cricket

Ottis Gibson: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Ottis Gibson Pitches For Seven-Up

What he said:

“Against this Indian batting line-up, you probably need seven bowlers.”

West Indies coach, Ottis Gibson, is none-too-optimistic about his side’s chances against a strong Indian batting line-up—in familiar Indian conditions.

What he really meant:

“In English, Australian or South African conditions, four bowlers can bowl them out every time.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“We’re going to do that. Seven bowlers, it is.”

Dean Jones: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Dean Jones Gets Over It Finally With Simon Katich’s ‘Help’

What he said:

“In Katich’s last seven innings, he averaged only 29. I averaged over 85 from my last seven hits and he calls himself poorly treated?”

Dean Jones believes that two or more wrongs actually make a right.

The former Australian cricketer and commentator, affectionately referred to as “Professor Deano”, wrote:

Maybe Katich should talk to guys like Tom Moody, Jamie Siddons and Jamie Cox about how they were treated. Then he might think he has been treated better than he first thought.

Brad Hodge has been quite flippant on his non-selection, but it is sad he hasn’t played more for Australia. Unfortunately, that is just the way the cookie crumbles and he has handled this admirably.

Jones’ piece in “The Age” was titled,”Three words of ‘communication’ for Katich: get over it”

Jones added:

Let me tell you from experience it is awful being dropped. I was dropped seven times from the ODI team from 1986 to ’94. I was ranked the No. 1 player in the world by the ICC for four years during that time. I never got any feedback and never wanted it. I realised that no matter what you say, it won’t change their opinion. So why waste the energy? When your captain and coach don’t want you, then it’s time to go. Test cricket was taken away from me and I didn’t just want to play ODI cricket so I retired.

I love Katich as a player and he is a solid bloke. But, really, he is 36 and you don’t have to be Einstein to know that the selectors would pick Hussey and Ponting before him, no matter what he thinks of Clarke. My advice to Katich is to mentor the kids in New South Wales. Let me tell you from experience, he will get a lot of fun out of it!

When your international career is finished, you feel something has died in you. It is hard to deal with. Depression can take over. This is a time when your support network must help you. One day you are in the inner sanctum and you owned the dressing rooms, the next day you’re not allowed back in. It is a gut-wrenching experience and it will take Katich a year or so to get over it.

It took me two years to get over my sacking. I just put all my effort into the Vics. I got a huge amount of fun in helping the likes of Hodge, Elliott, Williams, Harvey and others. There is so much pleasure in helping young kids following their dreams trying to play for Australia. I hope Katich does the same. He still has so much to offer to Australian cricket.

Players of today want more feedback from the selectors. Well that’s OK, as long as they accept the fact they might not like what the selectors have to say! Ultimately, the players must work it out for themselves.

What Dean Jones really should have said:

“Katich, I’m impressed by your oratory. Why waste your time at the crease when I have an open spot for you in the commentary box?”

What Dean Jones definitely didn’t:

“Katich and I are to co-author a book,’A Walk Down Aussie Cricketing History: Selectors’ Foibles and Follies Lovingly Recalled.’”

MS Dhoni: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

MS Dhoni And Wife Sakshi Are ‘Digitally Bound’

What he said:

“Finally everything over for today,press conference,team meeting,match referee meeting so my wife thinks its time for her to eat my head.”

Indian skipper, MS Dhoni, shares the trials and tribulations of attending to spousal duties after discharging his cricketing ones.

Dhoni updated his Twitter page with the above quote.

The next tweet was a gem:

“Me and my wife (Sakshi) in the same room but communicating via twitter.”

Now, you and I know how to communicate with our partners. If it’s good enough for the Indian skipper, it’s good enough for us.

What MS Dhoni really meant:

“I’d rather negotiate the West Indian quicks than an unhappy spouse.”

What MS Dhoni definitely didn’t:

“My wife’s a cannibal and dinner starts from the top. She’s also a Hannibal Lecter fan.”

Shahid Afridi: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Shahid Afridi Will Retire One Final Time—When He Does

What he said:

“The next time I retire will be the last time.”

Shahid Afridi is clear that when he next intends to retire, it will be final.

The former Pakistani skipper announced his conditional retirement following differences with former PCB President Ijaz Butt and then coach Waqar Younis.

Afridi said:

“I stopped playing because of Butt. He has gone now and I am back. I am fit and want to play. The next time I retire will be the last time.”

On the changes in the PCB’s composition:

The new chairman’s impressive. He’s run a lot of companies, so he knows how to manage people and I hope it will be a good change. Butt was poor during his tenure. If you look at the things that happened, it’s clear he didn’t do a good job. I think he needs to have some rest – he is in his seventies – he is an old man.

Zaka Ashraf is the new PCB chairman.

What he really meant:

“Next time, the one after that, and the one after—they’ll all be final, conditionally.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Tomorrow never comes and Butt never goes.”

Alastair Cook: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Alastair Cook Clusters His Excuses

What he said:

“We know you can lose wickets in clusters and we seem to have lost 10 there in a cluster.”

Alastair Cook cannae explain how his team lost their way in a run-chase against Team India in Kolkatta.

England were 129 for no loss chasing India’s 271 for eight only to collapse to 176 all out.

The loss completed a 5-0 rout at the hands of the current World Champions.

What he really meant:

“We got hit by a series of cluster bombs. We term them spinners.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Humpty Dumpty and his men had a great fall.”

Kevin Pietersen: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Kevin Pietersen Says ‘No Bio’ on Graeme Swann’s Cricketing Career

What he said:

“I still do not agree to anyone writing a book in the middle of his career.”

English cricketer Kevin Pietersen makes his moments count.

After guiding Graeme Swann’s T20 side to its only victory on Indian soil in the return series, the South-African born player communicated his views about the off-spinners autobiography.

Swann criticised Pietersen’s leadership in his book, saying he should never have skippered the English side.

What he really meant:

“The chapter named Kevin Pietersen is not yet closed.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Maybe, cricketers should take a cue from the Don (Bradman) and pen one right at the outset.”

India Cricket: Of Young Legs, Heller Pacers and Non-Finicky Squads

The English came, saw and were conquered.

The freshly crowned No.1 Test team were all at sea when it came to negotiating the sub-continent’s slow turners.

A 5-0 trashing might satisfy MS Dhoni and his young brigade ;the true test is to come when Team India tour Australia at the end of the year.

The Indians looked sharp in the field owing to young legs in the side.

A consolation T20 win for Graeme Swann, no little thanks to a belligerent knock by the man he termed not captaincy material in his autobiography, “The Breaks Are Off”—Kevin Pietersen.

The hoi polloi were not impressed; the stands were less than full for the games.

A surfeit of cricket coupled with the dismal surrender in England implies that fans cannot be taken for a ride—surely not all the time.

The squad picked for the first Test in the return series against West Indies at home has three express bowlers, each capable of bowling at 140+ kmph.

Does this mark the dawn of a new era?

Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron are chomping at the bit to have a go and make their mark on the selectors before the crucial tour Down Under.

Harbhajan Singh,however, has been sternly castigated by Krishnamachari Srikkanth and his merry men; he remains out of favour.

Rahul Sharma, Ravindra Ashwin and Praghyan Ojha are the twirlers chosen by the wise men of Indian cricket.

Virender Sehwag returns, Ajinkya Rahane is rewarded for his fine displays and Yuvraj Singh makes it back to the Test side and ‘Grade A’.

Virat Kohli has yet another chance to prove his credentials in the longer format of the game—should he play.

Kohli and Ishant Sharma have moved up in the Indian cricketing world—rewarded with Grade A contracts.

Ashish Nehra is the surprising omission from the list of contracted players. Why is he being punished?

The first Test match is scheduled for November 6, 2011 in Delhi at the Ferozeshah Kotla.

Two spinners and two pace bowlers are par for the course on sub-continent wickets.

Will Dhoni risk a Sehwag without adequate match practice? A similar move did not quite work wonders in English conditions. But then this is home advantage and the Kotla is the Nawab’s home ground.

Can Dhoni leave him out?

The second pace bowler’s spot is a toss-up between Yadav and Aaron—Dhoni’s call.

Rahul Sharma is the least experienced amongst the trundlers. Safe to say, he will not play.

The squad picks itself:

M S Dhoni (capt & wk), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag (Ajinkya Rahane), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav (or Varun Aaron).

Kevin Pietersen: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Kevin Pietersen Wishes He Had Exclusive Copyrights To ‘Palti Hit’

What he said:

"I should’ve taken a patent on that shot… With so many batsmen playing it these days, I would have made a pile from the royalty."

Kevin Pietersen regrets not patenting the “Switch Hit”, a shot in which he switches grips and sides, inverting field placements and befuddling bowlers with his power hitting—equally devastating in his left-handed avatar.

What he really meant:

“The Pepsi commercial doesn’t count, of course.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Definitely easier pickings  than penning an autobiography.”

Graeme Swann: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Graeme Swann Is Not a ‘Character Assassinator’

What he said:

“They would have realised it was not a character assassination.”

Graeme Swann clears the air on the controversy surrounding Kevin Pietersen’s portrayal in his autobiography, “The Breaks Are Off”.

Swann, in his book, dissed the No.4 saying he was not a natural leader and should never have been made skipper.

Swann is skipper of the T20 side and needs Kevin Pietersen to fire on all cylinders to salvage a disastrous ODI tour of India where the visitors were thrashed 5-0.

Swann said:

“My relationship with KP has unchanged. It’s fine. I am afraid people churned out stories that did not exist.”

Swann defended his characterisation of KP:

When I wrote the book it was certainly not a character assassination on anyone. It was certainly not more than myself. So I did not feel the alter the timing of its release.
It was an opinion of mine some years ago. Some people chose that for a headline of me slamming (Pietersen). A few more people could have seen it the way it was and they would have realised it was not a character assassination.

What Graeme Swann really meant:

“And they would have realised that the book is a huge bore.”

What Graeme Swann definitely didn’t:

“Kevin, how about a half-way split of the royalties?”

West Indies Cricket: The Curious Case of Christopher Henry Gayle

The curious case of Christopher Henry Gayle grows stranger by the day.

Here is a man who has two Test triple hundreds under his belt; his ability to scorch opposition bowlers with his big hitting has the best demoralised and he continues to take the  West Indian domestic league, Regional Super 50, by storm.

Middlesex are yet another team that seeks to have the buccaneer in their midst.Gayle is perhaps the most successful free agent in the cricketing realm.

Following the exit of Brian Charles Lara, Gayle dons the mantle of ‘Entertainer’ with typical Calypso swagger . However, he has no place in the current West Indian scheme of things.

His running feud with the West Indian Cricket Board is well-documented. The West Indian Players Association (WIPA) rallied to his defence but to no avail.

Gayle rubbed the high-and-mighty in the corridors of power the wrong way with his damning indictment of their high-handed ways. His displacement from the national side following disagreements with Dr. Ernest Hilaire of the WICB forced him to cast aside the kid gloves and  slam the board’s idiosyncratic ways.

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