"I believe in human stupidity (my own included!) so fervently that I want to shout it out to the world. Look at history. Hell, look at the evening news. We’re surrounded by evidence of our folly, and yet all we do is congratulate ourselves all the time. Our kids spend two decades being educated, and nowhere – nowhere – are they taught anything about themselves, about the cognitive shortcomings that will lead to their divorces and their addictions, to their prejudices and their self-serving delusions. They come out of university not only ignorant of their limitations, their weaknesses, but convinced that they’re tough-minded critical thinkers.
I actually have a bad habit, which I’m sure has alienated many an acquaintance. Whenever someone tells me they’re a critical thinker – and let’s face it, everyone but everyone thinks they’re a critical thinker – I always ask them “How so?” Usually the answer is that they don’t believe everything everyone tells them. They make fun of Mormons, distrust corporations, or disagree with Fox news or some such. But when I point out that no one believes everything everyone tells them, so that can’t be a criterion for being a critical thinker, they get freaked out.
You get lots of valuable procedural knowledge in school, as well as a smattering of dogma, but nowhere – not even in most philosophy programs – are you taught how to think critically. We are hardwired to bullshit ourselves, and that’s a bloody fact Jack. And what are you taught? What does our system drum into your head at every bloody turn?
To believe in yourself! Believe in yourself when all the research shows that you are in fact the least credible person in the room. Though it seems the other way around, we’re actually much better at critiquing the claims and predicting the behaviour of others than we are ourselves. Check out David Dunning’s Self-Insight if you don’t believe me.
Ignorance is invisible, and so long as we remain ignorant of our cognitive shortcomings we will be slaves to them, we will be condemned to repeat all the same mistakes over and over, only with toys and tools that grow ever more powerful."
R. Scott Bakker, excerpt from an interview
Bakker is the author of the "Prince of Nothing" (PoN) fantasy fiction series. Though he's relatively new on the fantasy scene, he's easily one of the best in my opinion. His style is unique amongst fantasy authors because the actual "action", interesting as it is, takes somewhat of a back seat to the philosophical ponderings of the various characters and intricate analyses of their thought processes. The PoN books critically examine weighy issues such as religion, faith, cosmology and human interactions.
Anyway, looking at this particular excerpt, I love the way in which he states his point upfront ("I believe in human stupidity"), then goes on to expound on his argument with clear examples and drives home his point with an ever more powerful re-assertion of the originally stated point. I know that it sounds pretty simple, but try doing it yourself, it is much easier said than done.
The actual issues Bakker raises are also worth considering, particularly the shortcomings of the modern education systems in place around the world today. We are very good at teaching each other technical skills, but very poor at even recognizing the lack of critical thinking and honest self-appraisal in our curriculums. Like Scott says, "They come out of university not only ignorant of their limitations, their weaknesses, but convinced that they’re tough-minded critical thinkers". I especially love the paragraph about the so-called critical thinker acquaintances that Bakker has alienated through his simple but incisive questioning.
The rest of the interview covers various other topics and is well worth a read if you're at all interested in the things already mentioned above...
Friday, 16 May 2008
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
My Top Five
We're just over halfway thru the IPL, so I thought I'd comment about the best players so far in no particular order...
1. Shane Watson
An early prediction for the man of the tournament. His batting, particularly his big hitting, was always going to be a factor in t20 matches, but it is his bowling which has really blossomed under the leadership of Shane Warne. Watson is going to displace Hopes from the Australian ODI team. of this I'm fairly sure based on current form. He has has scored 287 runs at an average of 57 and strike rate of 157, and picked up 12 wickets at a fantastic economy rate of 6.8. Add four man of the match awards to that tally and some brilliant outfielding as well.
2. Shaun Marsh
Perhaps the biggest surprise packet of the tournament. At the outset, he didnt even look like he would get a game in squad which featured Lee, Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Katich and Sarwan. But ever since he was given a chance, he has impressed mightily with 295 runs at 98 from only 5 innings. Another early prediction- its going to be between Marsh and Gambhir for the orange cap award for the leading runscorer in the IPL. Marsh's simple technique with minimal footwork, backlift and flourish has proven extremely effective on Indian wickets. He is limited one feels in terms of shots, but for t20, with its emphasis on boundary hitting, he is a perfect fit. A certainty for the australian odi team in the west indies, as australia really need to blood some young batsmen for the next world cup.
3. Gautam Gambhir
Has been at the top of the run scoring charts ever since the first week of the IPL. He was also India's leading batsman in the t20 world cup last year and has been in immaculate odi form since then. He has scored four fifties in 8 matches and maintained a strike rate in the high 130's quite consistently. His major blemish has been an inability to convert one of his scores into a highly sought-after century. His fielding has also been very sound, whether on the boundary or in the infield. Gambhir and Sehwag have been the best opening pair so far in the tournament, though Hopes and Marsh are closing in.
4. Irfan Pathan
The equal leading wicket taker with 13 wickets at an average of 18 and economy of only 6.50. Once again, he has proven his potency with a swinging white ball. He has attacked the stumps relentlessly and been very difficult to score boundaries off. Not all the best bowlers have managed to consistently take wickets (eg McGrath, Sharma, Steyn) in t20, so Pathan's performance must be doubly appreciated. His batting has not really been required but he has managed a couple of quick lower order cameos. In any other team, we probably would've seen more of Pathan the allrounder.
5. Adam Gilchrist
Second on the runs chart, Gilchrist's ton against Mumbai demonstrated his full t20 potential. Unfortunately, Laxman's injury and the woeful performances by Gibbs, Styris and Afridi have robbed Gilchrist of the batting support he so badly needed. Rohit Sharma has batted exquisitely, but has not batted with Gilchrist enough for it to make a difference for the Deccan Chargers. This season is effectively over for the Chargers, but next season, I expect that Gilchrist will come to India with a point to prove. With a line-up reading Gilchrist, Laxman, Sharma, Symonds, Afridi, I think 2009 will be the year of the Chargers.
1. Shane Watson
An early prediction for the man of the tournament. His batting, particularly his big hitting, was always going to be a factor in t20 matches, but it is his bowling which has really blossomed under the leadership of Shane Warne. Watson is going to displace Hopes from the Australian ODI team. of this I'm fairly sure based on current form. He has has scored 287 runs at an average of 57 and strike rate of 157, and picked up 12 wickets at a fantastic economy rate of 6.8. Add four man of the match awards to that tally and some brilliant outfielding as well.
2. Shaun Marsh
Perhaps the biggest surprise packet of the tournament. At the outset, he didnt even look like he would get a game in squad which featured Lee, Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Katich and Sarwan. But ever since he was given a chance, he has impressed mightily with 295 runs at 98 from only 5 innings. Another early prediction- its going to be between Marsh and Gambhir for the orange cap award for the leading runscorer in the IPL. Marsh's simple technique with minimal footwork, backlift and flourish has proven extremely effective on Indian wickets. He is limited one feels in terms of shots, but for t20, with its emphasis on boundary hitting, he is a perfect fit. A certainty for the australian odi team in the west indies, as australia really need to blood some young batsmen for the next world cup.
3. Gautam Gambhir
Has been at the top of the run scoring charts ever since the first week of the IPL. He was also India's leading batsman in the t20 world cup last year and has been in immaculate odi form since then. He has scored four fifties in 8 matches and maintained a strike rate in the high 130's quite consistently. His major blemish has been an inability to convert one of his scores into a highly sought-after century. His fielding has also been very sound, whether on the boundary or in the infield. Gambhir and Sehwag have been the best opening pair so far in the tournament, though Hopes and Marsh are closing in.
4. Irfan Pathan
The equal leading wicket taker with 13 wickets at an average of 18 and economy of only 6.50. Once again, he has proven his potency with a swinging white ball. He has attacked the stumps relentlessly and been very difficult to score boundaries off. Not all the best bowlers have managed to consistently take wickets (eg McGrath, Sharma, Steyn) in t20, so Pathan's performance must be doubly appreciated. His batting has not really been required but he has managed a couple of quick lower order cameos. In any other team, we probably would've seen more of Pathan the allrounder.
5. Adam Gilchrist
Second on the runs chart, Gilchrist's ton against Mumbai demonstrated his full t20 potential. Unfortunately, Laxman's injury and the woeful performances by Gibbs, Styris and Afridi have robbed Gilchrist of the batting support he so badly needed. Rohit Sharma has batted exquisitely, but has not batted with Gilchrist enough for it to make a difference for the Deccan Chargers. This season is effectively over for the Chargers, but next season, I expect that Gilchrist will come to India with a point to prove. With a line-up reading Gilchrist, Laxman, Sharma, Symonds, Afridi, I think 2009 will be the year of the Chargers.
Why does cricket need cheerleaders
This is what the renowned Indian historian Ramachandra Guha had to say about the cheerleaders controversy in the IPL:
"All the organisers are doing by making scantily-clad white women dance in front of huge crowds is to stoke the base voyeuristic and sexual insecurities of the Indian male. It is revolting, appalling and shows the game in very poor light."
I cannot help but completely agree with Mr. Guha. Revolting and appalling, yes, but I could've come up with that. Stoking the "base voyeuristic and sexual insecurities of the Indian male"- now that is gold!! I think that is such an accurate observation that people in India have generally chosen to ignore it, because to acknowledge it would open a veritable pandora's box of issues that Indian soceity does not want to confront. I'm surpised that feminist groups in India havent picked up on the cheerleaders debate and made their voices heard.
Personally, I think the distasteful way in which the IPL has deployed cheerleaders is just another expression of the gender inequalities and misogyny that is so prevalent in contemporary India. We see enough objectification of women in movies- now, cricket, the other major entertainer in India, has also joined in. It is the one major blight on the IPL so far.
I was very happy when the Delhi Daredevils (my team, as it happens) decided against having their own troop of cheerleaders. Mumbai and Chennai, under pressure from conservative governments, both dumped their scantily-clad foreign cheerleaders, instead hiring strange squads of Indian cheerleaders. These squads are composed of 2 men and 2 women, not scantily-clad of course, whose cheerleading is rather lethargic and soporific. I'm not sure that there's a point to it, but its certainly better than the other teams, with their troops of American (mostly) cheerleaders.
"All the organisers are doing by making scantily-clad white women dance in front of huge crowds is to stoke the base voyeuristic and sexual insecurities of the Indian male. It is revolting, appalling and shows the game in very poor light."
I cannot help but completely agree with Mr. Guha. Revolting and appalling, yes, but I could've come up with that. Stoking the "base voyeuristic and sexual insecurities of the Indian male"- now that is gold!! I think that is such an accurate observation that people in India have generally chosen to ignore it, because to acknowledge it would open a veritable pandora's box of issues that Indian soceity does not want to confront. I'm surpised that feminist groups in India havent picked up on the cheerleaders debate and made their voices heard.
Personally, I think the distasteful way in which the IPL has deployed cheerleaders is just another expression of the gender inequalities and misogyny that is so prevalent in contemporary India. We see enough objectification of women in movies- now, cricket, the other major entertainer in India, has also joined in. It is the one major blight on the IPL so far.
I was very happy when the Delhi Daredevils (my team, as it happens) decided against having their own troop of cheerleaders. Mumbai and Chennai, under pressure from conservative governments, both dumped their scantily-clad foreign cheerleaders, instead hiring strange squads of Indian cheerleaders. These squads are composed of 2 men and 2 women, not scantily-clad of course, whose cheerleading is rather lethargic and soporific. I'm not sure that there's a point to it, but its certainly better than the other teams, with their troops of American (mostly) cheerleaders.
Monday, 5 May 2008
english sour grapes
the english response to the ipl has been rather predictable, as i mentioned on this blog a couple of days ago. take a look at this from the english cricketers association.
when india sets up its own t20 competition, then its being predatory. whilst the author doesnt say as such, he is implying that something that belongs to the english is being stolen from them, by these agressive predators:
Some would say the Indian approach to setting up these leagues has been predatory. The country's financial control of the international game has just been given a further cash injection that benefits the Indian board and its ICC-sanctioned IPL. If it was predatory before, how would the Indian board behave if it wanted to pick off England's leading players?
but, if the english were to do the same thing, then they are simply maximizing the opportunity offerred to them by the northern hemisphere summer (when the rest of the world's cricketers arent involved in domestic comps) as well as enhancing the "appeal" of the broadcasting rights they can sell. and, at the same time, this would act as a righteous shield against those predators from india, protecting england's top cricketers:
This means the vast majority of international players from other countries are potentially available during our season. If we could use this advantage alongside and create the leading domestic Twenty20 tournament in the world, then we have a commercial opportunity that would enable us to take advantage of the huge appetite for cricket in Asia.
Our domestic game relies on the substantial revenues of the broadcasting deal. Should events in India threaten this, then our game has serious problems that would affect all professional cricketers and the investment in grass-roots programmes. Losing top players to India would lower the value of any future broadcasting agreement.
but nonetheless, the cool hypocrisy evinced in this article is staggering. the ecb and people connected with english cricket have expressed their bitterness in the last few weeks about the success of the ipl. their sense of entitlement is particularly offensive. simply because they invented the format, it does not mean that every other country has to wait for them before setting up their own t20 competitions.
i think what rankles them even more is comments by their own players expressing their wish to play in the ipl. suddenly, county cricket has been relegated to a second class citizen, as all the players talk about playing in india. even english captain paul collingwood has said that he and many of his teammates would like to play in the ipl. i can understand that it is very difficult for english cricket to standby and watch all of this. but it does not excuse their blatant double standards and veiled condemnation of indian cricket and the ipl.
when india sets up its own t20 competition, then its being predatory. whilst the author doesnt say as such, he is implying that something that belongs to the english is being stolen from them, by these agressive predators:
Some would say the Indian approach to setting up these leagues has been predatory. The country's financial control of the international game has just been given a further cash injection that benefits the Indian board and its ICC-sanctioned IPL. If it was predatory before, how would the Indian board behave if it wanted to pick off England's leading players?
but, if the english were to do the same thing, then they are simply maximizing the opportunity offerred to them by the northern hemisphere summer (when the rest of the world's cricketers arent involved in domestic comps) as well as enhancing the "appeal" of the broadcasting rights they can sell. and, at the same time, this would act as a righteous shield against those predators from india, protecting england's top cricketers:
This means the vast majority of international players from other countries are potentially available during our season. If we could use this advantage alongside and create the leading domestic Twenty20 tournament in the world, then we have a commercial opportunity that would enable us to take advantage of the huge appetite for cricket in Asia.
In short, this could reduce the threat of losing our top players to India during our season; we could attract the finest international players to our shores; and we could significantly enhance the appeal of our broadcasting rights on offer.
Our domestic game relies on the substantial revenues of the broadcasting deal. Should events in India threaten this, then our game has serious problems that would affect all professional cricketers and the investment in grass-roots programmes. Losing top players to India would lower the value of any future broadcasting agreement.
but nonetheless, the cool hypocrisy evinced in this article is staggering. the ecb and people connected with english cricket have expressed their bitterness in the last few weeks about the success of the ipl. their sense of entitlement is particularly offensive. simply because they invented the format, it does not mean that every other country has to wait for them before setting up their own t20 competitions.
i think what rankles them even more is comments by their own players expressing their wish to play in the ipl. suddenly, county cricket has been relegated to a second class citizen, as all the players talk about playing in india. even english captain paul collingwood has said that he and many of his teammates would like to play in the ipl. i can understand that it is very difficult for english cricket to standby and watch all of this. but it does not excuse their blatant double standards and veiled condemnation of indian cricket and the ipl.
Sunday, 4 May 2008
IPL- the teams
last time, i wrote about the ipl without really writing about the cricket. so today, lets talk cricket...
1. delhi daredevils
whilst it wasnt my intention to pick a team to support at the start of the ipl, circumstances have forced my hand. delhi are an awesome team. and i particularly like the way they have gone about selecting their players. sehwag was their first player, given icon status and the captaincy. their first targets in the auction were delhi internationals gambhir and ishant sharma. kolkata outbidded delhi for sharma, but they got gambhir. then they went about procuring some of the best young talent from the delhi ranji team. again they missed out on virat kohli, but managed to get dhawan and bhatia. once the big international names were bought for incredible sums of money, delhi went out and snapped up mcgrath and asif for around half a million (a bargain in ipl). the batting was further strengthened with the young indians manoj tiwary (surprisingly not taken by kolkata) and dinesh karthik.
and as one would expect, with a world class bowling attack and a world class batting line-up (sehwag, gambhir, malik, devilliers), delhi are on top a third of the way into the competition. the top three, sehwag, gambhir and dhawan have scored about 80% of the runs and are amongst the top rungetters in the ipl. meanwhile, mcgrath, maharoof and vettori are some of the most economical bowlers in the ipl so far. i think delhi is going to be the team to beat in the ipl. their top players are going to be too strong for the competition.
2. chennai super kings
chennai heavily invested in their batting. hussey, hayden, dhoni, raina, badrinath, oram. however, with hussey, hayden and oram gone after 4 matches, the batting doesnt look quite as invincible. to bolster their bowling, they signed muralitharan, but the other bowling options are quite weak. this is a team that will heavily rely on big hitting for its victories.
chennai have particularly annoyed me by their treatment of raina and badrinath. raina at least has had a few chances to bat early in the innings, but badrinath, the best batsman in indian domestic and india a cricket for the last 2-3 years, has been continually denied opportunities to showcase his talent. the ipl is supposed to provide a stage for young indian cricketers to play against the best in the world, but for badrinath, this just hasnt happened. even after the international exodus, vidyut sivaramakrishnan, a pinchhitter, came into the side and batted at first drop. it just seems to be a ridiculous waste of talent.
3. bangalore royal challengers
an expensive outfit full of world class players. predictably, bangalore have been very slow to start. they have not picked up any sloggers apart from ross taylor who has already left the ipl for international duty. instead, they have stacked their team with proven test players like dravid, kallis, boucher, jaffer, khan, steyn, kumble and misbah. add some inexperienced indian players like u-19 star kohli and the recently successful praveen kumar, and it appears to be a very good team on paper, albeit one unsuited to t20 cricket. this is exactly how the opening exchanges have panned out. however, a team full of class players like this is only going to improve as these players learn to adapt their formidable skills to the new format. i'm expecting a strong finish from bangalore.
4. kings xi punjab
wow!! punjab are an imposing team. just the fact that the departure of simon katich and brett lee hasnt effected their performance gives you an idea about how strong they are. before the start of the tournament, this was the team most people were expecting to win. after 2 quick losses, eyebrows were raised, but since then yuvraj singh's team has looked invincible. a powerful bowling attack comprising of irfan pathan, sreeesanth, chawla, vikram singh (and lee) has lead the way for punjab with excellent support from a star-studded batting line-up that is yet to really strike form. sangakkara, yuvray and jayawardene are going to explode at some stage, but punjab are already winning without huge contributions from them. a possible problem for punjab is going to be that their bowlers, all of them, on a given day can be ridiculously expensive, and we have seen repeatedly that it only takes 2 good overs to get 180-plus scores. i can envisage some problems for these when defending totals...
5. rajasthan royals
the ipl has been rocked by the shane warne led royals. widely expected to struggle, they have swept all before them following a humiliating 9 wicket loss to delhi in the first match. every single player who has played a match has contributed to the effort. this has been the real key to rajasthan's success. whilst chennai have relied on hayden and hussey for all of their wins, and hyderabad on gilchrist for their only win, the royals have produced true team efforts in every one of their games. warne has to be given credit for the way in which he has galvanized an inexperienced group of players into a tough, unforgiving team. his tactical nous has also come to the fore- he has repeatedly outthought and outmanouevred his indian counterparts.
however, despite all of this, i dont think rajasthan will win in the end. i think their lack of true quality players will be their undoing. they are already playing close to their best, whilst many of the other teams are only beginning to gel now. i do think that class will prevail at the end, regardless of shane warne's brilliance.
6. mumbai indians
sachin tendulkar's injury has really hampered mumbai's progress so far. there has been no stabilizing influence on their batting, nor has anyone looked like getting a big score. then there was the harbhajan fiasco. but they are too good a team not pick up the pieces and climb the ladder. once sachin comes back, watch out!! i think having been sidelined for the first half of the tournament, sachin will be desperate to make his mark on t20 cricket, the one form of the game he hasnt yet mastered.
7. kolkata knight riders
after a smashing start to the tournament, kolkata have fallen away. spending heavily on international stars, kolkata was expected to be one of the top 4 teams. but the poor form of their 2 most experienced batsman, ponting and ganguly, as well as the departure of mccullum, have hurt them really badly. ishant sharma has not been as incisive as one may have hoped- his india teammates sreesanth, khan, pathan, agarkar, rp singh have all been more successful than him. kolkata is probably going to finish last now. every other team is going to get better, but i dont see much improvement in kolkata. of course, hodge and hussey are a proven middle order pair in t20 cricket in australia and england, so they shouldnt be written off completely, but i dont give them much hope.
8. deccan chargers
a team selected with one thing in mind- big hitting. apart from laxman, the icon player and captain, the team reads like this: gilchrist, afridi, symonds, gibbs and rohit sharma. kevin pietersen and chris gayle is all they're missing. unfortunately for deccan, t20 is not all about big hitting. this was a surprising revelation to me during the t20 world cup- a team only needs one, or at most two big hitters to win a match, the rest need to be good batsman or bowlers. having spent all their money on batsman, the bowling options for laxman are limited. rp singh, one of the best bowlers in south africa during the world cup, shoulders most of the burden, with support from the promising spinner, pragyan ojha. they will win some games, on the occasions when the batting clicks, but a bottom 4 finish beckons i feel...
1. delhi daredevils
whilst it wasnt my intention to pick a team to support at the start of the ipl, circumstances have forced my hand. delhi are an awesome team. and i particularly like the way they have gone about selecting their players. sehwag was their first player, given icon status and the captaincy. their first targets in the auction were delhi internationals gambhir and ishant sharma. kolkata outbidded delhi for sharma, but they got gambhir. then they went about procuring some of the best young talent from the delhi ranji team. again they missed out on virat kohli, but managed to get dhawan and bhatia. once the big international names were bought for incredible sums of money, delhi went out and snapped up mcgrath and asif for around half a million (a bargain in ipl). the batting was further strengthened with the young indians manoj tiwary (surprisingly not taken by kolkata) and dinesh karthik.
and as one would expect, with a world class bowling attack and a world class batting line-up (sehwag, gambhir, malik, devilliers), delhi are on top a third of the way into the competition. the top three, sehwag, gambhir and dhawan have scored about 80% of the runs and are amongst the top rungetters in the ipl. meanwhile, mcgrath, maharoof and vettori are some of the most economical bowlers in the ipl so far. i think delhi is going to be the team to beat in the ipl. their top players are going to be too strong for the competition.
2. chennai super kings
chennai heavily invested in their batting. hussey, hayden, dhoni, raina, badrinath, oram. however, with hussey, hayden and oram gone after 4 matches, the batting doesnt look quite as invincible. to bolster their bowling, they signed muralitharan, but the other bowling options are quite weak. this is a team that will heavily rely on big hitting for its victories.
chennai have particularly annoyed me by their treatment of raina and badrinath. raina at least has had a few chances to bat early in the innings, but badrinath, the best batsman in indian domestic and india a cricket for the last 2-3 years, has been continually denied opportunities to showcase his talent. the ipl is supposed to provide a stage for young indian cricketers to play against the best in the world, but for badrinath, this just hasnt happened. even after the international exodus, vidyut sivaramakrishnan, a pinchhitter, came into the side and batted at first drop. it just seems to be a ridiculous waste of talent.
3. bangalore royal challengers
an expensive outfit full of world class players. predictably, bangalore have been very slow to start. they have not picked up any sloggers apart from ross taylor who has already left the ipl for international duty. instead, they have stacked their team with proven test players like dravid, kallis, boucher, jaffer, khan, steyn, kumble and misbah. add some inexperienced indian players like u-19 star kohli and the recently successful praveen kumar, and it appears to be a very good team on paper, albeit one unsuited to t20 cricket. this is exactly how the opening exchanges have panned out. however, a team full of class players like this is only going to improve as these players learn to adapt their formidable skills to the new format. i'm expecting a strong finish from bangalore.
4. kings xi punjab
wow!! punjab are an imposing team. just the fact that the departure of simon katich and brett lee hasnt effected their performance gives you an idea about how strong they are. before the start of the tournament, this was the team most people were expecting to win. after 2 quick losses, eyebrows were raised, but since then yuvraj singh's team has looked invincible. a powerful bowling attack comprising of irfan pathan, sreeesanth, chawla, vikram singh (and lee) has lead the way for punjab with excellent support from a star-studded batting line-up that is yet to really strike form. sangakkara, yuvray and jayawardene are going to explode at some stage, but punjab are already winning without huge contributions from them. a possible problem for punjab is going to be that their bowlers, all of them, on a given day can be ridiculously expensive, and we have seen repeatedly that it only takes 2 good overs to get 180-plus scores. i can envisage some problems for these when defending totals...
5. rajasthan royals
the ipl has been rocked by the shane warne led royals. widely expected to struggle, they have swept all before them following a humiliating 9 wicket loss to delhi in the first match. every single player who has played a match has contributed to the effort. this has been the real key to rajasthan's success. whilst chennai have relied on hayden and hussey for all of their wins, and hyderabad on gilchrist for their only win, the royals have produced true team efforts in every one of their games. warne has to be given credit for the way in which he has galvanized an inexperienced group of players into a tough, unforgiving team. his tactical nous has also come to the fore- he has repeatedly outthought and outmanouevred his indian counterparts.
however, despite all of this, i dont think rajasthan will win in the end. i think their lack of true quality players will be their undoing. they are already playing close to their best, whilst many of the other teams are only beginning to gel now. i do think that class will prevail at the end, regardless of shane warne's brilliance.
6. mumbai indians
sachin tendulkar's injury has really hampered mumbai's progress so far. there has been no stabilizing influence on their batting, nor has anyone looked like getting a big score. then there was the harbhajan fiasco. but they are too good a team not pick up the pieces and climb the ladder. once sachin comes back, watch out!! i think having been sidelined for the first half of the tournament, sachin will be desperate to make his mark on t20 cricket, the one form of the game he hasnt yet mastered.
7. kolkata knight riders
after a smashing start to the tournament, kolkata have fallen away. spending heavily on international stars, kolkata was expected to be one of the top 4 teams. but the poor form of their 2 most experienced batsman, ponting and ganguly, as well as the departure of mccullum, have hurt them really badly. ishant sharma has not been as incisive as one may have hoped- his india teammates sreesanth, khan, pathan, agarkar, rp singh have all been more successful than him. kolkata is probably going to finish last now. every other team is going to get better, but i dont see much improvement in kolkata. of course, hodge and hussey are a proven middle order pair in t20 cricket in australia and england, so they shouldnt be written off completely, but i dont give them much hope.
8. deccan chargers
a team selected with one thing in mind- big hitting. apart from laxman, the icon player and captain, the team reads like this: gilchrist, afridi, symonds, gibbs and rohit sharma. kevin pietersen and chris gayle is all they're missing. unfortunately for deccan, t20 is not all about big hitting. this was a surprising revelation to me during the t20 world cup- a team only needs one, or at most two big hitters to win a match, the rest need to be good batsman or bowlers. having spent all their money on batsman, the bowling options for laxman are limited. rp singh, one of the best bowlers in south africa during the world cup, shoulders most of the burden, with support from the promising spinner, pragyan ojha. they will win some games, on the occasions when the batting clicks, but a bottom 4 finish beckons i feel...
much of the heat surrounding the torch relay saga has cooled down this week. the chinese government pulled off a masterstroke by announcing that
they will negotiate with the dalai lama's advisors. with this one brilliant move, they have silenced the western media- after all, it appears that
the chinese have bowed to global protests by initiating peaceful talks. of course, its only the appearance that matters. almost in the same breath
as announcing the talks, the chinese have gone on to accuse the dalai lama of being a terrorist who has sponsored the killling of innocent chinese
etc etc. this gives us an indication of how productive we can expect the talks to be. but nonetheless, china has come out of the whole situation
far better than the west, and tibet. global protests, and particularly the idiot frenchman who attacked the disabled athlete, have firmly united
the chinese. the perceived villification of china by the rest of the world has caused an irresistible swelling of nationalistic pride and further
entrenchment of the victim mentality in the minds of the chinese. then, the global media storm has been blown out to sea by china's apparently
reconciliatory offer of dialogue. the tibetans, for the sake of whom all this was started, have been once again forgotten.
they will negotiate with the dalai lama's advisors. with this one brilliant move, they have silenced the western media- after all, it appears that
the chinese have bowed to global protests by initiating peaceful talks. of course, its only the appearance that matters. almost in the same breath
as announcing the talks, the chinese have gone on to accuse the dalai lama of being a terrorist who has sponsored the killling of innocent chinese
etc etc. this gives us an indication of how productive we can expect the talks to be. but nonetheless, china has come out of the whole situation
far better than the west, and tibet. global protests, and particularly the idiot frenchman who attacked the disabled athlete, have firmly united
the chinese. the perceived villification of china by the rest of the world has caused an irresistible swelling of nationalistic pride and further
entrenchment of the victim mentality in the minds of the chinese. then, the global media storm has been blown out to sea by china's apparently
reconciliatory offer of dialogue. the tibetans, for the sake of whom all this was started, have been once again forgotten.
Thursday, 1 May 2008
IPL
i've changed my view about t20 cricket a few times now, initially unimpressed, then sceptical, then somewhat interested but not really satisfied, then suddenly captivated by india's world cup triumph only to be let down immensely by the mcg debacle, then disgusted with the money that was being thrown at average, let alone good players (seriously, $700,000 for albie morkel and david hussey??????), then even more disgusted at the number of foreign players who were signed up and essentially there for a free ride (not to mention hundreds of thousands of dollars) at the expense of local players starved of opportunity, but finally won over by the cricket. thats what it comes down to, watching a cricket match. it is the unfortunate truth that i will watch almost any cricket match at any time of the day. but the ipl has produced really high quality cricket, much higher than i thought would be produced by a bunch of freeloading mercenaries. in fact, it turns out that those freeloading mercenaries have their international reputations to play for, as well as bragging rights. the indian players, it goes without saying, have their spots in the team to play for.
so what to make of the ipl?? peter roebuck has written a very good assessment of the tournament so far in this article:
In short, cricket ought not to be shy of providing brief entertainment to the population at large. In some opinions the IPL has laid it on a bit thick, but then, traditionalists are not forced to attend. Suggestions that the game will be permanently damaged by these exuberances are also unduly pessimistic. The trouble with traditionalists is that they present themselves as protectors of the game's values but are actually doomed romantics. They lament the present state of affairs yet resist innovation. Casting themselves as heavyweight, they reject the slap-happy, mistaking it for the slapdash. But it is a mistake to overestimate the past. It was not such a fine place. Nor is it possible to pin cricket into a book, like a dead butterfly.....
-----------
The IPL's other great legacy will be the way it enhances the fellowship of man. Most previous attempts to bring together players from all nations have been unsatisfactory and fleeting. This is different. Now players from different countries, some of them supposedly bitter rivals, some of them with axes to grind, must work together in common cause, discussing tactics, forming partnerships, sharing rooms, socialising and so forth.
gideon haigh, another respected cricket journalist, takes a somewhat different view, and raises far more meaningful questions:
From the combination of 20 overs a side, flat pitches, white balls, and 70m boundaries, however, emerges what sort of cricketer? In fact, you begin wondering which great past players would have found in Twenty20 a welcoming home. Kapil Dev, for sure. Maybe Sunil Gavaskar, when not in one of his obdurate moods. But can you see BS Chandrashekhar, Bishan Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna? Given the choice, would you select Gundappa Viswanath and Sanjay Manjrekar, or Sandeep Patil and Chandrakant Pandit?
The argument is advanced that this need not concern us: we are assured that Twenty20 will be only one of cricket's variants. There will still be Test cricket, first-class cricket, 50-over matches. Yet with the animal spirits of the market liberated, how realistic is this? Already players are falling over themselves to make IPL hay, egged on by managers taking a fair clip themselves. The likelihood is that the objective of the majority of cricketers worldwide will become not to play dowdy old domestic cricket that leads on to hoary old national honours, the longer forms of the game that prepare the most finished practitioners. The economically rational behaviour will be to adapt their methods to maximise their IPL employment opportunities. Consider for a moment just who is closer to the role model of the moment: is it Rahul Dravid, the "Wall" with his 10,000 Test runs, or Yuvraj Singh, who once hit six sixes in an over? Who will a rising young cricketer earn more by emulating? If maximising individual income is what matters - and if any cricketer feels otherwise, he is keeping such a heresy to himself - then Yuvraj might well be the cookie-cutter cricketer of the next decade. Twenty20 has rightly been called a batsman's game, but it is a very particular kind of batsman: the type whose game is built on eye and strength. If a new Dravid were to begin emerging now, I suspect he would face a career as a second-class cricket citizen.
haigh also talks about how the bcci bigwigs, lalit modi and sharad pawar, have manipulated the expectations of the public, in order to fulfil their economic goals, and hijack the surging wave of enthusiasm in cricket for commercial purpose:
Profit maximisation is the name of the game - and that goes for administrators, franchisees, players, managers, broadcasters and sponsors alike. The possible negative consequences for other countries or other forms of the game are of no account compared to the commercial, and doubtless also political, ambitions of the likes of Lalit Modi and Sharad Pawar
but the most important question posed by haigh is this:
What might cricket look like after 20 years of Twenty20-centricity? There will likely been a few more MS Dhonis; probably a great many more Uthappas. But can you imagine another Sachin Tendulkar, with the discipline to budget for innings by the day, with his defence as monumental as his strokes are magnificent? And what price a new Anil Kumble - brave, patient, probing, untiring - in a world measuring out bowling in four-over spells?
i especially enjoyed the veiled insult aimed at robin uthappa. i cant help but think that every team should only have one uthappa, it at all. during the entire vb series in australia, i felt that suresh raina and manoj tiwary, two of the most promising batsman in india after rohit sharma, were deprived of vital opportunities to play in australia whilst uthappa wasted chance after chance. unfortunately, the ipl auction provided positive reinforcement for uthappa's methods. he was one of the most sought after indian batsman at the auction, ultimately going for $800,000, as much as ponting, hussey and mcgrath put together.
but back to the main point, what will cricket look like after twenty years of t20? more than the decline in batting, i am more worried about bowling. agarkar, gony, amarnath and joginder sharma are some of the most successful bowlers of the ipl so far. is this the future of medium pace bowling?? no disrespect to any of those four players, but they're not exactly test match quality. in fact, they're not really of any quality. they're not even particularly successful in ranji trophy, the standards of which are already well below sheffield shield and the county championship. where are the successful ranji bowlers?? tyagi and sangwan nowhere to be seen, vinay kumar and bhatia not bowling out their 4 overs. presumably, they bowl too much line and length, or try too hard to swing the ball to be of much use in t20. the quality of bowling has already deteriorated alarmingly during my relatively short lifetime, and that was before t20. now, with the ipl probably looking to expand, one wonders exactly what the top bowlers of the world will look like in 20 years time. will kumble be the last great indian spinner? will vettori be the last quality spinner the world will see??
ok so this is all a bit pessimistic right?? what about england and australia, the traditional bastions of test cricket. no way will they short change cricket like the indians are doing. right??
"The England players are desperate to play in the IPL. Next year they will all put their hands up to come and play. Everyone has watched the IPL in England and what an amazing tournament it is. I have watched all the games. The IPL is big time news in the England newspapers." Dimitri Mascarenhas
"Hopefully it will be a massive success, and I think it's going to be, because you have so much money being pumped into it, and you have the best players in the world, so there's no reason why it won't be. This could be the way cricket goes - everyone wants to see a result in three hours." Kevin Pietersen
well, its quite clear where the players stand on this. as the only major cricketing nation to left out of the ipl, england are going to find it very difficult to stop their players from participating in next year's ipl. already, mascarenhas has made a deal with his county to play in 5 ipl matches. next year, it will be every england who is offered a contract.
this is where allan stanford comes in. he's an ultra-rich american zillionaire, who, whilst busily evading taxes by basing his company in antigua, became interested in cricket. he wants to cash in on cricket too. he actually said that cricket has the potential to become the most popular spectator sport in the world- i'm very doubtful about this claim, but i think he's being genuine when he says that he wants to set up a rival t20 league in england together with the ecb. of course, unless the ecb guarantees stanford's expected return on his investment, he wont spend a single dollar on the league:
hmmm, i've rambled and ranted rather a lot, and i've now forgotten what point i was trying to make. anyway, i'll finish today with a piece of incredible irony. misbah-ul-haq, the man more responsible than any other for the ipl, is yet to feature in a single game. after all, if it wasnt for his mistimed paddle sweep, then india would not have won the world cup, and t20 would not have suddenly taken off.....
so what to make of the ipl?? peter roebuck has written a very good assessment of the tournament so far in this article:
In short, cricket ought not to be shy of providing brief entertainment to the population at large. In some opinions the IPL has laid it on a bit thick, but then, traditionalists are not forced to attend. Suggestions that the game will be permanently damaged by these exuberances are also unduly pessimistic. The trouble with traditionalists is that they present themselves as protectors of the game's values but are actually doomed romantics. They lament the present state of affairs yet resist innovation. Casting themselves as heavyweight, they reject the slap-happy, mistaking it for the slapdash. But it is a mistake to overestimate the past. It was not such a fine place. Nor is it possible to pin cricket into a book, like a dead butterfly.....
-----------
The IPL's other great legacy will be the way it enhances the fellowship of man. Most previous attempts to bring together players from all nations have been unsatisfactory and fleeting. This is different. Now players from different countries, some of them supposedly bitter rivals, some of them with axes to grind, must work together in common cause, discussing tactics, forming partnerships, sharing rooms, socialising and so forth.
gideon haigh, another respected cricket journalist, takes a somewhat different view, and raises far more meaningful questions:
From the combination of 20 overs a side, flat pitches, white balls, and 70m boundaries, however, emerges what sort of cricketer? In fact, you begin wondering which great past players would have found in Twenty20 a welcoming home. Kapil Dev, for sure. Maybe Sunil Gavaskar, when not in one of his obdurate moods. But can you see BS Chandrashekhar, Bishan Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna? Given the choice, would you select Gundappa Viswanath and Sanjay Manjrekar, or Sandeep Patil and Chandrakant Pandit?
The argument is advanced that this need not concern us: we are assured that Twenty20 will be only one of cricket's variants. There will still be Test cricket, first-class cricket, 50-over matches. Yet with the animal spirits of the market liberated, how realistic is this? Already players are falling over themselves to make IPL hay, egged on by managers taking a fair clip themselves. The likelihood is that the objective of the majority of cricketers worldwide will become not to play dowdy old domestic cricket that leads on to hoary old national honours, the longer forms of the game that prepare the most finished practitioners. The economically rational behaviour will be to adapt their methods to maximise their IPL employment opportunities. Consider for a moment just who is closer to the role model of the moment: is it Rahul Dravid, the "Wall" with his 10,000 Test runs, or Yuvraj Singh, who once hit six sixes in an over? Who will a rising young cricketer earn more by emulating? If maximising individual income is what matters - and if any cricketer feels otherwise, he is keeping such a heresy to himself - then Yuvraj might well be the cookie-cutter cricketer of the next decade. Twenty20 has rightly been called a batsman's game, but it is a very particular kind of batsman: the type whose game is built on eye and strength. If a new Dravid were to begin emerging now, I suspect he would face a career as a second-class cricket citizen.
haigh also talks about how the bcci bigwigs, lalit modi and sharad pawar, have manipulated the expectations of the public, in order to fulfil their economic goals, and hijack the surging wave of enthusiasm in cricket for commercial purpose:
Profit maximisation is the name of the game - and that goes for administrators, franchisees, players, managers, broadcasters and sponsors alike. The possible negative consequences for other countries or other forms of the game are of no account compared to the commercial, and doubtless also political, ambitions of the likes of Lalit Modi and Sharad Pawar
but the most important question posed by haigh is this:
What might cricket look like after 20 years of Twenty20-centricity? There will likely been a few more MS Dhonis; probably a great many more Uthappas. But can you imagine another Sachin Tendulkar, with the discipline to budget for innings by the day, with his defence as monumental as his strokes are magnificent? And what price a new Anil Kumble - brave, patient, probing, untiring - in a world measuring out bowling in four-over spells?
i especially enjoyed the veiled insult aimed at robin uthappa. i cant help but think that every team should only have one uthappa, it at all. during the entire vb series in australia, i felt that suresh raina and manoj tiwary, two of the most promising batsman in india after rohit sharma, were deprived of vital opportunities to play in australia whilst uthappa wasted chance after chance. unfortunately, the ipl auction provided positive reinforcement for uthappa's methods. he was one of the most sought after indian batsman at the auction, ultimately going for $800,000, as much as ponting, hussey and mcgrath put together.
but back to the main point, what will cricket look like after twenty years of t20? more than the decline in batting, i am more worried about bowling. agarkar, gony, amarnath and joginder sharma are some of the most successful bowlers of the ipl so far. is this the future of medium pace bowling?? no disrespect to any of those four players, but they're not exactly test match quality. in fact, they're not really of any quality. they're not even particularly successful in ranji trophy, the standards of which are already well below sheffield shield and the county championship. where are the successful ranji bowlers?? tyagi and sangwan nowhere to be seen, vinay kumar and bhatia not bowling out their 4 overs. presumably, they bowl too much line and length, or try too hard to swing the ball to be of much use in t20. the quality of bowling has already deteriorated alarmingly during my relatively short lifetime, and that was before t20. now, with the ipl probably looking to expand, one wonders exactly what the top bowlers of the world will look like in 20 years time. will kumble be the last great indian spinner? will vettori be the last quality spinner the world will see??
ok so this is all a bit pessimistic right?? what about england and australia, the traditional bastions of test cricket. no way will they short change cricket like the indians are doing. right??
"The England players are desperate to play in the IPL. Next year they will all put their hands up to come and play. Everyone has watched the IPL in England and what an amazing tournament it is. I have watched all the games. The IPL is big time news in the England newspapers." Dimitri Mascarenhas
"I haven't heard any England players use the fact that the IPL is a massive global event, and the rest of the world's best players are involved, to justify their interest in playing in it, but rather the fact that there are pots of cash to be made.
When news broke of the Allen Stanford £10m match, Pietersen could barely contain himself, salivating at the prospect of pocketing "a mill" for one match." John Stern, Cricinfo journalist"Hopefully it will be a massive success, and I think it's going to be, because you have so much money being pumped into it, and you have the best players in the world, so there's no reason why it won't be. This could be the way cricket goes - everyone wants to see a result in three hours." Kevin Pietersen
well, its quite clear where the players stand on this. as the only major cricketing nation to left out of the ipl, england are going to find it very difficult to stop their players from participating in next year's ipl. already, mascarenhas has made a deal with his county to play in 5 ipl matches. next year, it will be every england who is offered a contract.
this is where allan stanford comes in. he's an ultra-rich american zillionaire, who, whilst busily evading taxes by basing his company in antigua, became interested in cricket. he wants to cash in on cricket too. he actually said that cricket has the potential to become the most popular spectator sport in the world- i'm very doubtful about this claim, but i think he's being genuine when he says that he wants to set up a rival t20 league in england together with the ecb. of course, unless the ecb guarantees stanford's expected return on his investment, he wont spend a single dollar on the league:
There are plenty of hurdles to overcome before Stanford's wishes can be granted, however, not least the likely opposition from the first-class counties who might fear being marginalised in such a deal. "The ECB are conservative," Stanford told The Times. ""They realise they're at a crossroads. They either let the Indians do it or they step up and get a game plan.
"The ECB, for my estimation, need to be the driver," said Stanford. "The organisation here is better, the management is better, the structure is better. It's inevitable that the ECB will create a Twenty20 league, it's inevitable that it will involve the private sector and it's inevitable that the game will evolve."
hmmm, i've rambled and ranted rather a lot, and i've now forgotten what point i was trying to make. anyway, i'll finish today with a piece of incredible irony. misbah-ul-haq, the man more responsible than any other for the ipl, is yet to feature in a single game. after all, if it wasnt for his mistimed paddle sweep, then india would not have won the world cup, and t20 would not have suddenly taken off.....
Sunday, 27 April 2008
This blog has been rather neglected for the last few months, mainly due to a tight work schedule, but also due to a lack of inspiration to write on my part. But now, refreshed after a fantastic holiday in europe, i feel inspired to start blogging again.
whilst there is lots to say about europe, i actually first want to write a little about the torch relay and all the controversy it has produced around the globe. its quite ironic, but i knew almost nothing about all of this whilst i was in europe, it was only whilst i was stranded in taipei airport for 9 hours that i caught up on all that had happened in the world in the last 3-4 weeks.
first of all i should make my position on the olympic games and on the tibet issue clear.
i think it was wrong for the ioc to award china the olympics. china's human rights record (i know, its very cliche to complain about china's human rights record) and especially its prosecution and general mistreatment of minorities (tibetans, uighurs etc) should have been enough, in my opinion, to exclude china from contesting for the olympic games. china's record is not dissimilar to saddam hussein's in terms of human rights and the treatment of minority groups. what would the world say if iraq was awarded the olympics (when saddam was alive and in power obviously)?? so i think people are are fully justified in protesting against the chinese olympics and calling for a boycott. i noted that bhaichung bhutia, the captain of the indian soccer team, a sikkimese buddhist, has withdrawn from the olympics squad in protest against china. he's not well known even within india let alone internationally, so his boycott hasnt exactly created waves, but i hope that his lead is followed by many more around the world.
moving on to tibet, i have written about the strangulation of tibetan culture by chinese hegemony before, here. one of the most contentious issues regarding tibet is independance versus autonomy and the (farcical) chinese claim that tibet is china, in the same beijing is china and shanghai is china. i think the first issue is fairly easily solved, unpalatable though the solution may be to some. in the foreseeable future, due to china's military might, there is no way tibet will be able to break the chinese yoke. even the dalai lama is resigned to this fact and asks only for tibetan autonomy within china.
then there is the rubbish about how tibet has been a part of china for 'thousands' of years, and how tibetans are essentially chinese. i found it difficult to get information on this which didnt smack of bias and propaganda, but it seems that the first time the chinese invaded tibet was in the 13th century when china itself was ruled by the yuan dynasty, descendants of genghis khan's mongols. from that period, it had generally been the case that the ruling power in china appointed a high-ranking official who lived in tibet and acted as the representative of the chinese emperor but didnt have much say in the internal governance of tibet. tibet itself was ruled by a variety of different people. the last fifteen rulers of tibet have been the dalai lamas, the leaders of the dominant sect of tibetan buddhism. after the dissolution of the chinese monarchy in the early 20th century, the nationalist movement failed to provide an effective government for china, and tibet enjoyed a few decades of relative independance. in 1950, the communist army invaded tibet, and tibet was brought under the direct control of the chinese government, for the first time in history as far i'm able to make out.
so, tibet historically was not a chinese province, it was an autonomous territory which was brought within the borders and control of china by invasion approximately 800 years ago. prior to this, tibet was an independant kingdom.
coming to the present situation, these two seperate issues, the olympics being held in china and the political situation in tibet, have been sort of merged by misinformed people on both sides of the argument. to the chinese, the beijing olympic games is about nationalistic pride. it is the acceptance of china into the world community, the global recognition of china's greatness. there is little awareness about issues such as those i've written about above within china because of effective government propaganda. however, internationally, these are major talking points regarding china. with the olympics being held in beijing, it was inevitable that the global media and the people of the western world would initiate debates on these issues. i think that the chinese believed and still believe that the world should be talking about how great china is, which is what the state press talks about in china, instead of debating contentious issues which are denied or glossed over in china.
the other big shock for the chinese has been the hijacking of the torch relay by the pro-tibetan protesters in the western world. the olympics, or rather the media coverage that accompanies it, was always going to be used by all sorts of factions to focus attention on their grievances. for the pro-tibetans, their cause was so closely related the olympics being held in china, that again, it was inevitable that they would protest with renewed zeal and vigour in the leadup to the olympics.
[hmmm, i had some things in mind when i started writing, but i have veered away and gotten distracted. well, i'll write some more on subsequent entries...]
to be continued
whilst there is lots to say about europe, i actually first want to write a little about the torch relay and all the controversy it has produced around the globe. its quite ironic, but i knew almost nothing about all of this whilst i was in europe, it was only whilst i was stranded in taipei airport for 9 hours that i caught up on all that had happened in the world in the last 3-4 weeks.
first of all i should make my position on the olympic games and on the tibet issue clear.
i think it was wrong for the ioc to award china the olympics. china's human rights record (i know, its very cliche to complain about china's human rights record) and especially its prosecution and general mistreatment of minorities (tibetans, uighurs etc) should have been enough, in my opinion, to exclude china from contesting for the olympic games. china's record is not dissimilar to saddam hussein's in terms of human rights and the treatment of minority groups. what would the world say if iraq was awarded the olympics (when saddam was alive and in power obviously)?? so i think people are are fully justified in protesting against the chinese olympics and calling for a boycott. i noted that bhaichung bhutia, the captain of the indian soccer team, a sikkimese buddhist, has withdrawn from the olympics squad in protest against china. he's not well known even within india let alone internationally, so his boycott hasnt exactly created waves, but i hope that his lead is followed by many more around the world.
moving on to tibet, i have written about the strangulation of tibetan culture by chinese hegemony before, here. one of the most contentious issues regarding tibet is independance versus autonomy and the (farcical) chinese claim that tibet is china, in the same beijing is china and shanghai is china. i think the first issue is fairly easily solved, unpalatable though the solution may be to some. in the foreseeable future, due to china's military might, there is no way tibet will be able to break the chinese yoke. even the dalai lama is resigned to this fact and asks only for tibetan autonomy within china.
then there is the rubbish about how tibet has been a part of china for 'thousands' of years, and how tibetans are essentially chinese. i found it difficult to get information on this which didnt smack of bias and propaganda, but it seems that the first time the chinese invaded tibet was in the 13th century when china itself was ruled by the yuan dynasty, descendants of genghis khan's mongols. from that period, it had generally been the case that the ruling power in china appointed a high-ranking official who lived in tibet and acted as the representative of the chinese emperor but didnt have much say in the internal governance of tibet. tibet itself was ruled by a variety of different people. the last fifteen rulers of tibet have been the dalai lamas, the leaders of the dominant sect of tibetan buddhism. after the dissolution of the chinese monarchy in the early 20th century, the nationalist movement failed to provide an effective government for china, and tibet enjoyed a few decades of relative independance. in 1950, the communist army invaded tibet, and tibet was brought under the direct control of the chinese government, for the first time in history as far i'm able to make out.
so, tibet historically was not a chinese province, it was an autonomous territory which was brought within the borders and control of china by invasion approximately 800 years ago. prior to this, tibet was an independant kingdom.
coming to the present situation, these two seperate issues, the olympics being held in china and the political situation in tibet, have been sort of merged by misinformed people on both sides of the argument. to the chinese, the beijing olympic games is about nationalistic pride. it is the acceptance of china into the world community, the global recognition of china's greatness. there is little awareness about issues such as those i've written about above within china because of effective government propaganda. however, internationally, these are major talking points regarding china. with the olympics being held in beijing, it was inevitable that the global media and the people of the western world would initiate debates on these issues. i think that the chinese believed and still believe that the world should be talking about how great china is, which is what the state press talks about in china, instead of debating contentious issues which are denied or glossed over in china.
the other big shock for the chinese has been the hijacking of the torch relay by the pro-tibetan protesters in the western world. the olympics, or rather the media coverage that accompanies it, was always going to be used by all sorts of factions to focus attention on their grievances. for the pro-tibetans, their cause was so closely related the olympics being held in china, that again, it was inevitable that they would protest with renewed zeal and vigour in the leadup to the olympics.
[hmmm, i had some things in mind when i started writing, but i have veered away and gotten distracted. well, i'll write some more on subsequent entries...]
to be continued
Sunday, 9 December 2007
Ian Chappell claims that India have erred by not selecting Virender Sehwag in the squad for the tour of Australia. i would be inclined to agree this because I am a huge fan of Sehwag. in my opinion, he is much better suited to test cricket than odi's and t20. the high pressure environment in limited overs cricket has been sehwag's undoing too often. he bats much more fluently in test cricket where there are no limits. also, there are more attacking fielders in test cricket which allows sehwag to score to consistently quickly.
it is true that the current line-up has batted very well for the last 6 test matches. all the batsman have scored plenty of fifties with a few centuries in the last 2 tests. karthik, who was the leading scorer in england has suddenly lost his touch in the home tests. but given his success in england, i think he has a strong case for inclusion on the australian tour. jaffer has just scored his second double century and looks to have cemented one opening slot. laxman and ganguly were considered the middle order batsmen under the most amount of pressure but both have scored centuries, with laxman scoring 190 runs against pakistan with just the one dismissal. tendulkar and dravid cannot possibly be dropped against australia. and yuvraj singh has scored a hundred in the meantime as well.
so admittedly, it is a bit difficult to squeeze sehwag in at the moment. but i think in the interests of trying to win a series in australia, karthik or jaffer has to miss out to give sehwag a shot. an attack without mcgrath, with 4 fast bowlers including lee and tait is bound to be an absolute feast for sehwag....
it is true that the current line-up has batted very well for the last 6 test matches. all the batsman have scored plenty of fifties with a few centuries in the last 2 tests. karthik, who was the leading scorer in england has suddenly lost his touch in the home tests. but given his success in england, i think he has a strong case for inclusion on the australian tour. jaffer has just scored his second double century and looks to have cemented one opening slot. laxman and ganguly were considered the middle order batsmen under the most amount of pressure but both have scored centuries, with laxman scoring 190 runs against pakistan with just the one dismissal. tendulkar and dravid cannot possibly be dropped against australia. and yuvraj singh has scored a hundred in the meantime as well.
so admittedly, it is a bit difficult to squeeze sehwag in at the moment. but i think in the interests of trying to win a series in australia, karthik or jaffer has to miss out to give sehwag a shot. an attack without mcgrath, with 4 fast bowlers including lee and tait is bound to be an absolute feast for sehwag....
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
Murali- unsullied despite the best efforts of Australia
Muttiah Muralitharan has surpassed Shane Warne as the highest test wickettaker of all-time. Not unexpectedly, criticisms, ridicule, outrage and sheer hatred have flooded in from all corners of Australia, railing against Murali's great achievement. Many (not all) Australians are absolutely disgusted that the world record has passed into the keeping of Murali, not only because it is a record that was held by Austrlian spinner Shane Warne, but also because it is unlikely that this record will be overhauled anytime soon in the near future.
But most of all, Australia is unable to "hack it" because Australian umpires Darrell Hair and Ross Emerson attempted to remove Murali from the game by no-balling him for a bent-arm bowling action, and failed.
Furthermore, there is a general consensus in Australia that the ICC bowed to pressure from subcontinental cricket boards and amended the laws to legalize Murali's action. This is absolutely preposterous. The laws were amended to legalize all bowlers. McGrath and Lee were bending their elbows as much Murali and basically every other bowler. But in Australia, this fact is conveniently forgotten or ignored, and the lie that the law was changed specifically for Murali is considered gospel.
It is unfortunate that Australia as a whole will never accept Murali, and give him the credit that is due to him, for he is a truly great bowler, the likes of whom we may never see again in our lifetimes.
But no matter, regardless of how highly Australians think of themselves, they are only a small part of the cricketing world. The majority of international cricket fans recognize Murali for the champion he is, and grant him the according accolades. So congratulations Murali!!! Well done, and I hope you keep playing and keep taking an amazing amount of wickets. I personally dont think that 1000 wickets is beyond your ability.
But most of all, Australia is unable to "hack it" because Australian umpires Darrell Hair and Ross Emerson attempted to remove Murali from the game by no-balling him for a bent-arm bowling action, and failed.
Furthermore, there is a general consensus in Australia that the ICC bowed to pressure from subcontinental cricket boards and amended the laws to legalize Murali's action. This is absolutely preposterous. The laws were amended to legalize all bowlers. McGrath and Lee were bending their elbows as much Murali and basically every other bowler. But in Australia, this fact is conveniently forgotten or ignored, and the lie that the law was changed specifically for Murali is considered gospel.
It is unfortunate that Australia as a whole will never accept Murali, and give him the credit that is due to him, for he is a truly great bowler, the likes of whom we may never see again in our lifetimes.
But no matter, regardless of how highly Australians think of themselves, they are only a small part of the cricketing world. The majority of international cricket fans recognize Murali for the champion he is, and grant him the according accolades. So congratulations Murali!!! Well done, and I hope you keep playing and keep taking an amazing amount of wickets. I personally dont think that 1000 wickets is beyond your ability.
Tuesday, 13 November 2007
money first.....i mean....fitness...first
fitness first is so dodgy....
do not join if ur thinking about it and if ur already a member, well good luck getting out.
i used to be a member 4 years ago and i thought i had a frustrating time getting out. i just came to a stage where i had no time to go to the gym and so decided to cancel my membership. but informing the company several times, i realized that nothing was happening. i was told that they needed something in writing and a legitimate reason. what the hell??? anyway, i gave them what they wanted and then they insisted on a questionnaire which asked me why i wanted to quit 15 times in different ways. after all this farce, i found that i had ended up paying for an extra month that i didnt use. but i was just happy to be rid of fitness first so i didnt mind too much about the extra $60...
now, fitness first are apparently demanding either a medical certificate saying that ur not fit to exercise or proof of overseas travel before they "allow" u to cancel ur membership. otherwise they go on charging u. it must be illegal i'm sure, but some people i know have been caught up with fitness first and ended up wasting a lot of money (and still losing money). so be very careful when dealing with this fraudulent company- look around, make sure uv had a look at all ur options before go to fitness first...
do not join if ur thinking about it and if ur already a member, well good luck getting out.
i used to be a member 4 years ago and i thought i had a frustrating time getting out. i just came to a stage where i had no time to go to the gym and so decided to cancel my membership. but informing the company several times, i realized that nothing was happening. i was told that they needed something in writing and a legitimate reason. what the hell??? anyway, i gave them what they wanted and then they insisted on a questionnaire which asked me why i wanted to quit 15 times in different ways. after all this farce, i found that i had ended up paying for an extra month that i didnt use. but i was just happy to be rid of fitness first so i didnt mind too much about the extra $60...
now, fitness first are apparently demanding either a medical certificate saying that ur not fit to exercise or proof of overseas travel before they "allow" u to cancel ur membership. otherwise they go on charging u. it must be illegal i'm sure, but some people i know have been caught up with fitness first and ended up wasting a lot of money (and still losing money). so be very careful when dealing with this fraudulent company- look around, make sure uv had a look at all ur options before go to fitness first...
Thursday, 18 October 2007
maternal mortality in the indian subcontinent
this bbc feature looks at the appalling state of obstetric services in the subcontinent. it is quite shocking that india continues to lag behind many poor african, central and south american nations in maternal and neonatal mortality despite its much vaunted 10% per annum economic growth and aspirations of super-power status. afghanistan and nepal are desperately poor countries which have been ravaged by armed conflicts and power struggles recently and as is usual in these situations, women and children suffer first and longest. also note that sri lanka is missing from these statistics- despite civil war and other hindrances, sri lanka has always had better health and social outcomes than its neighbours.
of course, some of the blame can be attributed to silly superstitions, a topic i wrote about last year. but most of the preventable maternal mortality can be squarely attributed to the fact that basic pre- and peri-natal care is financially and physically out of reach of the vast majority of rural indian women. it is a deplorable situation, especially if you go to a city like bangalore; to cater for the burgeoning, newly successful IT class, the city is increasingly being cluttered with western style malls stocking the most exclusive fashion labels, trendy bars, nightclubs and premium car dealerships. drive 100km out of the city in any direction and you find yourself in rural india, where mothers and babies dying because of lack of simple obstetric services is just day-to-day life....
of course, some of the blame can be attributed to silly superstitions, a topic i wrote about last year. but most of the preventable maternal mortality can be squarely attributed to the fact that basic pre- and peri-natal care is financially and physically out of reach of the vast majority of rural indian women. it is a deplorable situation, especially if you go to a city like bangalore; to cater for the burgeoning, newly successful IT class, the city is increasingly being cluttered with western style malls stocking the most exclusive fashion labels, trendy bars, nightclubs and premium car dealerships. drive 100km out of the city in any direction and you find yourself in rural india, where mothers and babies dying because of lack of simple obstetric services is just day-to-day life....
cricket, cricket, cricket...
the india-australia odi series (future cup) finished yesterday; once more, it was a non-cricketing issue that made the headlines. the monkey chants directed at andrew symonds have become the main talking point of the cricketing world.
it initially began in vadodara, a match that symonds single-handedly dominated. the australians, after raising the allegations of racist crowd behaviour bizarrely decided not to pursue the issue and instead stated that they were confident that the indians would "deal with it". the bcci and vadodara cricket officials, basically washed their hands clean of the whole affair by saying that either it didnt really happen, it was a misunderstanding on the part of symonds or in fact, monkey chants in india are not derogotary. whilst i do feel that the icc's stance that all cricket boards must appoint anti-racism officers is misconceived, the bcci's reaction was appallingly inappropriate. it vindicated those people who were involved in the chanting and all but provided official encouragement for that sort of behaviour in future matches. and sure enough, the mumbai crowd obliged.
the bcci has its hands tied now- they have to act. i hope that rather than rhetoric and token gestures, some serious action is taken. now that photo evidence is available, life bans for those involved are a must. also, i believe that the culprit cities (mumbai and vadodara) should be given lengthy international bans of at least 3-4 years. the bcci will no doubt point fingers at australian cities where black south african cricketers were subjected to similar racial abuse in 2005/06 and escaped any real punishment. but that is a pockmark on the australian authorities, who have almost always supported their own regardless of right or wrong. india should not try and emulate australia in this particular regard, especially when australian cricket has so much to offer as they demonstrated in this series.
in any case, focussing on the cricket, the 4-2 scoreline really flatterred india, i felt. in fact, a 6-0 scoreline not only would've been more in accordance with the quality of cricket played, but it also would've given india a much needed reality check. as such, the indians are probably thinking that a little bit of luck in nagpur or hyderabad and the series would've been a draw. in reality, the contest was nowhere near that close. india came into the tournament thinking that they were playing against a team who were their equals, in light of their recent T20 success. but clearly there was nothing equal about the teams. there are some serious concerns for this indian team, especially with the imminent retirements of sachin tendulkar, rahul dravid and anil kumble. the batsman, buoyed by their T20 exploits, crashed down to earth spectacularly. major technical flaws were exposed in yuvraj singh, robin uthappa and ms dhoni. they only have a short time to rectify these faults before the australia tour, where any weakness will be ruthlessly exploited on fast pitches. the bowling was atrocious, especially the spinners. all the pitches used in the future cup (maybe except the bangalore pitch) were spinner-friendly yet only in mumbai did an indian spinner dominate- compare this to the performances of brad hogg and andrew symonds with the ball. the pace bowlers were equally poor. sreesanth and rp singh were profligate with wides and loose deliveries, more than erasing any credits they earnt with some superb wickettaking deliveries. zaheer khan was a lone ranger with his accuracy, but more will be needed from him in australia. pathan made a strong comeback, but has lost his wickettaking edge in a quest for control (this is understandable but one wonders how much of that is reversible). and the worst aspect of the indian performance was fielding. easy catches were dropped in every game; there were frequent misfields and poor throws; and runout opportunities were fumbled at crucial stages. much of the good work in the leadup to the T20 world cup has apparently been undone. how often can it be said that sourav ganguly was one of the most mistake-free fielders in the indian team???
so there is a tremendous amount of work to be done if india are to repeat their 2003/04 performance where they matched australia in all aspects of the game and denied steve waugh a farewell victory with that famous 705 in the first innings of the sydney test match.
it initially began in vadodara, a match that symonds single-handedly dominated. the australians, after raising the allegations of racist crowd behaviour bizarrely decided not to pursue the issue and instead stated that they were confident that the indians would "deal with it". the bcci and vadodara cricket officials, basically washed their hands clean of the whole affair by saying that either it didnt really happen, it was a misunderstanding on the part of symonds or in fact, monkey chants in india are not derogotary. whilst i do feel that the icc's stance that all cricket boards must appoint anti-racism officers is misconceived, the bcci's reaction was appallingly inappropriate. it vindicated those people who were involved in the chanting and all but provided official encouragement for that sort of behaviour in future matches. and sure enough, the mumbai crowd obliged.
the bcci has its hands tied now- they have to act. i hope that rather than rhetoric and token gestures, some serious action is taken. now that photo evidence is available, life bans for those involved are a must. also, i believe that the culprit cities (mumbai and vadodara) should be given lengthy international bans of at least 3-4 years. the bcci will no doubt point fingers at australian cities where black south african cricketers were subjected to similar racial abuse in 2005/06 and escaped any real punishment. but that is a pockmark on the australian authorities, who have almost always supported their own regardless of right or wrong. india should not try and emulate australia in this particular regard, especially when australian cricket has so much to offer as they demonstrated in this series.
in any case, focussing on the cricket, the 4-2 scoreline really flatterred india, i felt. in fact, a 6-0 scoreline not only would've been more in accordance with the quality of cricket played, but it also would've given india a much needed reality check. as such, the indians are probably thinking that a little bit of luck in nagpur or hyderabad and the series would've been a draw. in reality, the contest was nowhere near that close. india came into the tournament thinking that they were playing against a team who were their equals, in light of their recent T20 success. but clearly there was nothing equal about the teams. there are some serious concerns for this indian team, especially with the imminent retirements of sachin tendulkar, rahul dravid and anil kumble. the batsman, buoyed by their T20 exploits, crashed down to earth spectacularly. major technical flaws were exposed in yuvraj singh, robin uthappa and ms dhoni. they only have a short time to rectify these faults before the australia tour, where any weakness will be ruthlessly exploited on fast pitches. the bowling was atrocious, especially the spinners. all the pitches used in the future cup (maybe except the bangalore pitch) were spinner-friendly yet only in mumbai did an indian spinner dominate- compare this to the performances of brad hogg and andrew symonds with the ball. the pace bowlers were equally poor. sreesanth and rp singh were profligate with wides and loose deliveries, more than erasing any credits they earnt with some superb wickettaking deliveries. zaheer khan was a lone ranger with his accuracy, but more will be needed from him in australia. pathan made a strong comeback, but has lost his wickettaking edge in a quest for control (this is understandable but one wonders how much of that is reversible). and the worst aspect of the indian performance was fielding. easy catches were dropped in every game; there were frequent misfields and poor throws; and runout opportunities were fumbled at crucial stages. much of the good work in the leadup to the T20 world cup has apparently been undone. how often can it be said that sourav ganguly was one of the most mistake-free fielders in the indian team???
so there is a tremendous amount of work to be done if india are to repeat their 2003/04 performance where they matched australia in all aspects of the game and denied steve waugh a farewell victory with that famous 705 in the first innings of the sydney test match.
Sunday, 14 October 2007
an inconvenient truth
i was very disappointed with the nobel foundation for awarding the 2007 peace prize to al gore. i think it really cheapens the whole concept of the nobel peace prize and lessens the achievements of some of the more deserving winners in previous years.
whilst gore has raised some very important issues and brought much needed widescale publicity to the global warming debate, he has done so in a manner that is manipulative, sensationalist and at times, dishonest.
so i think in light of all this, to have awarded the nobel peace prize to al gore was a hasty, ill-conceived decision on part of the nobel prize committee. there are so many doubts and holes in al gore's position that he has just ignored and covered up with hyperbole, savviness and deception....
whilst gore has raised some very important issues and brought much needed widescale publicity to the global warming debate, he has done so in a manner that is manipulative, sensationalist and at times, dishonest.
so i think in light of all this, to have awarded the nobel peace prize to al gore was a hasty, ill-conceived decision on part of the nobel prize committee. there are so many doubts and holes in al gore's position that he has just ignored and covered up with hyperbole, savviness and deception....
Thursday, 4 October 2007
More on cricket
Dileep Premachandran has written an excellent article on cricinfo about the farcical sledging controversy that has arisen out of the current India-Australia ODI series. Whilst everything he has written is quite accurate and relevant, i think he has missed the main point.
when the west indies were the undisputed world champions in the 70's and 80's, they were respected, not just for their cricketing talent, but truly respected as gentlemen, the sort of respect that the current australian team craves and probably feels entitled to. yet their offensive on-field behaviour and sledging antics have ensured few people appreciate them beyond their admittedly awesome cricketing abilities.
when the west indies were champions, young cricketers around the world looked up to them as role models. viv richards, gordon greenidge, michael holding, joel garner and co. inspired a whole generation of young cricket players in the 80's- and what role models they were. a generation later, in the mid-late 90's, australia replaced the west indies at the top of the heirarchy. but they have not exactly been the most complete role models- sure they're great cricketers, perhaps even better than clive lloyd's team, but their unsporting behaviour and hypocrisy have caused as many headlines as their cricketing successses.
so moving forward into the 21st century, when the australian team walks out to play against india, and particularly guys like sreesanth and harbhajan, they see a reflection of themselves and are decidedly uncomfortable with it. these behaviours have been inspired by the champions australian team- this, of all things, is their legacy to world cricket. and that i think is the root cause of the whole unpalatable affair being played out in india at the moment. this sort of thing would not have been seen in 80's and 90's, when the great west indians were the leaders of the cricketing world.
when the west indies were the undisputed world champions in the 70's and 80's, they were respected, not just for their cricketing talent, but truly respected as gentlemen, the sort of respect that the current australian team craves and probably feels entitled to. yet their offensive on-field behaviour and sledging antics have ensured few people appreciate them beyond their admittedly awesome cricketing abilities.
when the west indies were champions, young cricketers around the world looked up to them as role models. viv richards, gordon greenidge, michael holding, joel garner and co. inspired a whole generation of young cricket players in the 80's- and what role models they were. a generation later, in the mid-late 90's, australia replaced the west indies at the top of the heirarchy. but they have not exactly been the most complete role models- sure they're great cricketers, perhaps even better than clive lloyd's team, but their unsporting behaviour and hypocrisy have caused as many headlines as their cricketing successses.
so moving forward into the 21st century, when the australian team walks out to play against india, and particularly guys like sreesanth and harbhajan, they see a reflection of themselves and are decidedly uncomfortable with it. these behaviours have been inspired by the champions australian team- this, of all things, is their legacy to world cricket. and that i think is the root cause of the whole unpalatable affair being played out in india at the moment. this sort of thing would not have been seen in 80's and 90's, when the great west indians were the leaders of the cricketing world.
Wednesday, 3 October 2007
Milford Sound 21/09-22/09
The day began in Te Anau, a small town on the southeastern banks of Lake Te Anau, at 5am. Milford is about 120 km north of Te Anau through some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world. We were forewarned to start early because the temptation to stop and admire and take photos and drive slowly would be irresistible......
And how right this warning turned out to be. It took us about 3.5 hours to get to Milford Sound. But before I get ahead of myself here's some of the incredible sights on the way...
The perfect reflections of the mirror lakes....
The approach to the Homer tunnel....basically there's a steep granite mountain that blocks the way to Milford Sound, so the New Zealanders blasted their way through- it only took 30 years!! Initially the Homer tunnel was a project designed to provide employment during the depression but it turned out to be much more work than anyone imagined...
The first half of the road to Milford is fairly standard NZ scenery- lush farmland, rainforest, pine plantations, the Lake of course, and lots of sheep. But it begins to change once the road winds onto the Eglington river valley. Suddenly, as you enter the Fiordland National Park, there are steep snow-capped mountains rising up on either side and the thick forest arches over the road creating a claustrophobic atmosphere. There is no farmland anymore, only forest, and grassland on the valley floor.
On the other side of the tunnel, however, it's a whole new world. There are numerous avalanches, icefalls and treefalls. The rivers and creeks are narrow and fast-flowing. The bends in the road are sharper and there are ominous "NO STOPPING- AVALANCHE ZONE" warnings everywhere. Steep granite walls rise up all around whilst fog covers the valley floor. The roar of the rivers is surpassed in volume only by the procession of tourist buses. As the road winds down towards Milford, the vegetation only seems to get thicker, just like the heavy morning mist.
At Milford Sound, we decided to join a kayaking group and see the Sound up close, as it was a dry, warm day (by Fiordland standards of course). It turned out to be a brilliant decision because no sooner had we pushed our kayaks into the water that we were greeted by a family of bottlenose dolphins. In between large servings of whitebait, the dolphins frollicked around our kayaks, coming much closer to us than we would dare go to them. As we paddled further out into Milford Sound, we passed by some of the area's permanent waterfalls, as well as sites of old treefalls, a fairly common occurence on the steep, densely wooded sloped.
After a quick lunch on the water, we were headed across to the northern bank when we came across a group of penguins, also after whitebait. Unfortunately, penguins are not as trusting of humans as dolphins. We had to keep our distance because the penguins were very shy and would swim away quickly if we came too close....
On the rocks of the northern bank of Milford Sound, we found a whole bunch of NZ fur seals. Apparently they like to bask in the sun during the day and hunt fish at night!! That sounds a bit bizarre to me, but thats what the locals said. These seals are lazy!! They just sit there and stretch and yawn and sleep. But at least they're completely unfazed by humans. We were able to get really close to these seals, only one seal even flinched, and even he went back to his nap almost immediately.
As we headed back to the harbour, passing thru Bowen falls, we were all incredibly sore. Kayaks are a great way to see Milford Sound, but they're not gentle on your back and legs. It was great day out on the water, with more to come on the next day....
We woke up to a stormy sky- everything was shades of grey. The heavens had opened up and it was pouring down....not what you want on your holiday. Unless you're going on a Milford Sound cruise!!! The clouds and the rain brought the whole place to life. There were waterfalls everywhere you looked. The permanent waterfalls had all doubled and tripled in size. The wind whipped the fog into a frenzy creating marvellous visual effects with the mountains in the background.
As the cruiseboat headed out to sea, we began to feel the full brunt of the weather conditions. The cold, stinging rain drove everyone inside and the boat rocked ominously. But this is definitely the best way to see Milford Sound, from outside in. You can really appreciate the steepness of the mountains that seemingly arise directly from the Tasman Sea. It is easy to see why numerous sailors including James Cook missed Milford Sound on their journeys down New Zealand's west coast- the inlet curves sharply to the north, the first of many curves.
On the way back, we stopped by a few more waterfalls with some people opting to get drenched. Then it was smooth sailing all the way back into the harbour....
[The only downside of Milford Sound was the sandfly bites- they're really painful, and itchy for days afterwards. We'd been talking about getting repellant for days beforehand but never got around to it. If your going to Milford Sound, the two things you should not forget are your camera and insect repellant!!]
And how right this warning turned out to be. It took us about 3.5 hours to get to Milford Sound. But before I get ahead of myself here's some of the incredible sights on the way...
The perfect reflections of the mirror lakes....
The approach to the Homer tunnel....basically there's a steep granite mountain that blocks the way to Milford Sound, so the New Zealanders blasted their way through- it only took 30 years!! Initially the Homer tunnel was a project designed to provide employment during the depression but it turned out to be much more work than anyone imagined...The first half of the road to Milford is fairly standard NZ scenery- lush farmland, rainforest, pine plantations, the Lake of course, and lots of sheep. But it begins to change once the road winds onto the Eglington river valley. Suddenly, as you enter the Fiordland National Park, there are steep snow-capped mountains rising up on either side and the thick forest arches over the road creating a claustrophobic atmosphere. There is no farmland anymore, only forest, and grassland on the valley floor.
On the other side of the tunnel, however, it's a whole new world. There are numerous avalanches, icefalls and treefalls. The rivers and creeks are narrow and fast-flowing. The bends in the road are sharper and there are ominous "NO STOPPING- AVALANCHE ZONE" warnings everywhere. Steep granite walls rise up all around whilst fog covers the valley floor. The roar of the rivers is surpassed in volume only by the procession of tourist buses. As the road winds down towards Milford, the vegetation only seems to get thicker, just like the heavy morning mist.
At Milford Sound, we decided to join a kayaking group and see the Sound up close, as it was a dry, warm day (by Fiordland standards of course). It turned out to be a brilliant decision because no sooner had we pushed our kayaks into the water that we were greeted by a family of bottlenose dolphins. In between large servings of whitebait, the dolphins frollicked around our kayaks, coming much closer to us than we would dare go to them. As we paddled further out into Milford Sound, we passed by some of the area's permanent waterfalls, as well as sites of old treefalls, a fairly common occurence on the steep, densely wooded sloped.
After a quick lunch on the water, we were headed across to the northern bank when we came across a group of penguins, also after whitebait. Unfortunately, penguins are not as trusting of humans as dolphins. We had to keep our distance because the penguins were very shy and would swim away quickly if we came too close....
On the rocks of the northern bank of Milford Sound, we found a whole bunch of NZ fur seals. Apparently they like to bask in the sun during the day and hunt fish at night!! That sounds a bit bizarre to me, but thats what the locals said. These seals are lazy!! They just sit there and stretch and yawn and sleep. But at least they're completely unfazed by humans. We were able to get really close to these seals, only one seal even flinched, and even he went back to his nap almost immediately.
As we headed back to the harbour, passing thru Bowen falls, we were all incredibly sore. Kayaks are a great way to see Milford Sound, but they're not gentle on your back and legs. It was great day out on the water, with more to come on the next day....
We woke up to a stormy sky- everything was shades of grey. The heavens had opened up and it was pouring down....not what you want on your holiday. Unless you're going on a Milford Sound cruise!!! The clouds and the rain brought the whole place to life. There were waterfalls everywhere you looked. The permanent waterfalls had all doubled and tripled in size. The wind whipped the fog into a frenzy creating marvellous visual effects with the mountains in the background.
As the cruiseboat headed out to sea, we began to feel the full brunt of the weather conditions. The cold, stinging rain drove everyone inside and the boat rocked ominously. But this is definitely the best way to see Milford Sound, from outside in. You can really appreciate the steepness of the mountains that seemingly arise directly from the Tasman Sea. It is easy to see why numerous sailors including James Cook missed Milford Sound on their journeys down New Zealand's west coast- the inlet curves sharply to the north, the first of many curves.
On the way back, we stopped by a few more waterfalls with some people opting to get drenched. Then it was smooth sailing all the way back into the harbour....
[The only downside of Milford Sound was the sandfly bites- they're really painful, and itchy for days afterwards. We'd been talking about getting repellant for days beforehand but never got around to it. If your going to Milford Sound, the two things you should not forget are your camera and insect repellant!!]
Thursday, 27 September 2007
twenty20 is here to stay...
but more importantly, india actually won!!!! how incredible is that??? i missed most of the games as i was in new zealand, but i did make sure that we had pay tv in our motel room for the final.
it is difficult to believe that this team that is bowling and fielding so well is in fact india. and the batting was so mature in difficult circumstances. i wonder how much of this success will be carried forward to odi's and tests in the coming months. certainly this newfound depth in bowling will be tested in longer games. the batting still concerns me, as far as test cricket is concerned. i really hope sehwag finds himself back in the test team, because all of india's test success from 2001-2004 was based on sehwag's destructive innings opening the batting. despite popular opinion that he is a specialist limited overs batsman, i actually think india would be best served by keeping sehwag for tests exclusively- he has previously thrived in an environment where there are no limitations placed on him. he has proven repeatedly that he is not a good chaser- even in 2nd innings of test matches he has not performed well. what he really excels at is setting big totals. anyway, we'll see what happens over the next few months.
but back to the world cup- it turned out to be an incredible success. i initially voiced my doubts about the format and stated that i didnt really like the type of cricket played. but i have to admit, i've changed my mind. first of all, like i said before, the potential of twenty20 to become a spectator sport easily surpasses anything cricket has ever offered before. never before have such large and energetic crowds been seen at south african stadiums. and this is only the beginning- it seems that twenty20 has all the ingredients to become a real global force. but all this was predicted before the tournament. what was completely unexpected was the quality of cricket...
the tournament opener, thankfully, proved to be a one-off. most of the serious matches were extremely close affairs and there were enough upsets to keep people guessing. most importantly, it was not a tournament dominated by big-hitting batsmen as most expected. bowlers played a key role and fittingly the finalists were teams that picked five specialist bowlers throughout the tournament. the impact of bowlers was clearly evident in the matchwinning statistics of daniel vettori, rp singh, umar gul and shahid afridi. it was sreesanth's destructive spell against australia that decided that semi-final, and the same goes for irfan pathan in the final, vettori against india, afridi against sri lanka and so on. there was a comment made by david lloyd towards the end of the tied india-pak match which i think holds the key to the future of twenty20: he said something along the lines of "if we play these matches on pitches that provide real assistance to bowlers, then it is possible to produce close, tightly contested matches that provide a real spectacle as opposed to mindless slogging". i think playing the tournament in south africa was extremely fortuitous because it clearly demonstrated that twenty20 will be a success due to bowling not batting. three decades of odi's have ensured that everyone can slog to some degree- six after six is not that exciting (sorry yuvraj) if thats all that happens for three hours like that south africa- west indies match. what is much more exciting is the intelligent, tactful batting of players like gambhir and misbah who sum up the situation and play accordingly.
anyway, i am now a convert. under the right conditions, twenty20 can produce really good cricket and contrary to initial expectations, there is more incentive to picking five bowlers (with one or two bowling "all-rounders" like pathan, afridi) than there is in tests or odi's. the challenge for other countries will be to produce wickets that are bowler friendly and produce more tight contests.....
but more importantly, india actually won!!!! how incredible is that??? i missed most of the games as i was in new zealand, but i did make sure that we had pay tv in our motel room for the final.
it is difficult to believe that this team that is bowling and fielding so well is in fact india. and the batting was so mature in difficult circumstances. i wonder how much of this success will be carried forward to odi's and tests in the coming months. certainly this newfound depth in bowling will be tested in longer games. the batting still concerns me, as far as test cricket is concerned. i really hope sehwag finds himself back in the test team, because all of india's test success from 2001-2004 was based on sehwag's destructive innings opening the batting. despite popular opinion that he is a specialist limited overs batsman, i actually think india would be best served by keeping sehwag for tests exclusively- he has previously thrived in an environment where there are no limitations placed on him. he has proven repeatedly that he is not a good chaser- even in 2nd innings of test matches he has not performed well. what he really excels at is setting big totals. anyway, we'll see what happens over the next few months.
but back to the world cup- it turned out to be an incredible success. i initially voiced my doubts about the format and stated that i didnt really like the type of cricket played. but i have to admit, i've changed my mind. first of all, like i said before, the potential of twenty20 to become a spectator sport easily surpasses anything cricket has ever offered before. never before have such large and energetic crowds been seen at south african stadiums. and this is only the beginning- it seems that twenty20 has all the ingredients to become a real global force. but all this was predicted before the tournament. what was completely unexpected was the quality of cricket...
the tournament opener, thankfully, proved to be a one-off. most of the serious matches were extremely close affairs and there were enough upsets to keep people guessing. most importantly, it was not a tournament dominated by big-hitting batsmen as most expected. bowlers played a key role and fittingly the finalists were teams that picked five specialist bowlers throughout the tournament. the impact of bowlers was clearly evident in the matchwinning statistics of daniel vettori, rp singh, umar gul and shahid afridi. it was sreesanth's destructive spell against australia that decided that semi-final, and the same goes for irfan pathan in the final, vettori against india, afridi against sri lanka and so on. there was a comment made by david lloyd towards the end of the tied india-pak match which i think holds the key to the future of twenty20: he said something along the lines of "if we play these matches on pitches that provide real assistance to bowlers, then it is possible to produce close, tightly contested matches that provide a real spectacle as opposed to mindless slogging". i think playing the tournament in south africa was extremely fortuitous because it clearly demonstrated that twenty20 will be a success due to bowling not batting. three decades of odi's have ensured that everyone can slog to some degree- six after six is not that exciting (sorry yuvraj) if thats all that happens for three hours like that south africa- west indies match. what is much more exciting is the intelligent, tactful batting of players like gambhir and misbah who sum up the situation and play accordingly.
anyway, i am now a convert. under the right conditions, twenty20 can produce really good cricket and contrary to initial expectations, there is more incentive to picking five bowlers (with one or two bowling "all-rounders" like pathan, afridi) than there is in tests or odi's. the challenge for other countries will be to produce wickets that are bowler friendly and produce more tight contests.....
new zealand
i just got back from a short holiday in new zealand, and i must say, it is so much better than what all the tourism ads claim. those things do no justice to the supreme beauty and grandeur of new zealand.
we spent ten days driving around the southern parts of the south island including 2 days of skiiing, which if you havent done is a must-do activity. the major places we went to were mt.cook, milford sound and the glaciers, but travelling in new zealand is much more about the bits in between; the little tracks and unsealed roads that lead to stunning gorges, dazzling waterfalls and dizzy peaks, the sound of birdsong and bleating lambs, the lush farmland and dense forests and the thousands of rivers that criss-cross the land.
there's lots of photos to come- i havent uploaded them as i havent looked thru them yet. but soon....i still have over a week of leave. the worst thing about holidays is the intense feeling of withdrawal one gets after returning home...
we spent ten days driving around the southern parts of the south island including 2 days of skiiing, which if you havent done is a must-do activity. the major places we went to were mt.cook, milford sound and the glaciers, but travelling in new zealand is much more about the bits in between; the little tracks and unsealed roads that lead to stunning gorges, dazzling waterfalls and dizzy peaks, the sound of birdsong and bleating lambs, the lush farmland and dense forests and the thousands of rivers that criss-cross the land.
there's lots of photos to come- i havent uploaded them as i havent looked thru them yet. but soon....i still have over a week of leave. the worst thing about holidays is the intense feeling of withdrawal one gets after returning home...
Monday, 10 September 2007
Twenty20 has arrived
32 years ago, one-day cricket claimed its place in the cricket world with the inaugural world cup. now, twenty20 is staking its claim with the launch 0f the twenty20 world cup. gideon haigh, one of the best cricket journalists going around has written a fantastic article on the evolution of cricket (highly recommended for all cricket enthusiasts) and various variations on the main theme that have flopped disastrously.
anyway, ever since twenty20 took off in english county cricket in the 2003 northern summer, i've been trying to work out exactly how i feel about it. and i must say, its not as simple as i initially thought.
from the handful of matches i've seen, i dont really like the gameplay. there's very little tactics involved- most of the innovations are defensive i.e. how to concede less runs. as far as the batting goes, its quite similar to the final 10-15 overs in odi's (improvisation, slogging etc). the thing i really dont like about it is that inferior batsman can shine (because the game doesnt last long enough for their defeciencies to show) and quality bowlers are not adequately rewarded. so, it doesnt really add anything new to the game the way odi's brought a new dimension to cricket and cricketers three decades ago, and it dilutes the finer technical aspects of the game.
BUT, thats only one side of the argument. twenty20 was the product of about ten years of experimentation by the ecb to come up with a product (yes, product....thats what it is nowadays) that would be competitive with soccer in england. by necessity, the game would have to be short, thrilling, have lots of fast changes of momentum and be palatable and understandable to a broad range of people. and i have to admit, somewhat grudgingly, that twenty20 delivers all those things. it has attracted plenty of people who would never consider going to watch a full day's worth of cricket. and its very television friendly...
i think the conclusion is that twenty20 is here to stay, even though more serious fans are never going to fully embrace it. on the whole, it probably is a good thing for cricket in terms of exposure and developing the game outside of its traditional bastions...
anyway, ever since twenty20 took off in english county cricket in the 2003 northern summer, i've been trying to work out exactly how i feel about it. and i must say, its not as simple as i initially thought.
from the handful of matches i've seen, i dont really like the gameplay. there's very little tactics involved- most of the innovations are defensive i.e. how to concede less runs. as far as the batting goes, its quite similar to the final 10-15 overs in odi's (improvisation, slogging etc). the thing i really dont like about it is that inferior batsman can shine (because the game doesnt last long enough for their defeciencies to show) and quality bowlers are not adequately rewarded. so, it doesnt really add anything new to the game the way odi's brought a new dimension to cricket and cricketers three decades ago, and it dilutes the finer technical aspects of the game.
BUT, thats only one side of the argument. twenty20 was the product of about ten years of experimentation by the ecb to come up with a product (yes, product....thats what it is nowadays) that would be competitive with soccer in england. by necessity, the game would have to be short, thrilling, have lots of fast changes of momentum and be palatable and understandable to a broad range of people. and i have to admit, somewhat grudgingly, that twenty20 delivers all those things. it has attracted plenty of people who would never consider going to watch a full day's worth of cricket. and its very television friendly...
i think the conclusion is that twenty20 is here to stay, even though more serious fans are never going to fully embrace it. on the whole, it probably is a good thing for cricket in terms of exposure and developing the game outside of its traditional bastions...
Tuesday, 31 July 2007
international cricket has been thru many controversies over the last decade; some substantial, like match-fixing and ball tampering, and others farcical, like chucking, bangladesh and zimbabwe. one of the biggest current controversies is sledging, or "gamesmanship", which is a word i detest, because it somehow legitimizes needless verbal abuse and intimidation. clearly, any form of sledging is against the so-called spirit of cricket. anyway, thats another debate altogether.
i actually wanted to write about the current england-india test series where all this sledging rubbish has really been overdone by both teams. england, as usual, are the team getting their butts kicked, yet if u listen to the "chatter", u would think india is the team behind. more than england's presumptuous arrogance, it is india's gullibility in being so easily provoked by a team that is mediocre at best and a team that they are quietly dominating that irritates me. sreesanth is a prime example- dancing after smashing andre nel for a six is one thing, but carrying that sort of attitude into his bowling and distracting himself and bowling so poorly against a weak-ish batting line-up is simply unacceptable. he was following thru 17-18m after every ball so he could say something to the batsman's face- what the???? ajit agarkar and irfan pathan, as all fans of indian cricket would know, have failed to fully utilize their significant talents in international cricket. it would be a shame to sreesanth go the same way, especially as he can probably be a better bowler than either of the other two.
but it would be unfair to blame only sreesanth. most of the team has gone overboard with this sledging business. england has few other options, but india should seriously work on their cricket rather than all this sledging rubbish. in fact, it would unsettle opponents more if their existence wasnt recognized....
on a side note, zaheer khan has accused england of planting jellybeans on the pitch!!! now this sounds like a pretty serious allegation. i mean imagine how much the ball would cut off a jellybean...
i actually wanted to write about the current england-india test series where all this sledging rubbish has really been overdone by both teams. england, as usual, are the team getting their butts kicked, yet if u listen to the "chatter", u would think india is the team behind. more than england's presumptuous arrogance, it is india's gullibility in being so easily provoked by a team that is mediocre at best and a team that they are quietly dominating that irritates me. sreesanth is a prime example- dancing after smashing andre nel for a six is one thing, but carrying that sort of attitude into his bowling and distracting himself and bowling so poorly against a weak-ish batting line-up is simply unacceptable. he was following thru 17-18m after every ball so he could say something to the batsman's face- what the???? ajit agarkar and irfan pathan, as all fans of indian cricket would know, have failed to fully utilize their significant talents in international cricket. it would be a shame to sreesanth go the same way, especially as he can probably be a better bowler than either of the other two.
but it would be unfair to blame only sreesanth. most of the team has gone overboard with this sledging business. england has few other options, but india should seriously work on their cricket rather than all this sledging rubbish. in fact, it would unsettle opponents more if their existence wasnt recognized....
on a side note, zaheer khan has accused england of planting jellybeans on the pitch!!! now this sounds like a pretty serious allegation. i mean imagine how much the ball would cut off a jellybean...
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