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New kit. Everyone loves new kit.
Over the last few days, TWC has collected and reviewed the shiniest and newest cricket equipment on the market. We asked six readers to spend a day playing with bats and balls, trying out pads and gloves, wearing helmets and thigh pads.
Posted in Miscellaneous, ed craig | No Comments »
Marcus Trescothick’s sad departure to England has created a mixture of confusion and bewilderment from many Indians – and his county have exacerbated a desperate situation.
The news broke late last night here. It is not a massive story for the locals but is of interest – they would like to know why one of the English teams’ most high profile players has headed home. And as the rumours leaked out, Somerset’s communication broke down.
Posted in Champions League, England in India, IPL, Twenty20, ed craig | 3 Comments »
Cricket is like a religion in Delhi. Well, like the Church of England in the UK, to be precise: a struggling monolith trying to convince an apathetic population to turn up and take part.
That is just Delhi – and it is not quite as bad as all that. There were 25,000 people watching a well-drilled Victoria Bushrangers side mash the Delhi Daredevils last night. But this was a disappointing turn out and the television cameras never concentrated on the waves of empty seats.
According to one Indian journalist, Delhi is not as cricket-crazy as some other parts of the country. The Feroz Shah Kotla stadium has an ugly beauty about it, especially now the colourful Champions League branding has turned it into Little Cricket World – like a cricket section of EuroDisney – but it underwent a refit only five years ago. “It was a pit. No one cared,” the journalist explains.
Add in perceived corruption from administrators, vicious local police and you can understand the roots of this disillusion – at least that’s what I am told.
Then again, that particular journalist is not from Delhi and was not perfectly objective, so I’ll have to take his words with a pinch of salt – or make a leap of faith.
Edward Craig is deputy editor of The Wisden Cricketer
Posted in IPL, Twenty20, ed craig | 3 Comments »
… Of Indian cricket? That’s the survey that ESPN Star Sports, the channel that broadcasts the Champions League across India, just showed on its coverage. 82% say ‘Yes’. The owner, head person, commissioner, oligarch and basic god of Indian Twenty20 is the saviour of Indian cricket according to everyone but a disruptive 18%.
The Indian journalists in the press box have only just stopped laughing, especially as Modi has a healthy-hand in what gets broadcast when.
Apparently, Ravi Shastri once called him Moses.
The truth is he’s a stellar version of Giles Clarke with much more balls (and money).
Edward Craig is deputy editor of The Wisden Cricketer
Posted in IPL, Twenty20, ed craig | No Comments »
It’s a burning day in Delhi, not one for a pasty Brit to be stuck outside for too long. So when the security guard refused my entry, stranding me in the street yards from any shelter, I feared the worst.
The Champions League is a global-domestic tournament – a vast, commercial, colourful enterprise. And the security around the grounds reflects this. Sussex players are not bothering to leave the hotel because it’s too much of a pain getting through all the checks. Try turning up to a game in Delhi without a ticket and you’ll get beaten by policemen with big sticks. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in ed craig | 2 Comments »
