Most of you have probably seen the latest “article” from BuzzFeed: Why The USA Needs To Give In And Embrace Cricket.

A synopsis of their reasons:

1. The games aren’t as long as most think
2. The players don’t always wear white – in fact sometimes they wear PINK
3. It’s similar enough to baseball
4. It’s hard
5. Players have to pay attention or they might get hit in the face (with the ball)
6. There’s trash talk
7. The fielding positions have funny names
8. Fans dress fashionably but also sometimes they wear costumes
9. There is beer
10. Sometimes it rains (?)
11. Hardly any countries play it so America could dominate (Paging, Peter Della Penna. Peter Della Penna to the front desk.)
12. Alastair Cook is super hot
13. Lily Allen likes cricket
14. Benedict Cumberbatch likes cricket
15. The princes like cricket
16. Doctor Who likes cricket
17. And you can play it whilst eating a sandwich

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Yes, I know, it’s all meant tongue firmly in cheek, but some of those reasons are quite valid, and my list of reasons why Americans would love cricket, while shorter, was at least kind of similar:

1. The Two Chucks (what happened to those guys anyway?)
2. The blogging community
3. Lasith Malinga
4. Twenty20s
5. There’s beer
6. The fancy dress

Of course, with the exception of number three, those are all things that happen off the pitch, but here is an open letter to American Sports Fans explaining what they are missing out on by ignoring what’s happening on the pitch:

The game lasted five days. There were over 2,700 balls delivered. And yet somehow, despite all logic to the contrary, the game was not decided until the final ball was delivered…

It’s a great game, America.

Trust me. Trust BuzzFeed.

It’s time.

Join us.

Those of you that have been reading this blog for a while know that I first started following cricket during the 2007 World Cup. Every time I tell a dedicated cricket follower that fact, they respond with something along the lines of “and you didn’t run screaming back to baseball!?”

And, no, I didn’t.

In fact, I loved every second of it.

That probably had something to do with the fact that I didn’t know any better.

But I also think it has something to with the format itself.

As I mentioned briefly in a post from a couple days ago, the One Day International was my first format and it is how I learned the game.

I fell in love with cricket because of the ODI.

This morning as I was watching the overs tick over via the ball by ball on Cricinfo, I was reminded of those first few glorious mornings during the 2007 World Cup. It was a grand feeling then, and it was wonderful to be reminded of it again this morning. (By contrast, the 2011 World Cup did not make sense, timezone wise, which is why the memories did not come flooding back then.)

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But my feelings for the ODI are not simply nostalgia based, I really do think it is a phenomenal sporting contest. The strategies are endless and interesting: be aggressive but not too aggressive; play defensively but also offensively; and don’t forget about that net run rate.

It takes all day to get a winner, from late morning until late afternoon; and so it is a real test of endurance and stamina.

The problem, however, is that cricket is far too reliant on the format to fill out the schedule during longer tours.

Those endless 18 match tri-series are truly interminable, for instance – to the point where the matches lose all of their color, all of their character, all of their magic.

I love ODI cricket during a tournament, even if it is just the Champions Trophy (more on that in a second) but I find the format terribly boring outside of tournaments.

My recommendation, based on a Tweet from earlier today: play 50 over cricket at the domestic level, but only play it at the international level during the World Cup.

The obvious problem there is that players will not be conditioned to the format at the highest level and the games might not therefore be as entertaining, but I don’t think that would be the case.

Or maybe, during tours, just play one ODI and one T20 and five Tests.

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Someone else Tweeted, and I forget who, about how the Champions Trophy, while a bit of a joke in cricketing circles, mostly for how the ICC pimps it as the greatest thing since sliced bread, really is the perfect format for an ODI tournament. The eight best teams in the world, and it’s over in two and a half weeks.

And, I don’t know, I think I agree with that.

Of course, the Twitterer went on to mention that the ICC has indefinitely cancelled future Champions Trophies, which of course is par for the course: cancelling the one thing they are doing right.

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A bit of a rambling post, but here’s the gist: this should be a fun tournament; especially if today’s match was any indication of future play.

See everyone on Twitter.

The Champions Trophy Starts tomorrow and will be carried live here in the states over on ESPN3. I must admit, I am kind of excited.

If you missed it on Twitter, here is a link to ESPN3’s official press release regarding their coverage. You can also go check out my cricket viewing guide for the full schedule.

My prediction is as follows:

#ct13 prediction: NZ and ENG advance from group A, PAK and SA advance from group B. Then SA over NZ in the final. #youhearditherefirst

— Matt Becker (@limitedovers) June 3, 2013

And for a proper preview, I turn the site over to occasional guest writer, JP Daughtery:

ICC Champions Trophy Preview 2013

Group A

England

The hosts of the tournament, usually good in their home conditions but they just lost a home series to New Zealand.

Captain: Alastair Cook
Wicketkeeper: Jos Buttler/Jonny Bairstow
Best batsman: Alastair Cook; England’s captain has had a prolific last couple of years, especially in Test cricket, where he recently became England’s all-time leading century-maker. Can he transfer that form into the 50-over game?
Best bowler: James Anderson; One of the best classical swing bowlers in the world. Uses his great gift of being able to swing the ball late to pick up early wickets with the new ball.
X-Factor: Eoin Morgan; Morgan’s outrageously inventive stroke play has earned him a reputation as one of the best finishers in world cricket. Is possibly the only player in world cricket to play more ‘reverse’ shots than conventional shots.

Australia

Always one of the favorites, even though they are in a rebuilding phase and just got bowled out for 65.

Captain: Michael Clarke
Wicketkeeper: Matthew Wade
Best batsman: Michael Clarke; The Australian captain had the year of his life last year, scoring two double centuries against South Africa. Can he lead the Aussies to Champions Trophy 3-peat?
Best bowler: Mitchell Starc; The young Starc has wowed people the world over with his pace and bounce, and his ability to not be erratic like that other Mitchell. Expect the English conditions to be to his liking.
X-Factor: David Warner; This dynamite opener can give Australia a fast start, although he has not been in the best of form lately. Can he deliver when Australia needs him most?

Sri Lanka

A young and exciting team, bolstered with some veterans who are legends of the game.

Captain: Angelo Mathews
Wicketkeeper: Kumar Sangakkara
Best batsman: Mahela Jayawardene; A classical batsmen, uses more of placement than power in his shots. One of the few players to get 10,000 runs in both Tests and ODIs.
Best bowler: Lasith Malinga; ‘The Slinga’ had a relatively quiet IPL season until the final, when he demolished the Chennai top order. Expect him to be confident after that performance.
X-Factor: Dinesh Chandimal; This exciting young prospect is one of the new stars of the Sri Lankan batting order. He will be expected to play a big role, probably batting at number 3.

New Zealand

On a hot streak entering this Champions Trophy, having just beaten England in an ODI series.

Captain: Brendon McCullum
Wicketkeeper: Luke Ronchi
Best batsman: Martin Guptill; One of New Zealand’s brightest talents, he just made a scintillating match-winning 189 against England.
Best bowler: Tim Southee; One of the most underrated bowlers in world cricket, expect him to be near the top of the wickets chart in helpful English conditions.
X-Factor: Brendon McCullum; One of the most dangerous batsmen in world cricket, especially towards the end. Has terrific six-hitting ability.

Group B

South Africa

The favorites for the tournament, can they finally win a major trophy?

Captain/Wicketkeeper: AB de Villiers
Best batsman: Hashim Amla; Possibly the best batsman in world cricket at the moment. Uses exceptional touch in order to find the gaps and plays with an elegance matched only by a late 90s-early 2000s Tendulkar or Laxman.
Best bowler: Dale Steyn*; The best fast bowler in world cricket is ably supported by his partner in crime, Morné Morkel. Uses overwhelming speed and late swing to defeat batsmen.
X-Factor: David Miller; Stole the show in the IPL with some eye-catching displays of power, including a 38-ball 101.

*Editor’s noted: story was filed before Steyn’s injury was reported.

India

It is unknown how the world’s most supported team will fare after news of the spot-fixing scandal. Based in the evidence from the warm-up games, they will go far.

Captain/Wicketkeeper: MS Dhoni
Best batsman: MS Dhoni; Dhoni is quickly becoming the best ODI finisher of all-time, and with good reason. He uses his supple wrists to create incredible bat speed to hit sixes. Example: 2011 World Cup Final, over 48.2.
Best bowler: Umesh Yadav; Umesh is back in international cricket after recovering from a stress fracture in his back. Uses his good pace and seam movement to get wickets.
X-Factor: Dinesh Karthik; Karthik was Mumbai’s best batsmen during the IPL and has shown great form in the warm-up matches. Expect him to have a great tournament.

Pakistan

The most unpredictable team in world cricket. One day they tie Ireland, the next they beat South Africa. You never know quite what you’re going to get.

Captain: Misbah-ul-Haq
Wicketkeeper: Kamran Akmal
Best batsman: Mohammad Hafeez; Hafeez has been Pakistan’s most consistent performer over the past few years. Expect him to be the anchor against the two new balls.
Best bowler: Saeed Ajmal; The best spinner in world cricket, he possesses both a great off spinner and a well-disguised doosra.
X-Factor: Mohammad Irfan; The 7-foot-1 Irfan is a tough customer to handle as he gets lots of bounce. Expect him to be a handful for opposition openers.

West Indies

The winners of the most recent ICC tournament, the 2012 World T20, they are less comfortable on the ODI stage.

Captain: Dwayne Bravo
Wicketkeeper: Denesh Ramdin
Best batsman: Chris Gayle; The six-hitting behemoth was at his best in the IPL. Can he be a bit more patient in a longer format?
Best bowler: Sunil Narine; On his first visit to England, Narine struggled. He has come back a better bowler than he was and expect him to have success.
X-Factor: Kieron Pollard; This hard-hitting death-over specialist proved his worth in the IPL final, smashing 60 off 32 deliveries. He will hope to replicate that performance and go on to make more runs.

Predictions:

Group A:

1. New Zealand
2. Sri Lanka
3. Australia
4. England

Group B:

1. South Africa
2. India
3. West Indies
4. Pakistan

Semi-finals:

India over New Zealand
South Africa over Sri Lanka

Final:

India over SA.

You read right. Call me crazy, but remember, you heard it here first.

1. Despite continuing to give the impression that I think Test cricket is the only format worth a damn, I have a real soft spot for the One Day International. It was my first format; it is how I learned the game.

2. And despite continuing to say that I have no allegiance to any particular cricketing nation, I have had always had a secret sports crush on New Zealand’s cricket team.

And because of these two skeletons in my closet, New Zealand’s ODI series win over England, in England, was just simply a joy to watch happen. And now with the Champions Trophy set to start on Thursday, they are going to go into that tournament on a real high, and I think with a definite chance of reaching the knockout stage.

I think this because they didn’t just beat the fourth best ODI team in the world, they positively routed the fourth best ODI team in the world. A team that has not lost an ODI series at home since 2009.

New Zealand’s run rate was a run an over better than England’s and they only lost three wickets in 50 overs, while England was bowled out in just 44 overs.

It was a shellacking.

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Some might say that the win at Southampton and to a lesser extent the win at Lord’s, were all down to the blistering performances of Martin Guptill. Those same people will say it is dangerous to rely on one man in a team sport – and I will agree with those people. However, the Champions Trophy is not a season – it’s two and a half weeks and at most five matches. If Guptill can stay hot, and if the Kiwi attack can continue to hold teams to 250 or less, then that’s enough to win in a short tournament such as the Champions Trophy.

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The West Indies winning the T20 World Championship was a really big deal, and New Zealand winning the Champions Trophy, while it would not be as sexy, would be equally a big deal. World cricket desperately needs a strong bottom half of the table.

But even if they lose all three matches in the group stage, their series win over England is still a massive accomplishment – and really great for cricket.

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New Zealand’s first Champions Trophy match is Sunday against Sri Lanka in Wales. A winnable match, but not an easy one. First ball is at 04:30am Minneapolis time, which I think is around ten-thirty in the evening in Wellington. Not exactly prime viewing hours, but here’s hoping some of my pals on Twitter from New Zealand are up and watching at least part of it.

I bring up the time zone issue because I love how BIG the sport of cricket is. A team from an island in the Southwest Pacific Ocean and a team from an island in the Indian Ocean, playing each on an island in the North Atlantic.

Sri Lanka: 7,700 miles from home. New Zealand: 11,000 miles from home. First ball is 10:30am local time, 04:30am in Minneapolis, 10:30pm in Wellington, three in the afternoon in Colombo…

It’s a global game.

And while it is not the biggest trophy in cricket by any means, I will still watch. Because I like being a part of such a global undertaking…and because I secretly love the ODI; and because I secretly love New Zealand.

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All the people who watched the IPL final are the reason why fixing will never go away. You’re all complicit.

— Devanshu (@dbackwardpoint) May 26, 2013

It is a shockingly aggressive accusation of everyone, including myself, that was watching the IPL final on Sunday. And it has taken me a couple of days to figure how exactly I feel about it.

On the one hand, it was kind of a buzz kill. Not in a bad way, mind you, because when else should one make such a statement? Before the match when no one is paying attention? After the match when everyone has stopped caring? No: you make it during the final itself, when Twitter is crawling with IPL fans. To do it any other time would be cowardly.

But it did make me feel like a bit of a chump.

Which brings me to my other hand: he was right.

Cricket is beyond corrupt, and spot fixing is a symptom of a march larger disease, but either way: we as fans are part of the problem. Every time we tune into a match, purchase a ticket, or buy an online subscription we are telling the powers that be that we are totally happy with, as Devanshu put it later, “business as usual.”

And you will notice I did not single out the IPL either. There have been spot fixing convictions in Test cricket and County Cricket. As I have mentioned in previous posts, singling out the IPL solves nothing. This is cricket’s problem, not the IPL’s problem.

So what to do then?

Stop watching?

That’s one course of action. Stop paying for anything cricket related. Turn off the computer and go outside. Attack the powers that be where it counts: their pocketbooks. And if enough people do that, the sport will (hopefully) take notice and make attempts to heal itself – or if not: die.

But that is a course of action that most of us, myself included, are simply unwilling to take, because we cannot pick and choose and say “I will watch the Ashes but I am going to boycott the IPL.”

It’s all or nothing – or nothing changes.

Another course of action is to do what baseball fans in America did with regard to steroids: hope someone else fixes it for you while you keep on going to games and buying Barry Bonds jerseys. It took an investigation from the United States government to force Major League Baseball and the Players Union to implement a testing system with actual consequences.

And so we just keep watching cricket and hope the ICC, or the United Nations (??), or a third party helps us out of our jam.

But that is another course that I am not willing to take. First of all, it will never happen, and second of all, while it might make me a hypocrite, I am going to continue to speak out against all of the meaningless matches and the sport’s relationship with gambling organizations.

And that’s third course right there: telling the powers that be that “business as usual” is perfectly fine, we are all just going to complain about it now and again.

And maybe the third course is exactly what the sport needs.

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I am a big believer in the important role journalism plays in a democracy. A strong and independent press is vital to its very survival. And yet good journalism is going away. Probably forever.

Cricket has an army of wonderful journalists covering it. But they are all beholden to page views and subscriptions and ratings.

But cricket has something else that is not beholden to those things: its strong, vital, and diverse blogging community.

And so I am going to keep watching, but I am also going to keep writing. And I hope all of my fellow bloggers continue to do the same.

It’s okay to watch the IPL final, but it’s not okay if you do not use your voice to speak out when you see corruption ruining this sport we all love so dearly. We can longer afford to turn a blind eye.

And that is my call to my fellow cricket bloggers: if you see something, say something. It is vital to cricket’s survival.

Sooner or later, they will start listening.

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Sussex vs Somerset at Horsham, County Championship
Somerset 76 & 108; Sussex 300
Sussex won by an innings and 116 runs

Steve Magoffin is a 33 year old medium fast Australian who has played 93 First Class matches for Queensland, Surrey, Sussex, Western Australia, and Worcestershire. Over those 93 matches, he has taken 334 wickets with an economy rate of 2.63.

Yet he has never played for Australia at the international level.

This brings to mind two thoughts: One: considering Australia’s current problems, it’s a shame that they are not giving bowlers such as Magoffin further consideration. Two: It also goes to show how difficult it is to break into an international side. There are countless journeyman professionals such as Magoffin who have long and successful careers at the County level, but never get a sniff of the Test or even one day squad.

Something to remember when we are all watching the Champions Trophy and the Ashes this summer: we really are watching the very best cricketers on earth.

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Magoffin’s eight first inning wickets for Sussex against Somerset last week buried his opponents before the first drinks break. The hosts were all out for only 76 runs before lunch on day one, and Sussex’s quiet and efficient 300 was all they needed.

Magoffin took another four wickets in the second innings, while only giving up 11 runs in 12.3 overs.

His full match stats are nothing if not impressive:

23.3-9-31-12

That’s a good couple of days at the office.

Hopefully it at the very least turned a couple of heads over at Cricket Australia.

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That’s two wins on the trot now for Sussex in the County Championship, and they have yet to lose a match in that tournament. They currently sit at the top of the table – one point clear of Middlesex but with a match in hand; all of this despite the fact that several of their key players (Joyce, Prior…et al) have been away on international duty.

Sussex vs Kent at Horsham, Yorkshire Bank 40
Sussex 222; Kent 202
Sussex won by 20 runs

I have given Sussex a little stick lately for relying too often on one stand out performance from one player, and how that might start to become a problem.

The YB40 match against Kent yesterday bucked that trend. They had five batsmen score over 30 runs; and four bowlers each took two wickets.

It was not a drubbing, but it was an efficient team effort and sorely what Sussex needed in this competition.

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Horsham Cricket Club is one of three official grounds used by Sussex throughout the season. The matches there this week were part of the Horsham Cricket Festival.

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Next up for Sussex: Warwickshire at Hove in another 40 over match on May 30th.

There has been a lot of bad news in cricket lately. I am not going to go into a detailed reaction, but some weeks it is hard to be a cricket fan – and this has been one of those weeks.

However, thankfully, in the cricketing backwater of  Dublin, Ireland, the entire world has been able to witness entertaining, swashbuckling cricket played with joy and abandon to help us all forget about corruption and scandal for at least a little while.

The first Ireland vs Pakistan ODI ended in a thrilling tie – and the second appears to be going Pakistan’s way despite a brilliant century from Sussex’s Ed Joyce.

But the best part of the matches has been the fact that Cricket Ireland has streamed the matches live, free, and worldwide on its website. The Cricket Couch wrote a great post about it, he said better than I ever could:

It was throwback to an earlier time.  A time when cricket was innocent and the pictures shot with cameras you could count with the fingers on one hand; Almost an amateurish feel to the angles and the switch to the different views trying to track the ball down; The voices telling you what you need to know rather than trying to capture your attention so that they could peddle you a product; No graphics besides the odd look at the scorecard and a demand of the viewer to pay attention to the live pictures because there weren’t many replays on the screen; A window in to the past that in fact gave us a peek in to the future of cricket broadcasts.

…

If the ones that are in charge of running the sport are really keen on growing the sport and its fan base, the path is laid out right in front of them.

Nothing more really needs to be added, except this: it was a really, really good day for cricket – and the sport sorely needed a good day. Cheers to Cricket Ireland.

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Today is: the IPL final, day three of England vs New Zealand, and the aforementioned Ireland vs Pakistan ODI. So today I am going avoid Cricinfo and Twitter and just watch the cricket.

Sussex match reports to follow tomorrow.

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Derbyshire vs Sussex at County Ground, Derby
Derbyshire 223 & 219; Sussex 401 & 23
Sussex won by 9 wickets

That’s what Sussex needed: a comprehensive win.

In a lot of ways, it was a formula for winning a four day cricket match when fielding first: bowl your opponents out on the first day; put up a big first innings total; then bowl your opponents out again with enough time left on day four to win it.

Comprehensive might be the wrong. Efficient comes close. But the only real way to put it is that Sussex got the job done with a very even handed attack (only one bowler had more than three wickets in either innings) (Magoffin’s four in Derbyshire’s second innings) and two monster innings from Michael Yardy (153 off of 236) and  Chris Jordan’s blistering 92 off of 105 – the latter could in a lot of ways could be called a match winning innings.

No other Sussex batsman scored over 25 runs in either innings.

It goes to show that despite cricket being a team orientated game – every player gets at least one, if not two, chances to make an impact, which is very unlike most sports – games can also be turned on their heads by massive individual performances like Yardy’s, Jordan’s, or Stuart Broad’s second innings against New Zealand at Lord’s last week (more on that in a second).

Michael Yardy was involved in eight different partnerships in his first innings 153. Time after time after, his partner would fall, but he kept his head while all those around him were losing theirs. The first four fell in just 20.1 overs and if Yardy had fallen too, the match would very well had been lost.

And for Chris Jordan to enter the match when his team were teetering at 109/5 and give his team the two things they so desperately needed, runs and stability, probably won the match for his team.

For Sussex, there were, really, no other standout performances with the ball or with the bat for the club.

I would say this is worrisome, but right now they are positively routing Somerset in a four day match at Horsham, so I am not too worried about it. Steve Magoffin and his outstanding 11-4-20-8 in Somerset’s first innings are the standout performance this go ’round. Full match report on that one to follow in a couple days.

Netherlands vs Sussex Sportpark Thurlede, Yorkshire Bank 40
Netherlands 28-2
No result

Sussex has now lost fully 50% of its YB40 matches to rain.

A shame.

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Some other matches worth mentioned are, as previously noted, England’s absolute shellacking of New Zealand at Lord’s as well as Pakistan’s upcoming two One Day Internationals against Ireland, in Ireland.

There is not a lot more to say about the former match. It’s really a shame. I felt awful for New Zealand players and supporters. A collapse like that can have long lasting negative effects.

I really did think the Kiwis had a chance to win back on two, and after bowling England out for only 213 on day three, New Zealand had set themselves a very achievable target of 239 with five sessions to go (barring any rain). But they were bowled out for only 68 in less than two hours of play.

Awful. Just awful.

Hopefully Headingley goes better for the tourists. First ball is Friday morning.

And regarding Stuart Broad: what a performance. He has a lot to prove still to England supporters (and selectors) but I think he might have turned a corner at Lord’s. We shall see.

Regarding the latter two matches, Cricket Ireland has been hyping the, excuse me, living shit out of them since the tour was announced last winter. I really don’t care who wins, and the matches are of course not available to watch here in the States, but I do hope for blue skies, big crowds, and supremely entertaining matches. Cricket needs a strong Ireland and a strong Pakistan.

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There is of course a lot to write about these days in World Cricket. The IPL playoffs, the England vs New Zealand Test series, County Cricket…etc. And I will write about all of those things soon enough. But not tonight.

Tonight I want to talk about football.

I write a lot on here about how nice it is to be a neutral cricket fan. I don’t sweat every ball, my heart never gets broken, and as long as the match is entertaining, I honestly don’t care who wins. It is a phenomenally enjoyable way to watch a sport

Football, however, is a different story.

On Sunday morning, in case you weren’t aware, Arsenal needed to win away at Newcastle in order to seal the fourth and final Champions League position. A draw or a loss would mean that Tottenham could pip them for the spot with a win – the thought of which turned my stomach.

When I first started following Arsenal, I never thought I would get on board with the rivalry with Spurs – since it is for all intents and purposes a local rivalry, something that I just cannot identify with having not grown up in North London. I thought my enemies would be Chelsea and Manchester United.

Boy was I wrong.

It’s too strong a word, but I hate Tottenham. Hate their players and their fans – especially the ones here in town.

It makes me feel silly, and a little stupid, and it is not an emotion that I talk about at parties. But for two hours every weekend, I am allowed to massage my hidden feelings with my fellow Arsenal fans. Which I think is acceptable. I have the rest of the week to be a grown up.

And so Champions League football was at stake, but also at stake was the absolute need to finish ahead of Spurs.

Arsenal took a 1-0 lead in the 52nd minute. The Tottenham match was scoreless until the 89th minute when Bale, of course, scored. His goal meant a Newcastle equalizer would knock Arsenal down to fifth. I would be incomprehensibly despondent if that happened. For reals.

The next five minutes can be summed up in one singular Tweet:

This is horrendous.

— Arseblog Tom (@arseblog_tom) May 19, 2013

It was not fun. It was physically painful. Every Arsenal fan on earth just KNEW that Newcastle was going to score. We all saw it happening.

If you have access, the replay is available on ESPN3. I urge you to watch the final five minutes. I watched it tonight and even though I knew what was going to happen I still broke into a cold sweat. But the best part is the away fans. Shifting, screaming, gripping each others’ shoulders, checking their watches…you can see the pain and the misery in their eyes.

Of course, the goal never came. Arsenal finished fourth, and all was right in the universe.

But that abject misery stuck with me for the rest of the day. Why do we do this to ourselves? Those away fans paid really good money, and took a train 300 miles north on a Sunday morning – all to be absolutely tortured. I woke up at 8:00am and biked 10 miles downtown to the local Arsenal pub, and spent money, and drank pints, and bought food – all to be downright miserable for 90 minutes.

And I would not have it any other way. It was a fucking blast. Some of you will understand, some of you will not. There is torture in being a sports fan. Authentic and painful torture. But there is also relief, and camaraderie, and unbearable joy. And of all the sports, football is the one that provides all of the above emotions, the positive and the negatives, in spades.

I am happy the season is over though. For now I can go back to putting my feet up with a good cup of coffee and a good book and the cricket in the background. Occasionally I will yawn, or give an audible groan of delight at a cover drive, but otherwise watching Test cricket is the most relaxing and peaceful part of my week.

Sometimes I am bummed that I do not have a cricket team to support. This is not one of those times.

A lot happening; a lot to cover.

First: the spot fixing scandal in the Indian Premier League. Honestly, we all should have seen this coming. Gambling is a force of nature in cricket, and there are so many meaningless matches, and greed is a basic element of being human, and the game itself is easily manipulated by players who know what they are doing.

It’s a shame, really.

But let’s not blame the IPL. Or the BCCI. Or India. Or Southeast Asia. Or the T20 format. For lest we forget, just last year Englishman Mervyn Westfield was banned for five years for spot fixing. Not in the IPL, but in the supposed last holy sanctuary of the game: county cricket.

The problem cannot be boiled down into just a Indian problem, or just a T20 problem. If we do that then nothing is solved. This is a cricket problem. Fans, the media, the players, the owners, the boards. We are all culpable, and we all need to work toward a solution.

*

This situation reminds me of baseball’s steroid problem from a few years back. It is easy now for us fans to look back and wag our fingers at Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens and call them cheats. It is easy for fans to blame the owners and the league and the players’ union for not instituting proper testing procedures until forced to by the federal government.

But we, the fans, are just as responsible  We all KNEW everyone was juicing, but we still bought tickets, and went to the games, and turned a blind eye. If we had stopped going to the games, the owners and the league and the players’ union would have made a more concerted effort to clean up the sport.

*

I saw Bonds hit home run number 713 at Pac Bell and it was a remarkable moment. I also saw him hit a double off the walk at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. It was the hardest hit ball I had ever seen in my entire life.

And, so, I am at fault. I am guilty.

*

The situation is different with cricket, of course. But we as fans need to stand together against all of the meaningless matches; need to stand together against the gambling scourge that is ruining this game we love.

Alone we are powerless. But if we stand together we can change the world.

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Also, shoot, Test cricket is back. And I have not watched any of it except for a minute or two this morning. I have been staying up too late, been too busy at work, and just have not had the time.

But I love the fact that it is happening in the background as I go about my mornings. Love checking the scores every hour or so.  Love that New Zealand is taking England to task.

And I really love the New Zealand cricketers. They play a fun brand of the game and really seem to have a personality – far different than England’s machine like way of going about their business on the pitch.  I fancy them to win this match and really put the hosts on their heels.

I have watched a great deal of Kiwi cricket over the last couple of years. They just always seem to be on when I have time to watch. From their brilliant win at Hobart a couple years ago to their near victory over England this past march, they have really put World Cricket on notice. They might not always win, but if they do go down, they will go down fighting.

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All of that said, I do not care for their uniforms. Not sure how you could possible screw up white pants and a white shirt, but they figured out how.

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Finally, Pakistan is in the UK for matches against Ireland and Scotland; a warm up for the Champions Trophy. The fact that they are there, playing ODIs in English-like conditions makes me think they have a real shot at making noise in that tournament. We shall see.

Pakistan vs New Zealand in the final?

You heard it hear first.

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