He will only be in his mid 20’s by the time his five-year ban term comes to an end (unless of course the ban is revoked). However, time waits for no one and by the time he is allowed to come back to the international arena, Pakistan cricket may have moved well ahead. Also, he wouldn’t have played any competitive cricket all these years, and one won’t be sure whether his mental scars would have healed by then. Amid the tainted trio, Amir is likely to be the worst sufferer. This is because he is the youngest of the lot and will lose out on his prime years. Butt and Asif would anyway be close to their retirement years by the time their banned tenure comes to an end. Also, the latter was never serious about the game and had been involved in a number of transgressions earlier as well. So one wonders if he is really bothered about the shame he has brought to the nation.

Returning to Amir, another strong raison d’etre why there are slim chances of him returning to international cricket or succeeding even if he returns is because history has proved that it is a next to impossible task. Take the case of Ajay Jadeja and Nicky Boje. They were banned from the game for their misdemeanors at the height of their cricketing powers. And when they wanted to return, there were no takers. Jadeja tried his hand at domestic cricket for a while, and Boje continues to play T20 cricket, alas their international career hit a point of no return as soon as they were penalized for their involvement with unwanted elements in the game.

Of the punished lot, only Herschelle Gibbs managed to make a successful return to international cricket. In fact he did better in his second stint as a player than the pre-banned era. However, his is more a case of an exception rather than a rule. There is no guarantee that Amir can tread a similar path. It has been learnt that the Pakistan cricket Board is ready to counsel Amir if he desires to return to the big stage. However, one wonders if Amir himself would be mentally tough to go through the grind all over again.

If he indeed gets a chance again he would be very lucky. But it is also a fact that the prying eyes of fans, players and administrators all over the world would be on him. Also, it would be tougher for Amir to win back the confidence of the cricket world, for this is second time that the cricket world has been embroiled in the fixing controversy. The sport had only just managed to get over the first shocker when this spot fixing shame was revealed. As such, it would only be fair if fans want such tainted characters to stay away from the game for ever.

Some noble men like Mike Brearley have had the heart to say that Amir should be given another chance considering his raw age and prodigious talent. But here, the PCB’s role will be essentially critical. Even his Amir does not make it back to the path of fame, the PCB must at least ensure that future Amirs don’t fall along this thorny path for the betterment of both their and world cricket as a whole.

By: The Pinch Hitter

Ever since The Pinch Hitter was introduced to cricket at the age of nine, he fell in love with the gentleman’s game. While his desire to take up the sport professionally remained unfulfilled, he substituted the bat with the pen. And since 2003, he has been commenting on the sport for various magazines, websites, enjoying every moment of it. With ‘Over the top’ he hopes to continue enlightening and enlivening ‘cricket companions’ the write way.

Following their ten-wicket loss in the first Test England reassured fans the encounter was more of a ‘hiccup’ than a true disaster. Alastair Cook, in particular, promised that he, alongside Andrew Strauss, would put things right for England, something that seemed to happen in the first innings of the second Test.

Cook was not bending the truth; the opener scored 94 from 220 deliveries, as England headed towards 207 for 5 in Abu Dhabi. Jonathan Trott collected 74 runs, helping the side to 327 in response to Pakistan’s 257. However, a ghost of the first Test, the bowling of Saeed Ajmal, continued to haunt England.

The home side put on 214 to set England a very make able target, but the tourists collapsed to 72 all out, just half of the total they needed for victory. Anyone following the online cricket betting will have been shocked by their capitulation.

With 2012 less than four weeks old, it is perhaps too early to tell if England can hold onto the top spot on the ICC Test Rankings, especially given that they have played precious little Test cricket since gaining the title, last summer but it is clear problems remain.

England have attached greater importance to Test cricket, in recent months, with Graeme Swann calling for ODIs to be abolished, in a bid to improve England’s performance in longer forms of cricket.

A renewed focus on practising on flat, slow wickets, as opposed to the “traditional wickets of green grass”, to quote Michael Vaughan, could also begin to have an effect on England’s ability overseas, over the coming months. England have, in the past, been criticised for failing to react to spin-bowling on a deteriorating pitch and it is obviously something they need to work on.

With their batsmen once again failing to deal with spin, it is clear that the England side have a long way to go if they want to win series played in unfamiliar conditions and if they are unable to address this issue they may not be the number one Test side for much longer.

By: Celia Roche

Many might find Brearley’s opinion on the sensitive matter too compassionate. But, he certainly has a point. Aamir is just 18, an age at which almost all of us are prone to make our most unjustified errors. On the other hand, Butt and Asif are approaching their 30s, and should have acted more responsibly considering they were supposed to be the mature heads. Instead, not only were they party to a terrible crime, they also encouraged a budding talent to walk into the dingy lane. Yes, we all know that Amir was equally at fault, but then it has to be remembered that he would have been under tremendous pressure considering his seniors were part of the act, and the impressionable age that he is at did not help matters. Whether or not Amir should play for Pakistan in the near future remains debatable. However, it is a fact that one cannot get to the root of the problem unless the ones who have trodden down the wrong path are counselled into speaking the truth.

This is where Aamir’s case assumes greater significance. He can either be made an example and banned from cricket forever, or guided on the path of resurrection. For the latter to take shape, Amir will have to admit that he has been involved in a gross misadventure, amounting to cheating a whole nation and his noble profession. Amir pleading guilty to the charges against him during trial was only the first step towards a possible redemption. He has to believe from inside that he can change, and only then can others help. And if he genuinely wants to compensate for his sins, he should join the battle against tacky practices in the gentleman’s game.

From the cricket administration’s point of view, they too have a greater responsibility towards steering young talents in the right direction. With the tsunami of money that has flown into the game over the last decade or so, it is but obvious that corrupt practices are on the rise. After all where there is money, crime also follows, almost magnetically. Not surprisingly, rookies like Amir are easy targets for bookies and punters. As explained by Brearley during his enlightening speech, “We need to recognise that the pressure put on the young player by criminal bookies or their agents, or by their corrupt team-mates, can be appalling.” The cricket boards of all nations must warn their respective players of the unwanted elements hovering around the game or, in short, play mentors. And if they still go on and disregard the advice, harsh punishment is the only way out. Amir too admitted that had he been given proper guidance by his cricket board, his plight could have been different today.

What’s happened cannot be changed. But, there a lot of lessons to be learnt from Aamir’s case for both aspiring young guns like him, and the cricketing fraternity in general. If some unfeigned steps are taken by the ones in charge from hereon, the future might be less spotty.

By: The Pinch Hitter

Ever since The Pinch Hitter was introduced to cricket at the age of nine, he fell in love with the gentleman’s game. While his desire to take up the sport professionally remained unfulfilled, he substituted the bat with the pen. And since 2003, he has been commenting on the sport for various magazines, websites, enjoying every moment of it. With ‘Over the top’ he hopes to continue enlightening and enlivening ‘cricket companions’ the write way.

While it’s understandable that there are issues with the already fixed schedules and television rights, etc, the ICC seems to have taken the easy way out. Did they witness the crowd (or the absence of it) at Eden Gardens before arriving at the decision? Clearly, they could have been much smarter and worked around some other alternative if they were dead serious about saving Test cricket. Yes, it is dying, because when the spectators don’t make it to the grounds in India, it is the most visible signal that something is terribly wrong. And when things are this bad now, when T20 cricket has not even established itself completely, image the scenario in 2017, when T20s might become an everyday affair. With its decision, the ICC has effectively ignored the problems Test cricket is facing and that definitely cannot be in the best interest of the sport.

Even international cricketers like Graeme Smith and Kumar Sangakkara have openly expressed their disappointment, and understandably so. For any complete cricketer, Test cricket remains the ultimate challenge. Yes, this has been said time and again, but it possibly has to be nailed into the ICC’s heads so that they start dealing with the issue earnestly. It was admirable on the part of both Smith and Sangakkara, two respected men in world cricket, to come out and voice their disapproval in the open. One can only hope that the authorities in the governing body consider their views, and do a rethink on the whole issue. This is the need of the hour. After all, cricketers are the ones who actually ‘run’ the game, and when they themselves are dissatisfied with the decisions taken by the think-tank that govern cricket, it means things are becoming jeopardous.

What makes ICC’s decision even more disappointing is the clear fact that the declining state of Test cricket was in front of then. That was the whole idea behind starting a Test championship, as explained by the ICC itself. But, instead of working towards a solution, they have taken two steps backward, and concluded that things can remain as they are for the next five years, which definitely is not going to be the case. As of today, the younger generation doesn’t have any time to sit back and ‘enjoy’ Test cricket. They are more interested in on the go stuff (read T20 cricket). And five years later, with even more enhanced technology advancements they would be even less interested in what is called ‘Test’ cricket. Is the ICC expecting that, without any modifications, the five-day game will cater to the gen-next just because they previous generation was so enchanted with it? Times have changed, and it’s time the ICC changes its thinking too.

The modern generation has to be provided perks to be influenced over anything. A World Test Championship in 2013 with the top four Test teams in battle was a step in the right direction. For sure, it wouldn’t have miraculously changed the fortunes of the five-day version. But, at least the people involved in the game would have got an idea as to where Test cricket is heading, and adaptions that could be made to improve the chances of the survival of the game’s oldest interpretation. A lot needs to be done to save Test cricket from becoming a part of history in literal terms. And, the earlier this revamp starts the better. Five years is too long a time. As Graeme Smith aptly put it, “You can skip a generation in five years”. Is ICC listening?

By: The Pinch Hitter

Ever since The Pinch Hitter was introduced to cricket at the age of nine, he fell in love with the gentleman’s game. While his desire to take up the sport professionally remained unfulfilled, he substituted the bat with the pen. And since 2003, he has been commenting on the sport for various magazines, websites, enjoying every moment of it. With ‘Over the top’ he hopes to continue enlightening and enlivening ‘cricket companions’ the write way.

Politicians, after all, can play politics and not cricket. In the same vein, they cannot be expected to do much good to the game unless they are really passionate about bringing about change for the good. But, how many such politicians actually fall in such category? There have been enough examples of politicos ruining the game in the sub-continent itself. Take the case of Pakistan, who have lost out on so many excellent talents just because the players could not get along with the administration and vice-versa. Mohammad Yousuf was arguably the best batsman in the world till early last year, but hasn’t been in the team for over a year now for reasons best known to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Before him, Younis Khan was also part of the in and out game, and the latest, but least surprising development, is that Shahid Afridi has come out of retirement following the change in guard at the helm of PCB. Pakistan is already reeling under the spot fixing saga, so they would do well to at least try and get things right at the administrative level, so that another Mohammad Aamer doesn’t blame them over not being ‘educated’ over corruption in cricket.

Same is the case with Sri Lanka, where players and officials rarely get along with each other. And it doesn’t help when a player turns politician and influences the team selection. Without naming anyone, but obviously referring to Sanath Jayasuriya, Sangakkara expressed discontent at how the former great forced his way into the team using his connections to get an undeserved farewell, during his Lord’s speech. Selection of players should always be on basis of merit, which is not always the case with politicos hovering around, as clearly evident in the case of Jayasuriya.

Having a free and fair elections to pick representatives, as commendably directed by the ICC, is the first step towards cleansing the system. What’s more, it is also likely to encourage former players to step forward and try their hand at cricket administration. Until now, most have been extremely apprehensive over the same, and understandably as no famed sportsman would like to get muddled in the current scenario. Pakistan legend Zaheer Abbas, for one, has expressed his pleasure at the ICC’s decision. He even admitted looking forward to being part of the PCB in the future if things improve, as desired. And one is sure, there would be many more like him willing to take the plunge as and when ICC’s new policy comes into effect.

Simply put, sport is sport when it is confined to the back pages of a newspaper. The moment it shifts to the front pages, reporting of an impasse between players and the board or similar deadlocks, it ceases to be a game, and becomes a mud-slinging activity akin to what takes places in politics the world over. Unfortunately, this is what has been happening in a number of cricketing nations, be it Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and even West Indies. For players to perform up to potential, their minds need to be free of such excess baggage. They cannot go into a big game holding grudges against certain people and ways of the administration. Such distractions will, without doubt, affect their performances.

Of course, all things will not become hunky-dory overnight even if the cricketing boards bring in people by means of free and fair elections. Take the case of the Indian board – the BCCI. Although, it is an autonomous body there is a massive influence of politicians and power play (read Pawar play) making it prone to controversies day in and day out. Even so, a system where boards are elected the proper way as opposed to one where influential manipulators are pitchforked into the limelight for certain personal gains is the better way to go.

By: The Pinch Hitter

Ever since The Pinch Hitter was introduced to cricket at the age of nine, he fell in love with the gentleman’s game. While his desire to take up the sport professionally remained unfulfilled, he substituted the bat with the pen. And since 2003, he has been commenting on the sport for various magazines, websites, enjoying every moment of it. With ‘Over the top’ he hopes to continue enlightening and enlivening ‘cricket companions’ the write way.

The sport of Cricket has evolved over the years adding an element of heightened excitement and thrill to the game and consequently an increase in popularity and fan following. With this, there has been an increase in web sites dedicated exclusively to the game.

Moreover, the ubiquity of mobile phones and the advancements in mobile technology has not only seen the rise of mobile versions of the same websites but also the development of mobile applications offering cross platform support.

Cricket Companion has been the premier choice of cricket fans around the world when it comes to getting the cricket experience on the palm of one’s hand. What makes Cricket Companion stand out from amongst the rest of the crowd is not just its catchy and appealing as well as user friendly interface but the detailed and in-depth source of information it is for everything related to cricket.

With downloads close to 7 million globally and everyday more downloads adding on to the tally in thousands, Cricket Companion is a ‘numero uno’ in cricket related mobile applications.

Some of the features released in the app are:

• Ball by Ball coverage of all international cricket matches
• Detailed Scorecards, Player Profiles, Graphs and other Statistical information on the game
• Textual match commentary and match highlights
• Latest news, features, opinion posts and blogs from the world of cricket
• ‘Cricket Genius Competition’ native only to Cricket Companion; with the users vying for a chance to win an assortment of prizes for having the most points
• Custom set-up of Alerts/Notifications, via sound or vibration, for boundaries and wickets

The cricket world cup played in March 2011 set new records for Cricket Companion with the application registering 635,873 downloads during the 43 day tournament. The app registered 194,205,311 page views with 9,381,386 visits and 2,411,762 absolute unique visitors that broke all previous viewership records.

Seeing the immense potential and user adoption for the app, the Cricket Companion Team has launched a version of the app for the Apple Platform. The app is available at Apple’s iTunes store for free download:

When the T20 format burst onto the scenes, it was received with a thunderous welcome, much like the Hindu deity Lord Rama’s reception when he returned victorious from the land of Lanka. There was plenty of colour and fireworks on the field; and it got members of the entire household to watch with rapt attention. Suddenly this ‘Diwali’ cricket was what lit up the households in the evening; and not the K-serials! But equally suddenly, the longevity of the longest form of the game was questioned; and many feared that the birth of this new energetic and enthusiastic kid in the cricket town would cause a slow and painful death of what the romantics would call ‘real’ cricket! But a number of gripping test series recently has forced those critics to put their swords back in their scabbard.

But what has come under a greater deal of scrutiny in recent times is the ODI format. Since the T20 form provides a fast-food-like experience; and the Test matches give the incomparable dal-chawal-like experience, the spectators are finding it difficult to digest a form that is neither here nor there. As a result, fans and experts have been coming up with their own variations on how to tweak the game to make it exciting once again. There was talk about the split-innings concept being introduced; there were suggestions of cutting down the game to 40 overs; and numerous such options were doing the rounds. But there was no official word from the ICC. Until a fortnight back!

In their recent meet, the committee seemed to be in a change-making mood, and though the possible suggestions mentioned above weren’t really the center of discussion, they have ratified a number of other interesting recommendations made by the ICC Chief Executive’s Committee. Three of these changes, in my view, might affect the game quite significantly; and hence have been highlighted below:

New Balls From Each End: From now on two new balls will be used from either end, instead of a single new ball that is used currently. It is an interesting suggestion, which I like the most, as it will surely help in sprucing up the ODI game. It will surely be welcomed by the seam bowlers, since the ball will stay harder and newer longer; hence breathing more life into the game, especially in the middle overs. However it will be interesting to see how the spinners take to it; since most of the spin bowlers tend to prefer a relatively older ball, as it helps them grip it better. The impact of this change on the game should be interesting, and it will surely help even out the contest between bat and ball; and hence one I am looking forward to being implemented

Abolition of Runners: No longer will one see a batsmen running for another. There has been recent controversy surrounding the need for runners, especially when the batsman is suffering from cramps. Hence ICC has taken a strict stance and abolished the use of runners. This new rule has caused a great divide of opinion among the so-called cricketing experts. I am myself confused regarding which side of the fence I stand, but at the same time, I don’t feel it will have a major impact on the game as such once implemented.

Power-plays between the 16th & 40th over: The ICC implemented the concept of Power-plays to liven up the middle overs of the game. Though in some instances it has managed to do that, in most occasions teams stick to taking the batting power-play towards the end of the innings; and the bowling power-play right after the first 10 over restrictions. Hence to counter such situations, it has now been made compulsory to take the respective power-plays between the 16th and 40th over. There is no doubt this rule will spice up the game quite a bit, but I don’t like the idea of tinkering the current rule to such an extent.

There is no doubt the ODI format needs some tinkering to ensure the stands aren’t as empty as they have been in the recent past. But at the same time, making numerous and drastic changes might confuse the fans even more, and as a result take them away from the game, instead of drawing them in. Too much spice is never good for health! The umpteen number of rule changes in F1 last year is a case in point. The sport surely lost a keen viewer in me, and I can only imagine how many more there would’ve been on that list. As a cricket fanatic, I hope the same doesn’t happen to this sport I love!

By Rohan Rao

“The writer is a freelance cricket columnist who takes guard on leg stump! Currently based in the UK, he is pursuing his undergraduate degree in Management Studies at the University of Nottingham. Having captained his school team, represented clubs in Delhi & Shanghai, and currently playing for his University, Rohan pretty much breathes, eats and sleeps cricket! A die-hard enthusiast, Rohan finds his inner peace when ripping his leg-spinners past the batsman, apart from when seeing, his God, Sachin Tendulkar bat!”

So for those of you who for some out of this world reason do not know about Lagaan – like all good bloggers let me reproduce(and of course edit to my liking) some Wikipedia text to let you in on what it’s all about:

Lagaan is a sports-themed Indian Bollywood set in the Victorian period of the India’s colonial British Rule and revolves around the peasants from a barren village who are oppressed by high taxes imposed by their rulers. They attempt to persuade the British officers to reduce the taxes because of poor agricultural produce. Instead, a wager is offered. If their village team beats a British team in a game of cricket, their taxes for three years would be cancelled. After accepting this wager, the villagers face the arduous task of learning an alien game and playing for a result that will change their village’s destiny.

So I guess by now you would have understood what happened in the movie. That’s how predictable this movie is. In case you are from the ‘dumb’ genre you can always Google it or I can give you a hint (Oh Come On! You should have skipped this bracket …. Obviously the local team beat the British officers in a closely contested game with batting heroics from the lead actor.)

The movies isn’t based on a true story, however, the theme of an ending ‘British Raj’ getting frustrated at the hand of a ‘united Indian effort’ is something one can actually relate to the recent times. The ‘British Raj’ here being the dominance of British at the international cricket management body and their country cricket ecosystem and the ‘united Indian effort’ being India’s heroics producing world beating performance, great cricketing legends on the field and bringing success like IPL to the world cricket off the field. A recent display of this frustration was visible in a Tony Greig interview. Tony, who is eyeing a spot in the ICC (and I have no idea how he is going to manage that), came out all guns blazing against India and their world dominance. In case you missed the action, here is what he said:

“Number one, we have got to try and get the ICC right,” Greig said. “We have a situation at the moment where the ICC is dominated by India”.

“They tell Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and one or two other countries what to do and they always get the vote”. “It’s very hard, but somehow we have got to change things at that level”.

“We are playing too much cricket. I would be getting all the countries from the world and saying hey listen, what is this nonsense of giving Indian domestic cricket an open window?

“To give the IPL (Indian Premier League) an open window, and reduce by two months the time available for cricketers to play around the world, in the current environment is just ridiculous”.

“We have got to look very, very closely and make sure we do not destroy the cornerstone of the game which is Test cricket”. “It is laughable that (Chris) Gayle and (Kieron) Pollard are playing in the IPL when the West Indies are playing Pakistan – that is just ridiculous”.

I guess I would be looking forward to Greig coming in as the ICC chief (I believe that’s the position he is eying). We would surely be in for some action between the ‘Raj’ and …. ‘you know whom’. Surely a good script for Lagaan 2………

“The writer has been hired to write for this blog despite having no previous credentials in blogging. However he is stubborn enough to have pledged that he will keep writing even if no one reads his blog posts – as long as he keeps getting his salary”.

There are many interesting aspects of this particular system and there must have been a detailed discussion regarding this within the ICC. They must have discussed with the umpiring staff since the umpires are the ones who might have to overturn their decision. It still is a bit humiliating if the umpire makes a wrong decision and then has to overturn it. However, it saves the umpire from the guilt of giving someone out wrongly. So I would guess umpires wouldn’t have a problem with it. In fact I believe if I would have been an umpire I would have wanted more use of technology especially in case of LBW decisions. However the critics of technology do have a point. It takes away the human angle from the game.

Another aspect to consider is from the batsman’s point of view. I believe the system helps the batsmen the most since they are the ones who know if they have been given out wrongly. There are generally two modes of dismissals that they umpires find difficult to judge – the LBW and the bat-pad catch. In both the cases the batsmen are in a better position to tell whether it’s out or not as compared to the umpire. So if they have the review appeal available to them, it does give them to overturn a decision wrongly made by the umpires. Even in the case of LBW, generally the batsman knows 80% of the time if he is in front and also has a fair idea of the height of the delivery. Ideally a batsman calling for a review should be right 95% of the time. One does feel that if reviews are available at the end of the innings, these might be called in case of LBW decisions just to take a chance. But with only 3 unsuccessful challenges available, this can’t happen for every decision.

The third aspect to consider is from a bowler’s point of view. Generally bowlers are optimistic about LBWs and Bat-Pads and this optimism can lead to wasting the review challenge. Generally I believe bowlers would lose more challenges than batsmen. Again they might be careful in the early stages of a match but if reviews are available, they are more likely to be taken towards the end of the match and this is something that makes the end more interesting.