Cover Points - All Comments

re: Symonds fishing for respect

dcsiva — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:05:57 GMT

Hey namya,

We're probably in agreement with each other.

I think that Symonds has a problem (whether it's psychological or not, I can't say) and that he needs a lot of help.

The real question is who is going to give him that help?

re: Symonds fishing for respect

namya — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:41:38 GMT

DC,

What do you mean by 'respect'? Linking indiscipline to some unrelated event in the past is complete hogwash. Is Roy a time traveller who knew how CA would treat him in the future 'monkeygate' and hence got drunk at Cardiff? His past indiscretions are well documented and I will not reinvent the wheel.

I would argue that Bhajji slapped Sree bcos he never sent him a support letter during 'monkey gate'.. And he harboured a grouse.. I have no comments to make about Roy's send off but trying to blame an unrelated event for what is basically a psychological problem is a bit extreme no?

Also take a relook at Justice Hansen's verdict and his take on what he would have done even if it were proved that bajji uttered 'those' words.

cheers

re: Symonds fishing for respect

dcsiva — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:40:20 GMT

Ottayan: True enough. But it's also clear that his Board didn't give him much respect over the Bhajji issue, don't you think?

dcretro: I concur. It's an unexplored relationship to be sure. Psychologists have been arguing about the 10,000 hours "rule" for years now. See, for example, this New York Times article:

query.nytimes.com/.../fullpage.html

re: Symonds fishing for respect

dcretro — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:02:08 GMT

While it is to be recognized that sportspersons need to be given their space as practitioners of an art form at the highest level, I think that this view comes from a superficial point of view of sportsmen. The question is, that while talent is an undeniable attribute and plays a large part in an athlete's success, it often undermines the great value that practice and discipline that makes a good/talented sportsperson great. Would the prodigiously gifted Symonds have been the same without discipline and hard work? I don't think so.

re: Symonds fishing for respect

Ottayan — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:01:56 GMT

Your headlines is apt. He is fishing for sympathy.

Pakistan and English reverse swing

Cover Points — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:42:58 GMT

The Champions Trophy has been "postponed" until October next year . There goes the end of non

re: Team ESPN takes on ICC/BCCI?

dcsiva — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:22:08 GMT

Hey Homer,

I meant simply that by continually looking to sell TV rights for as much money as inhumanly possible they are now in quite a pickle with ESPN. They want to play in Pakistan for all the obvious reasons. And SA, England, etc. don't want to play for what are to them equally obvious reasons.

But I think that the main deciding factor has become ESPN and its imperative to recoup its money. The more teams drop out, the more difficult it will become to play in Pakistan (not just now) for purely monetary reasons.

Isn't that a bad thing? It's with the first step that everything went wrong and that's the BCCI's money-centric fault.

re: Team ESPN takes on ICC/BCCI?

Homer — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:28:02 GMT

Will the money-men of the BCCI now finally realise that they're playing with fire here? ESPN won't like losing millions of dollars on broadcasting an event that none of the big nations are playing in, that's for sure. - Huh??

The ICC had mandated the Champions Trophy to be played in Pakistan. The BCCI has not withdrawn its team from participation. The BCCI is not holding the tournament hostage, unlike some other Boards.

So, how is the BCCI playing with fire here?

re: Badri bats

dcsiva — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:28:25 GMT

Thanks for the quote from Raman, openingbat. I really hope that he does well. He seems like a nice enough guy for one thing.

The real problem is that it's simply impossible to tell from domestic performances whether a player has anything like what it takes to do well in international cricket. The gap in standard is huge.

And the gap between club cricket and inter-state is also large which is an even bigger problem considering that domestic cricketers spend most of their time playing the latter.

re: Badri bats

Openingbat — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:01:14 GMT

Thanks must go to Tendulkar whose injury gave Badri his break. Badri has for long deserved a chance and has waited long - too long if you ask some. Losing 5 wickets cheaply turned out good in the end.

In the words of WV Raman "“If anybody deserves it, it’s him. He has been very consistent and it was about time the selectors picked him. Full credit to Badri for hanging on, not getting dispirited, but keeping his head and performing. Temperament has always been his forte and that’s what you need most to succeed at the highest level.”

Raman said Badrinath’s versatility would stand him in good stead. “He has shown he is versatile, doing well in both the long and short forms. And I think the hard grind of the last three years has made him more self-aware about his game. It will only help him, and I hope he gets a few games to show what he is made of.”

BTW, these words are from October 7, 2007 when he was picked (he did not get a chance to play on that tour).

re: Fab Four not over yet

Prabu — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:25:29 GMT

yw Siva and thanks for the quick turnaround. Certainly gives a better idea.I guess someone who wants the "fab four" would now come in and ask you to remove all the minnow test matches claiming only that would show their true worth! :-)

re: Fab Four not over yet

dcsiva — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:56:21 GMT

Edited the images, especially now showing the early averages for each of them correctly... There's no way Ganguly early 10 innings average could have been greater than 100! ;)

Thanks again Prabhu.

re: More Mendis, no Sehwag

dcsiva — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:45:20 GMT

Ah, thanks RB, that explains it. I'm sure that if he really wanted to play there he'd be allowed to. Especially once the novelty wears at the international level.

More importantly, congratulations on the ATP win!

re: More Mendis, no Sehwag

rbopanna — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:20:53 GMT

heard something during live comms that they (SL Board) are trying to protect him!...ie keep the mystery part a real mystery by controlling exposure??

in anycase, will need to re-confirm that story as it seems a bit far-fetched.

re: Fab Four not over yet

dcsiva — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:17:03 GMT

Thanks Prabu. I'll repost the images in a few hours with matching y-scales. The idea was that you should be able to match the four graphs in one view with matching x-scales. But they're way too big (in both scales).

They're all hurting a little. But, yes, Dravid more than the others. He seems to be the sort of guy who'll work twice as hard as anyone else to fix whatever the problem is.