Use of Technology in Umpiring

    
Interesting debate taking place on cricinfo.com about the use of technology in umpiring. The experiment during the recent World Series had mixed but very vocal repsonses. I feel if the technology is there we should use it. But the question is, is that technology good enough? Whats the use of technology if it takes 5 minutes to decide whether a catch was taken cleanly or not. Also there should be some validation of the Hawk-eye science. If its good enough (and sure enough) I guess its only fair to use it. Even though it will leave us less things to talk about :-)

But then this helps me wonder why doesnt the MLB in US use that kinda stuff? They still have the human umpires out in the field altho I think baseball umpiring is much tougher due to the speed of the ball/game. I guess the crowd loves the anticipation when the umpire calls "safe!".

Badmouthing Shoaib Akhtar - tis the trend

Looks like this is "in" as my fellow blogger pointed out here. Everybody from the management to the coach and captain is busy in getting trash after trash for this dude. OK he isn't innocent or whatever but so what do we do? I can't care less about the media coming up with such trash and I think Shoaib Akhtar should go ahead and sue the ppl responsible. Another post on the same topic proves that this has been going on for quite a while now. Shoaib Akhtar needs to pull up his socks as well. How in the world can he afford to gain weight and not be 101% fit when he knew how crucial it is for himself and his team.

As far as John Elliot's remarks are concerned I guess he needs to look in the mirror and ask himself the question: Did he have it in himself to be able to manage men? I feel no matter how rogue/rebel a player there is always a method which is just right for him. And the role of the coach/manager is to find that method for him. Whether its carrot or stick - i am not sure but there has to be some way of handling those people.

(Btw John Elliot's remarks might just be psychological pressure techniques that England ppl have learnt from the Aussies in the recent times).

Let your egos/jealousy aside people and lets beat some Englishmen!

"Explanation of Cricket" (borrring!)

The most boring explanation of cricket I ever found! :D.... i mean its sooo boring it makes me laugh! Ok its informative/comprehensive or wateva but still.. it makes cricket sound like a chemistry experiment or something.... plus i think it doesnt cover the latest additions to cricket like Super-sub, third-umpire for lbw (and other previously N/A) decisions. I am attaching a screen shot of the "table of contents" :D

Btw it would've helped if the author had put up a few pictures depicting the various shots, umpire signals, ground pics, national kits etc. etc.

Air-tight Security promised for Pak vs Eng '05

Pakistan cricket officials have promised top-notch security for the forth-coming series against England. There has been a lot of controversy already about the venues with Karachi coming under the fire (as usual).

Btw I was just wondering what does this mean for cricket fans in Pakistan? More agony. Traffic jams. Parking restrictions in the rush-est of hours. Mayhem all over. Do they expect more attendance from the crowds this way? We are already facing a challenge to bring enough people into the stadiums specially for Test matches and steps like these might not help. But then you gotta do wat you gotta do. Can't take any chances.

They have even formulated an emergency evacuation plan for the players in case of a disaster like the Earthquake which hit the Northern Areas of Pakistan on Oct 8, 2005 and claimed 50, 000 lives :(.... (altho i am not entirely sure how this would help in the event of a disaster of such magnitude :P)

Cricket Reality Show!!

Wow! why didnt I think of this! Amazing idea and endless possibilities... my mind is just racing with concepts how this will capture the cricket frenzy nation by heart. Especially with the England series coming up followed by the India one early next year!

I remember there was a TV play some time ago about a kid who was a cricket fanatic and wanted to play cricket all day, while his parents wanted him to put some time into studies as well. (Yeah yeah same old - been there done that)... but it was sweet, how it highlighted all the common things we all relate to. Big boys bullying little kids on the field, the coach petrifying the new-comers, parent's curfews and sneaking out through it etc.

Well the show i am talking about here is an Indian TV show where they are hunting for a genuine fast bowler! Well fast bowlers are definitely "in", specially after what we saw in the recent Ashes series :))..... this show is fathered by Channel 7 and hosted by none other than Ajay Jadeja!

Welcome Zaid!!

Ladies and gentlemen,

Please help me welcome the newest member of our blog....

/*drum-roll*/

Zaaaiid Ikhlaaaaaas!!!

As you can see here he is straight away into action with 3 blogs already!

Way to go.... !

10dulkar is back!

.... and looked like he had a point to prove with his 96-ball 93! Undoubtedly the God of Indian Cricket - when he gets going the others can only watch. The good thing about this come-back innings of his - after six months of lay-off - was his dominating attitude that he is known for. We saw all that he is famous for in this innings. Magical strokeplay, disdainful aggression, genious improvisations. His 50 came of fifty balls after which he played the anchor role and let Irfan Pathan take the attack to pieces.

Glichrist reaches form.. Finally!

Went in to the Ashes series labelled most dangerous player in the world, but nothing seemed to work out for him this summer in England. Which was one of the bigger factors of Aussie failure in England perhaps. Maybe it was the English attack (Flintoff?) which sized him up carefully or his own confidence-level. But he didnt take too long to make ammends and prove that his reputation is not too far fetched. With scores of 45 and 103 (off 79!), he has reiterated his posture among the Aussie fans. Although both the innings wasnt the most fluent we've seen but very well fought out.

Btw that century off 73 balls is a national Aussie record too! He is back! Or am I passing a judgement too quick?

PS: I wish the World XI side had won the toss this time. Would've been some good contest at least.

Sport Photgraphers r0Ck!

I have always been amazed by the sports photos; their brilliance, focus, vivid-ness, and how they catch the moment that happens in a split second!

Although this one seems to be a slightly "engineered" one, but still it exudes the thrill of the moment!

There are a lot more at Cricket.org, courtesy Getty Images.