Are openers the most articulate among cricketers? Among the host of radio and television commentators for the current series, most of them are either openers or one-time openers.
Are openers the most articulate among cricketers? Well, this could be a good fodder for research. Among the host of radio and television commentators for the current series, most of them are either openers or one-time openers. Sunil Gavaskar, arguably the best opener India ever had (sorry Viru!), leads the line-up.
He is joined by Ravi Shastri and Sourav Ganguly, both accomplished openers in ODIs. Leading the English side is Geoffrey Boycott, who like Gavaskar, was one of the best openers to have played the game. And then there are former star openers like Alec Stewart, Michael Vaughan and Mike Atherton. Nick Knight, once a specialist ODI opener, is seen with the mike here. Joining them are former England skippers Ian Botham and Nasser Hussain.
At some stage in their careers, both opened in the ODIs. A common thread also joins the other commentators — Wasim Akram, Jonathan Agnew, Michael Holding and Gladstone Small. All of them were opening bowlers. Is there a case of the gift of the gab coming naturally to the ‘openers’?
Dhoni faces ban
Mahendra Singh Dhoni may realise to his peril that bowling in the first innings could lead to a ban in the next Test in Trent Bridge. The skipper could be found guilty of slow over rate in the ongoing Test. Each team, is required to complete 15 overs per hour and India’s current over rate is hovering around 13.
A lot of time was wasted as Dhoni had to change the wicketkeeping gears with Rahul Dravid. He bowled eight overs in two spells in England’s first innings. After its recent meeting in Hong Kong, the ICC has asked the match referees to strictly implement the over rate rule and reduced the number of offences that will attract a mandatory one-match ban from three to two offences in one calendar year.
India were found slow in over rate in the Barbados Test against West Indies last month. The match referee for the Test is Ranjan Madugalle.
U-turn on DRS?
The talk at Lord’s is India will do a U-turn on the Umpires Decision Review System (DRS). Paul Hawkins, the inventor of Hawk-eye ball-tracking system, that is crucial for the lbw decision, has reportedly spent time with Sachin Tendulkar explaining the reliability of the technology.
Now, he claims Tendulkar has been convinced about the tracking. He even says that the batting maestro has agreed to convince the BCCI about it. One will know soon. The system is being used for the current series but not for the lbw decisions.
Praveen Kumar framed
After his fifer on Saturday, Praveen Kumar will now have his picture on the walls of the Lord’s dressing room. The hallowed venue has a tradition to showcase photographs of players who score a century or take more than five wickets. For a newbie in Test cricket, Kumar has done something which illustrious Test cricketers Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne haven’t succeeded at. With 800 Test wickets, Murali still doesn’t have his picture in the Lord’s dressing room.
For the record, Graham Gooch, the current England batting coach, has six centuries at this venue and is the highest run-getter at Lord’s. Dilip Vengsarkar has scored three tons and has the distinction of being the only player outside England to have scored three centuries on this ground.
Guard of Lord’s
Every cricket stadium has its own characteristics which gives them a unique identity. In Lord’s, Old Father Time weather vane is the one that stands out. Herbert Becker, architect of Lord’s Grand stand, had gifted this vane to Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1926. The 5ft 4in frame is shaped as a man who is putting bails on stumps.
The arrow on it shows the direction of the wind. The only destruction which took place at Lord’s during Second World War was the falling of this weather vane. After the war ended, the weather vane was once again placed atop at Grand stand. In fact, in 1992, the hand of weather vane was damaged after a lightning struck on it. It was then finally relocated at Mound stand instead of Grand stand.
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