Hey, County Cricket! I love county cricket, especially the classic County Championship test series. Weekday mornings at English cricket grounds; 22 clad in all white contesting an ancient game over four days.
I was able to visit Lord’s in March. Unfortunately, there was no cricket being played, of course, but it was lovely just to see it up close. I was even able to catch a glimpse of the pitch. I wanted to see if we were able to get in and have a simple look around, but it was not in the cards.
Well, that’s not Lord’s, but that’s pretty much what I am getting at.
Such a departure from the bacchanalian scenes associated with the Indian Premiere League. It’s almost as if they are two different sports. Which in many respects, they are. Comparing the long form version of the game to Twenty20 is like comparing a horse to a toad. Both have legs, and are alive, but that is really where the similarities end. However, both are relevant and interesting and important. And both are Cricket.
Last night I was able to watch a little bit of the 3rd ODI between Bangladesh and Australia – enough to see Watson and Ponting’s “belligerent” innings. I think they hit their 100 partnership in about 14 minutes. How did this team crash out of the World Cup just a few short weeks ago?
Also, in the international scene, the West Indies-Pakistan series starts up soon. Which is nice because it is in my time zone (or close to it), unfortunately it is not going to be carried on ESPN3 or even on willow.tv.
Finally, the IPL, like a virus scan running in the background of your computer, quietly hums along, with Deccan Chargers v Bangalore Challengers at Hyderabad starting in about 45 minutes. The tournament has yet to really kick off, which makes me think they should have taken six weeks after the world cup before starting it up. Heck, Yuvraj Singh is busy car shopping in Mumbai, how concerned could he be with the IPL?
And, well, crap, I hate to turn this into a Cricket version of Tom and Lorenzo, but you have to love Yuvraj’s outfit. Quietly fashionable and casual. A perfect combination of sport and hip – I love it. Also, love that watch.
Limited Overs 