confused of calcutta

Cricket: Just getting back into the swing of things after a truly lazy vacation, I noticed that a reader (named Murali!), in a recent comment, asked me what I thought about the recent Indian “collapse” in the first ODI versus Sri Lanka. Once I realised that the match had taken place in Dambulla, I became [...]

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Lazily scanning the cricket scores, I noticed that Yuvraj Singh had hit 13 “sixes” in his 121-ball innings of 172 versus a Sri Lankan XI.

So that got me thinking. Surely that must be a record in 50-over cricket? Then I read on, and found the answer.
Apparently, Yuvraj does not hold the record. Last year, Namibia’s [...]

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[Yes, it's a cricket post. Apologies to those not yet afflicted.]
Twenty20. The IPL. Darrell Hair. Sreesanth, Harbhajan, Collingwood, de Villiers. The Ponting bat. Jelly babies. The Pietersen stroke. Difficult times for cricket lovers? Not really. Aficionados know that the ideals of the game never change: they know what’s cricket and what’s not cricket. Humans are [...]

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First, an apology. I have this thing about cricket, and while some of you may like it, I realise it means nothing to others, and for that I apologise. I guess I tend to write “long tail”, with different posts being of interest to different small groups.
Now cricket people tend to know very little about [...]

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I love cricket. [As if you haven't noticed]. Been a fervent follower of the game for over 40 years, been privileged to watch may great cricketers during that time.
The years haven’t been short of controversy. The first I can remember was the D’Oliviera incident in 1968, when the South African tour was cancelled after Basil [...]

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I grew up in a family where we were intense, almost obsessive, about many strange things. During my mid-to-late teens, I don’t think a day passed without there being a “session” at home. What do I mean by “session”? A gathering of people, numbering greater than 10, all focused on some activity or the other. [...]

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A rushed post before taking off for Heathrow.
It appears that Dhoni scored fifty in today’s match against Sri Lanka. Not surprising. But without a single boundary? Wow. Dhoni? Now that’s a captain’s knock.

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I have the fortune of being able to support two cricket teams, India (where I spent the first half of my life) and England (where I’m spending the second). That means I follow a lot of cricket. [And when the two countries meet, I'm not conflicted. The Tebbit Test has me supporting India when they [...]

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Managed to watch 10 minutes of cricket this morning. And it got me thinking. There are a lot of ex-captains in the Indian team. For sure I have seen Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid, Sehwag and Dhoni each lead the team on different occasions. For all I know Laxman may have led a Test somewhere, but I [...]

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…..Now I’m a believer
Not a trace
Of doubt
In my mind
I’m in love
I’m a believer

 
I’m a Believer. I love that song. Written by Neil Diamond (one of my favourite singer-songwriters, however unfashionable that statement may be) … I hope to see him live this summer, although it won’t rank with seeing Winwood and Clapton play together in [...]

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