It was probably worth Australia being knocked out of the ICC T20 competition just see Chris Gayle's impeccable cool abandon him completely when his team won.
First he fell over in his rush to get on to the ground, then he did a very awkward haka-style interpretation of the Gangnam style dance and generally carried on like a pork chop. This was after an innings of some amazing "talk to the hand" fours and sixes, flicked like lint off a new suit.
Speaking of off-field antics, they showed some footage of Sunil Narine being playful during training, including some very accomplished cuddling, and Harsha made the comment, "Oh those Trinidadians", which makes me think the talent for cuddles displayed by TNT native Adrian Barath could be a national trait. Now that I think about it, one of my earliest Cricket Love memories was a touching embrace between Ricky Ponting and Prince of Port of Spain Brian Lara. I have an old map of the West Indies above my desk, from which I know that Trinidad is home to the largest natural asphalt lake in the world. Could there be a little oxytocin in those fumes?
Commentary commentary II
I knew Ravi Shastri must be in the box when someone used the word "cognisant". Even Harsha said he hadn't heard that word in a while. Despite my whinges last time I've enjoyed the cosmopolitan approach to the commentary roster, with mostly Indians and South Africans calling the WI vs AU game, plus a bit of Warnie who sounded like he had a sore throat. These tournaments are probably like conferences. So much chatting!
Minnow winnow
I was probably more excited by the prospect of the qualifying rounds for this competition than the main event. Who is not overcome with curiosity at a fixture between Nepal and Hong Kong? Turns out Nepal has a very dashing-looking captain and Hong Kong has some pretty boys who can't catch for nuts. Nepal's Sagar Pun stood out, a very nifty batting-bowling-fielding package, and bowler Shakti "Shaggy" Gauchan who celebrates like a footballer.
My heart was lost however to Afghanistan's portly, turbulent Mohammad Shahzad ("Shazam" around here), who suffered the indignity of getting out to the first ball of the whole tournament but was fortunate enough later on to be skying balls around those Hong Kong boys. The first one went so high he was pounding the pitch with his bat in frustration for some time before realising he'd been let off. It's been fun.
PS. This is Shazad's English Wikipedia page. He also has pages in Bengali, Pashto, Tamil and a very thorough one in... Vietnamese. I want to know who wrote that page.
29 March 2014
08 March 2014
Forward March
Now I have pay-to-air television, I can't really pretend those non-Ashes overseas tours don't exist and I don't see them. Turns out they do and I do!
So, the South African series. After the first one followed the same pattern as the Ashes tests I thought, again, is this just how it's going to be from now on? Every time we win the toss? Dodgy first innings with lower order save of top order, crunching bowl out of the opposition, effortless second innings piling on ridiculous lead, crunching bowl out number two. It was interesting seeing the new boys, and Phil Hughes trying to look pleased at Sean Marsh's 100. Alex's Doolan's aggressive 5 o'clock shadow reminds me of this character.
The second test was a relief from the Groundhog Day perspective, though it wasn't strictly necessary for the variation to go so far as losing. We sat on the couch on the last day watching Rogers and Warner do their thing and said "They're going to do it. They're going to bat out the day." But then I thought, when was the last time we did it? Are we batters-out by nature or even inclination? I thought the English loved of a gritty last stand, but obviously they have nothing on the South Africans who, as one commentator put it, seem to veritably "wallow" in the prospect of a good ole stonewall. I read today there was no television in South Africa until 1975, which somehow seems relevant.
Commentary commentary
I became unreasonably irritated by Mark Nicholas this series, which reached its apogee when I flew into a rage at some innocuous comment about the spectacular view from the Capetown ground.
Unreasonably, but not quite unaccountably. Firstly, how few Australians were commentating this series on TV and why? There was Tom Moody, the prospect of whom slows the pulse down considerably. Only Glenn McGrath is more dismal a prospect. We'd just started making jokes about Tom Moody always mentioning what would have gone on in the "team meeting" and then of course he never did it again. Maybe there'd been tweets. Why did the South African media get Andrew Symonds and not us?
Secondly, I've enjoyed the more relaxed boysy commentary style of the Foxtel folk, which was taken to the next level by Channel 10's BBL coverage, and suddenly Channel Nine commentary, or Channel Nine-style commentary seems unbearably genteel and stuffy and paternalistic. Mark Nicholas personified all of that. He was brought in to take up the Benaud baton, and it made me think about the influence Benaud has had on the feel of the Channel 9 coverage historically and whether it was time to let that go. Packer was of course the opposite of genteel and stuffy and paternalistic, but Benaud played a mediating role in that whole affair and was no doubt a reassuring plus ça reste le même presence for the benefit of the disgruntled ABC-viewing public. Nicholas is no Benaud in any case, whose gentility has a sort of mystery and glamour about it - sphinx-like with a certain camp.
Warner
I saw a Foxtel "ProFile" piece on Warner after the twitter hoo-ha that was obviously an attempt at some image reconstruction and came away from it with a worse impression of him than I had going in, which is either a comment on the competence of the producers or the nature of the beast. He's just a 13 year old boy on a school excursion, which is the problem but also why you forgive him. Take away the stupid send-offs and I am comfortable indulging the rest. He's becoming a bit of a Warne: the must-see player, the freak, the animal cunning on the field and obtuseness off it, the rhino hide and thus the fall-guy role he plays for the team, who can benefit from his boorishness while letting him absorb most of the flak for it. That said, the transition on the letters page from "Our team: hopeless losers, it's a national disgrace" to "Our team: ugly winners, it's a national disgrace" has been instant.
Last word for today on South Africa series: Faf du Plessis & Jay Mohr
BBL floorsweepings
I have some old notes about the BBL on a piece of paper that's now being a bookmark. "Coulter Socceroo" This was me thinking Nathan Coulter-Nile is too good looking to be an Australian cricketer and may have picked the wrong code. "Gilly straight man" is obvious, Adam Gilchrist was the good boy among the old boys in the 10 commentary box, though got in a sly dig now and again. "Birt Bopton" I have no idea what I was getting at there. Oh wait, it's "Birt Boston". Travis Birt: should be a baseball player. PS I'm going to see the Dodgers v Diamondbacks game at the SCG, very excited. "June" This is what Mark Waugh's nickname has become and just makes me think of June Carter.
The only real blot on the Channel 10 BBL copy book was the stupid and obnoxious million dollar celebrity catch stunt, surely one of the most cynical and exploitative contests ever devised, including of the celebrity. Don't come back.
So, the South African series. After the first one followed the same pattern as the Ashes tests I thought, again, is this just how it's going to be from now on? Every time we win the toss? Dodgy first innings with lower order save of top order, crunching bowl out of the opposition, effortless second innings piling on ridiculous lead, crunching bowl out number two. It was interesting seeing the new boys, and Phil Hughes trying to look pleased at Sean Marsh's 100. Alex's Doolan's aggressive 5 o'clock shadow reminds me of this character.
The second test was a relief from the Groundhog Day perspective, though it wasn't strictly necessary for the variation to go so far as losing. We sat on the couch on the last day watching Rogers and Warner do their thing and said "They're going to do it. They're going to bat out the day." But then I thought, when was the last time we did it? Are we batters-out by nature or even inclination? I thought the English loved of a gritty last stand, but obviously they have nothing on the South Africans who, as one commentator put it, seem to veritably "wallow" in the prospect of a good ole stonewall. I read today there was no television in South Africa until 1975, which somehow seems relevant.
Commentary commentary
I became unreasonably irritated by Mark Nicholas this series, which reached its apogee when I flew into a rage at some innocuous comment about the spectacular view from the Capetown ground.
Unreasonably, but not quite unaccountably. Firstly, how few Australians were commentating this series on TV and why? There was Tom Moody, the prospect of whom slows the pulse down considerably. Only Glenn McGrath is more dismal a prospect. We'd just started making jokes about Tom Moody always mentioning what would have gone on in the "team meeting" and then of course he never did it again. Maybe there'd been tweets. Why did the South African media get Andrew Symonds and not us?
Secondly, I've enjoyed the more relaxed boysy commentary style of the Foxtel folk, which was taken to the next level by Channel 10's BBL coverage, and suddenly Channel Nine commentary, or Channel Nine-style commentary seems unbearably genteel and stuffy and paternalistic. Mark Nicholas personified all of that. He was brought in to take up the Benaud baton, and it made me think about the influence Benaud has had on the feel of the Channel 9 coverage historically and whether it was time to let that go. Packer was of course the opposite of genteel and stuffy and paternalistic, but Benaud played a mediating role in that whole affair and was no doubt a reassuring plus ça reste le même presence for the benefit of the disgruntled ABC-viewing public. Nicholas is no Benaud in any case, whose gentility has a sort of mystery and glamour about it - sphinx-like with a certain camp.
Warner
I saw a Foxtel "ProFile" piece on Warner after the twitter hoo-ha that was obviously an attempt at some image reconstruction and came away from it with a worse impression of him than I had going in, which is either a comment on the competence of the producers or the nature of the beast. He's just a 13 year old boy on a school excursion, which is the problem but also why you forgive him. Take away the stupid send-offs and I am comfortable indulging the rest. He's becoming a bit of a Warne: the must-see player, the freak, the animal cunning on the field and obtuseness off it, the rhino hide and thus the fall-guy role he plays for the team, who can benefit from his boorishness while letting him absorb most of the flak for it. That said, the transition on the letters page from "Our team: hopeless losers, it's a national disgrace" to "Our team: ugly winners, it's a national disgrace" has been instant.
Last word for today on South Africa series: Faf du Plessis & Jay Mohr
I have some old notes about the BBL on a piece of paper that's now being a bookmark. "Coulter Socceroo" This was me thinking Nathan Coulter-Nile is too good looking to be an Australian cricketer and may have picked the wrong code. "Gilly straight man" is obvious, Adam Gilchrist was the good boy among the old boys in the 10 commentary box, though got in a sly dig now and again. "Birt Bopton" I have no idea what I was getting at there. Oh wait, it's "Birt Boston". Travis Birt: should be a baseball player. PS I'm going to see the Dodgers v Diamondbacks game at the SCG, very excited. "June" This is what Mark Waugh's nickname has become and just makes me think of June Carter.
The only real blot on the Channel 10 BBL copy book was the stupid and obnoxious million dollar celebrity catch stunt, surely one of the most cynical and exploitative contests ever devised, including of the celebrity. Don't come back.
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