Afghanistan cricket is something we should be celebrating, says Krish Sripada with Cricket World. Indeed. “The concoction in which the seeds of Afghan cricket were first sown almost touches the edges of a fantasy tale, a David-Goliath struggle that a decade ago was not real enough even for dreams. … Yet, the phenomenal upward curve that Afghans have conjured in the world of cricket, culminating in their qualifying for 2015’s ODI World Cup down under, already deserves a celebration, an exultation of spirit over limits, of will over debacles. … From the World Cricket League Division Five to playing for what is probably cricket’s greatest prize, in six years, the Afghanistan team and its coach Kabir Khan deserve a trophy of their own already.”
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USACA continues to be nothing but one giant hot mess. Peter Della Penna has all the news that’s fit to print.
(Plug: I will have a blog up about the USACA Constitution cluster later today.)
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Kuwait will be the first Arab nation to compete in the Asian Games cricket tournament. From the Arab Times: “The Kuwait national cricket team under the able president ship of Sheikh Dari Fahed Al Ahmad Al Sabah comprising of only Kuwaiti Nationals will have the distinction of being the first Arab country ever to participate in the forthcoming Asian games at Incheon, South Korea during the month of September 2014. Kuwait Cricket, the apex body of controlling cricket in Kuwait is under the auspicious of Kuwait Olympic Committee and has been an associate member of International Cricket Council (ICC) since 2005 and a full member of Asian Cricket Council (ACC). ”
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A lovely little article from Richard Heller and the News on Sunday on how cricket inspires great writing, both fiction and non-fiction alike: “Everywhere I went in Pakistan, I was aware that people feel a huge sense of pride in their country. This pride expresses itself through the cricket team, whose white clothing against a green field neatly matches the colours of the national flag. Cricket is the game of the villages, it is the game of the towns. It is the game of the old, it is the game of the young, the rich and the poor… It is part of Pakistan’s history and also its future. It is magical and marvelous. Nothing else expresses half so well the singularity, the genius, the occasional madness of the people of Pakistan, and their contribution to the world sporting community.”
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Unfortunately for the Pakistani Women, they just got whipped 4-0 by the Australians. (via ABC.net)
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Raf Nicholson does a phenomenal job covering the England Women. In her latest piece for Cricinfo, she goes after the format of their series with India: “This time last year, I was writing a piece for the Cordon about the massive success of the multi-format women’s Ashes series. I wish I could now be writing the same piece about the series against India. … I can’t. … England Women’s schedule against India Women this summer has consisted of one Test and three ODIs. But the Test was standalone, and the three ODIs were a series in themselves. England will now go on and play three T20s next week – but against South Africa, not India. … Why are India not staying on to play those three T20s instead? Why can we not celebrate another multi-format-points summer of international cricket? It all makes very little sense.”
Note that the England Women vs. South Africa Women T20s are live on ESPN3.com in the United States. England won the first match by nine wickets (via SuperSport.)
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The ECB have announced their squad for the Blind Cricket World Cup in South Africa this November. (via Boxscore.) I was not familiar with blind cricket. From Wikipedia: “In terms of playing equipment, the major adaptation is the ball, which is significantly larger than a standard cricket ball and filled with ball bearings. The size allows partially sighted players to see the ball and the contents allow blind players to hear it. The wicket (stumps) is also larger, to allow partially sighted players to see and blind players to touch it in order to correctly orient themselves when batting or bowling.” That, my friends, is the power of this game.
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Finally, today, my Google alert brought me this creepy story about a “nightmarish” and cannibalistic cricket invading the United States. (via Jennifer Viegas at the Discovery Channel).
Limited Overs 