Ashes prediction

Oh as an aside - I meant to briefly make an Ashes prediction...

I was on The Baggy Green reading Ian's thoughts on the Aussie preparation for the upcoming Ashes series. Ian was pointing out how Phil Hughes is walking all over the English county sides scoring runs left, right and centre...

... personal opinion was that Hughes would probably have gotten a better working over playing against the Aussie womens A side or one of the local under 13 teams rather than in county cricket but that's my own thoughts...

Anyway my prediction is that - provided rain doesn't play a role - Australia wins all of the test matches without really raising a sweat.

The only thing that might way on the Aussies is the lack of a decent spinner just to plug up an end. Having said that, maybe Krezja will be handier in pommie conditions rather than on harder SA and Australian pitches...

... if he doesn't work they could probably give Bryce Mcgain and Mick Lewis another callup just to try and balance things out a bit!

Anyway - here are the dates for the five test matches for those who are interested:

Ashes 2009 Test Series
1st Test: Wednesday 8 July – Sunday 12 July (Cardiff)
2nd Test: Thursday 16 July – Monday 20 July (Lords)
3rd Test: Thursday 30 July – Monday 3 August (Edgbaston)
4th Test: Friday 7 August – Tuesday 11 August (Headingley)
5th Test: Thursday 20 August – Monday 24 August (The Oval)

Aaaaahhhh man...

The Delhi Daredevils finally got one over the Deccan Chargers and we had to give up our undefeated record in the IPL...

Pity - we were going like a house on fire!

Unfortunately it would appear that if neither Gibbs nor Gilchrist gets going then there is some frailty in the Deccan Chargers batting line-up and if it hadn't been for some decent hitting from Dwayne Smith it would have been even worse.

A little disappointed that Scott Styris didn't get a run but I guess the obvious question - why tamper with a winning formula.

The IPL is definately capturing people's imaginations at the moment here in South Africa and it's amazing to skim through Facebook to see how many people have planned their long weekend around the IPL games.

Yeah yeah yeah!

Can you say Deccan Chargers baby!!!!

Gibbs and Gilchrist are loving this format of the game and they're just on top of their game -it's great to watch....

We racked up another hard fought win over the Chennai Super Kings today.... A good weekend of cricket for us.

How cool has it been to watch Shane Warne playing!? The standing (if a little uncultured) joke in South Africa is that Warney likes this T20 lark because the two guys who knew how to play him - Hansie Cronje and Jonty Rhodes - one is dead and one has retired...

Moving swiftly along...

Have to put the boot in again as well here... Freddie Flintoff and KP are the two most expensive players in this years IPL if my stats are correct... and they've contributed how much in runs and wickets?!

Not sure either of these guys classify as the top cricketers in the ODI format of the game... but that's just personal opinion and I appreciate that there is more a "celeb" factor when one looks at KP as opposed to cricketing skills.

To be honest

I have to say that despite my reservations about T20 cricket I've actually spent more time following the IPL this year than last year.

Heck I've even got a favourite team (The Deccan Chargers)!

Looking at the crowds as well, its probably been a good boost for SA cricket and tourism so that should have some economic spin-offs as well ...

... and best of all the cricket has been classy!

The Mumbai Indians and the Deccan Chargers are the top two teams in the competition at the moment and they haven't gotten there with crazy slogging cricket.

Gilchrist, Gibbs and Tendulkar have put on some seriously classy batting displays and while its not really a bowlers format of cricket, there have been some good spells as well.

Phil Hughes and county cricket

I wasn't planning to mention an Australian cricketer for the next few months if I could help it, but I was reading Ian's post on The Baggy Green about Phil Hughes and it suddenly got me thinking - "Where the hell was this guy for the ODI series?!"

In all honesty, with Ponting, Clarke and Mike Hussey looking dead on their feet I would have thought that giving Hughes a run with the ODI squad would have been good for him - even if you were planning to mould him as a Test batter.

Apparently Hughes has been cleaning up on the local scene scoring a few runs and has now taken a six-week stint with Middlesex .... errrrr ok.

County Cricket
A few years back it was regarded as beneficial for cricketers to move over to the UK for the English season and get a couple of seasons and a few pound in their pockets.

These days, I'm not totally sure what the point of county cricket is - there is so much international cricket on the go, that the real pros don't really need to go and play a bit of village cricket to get some experience.

The standard of county cricket appears to have deteriorated faster than the standard of English cricket (when one strips out the South African contribution to the team).

Dunno - anyone else think that county cricket isn't all that big a deal?

My pick...

I forgot to post my pick for the IPL - this year it was easy - Adam Gilchrist opening with Herschelle Gibbs - no questions The Deccan Chargers are my team...

Then you have Andrew Symonds and Scot Styris there as all rounders - not too shabby mate!

Darren Lehman as a coach also not too bad...

And so it ends....

... A great summer of cricket finally came to an end with the Australians winning the last game under lights at the Wanderers.

Ian over at The Baggy Green has done a summary of all their results and you just think back to some of the amazing memories that have been created in the last few 5 months and you realise how amazing this series really has been.

• Mitchell Johnson week in and week out have been phenomenal
• Ben Laughlin's heroics on the boundary last night won him plenty of SA fans
• Dale Steyn, JP Duminy and Makhaya Ntini brilliantly saving the second test match
• AB Devilliers winning the first test match for us with his innings
• Bryce Mcgain being carted all over Potch and then getting a chance to do it all over again in the third test match

So many great memories.... I was in one of the boxes at the Wanderers last night and at one point we actually stopped watching the cricket and we just scanned around the ground following the mexican wave and the South African flags and fans in full song.... it was the most amazing live cricketing sight I've seen first-hand...

... To the Aussies and the South African players who have given their all over the last few months I take my hat off to you.... you guys treated us to something we will probably have to wait a long time to see again!

To the fans - you made these guys great and you showed a brilliant respect for the performance - there was no sour grapes when the Aussies put one over us and vice-versa - just a great appreciation of good cricket.

And finally to the umpires - We tip our hats to you for allowing the series to progress so smoothly. We probably won't remember the umpires and their contribution to a great series but for every one who stood in any of our games - THANK YOU - your silent contributions to a phenomenal series is appreciated.

IPL follow-up

Just a quick blog - who is backing who for the IPL this year....? The Knight Riders and the Royals seem to be getting the TV airtime in the marketing locally and I know a couple of my mates have bought into the Knight Rider adverts...

Haven't decided yet but I suppose I should start taking a look around for a team to back.

Cricket fans to experience live IPL cricket action on cell phones

mig33, the largest global mobile community, has launched an innovative service ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament. Cricket fans around the world are now able to meet players and cheerleaders, chat with other cricket fans live during matches, stay up-to-date on the latest news from the¬ir favourite teams and get live ball–by-ball commentary and scores - all in the palms of their hands. At the same time, the mig33 platform offers IPL clubs a unique opportunity to interact and engage directly with their growing fan base in India, South Africa and around the world.

mig33 gives cricket fans a complete social entertainment experience. “Cricket is all about enjoying the match action live with your friends and getting the chance to see your cricket heroes live in action,” says Steve Boom, CEO of mig33.

“The mig33 cricket experience brings the best of the real-world experience to the mobile phone.” At the heart of the mig33 cricket experience lies the Cricket Fan Zone, which brings cricket fans from all over the world together to chat live while “watching” IPL matches on mig33. “Real-world “fan zones” have proven enormously successful in major sporting events like the 2006 FIFA World Cup,” says Boom. “The mobile phone offers the ideal medium for bringing fan zones to the virtual world.” mig33 is also partnering with several IPL clubs, including Bangalore Royal Challengers, Kings XI Punjab, Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils, to create official mobile fan clubs on mig33.

These mobile fan clubs give the clubs’ fans around the world access to team news and announcements, members-only chat rooms, message boards and a team store full of virtual merchandise. The mobile fan clubs also feature virtual cricket stadiums, where fans can take part in live, moderated chats with their favourite cricket stars. Initial live chat schedule so far: 14 April Glenn McGrath (Delhi Daredevils) Daniel Vettori (Delhi Daredevils) 15 April Adam Gilchrist (captain of Deccan Chargers) Bangalore Royal Challengers - 3+ times per week (players, coaches, cheerleaders) Many, many more to come –Schedule being finalized with teams in South Africa South Africans can get in on the IPL excitement by texting “cricket” to 31273, or by logging onto m.mig33.com/cricket on their cell phone.

mig33 is a leading mobile community with more than 18 million users, globally, and several million in South Africa. In over 200 countries, members engage in the chat community, use instant messaging, email, photo sharing, virtual gifting, profiles, as well as cheap calls and SMS. Mig33 is designed to work over 2500 different cellphones, so is not restricted to high end smart phones. Users can take advantage of a mix of free and inexpensive services including VoIP calls, chat and instant messaging, photo sharing and social networking features. Mig33 boasts over 20-million registered users worldwide and over 2.5-million in South Africa.

IPL

With the IPL due to kick off in a couple of days time, I guess the obvious question is - "What are you expecting to get out of it?"


Do you think it is going to live up to the hype of last season? Will it be the same with South African fans and not a gazillion Indian fans cheering every boundary?

Thoughts? Comments?

Johan Botha

I see that Johan Botha has now been reported to the ICC for his bowling action action - specifically his "doosra" and his quicker ball.

Gotta say that I find that highly frustrating as a South African cricket fan. The guy has been through the whole review thing with the ICC and he has taken the corrective action and passed him... how can it be reopened again?

I think that Muralitharan had a similar issue with Darryl Hair not so long ago.

The ICC has ruled - how can an action suddenly be refered again?

It's frustrating - the guy is getting his shot at success after reworking his action and this has to come up again. Hopefully common sense prevails.

4th ODI...

It looks like an amazing atmosphere at St George's Park today - listen to that band and the singing in the background - that's what live sport is about!

For those who don't know, I'm a born and bred Johannesburg boy and unlike most of my countrymen I'm not the biggest fan of Cape Town (Even though I support their domestic rugby and cricket sides) or even Durban....

... But Port Elizabeth - where St Georges is situated - is one of those towns which has grown on me in the last few years. I even spent my last Christmas there - it's a seriously underrated area and the pictures they were showing at the cricket brought back fond memories.

If you are in SA for the IPL then I would recommend Port Elizabeth as a place to base yourself if you are looking for something different.

Anyway some good cricket going on here... Good performances from Gibbs and Devilliers with the bat and now Steyn, VD Merwe and Botha with the ball... Check back here after the result, I want to discuss the benefit of the injection of a couple of spinners into the SA setup.

T20 World Cup

The T20 World Cup 2009 is due to kick off on the 6th of June and I thought it might be a bit of fun to take a look at the various sides and their prospects.

Bearing in mind that T20 is a bit of a lottery and last time around Bangladesh knocked out India and the West Indies incredibly managed to qualify ahead of us on some technicality, the T20 should be a bit of fun.

Group A

• India
• Bangladesh
• Ireland
  

Group B

• Pakistan
• England
• Netherlands

Group C

• Australia
• Sri Lanka
• West Indies

Group D

• New Zealand
• South Africa
• Scotland

There is quite a lot of whingeing about the composition of Group C in particular for obvious reasons and its actually quite interesting because I've put a few bucks down on the West Indies winning the whole thing.... which means ODI specialists Sri Lanka or Australia get knocked out in the first round.

Put some money down on SA as well just to keep things interesting...

Of the sides I reckon those in with a reasonable shout have to be Australia, South Africa, India, New Zealand and the West Indies. I think the rest are really there to make up the numbers.... until Pakistan prove me wrong.

Anybody else out there got any favourites / thoughts for this competition?

Too much cricket?

Well the third ODI between South Africa and Australia is being described as a "Cliffhanger" of a finish in the local media today....

It is great that we've won, but I get the sense that the sides are now just going through the motions. The South Africans are experimenting and giving runs to guys like Parnell and Van Der Merwe which I think is great but maybe 5 ODI's on top of 3 T20's games is just too much cricket.

Like I said on The Baggy Green - Johnson, Ponting, Mike Hussey, Clarke and Haddin have all played an absolute stack of cricket in the last few months and I wonder if maybe they didn't deserve a bit of a break to recharge their batteries.

For us we've been able to call on Parnell, Van Der Merwe, Botha, Gibbs and Albie Morkel who are all relatively fresh which seems to be coming through in our approach to this ODI series.

Everybody can start taking a look toward the T20 world cup after the IPL.

IPL Fantasy League competition

Press release - fantasy league for the IPL in South Africa:

Need we say more about the DLF Indian Premier League twenty20 tournament – India's biggest, brightest and boldest cricket extravaganza! Inaugural champions, the Rajasthan Royals, are determined to defend their title but all teams will have to deal with very different conditions as the second edition of the tournament relocates to South Africa. The tournament kicks off in Cape Town on Saturday 18 April and runs until Sunday 24 May. Selecting your dream team shouldn't be too hard with some of the world's top players on show including Shane Warne, Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chris Gayle and Andrew Flintoff. We also have SA's finest stars in action including Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn and JP Duminy. Enter your team now at www.superdreamteams.com/ipl

There will be some fantastic prizes up for grabs and cricket fans can challenge SuperSport pundits in their own dream team leagues.

Good luck!

Super Dream Teams

www.superdreamteams.com/ipl

Odd

Geez - 131 all out at Centurion Park.... That's unusual for what is arguably the top batting strip in the country.

I have to admit that I was house-hunting and watching hockey today so I didn't watch the game so I'd be intrigued to hear thoughts and views on the game.

How good is it to see Wayne Parnell getting 4 wickets - I think this guy has a great future in SA cricket - we must just make sure he is managed properly.

Scores are level... Check out The Baggy Green to hear what the Aussies have to say on the result.

Best T20 bowler

Jawad and I were having a bit of a chat about the best T20 in the game and I rather grandiosely (is that a real word?) proclaimed that Johan Botha must be the best...

... Decided to take a closer look at some of the bowlers and see what the stats say.

Figure in brackets is number of games - chucked some other names in as well for comparison. Check out Vettori!

Johan Botha - 7 wickets at an average of 25.14 and economy of 5.86 (9)

Daniel Vettori - 21 wickets at an average of 14.28 and economy of 5.35 (14)

Nathan Bracken - 19 wickets at an average of 18.94 and economy of 6.68 (16)

Sohail Tanvir - 9 wickets at an average of 28.33 and economy of 7.08 (10)

Umar Gul - 20 wickets at an average of 12.20 and economy of 5.11 (13)

Shahid Afridi - 19 wickets an an average of 18.47 and economy of 6.10 (15)

hhhhmmmm any other big names that we should add to this list?

Sigh....

A bit of a hiding at Kingsmead last night but I'll be honest - I effectively switched off after I saw that we would be batting second under lights in Durban.

Useful performance from the Aussies though.

I see Ian over at The Baggy Green had some choice comments about the quality of the commentary provided by our local guys. I know it's something I've blogged on as well - South Africans are a mile behind in terms of the quality of our TV producing and commentary accompanying our cricket.

It's something we are going to need to have to work on going forward especially with the IPL coming to SA....

Botha vs. Smith

Well the first full ODI's are here and the tour is headed into the last leg of what has been an awesome summer of cricket.

Lots of runs, wickets, bumps, bruises and of course beers have been for the taking in what will long be remembered as a real clash of the titans.

With the tour winding down, it was interesting to read Ponting's criticism of the decision for Johan Botha to stand down now that Graeme Smith is back. Normally I'm all for the assigned captain to carry through the captaincy duties but Botha's captaincy in Oz and here for the T20 games makes that decision tricky.

His grasp of rotating bowlers in the ODI format is top-notch and you can see he is always thinking about batters and their field positions... and importantly it hasn't dulled his ability to perform with his own bowling.

Maybe a bit of a snub for him? Can you believe that Botha hasn't got an IPL contract?! Geez he's probably the best T20 bowler around at the moment...