Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka collected the maximum wickets in a tournament-23 in World Cup 2003. In 1983, The Oval witnessed the most runs conceded by a bowler-105 in 12 overs by Martin Snedden of New Zealand, against England. » Continue reading

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The run for runs

The record for most runs in a World Cup career goes to Sachin Tendulkar of India for his 1,732 runs. He also holds the record for the highest number of runs in a World Cup-673 in World Cup 2003. The highest score ever in a World Cup match is 188 not out by Gary Kirsten of South Africa, against the United Arab Emirates at Rawalpindi, Pakistan in 1996. » Continue reading

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West Indies hope for a win at home

Ever since the West Indies stunningly won the ICC Champions Trophy 2004 in England, there has been optimism in the Caribbean that they could be the first host nation to win the World Cup. That optimism did not seem misplaced, as they trounced India and Zimbabwe in consecutive home series and emerged the runner-up in the Champions Trophy 2006 in India.

However, since the Champions Trophy final last October, Brian Lara's side has lost six of its last eight ODIs in separate series in Pakistan and India. Injuries to pivotal players like Ramnaresh Sarwan have also hampered its preparations.

But coach Bennett King is optimistic and believes the limited-overs format suits his side perfectly. "Any team, on its given day, can view the match," he said. He indicated that his focus is to help his side avoid the kind of catastrophic declines which characterized their performance in the Champions Trophy final. "Our bad games tend to be the ones when we don't score over 150. For better sides, their bad games are when they don't score over 250. We need to work towards this. We've been winning ODIs against really strong teams. We've just got to maintain that consistency," said King.

The dispute over contractual terms has subsided. The squad looks settled. Lara, Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo and Corey Collymore have laid the foundation; Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Smith, Denesh ramdin, Ian Bradshaw, Daren Powell and Jerome Taylor have built on it in the last two years. The surprise package is Kieron Pollard, a hard-hitting all-rounder. The 19-year-old Trinidadian made his mark in domestic cricket when he crashed 83 runs off 38 balls against Nevis in the inaugural Standford Twenty20 Cup final in Antigua. he distinguished himself with a century on his first-class debut against league champions Barbados and followed it up with another ton against Leeward Islands. Lendl Simmonos and Devon Smith, too, are quality batsmen. » Continue reading

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The young and old of cricket World Cup

The youngest player to appear in the World Cup was Talha Jubair of Bangladesh. He was 17 years and 70 days old when he faced the West Indies at Benoni, South Africa in 2003. The record for the oldest player goes to Nolan Clarke of The Netherlands. Clarke was a whooping 47 years and 257 days when he fought the Proteas at Rawalpindi, Pakistan in 1996. » Continue reading

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Get stumped with stump phone

What would a cricketer do if he is on tour Down Under and can't get his wife on line to convey an important message, that too on the day of a crucial World Cup match?

Indian wicketkeeper Kiran More was in such a fix during India's 1992 World Cup match against Australia, before he stuck upon a strange instrument called the stump microphone. In between deliveries, his teammates were thunder-struck to see him whisper something to the instrument. Later, he told them that he was conveying a message to his wife, who was watching the match on television, via the microphone. » Continue reading

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