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?