The World in 2012
Disappointment for cricket's best batsman
Pray patience for Tendulkar's missing ton
Dec 29th 2011, 20:15 by J.A.
BAD news from Melbourne for India’s fanatical cricket fans this morning: Australia had just beaten India in the first of their four-match test series by a commanding 122 runs. Cassandra admires the way that Australia are now showing signs of recovering their previous greatness (definitively lost last year when they lost the test series to England), but nonetheless I feel rather saddened by the Melbourne result. The reason is that I, and I suspect every lover of cricket, would love to have seen India’s Sachin Tendulkar hit a record 100th international century (just to confuse Americans and others who have no understanding of the world’s finest sport, a century is a hundred runs…). Instead, despite being the top scorer in both Indian innings, he remains stuck on 99.
Will the elusive 100th occur in 2012, perhaps as early as the second test, beginning in Sydney on January 3rd? I sincerely hope so, since the suspense risks becoming unbearable (Mr Tendulkar was widely expected to pass his milestone in England last summer—but he failed, despite some valiant efforts as part of an underperforming team).
There are several reasons we cricket-lovers all wish ”the little master” well. He is polite and well-behaved (in contrast to many other sporting stars); he has been a top player since making a century on his first-class debut 23 years ago at the age of 15; and he is quite simply a joy to watch. In short, he is undoubtedly the best batsman the world has seen since Australia’s Don Bradman (who once said that Tendulkar reminded him of himself).
There is also one other impulse to praise Mr Tendulkar: in an age where giants tend to dominate most sports, the little master stands a mere 5ft 5in (1.65m). Interestingly, Bradman was a small man, as were India’s Sunil Gavaskar and the great West Indian batsman Brian Lara. Perhaps their small stature has been an advantage: when a fast bowler hurls a ball, aimed to hurt, at over 90 miles an hour, a tall batsman is likely to be hit in the face. Geniuses such as Messrs Tendulkar and Gavaskar simply hook the ball to the boundary.
This blog accompanies The World in 2012, our almanac of predictions for the year ahead. The blog is named after the mythological Cassandra, who was cursed by Apollo to make prophecies that were accurate, but disbelieved.
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"just to confuse Americans and others who have no understanding of the world’s finest sport, a century is a hundred runs"
the world's finest sport.....TE got that right....u can only understand it if u have played it yourself
There is no doubt Tendulkar is the God of cricket. The biggest reason for this is the sheer delight he gives us when he plays.
The criticism that he has not been much a match winner - is first of all wrong. He won us many matches (including one world cup). I am sure on this front there is no difference between him and Bradman.
As a batsman, a recent study by an economist, Dr Nicholas Rohde, from Griffith University rated him ahead of Bradman. He used economic concepts to come up with a new ranking system to compare players across time. The two concepts he used - Supernormal profit, refers to the extra runs a player scores that would not be scored in his absence, while opportunity cost means the expected batting average of the next-best player, the one who would replace him if he fell out of form.
According to Rohde, because Tendulkar has consistently outscored his potential replacement across more innings, he is actually more valuable, in aggregate, than Bradman.
Lastly, there may have been some match winners like Boycott or Alan Border or Graham Gooch or Amarnath, but they were as interesting as a documentary to watch. Watching Sachin in his full glory is like watching a masala James Bond movie - you just can't take your eyes off.
I realise that this publication bows to no one in it's desire to suck up to the gigantic Indian market but it is rather remiss of you to neglect Gavaskar's role in the so-called "monkeygate " affair during India's last Australian tour.
This concerned an Indian player calling an Australian player with some African heritage a " monkey " - apparently a common derogatory term for the dark skinned in India .
Gavaskar's selective recall and changing story to protect his compatriot lowered his estimation in the eyes of many
I would love to see winning runs from his bat...which have been very few all these years..the fact is he is never around when team is chasing a target in second inings. 100th ton has no meaning when you lose five on a trot to top teams. By the way Gavaskar and Tendulkar never hook.
Cassandra,
The hook shot has not much to do with the height, there is no paucity of tall players who executed the hook shot perfectly. In fact, Gavaskar did not use it as much as he should have.
Irrespective of the height, the shot can be executed by a batsman of superb eye-hand coordination.
The advantage that short batsmen have (over their tall counterparts with similar batting skills) is in the additional few milliseconds they get before the ball reaches a zone where they can hit it.
This article is in such a contrast to all the heated and nasty comments on another article: "The Company that ruled the waves" (all the horrible things and the damage that The East India Company and British Colonialism did to India stuff). So perhaps we can still "blame" Tendulkar's "missing ton" this year to the events that happened in India five centuries ago! lol
As an Indian, and ergo a diehard Cricket fan, I too am on tenterhooks as to when the Little Master will reach that 100th ton. For people who don't understand or care about Cricket, I understand it may not seem that important, but for those of us who love the sport and understand its many intricacies, what Tendulkar is on the verge of achieving is nothing short of monumental. I wish him all the best of luck and hope he kicks off 2012 with a historical sporting achievement.
I concur. What a pity about the MCG middle order collapse from India's much vaunted batting lineup, yesterday.
Mr Tendulkar has inspired a generation of young prodigious cricketers, unifying the love for the sport from St John, Antigua to Christchurch, NZ.
In many ways, Cricket stands above all other sports for its integrity, honour, and endurance; all qualities that would not go amiss on the little master!
While I can agree with everything the article says about the great man and more, please none of this stuff about the "integrity and honour" of international cricket. That was lost long ago.
Cricket stands above all other sports for its integrity, honour...
Ahh yes...
So would that include the Indian bookmaker paying Cronje to throw Test matches?
...and the Australians Shane Warne and Mark Waugh in the pay of yet again another Indian bookie?
...or of course the latest spot-fixing scandal with 3 Pakistani international players sentenced to prison?
Not to mention esteemed Mr Tendulkar himself being suspended for ball tampering during a Test match!
Integrity and honour indeed...
I've often wondered about the obviously rampant cheating in international cricket...Perhaps the players do it so as to be banned thus giving them a legitimate reason to never have to play such a mind-numbingly boring game ever again.
:)
To each his own.
What you find mind-numbingly boring might not be so to countless others. While there is no refuting the fact that integrity and honour have indeed been trifled with by a few, the majority continues to play the game as it was and is meant to be played.
Players would do such a thing to get banned, you say? Ha! Just read the transcript of Rahul Dravid's Bradman Speech. For every person who may have compromised his values there are numerous others who have stood by them even at the risk of losing the game and, with it, their place in the team.
If anything, Cricket has always been a team sport. If you take a fifer, or an outstanding slip catch, or make a century, you always do it for the team. Whether it is in a village friendly, club match, or a test, those values I have mentioned come true.
Those instances LaContra talks of, whether proven or not, strikes right at the heart of anyone who follows or plays Cricket. And slowly and steadily the cricketing fraternity recovers if by anything for its love of the game.
You may find it hard to appreciate these romanticised notions but their is nothing more pleasurable then watching and playing Cricket.
Sure, each to his own but lets not gild the lily here
"fact that integrity and honour have indeed been trifled with by a few"......?
We aren't talking some minor fringe players who have tried to earn a few illicit dollars on the side. These aren't some second string, second rate journeymen cricketers or washed up has beens...
No. Cricket, as a truly international game, is almost alone in the depth and breadth of its cheating and corruption.
Mark Waugh AM: One of Australia's greatest Test batsmen Match Fixing & Illegal Betting .
Shane Warne: Arguably the greatest spin bowler ever Match Fixing & Illegal Betting
Sachin Tendulkar: Greatest run and century scorer ever Ball Tampering
Hansie Cronje: Captain of the South African national team Match Fixing & Betting
Waqar Younis: Pakistan's greatest fast bowler & youngest ever Test captain Ball Tampering
Mike Atherton OBE: Captain of the England Ball Tampering
There are plenty of other examples but these men are giants of the game not anonymous reserve grade players.....if the top flight players are proven cheats then what to expect of the average journeyman cricketer?
Dont try bringing cricket down to the level of everything else with comments like this. Dhruv / Cake Walker is correct. There have been bad apple incidents but generally it is a sport of integrity with plenty of respect around.
If you consider how corrupt everything on the sub continent is you find cricket refreshingly less corrupt. Just like the British MP expense scandal showed the world how un corrupt Britain is (by making an investigation out of an issue considered a privilege in most other countries) so does cricket root out its corruption where it is found and in doing so retains the integrity of this noble sport.
You're having a laff...ain't ya?
Players of this calibre cheating and fixing matches is the equivalent of Tiger Woods throwing the lead in a major tournament for a bookie to fix the game. Tom Brady purposely throwing an interception to lose a NFL play off game. Roger Federer tampering with a ball at Wimbledon after his service set to disadvantage his opponent. Or maybe Lewis Hamilton getting paid to run into Sebastian Vettel to stop him winning a race.
You guys are deluded in your defence of cheating and corruption in the game of Cricket....
Can you imagine elite footballers like Ronaldhino or Lionel Messi, tennis greats like Rafael Nadal, golfing prodigies like Rory McIlroy, rugby icons like Johnny Wilkinson,or NFL phenomena such as Aaron Rodgers.....actually outright cheating? Throwing games and fixing matches for bookmakers? Illegally betting on the outcomes of their own games?
You can blindly defend cricket all you like...I have more respect for the game than any of you lot, that's why I can point to the parlous state of the elite game today.
Oh and Omicron states that we should be thankful that cricket is in a comparatively less corrupt state than most things on the sub continent?...
(i)That is setting the threshold for acceptance of corruption very low
(ii)Cheaters like Shane Warne, Steve Waugh, Hansie Cronjie, Mike Atherton, Marcus Trescothik, Stuart Broad, and James Anderson are hardly indicative of cheating issues pursuant only to the sub-continent.
These are examples of a pervasive rot which infects international cricket all the way to the very highest professional levels and call yourself cricket fans? You should all be ashamed of yourselves for making lame excuses in its defence.
Their is no denying that Cricket compared to other sports has always been vulnerable to the quick buck. After all in the history of Cricket gambling has played a major part in its development.
Rich patrons in the 17th-18th century had their own ''select XIs'' of professionals. Newspapers used to report the amount that was bet on certain games rather than the result!
I agree completely it is a utter travesty that players at the top level at some point in their careers turn to foul play, condoned for all too long.
Yet in the long view of things, Cricket is more a force for good and with its somewhat pedantic, meticulous mores provides comfort to the many.
Cricket has changed our cultural norms: before the domination by the Windies many still felt their was a racial hierarchy; our political environment: boycotting South Africa was a substantial blow for the legitimacy of the Apartheid regime; our technological perceptions of sport: the third umpire, hawkeye, Sniko, and so forth are all innovations in the use of technology in sport.
And so despite the moral ambivalence of Cricket, those who love the game find its positive qualities to be all too overwhelming.
Additionally in this years Bradman oration Rahul Dravid was right in suggesting we should use lie-detectors to suss out the cheats.
Huh.
I said the same thing and I grew up with the damn game.
As George Bernard Shaw said:
The English are not a spiritual people so cricket was invented to give them some idea of eternity.