I thought about this question after a brief discussion on Uncle J's blog on this particular post . Did, a commenter on the post said "I think the IPL should be renamed the Antipodean Premier League anyways cause it would be twice as $%^ without the backbone provided by the Aussies and Kiwis." And he went on to mention that the Aussies had won 14 MoM awards in 34 games, 4 of the top 10 batsmen were Aussies, as were 2 of the top 10 bowlers. It won't be a surprise if the IPL teams are reliant on Aussies as they are the best cricket players in the world. But are the teams actually reliant on them?  read more »

Kolkata stuttered mid-way through the innings losing Laxmi Shukla almost immediately after Chawla removed Hussey. Saha and Ganguly tried stringing in a partnership, which included a brilliant display of strokeplay from the duo. Saha and Aakash Chopra, however left in a crucial time for Kolkata. Umar Gul and Ganguly, who raised his third IPL fifty, [...]

The in-form man of Indian cricket Sourav Ganguly leads his Kolkata team out against Dravid's Bangalore in the opener of the IPL but who should your money be on?

So the jamboree is upon us. Six weeks of giddy hitting, pumping music and throbbing hype. Any ad breaks will be entirely superfluous as the entire event is one long commercial opportunity, a parade of India's political and sporting wealth and power. Rather like a trip on a new and dangerous roller coaster, many who saw the brochures and thought it would be exciting are now having second thoughts. As we get closer to the thing itself, the sheer scale of the enterprise and the long, long shadow it is starting to cast over cricket is becoming clearer. It could all end in disaster. Then again, it could change cricket forever.  read more »

For the second successive day, the weather played spoilsport and forced Duckworth-Lewis to decide what was shaping into a fascinating contest. This time, Chennai Super Kings were on the right end of the result, as their total of 55 without loss after eight overs, chasing 150, was three runs ahead of the par score when [...]

I have this feeling that England are going to do a South Africa on me. Give me hope by losing the first test to a minnow, and then win the next two games, just to p1ss me off. The England are a strange bunch, with all the foreplay, drug taking and foreigners you would expect something more than what you get. I was happy that they lost the first test, and Im not unhappy they are losing the second, its just that they have given the poor kiwis hope, when there is no hope. If you add Badonkadonk Ryder and Shane Bond to this XI, its almost a test match side, but here, as they lie naked before us, they are a very good first class side. It is unfair to make them feel like they can win, especially when your male models have learnt taught how to bowl.  read more »

Indirectly David Hussey has caused me pain. It wasnt necessarily his fault, but I am unsure as to who else I should blame. This all started with my flaccid attempt to get a thousand signatures on the David Hussey petition . Then Miss Field decided to help it along with a facebook members group. I used face book for about a week a year ago, and never touched it again. But having learnt of the group, I decided to reinvest 5 minutes a week to facebook, possibly 4 minutes more than it deserves. All is well, I got to see a photo of a certain blogger with ice cream on his lip, and the membership of the group is now at 36, ok its not awe inspiring, but its something. Then the one that got away found me on face book. You know the chick whose carries your balls through life in her handbag.  read more »

IPL 2008: Match One: Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders Demolish Bangalore Royal Challengers by 140 runs

Is this the biggest margin in T20?  read more »

Apparently there was cricket being played today that Victoria was not part of. Some of this cricket was played in New Zealand where England played out a benign day to force home their advantage. The game was not deemed important enough to be shown live in Australia. We did get a replay here, and even in a condensed version, this looked very dry. Cook and Strauss grinded, the wing commander for his career, Cook, because he grinds. Vaughn kept playing balls later and later, until he snicked one. KP got run out, which is always funny. But even funnier when its a ricochet off a fast bowlers hand. Bell looked ok in the middle. Collingwood batted with the tail. But guess what, there was a lot of foreplay.  read more »